It is EASY to connect with nature! Try the following activities during the winter or summer seasons (from http://www.naturepark.com/act.htm).
1. Go on a hibernating bug hunt! Shine a light under bark looking for hibernating ladybugs, spiders, butterflies, or cocoons. Check out holes in trees, look on branch tips for sleeping moth eggs.
2. Go outside and find evidence of the different ways animals cope with winter. North-south and vertical migration, true hibernation, napping, storing fat, camouflage, growing a thick coat, fluffing their feathers, sleeping in tree cavities, storing food, eating different foods and shedding antlers are all ways animals adapt to winter.
3. Record the types of birds you see and the general weather. Watch for birds again in the spring during warmer weather to compare the results. How do the results compare? What conclusions, if any, can you draw from this?
4. Look closely for buds on trees and shrubs in winter. Most deciduous trees will form a winter bud in the fall to protect the developing leaf inside. Conifers do not form this bud until the spring. Try "forcing" a bud by taking a small cutting and placing it indoors in sugary water near a window for a week or so. What happens?
5. Listen to the sounds of winter. For each sound you hear, raise one finger. How many different sounds can you hear? What kinds of sounds do you hear? You may want to write them down so you can compare them with sounds you hear at the same spot in the summer.
6. Close your eyes and have someone else find something nearby from nature for you to look at. Have them carefully lead you to the object with your eyes closed. When you get there, they place your face so that you will be able to look directly at the item. When they touch your shoulder, open your eyes and look at the object as if you are taking a picture, then close your eyes. With your eyes still closed, describe the object to the other person. You will have a vivid image in your mind that you will not soon forget.
7. Follow animal tracks. A trail of tracks often tells a story of the habits of an animal in the winter. A tiny mouse scampers about looking for seeds that are blown by the winter wind then darts back to its tunnel. Deep tracks indicate a large heavy animal. Try leaving your own fake animal tracks that tell a story. Look for other signs such as nibbled twigs and dug holes.
1. Go on a Bug Hunt. Equip your child with a baby food jar or bug jar and encourage them to look for natural life around them. Look under leaves & stumps (be sure to turn them back over), on tree trunks & leaves and in flowers. Handle the bugs gently and let them go when you are done. Name your favorite bug according to its colors, the way it moves or something different about it.
2. Listen to the World Around You. Sit and listen to the sounds of nature by closing your eyes, and counting on your fingers the different sounds you hear. Compare natural vs. unnatural sounds. Try this in several different habitats such as the open field on Henderson Farm, near the beaver dams at the observation deck, and in the forest. Compare the kinds and numbers of sounds heard.
3. Before a visit to a park, decorate two toilet paper rolls. Staple them together to make mini-binoculars. Take them outside for a game of "I Spy" looking for items from nature. Look for things near by, in middle range and far away.
4. Get a New Perspective. Lie down on the ground under a large tree and look into the branches. Can you see the top branch? What patterns can you see? What other things are present? What animals can you see moving around in the tree?
5. Wet Noses. Wet the underside of your child's nose with a small wet sponge. This improves their sense of smell just as it does for deer and rabbits. Find familiar smells such as flowers to try, and then go on to other things like rubbing a leaf between your fingers and smelling or scratching a pine needle. Also try moss, bark, pitch or grabbing a handful of leafy soil etc.
6. Discover Color in Nature. Get 10 old paint swatches of various natural colors from a paint store. Cut them into individual squares and take these and your child to a natural area. One at a time, have your child look for each color in nature. You will be amazed at what colors you can find if you really look!
7. Touching Nature. Blindfold your child and lead them to a tree to get to know it by feeling the bark texture, finding branches and any other way to recognize a specific tree without looking at it. Still blindfolded, lead your child back to where you started. Now take off the blindfold and have them try to find their tree using their sense of touch to confirm it. What other senses helped them to locate their tree? (sounds, sense of balance, smells, warmth etc.)
8. A Rainy Day Experience. Dress to stay dry but with your hands free (no umbrellas) and go out on a rainy day with your child. Peek into puddles, listen for bird & frog calls. How many kinds of raindrops can you see? Can you find plants with a drip tip? Try to find out where animals go when it is raining.