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5 Easy Tips For Getting Your Kids Outside

Child-playing-in-trees

​Learn from Outdoor Educator Katie Biddie​

Tip #1 – Embrace the outdoor space and ​nature you have

Access to nature will vary household to household, but it’s important to find and embrace the nature that you have.

  • Watch birds from your balcony or open a window for a few minutes to listen to them sing
  • Look for worms that come up on your front sidewalk on a rainy day, jump in puddles on your driveway
  • Virtually connect with nature using live streams like this bird feeder live stream​

Tip #2 – Start small and work your way up

  • Start with a quick challenge (e.g. let’s go collect 10 sticks to make math sticks, but we can colour them inside)
  • Do things you’d normally do inside but take them outside instead (e.g. read a book outside, have an outdoor picnic for your lunch break)
  • Gradually introduce more outdoor time in each day

Tip #3 – Use positive language about spending time outdoors

  • Tell your kids that it’s ok to get wet, dirty, messy 
  • Instead of “ugh it’s raining again” try “what a great day to look for worms!”
  • “It’s chilly out this morning, we can see our breath. That means we need to wear our coats outside!”

Tip #4 – Follow your child’s interests

  • Pay close attention to the parts of nature that your children are interested in and then use that to engage them in their learning goals
  • Some of the best outdoor experiences are unstructured. Let the kids lead the way!
  • It’s Ok to not know all the answers. If they ask a question you don’t know the answer to, use that as a launching point to good research skills and meaningful learning

Tip #5 – Look online for resources

Follow us on social media for ideas!

           

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