Families
56 Resources
Want to learn more about birding with children or have an enthusiastic beginning birder in your life? Check out this book from special educator Rasha Hamid with this exclusive excerpt. Learn how to get started, birding terminology and strategies that will help everyone get connected to the joy of birding!
Available in English and Spanish, these bird bingo cards from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology offer an easy way to get young people engaged in birding.
With an emphasis on birds found in southern Wisconsin and North America, these bird guides designed especially for kids are a great way to introduce children to birds and the distinct qualities of different species. The guides are available in English and Spanish and can be printed or viewed on a computer for free. The web page also has several other field guides, covering insects, tracks and scat, birds in winter and leaves.
Watch a recording of award-winning artist, author, educator and scientist, John Muir Laws as he shares his best tips and tricks for nature journaling learned through his 40 years of teaching and illustrating. This class is geared towards children ages 8+, parents, caregivers, educators and anyone looking to pass this knowledge onto others.
These Nature Activity Cards are a great way to get started having fun in nature with family and friends. Each set of cards has a suggested age group (2-6 years old or 7-11 years old) and a theme, such as urban animals, clouds, crafts, reptiles and frogs. Inside each set, you’ll find activities that incorporate play, acting, drawing, stewardship and more. You can view the cards online, or download and print out for fun on the go.
As community hubs, libraries are the ideal partners to provide children with regular access to nature. This infographic provides a helpful visual of how libraries can help connect children to nature. Use this to help build understanding of Nature-Smart Libraries.
In Vietnamese cultural practice, when a baby is born, we nest with them for a full lunar cycle. This practice is shared with traditions around the world,...
This list of books and practical guides offers expert perspectives and real-world solutions for bringing the power of gardening to children and families. Direct links to publishers are included when available; publications can also be found through online booksellers such as Bookshop.org, IndieBound.org and Amazon.
This list of books and practical guides offers expert perspectives and real-world solutions for bringing the power of gardening to teens and families. Direct links to publishers are included when available; publications can also be found through online booksellers such as Bookshop.org, IndieBound.org and Amazon.
This brief summarizes key elements of “A Field Scan of Older Adults and Nature in Minnesota.” It also shares information about how the Field Scan project is raising awareness of this topic, supporting organizations doing this work, and expanding opportunities for people 55+ in nature across Minnesota. It includes the importance of intergenerational connections and makes suggestions about actions readers can take to promote fuller access to nature.\
Watch the recording of our Vitamin N: Inspiration & Innovative Strategies from Brazil / Vitamina N: Inspiração e Estratégias Inovadoras do Brasil event featuring Ana Carol Thomé, Founder of Ser Criança é Natural who will share innovative strategies she has developed to provide opportunities for all children in Brazil to connect with the natural world. And Laís Fleury, Head of Partnerships and Nature Portfolio at the Alana Foundation. Their conversation will leave you excited to incorporate new approaches and resources into your outdoor activities.
Watch the recording of our Kids and Gardening event featuring Kashon DuBose, Founder and Executive Director of Cultivators and Sonya Harris, Master Gardener and Founder and CEO of The Bullock Garden Project. They share the work they are doing with their communities, hands-on gardening activities that parents, caregivers and educators can facilitate with children – even if they have a small space and poor soil conditions, and sage advice on how your family can get the most out of garden and farm projects.
This Digest focuses on nature as a promoter of resilience in vulnerable children and youth
This report highlights the benefits of nature-based activities for individuals 55+ and provides a framework for enhancing their access and participation in nature. Written from the perspective of work happening in Minnesota with applications far beyond, this 100-page document has links to many resources and models and is intended for anyone interested in learning how better to support and grow accessto nature for people 55+. It includes information about intergenerational work to connect children and older adults in nature.
Watch the recording of our Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers in Nature event featuring Alexis Burroughs, Jessica Carrillo Alatorre, and Gabriel Pickus. They discuss benefits of nature engagement for young children, tips on how to prepare for the elements, tangible tools for nature play, whole-child centered learning with nature as the teacher and more!
You don’t have to be an expert naturalist, or do it all alone. We’ve created this toolkit to help you plan and share outdoor experiences with like-minded friends and families who are yearning for “more green, less screen.”
Watch the September 7 recording of our Back to School with Nature event featuring José G. González, Cathy Jordan, Ph.D. and Sheila Williams Ridge, Ed.D.
Watch the recording of our July 10 event with author and Children & Nature Network co-founder Richard Louv.
How do you (and your family) spend time outdoors? Use this resource to explore the types of nature activities you are participating in, and to reflect on your experiences. This is also a great tool for setting new nature experience goals.
You don’t have to be an expert naturalist, or do it all alone. We’ve created this toolkit to help you plan and share outdoor experiences with like-minded friends and families who are yearning for “more green, less screen.”
Heather Kuhlken can inspire a child to start loving nature with just a headlamp and a few minutes. Her trick is to go outside on a...
Watch the recording of our Family Time in Nature event featuring Denice Rochelle, Founder and Director of The Bronze Chapter and Heather Kuhlken, Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit organization Families in Nature.
The FINCH (Families Into Nature Connecting and Helping) resource is a practical guide packed with helpful information and guidance for community groups. It’s designed to help your group choose and offer nature-based activities for families, helping them to connect with nature and encourage action to help it. The guide is also packed full of self-led games, crafts and activities that a family can do independent of a community group or organization.
Watch the February 8 recording of our first Families Together in Nature event — Self-Care in Nature, featuring Nicole Jackson, Kari Kleven MSW, LICSW, Sonny LaForm, LSWAIC, MSW and Renā Trujillo.
This infographic highlights 4 ways that children, caregivers and families can practice self-care in nature.
Need some inspiration for the Vitamin N Challenge? Watch this recorded conversation with author and Children & Nature Network co-founder Richard Louv. Richard will discuss what he learned about creating a nature-filled life while writing his book, “Vitamin N,” and offer tips for completing your Vitamin N Challenge.
This summer, sign on to #VitaminNChallenge — a fun way to make sure you and your family get your regular dose of nature, the most essential vitamin!
Tiffany Xiong is mom to three young children and External Engagement Manager for the Constellation Fund, a philanthropic organization that uses an evidence-driven approach to end poverty in...
Australia’s Nurture in Nature expert Tania Moloney invited attendees of the 2022 Inside-Out International Conference to create a virtual Nature Quilt in celebration of the global children and nature movement. Not only will you find a beautiful piece of crowd-sourced art, you’ll learn about each quilter’s inspiration, natural materials used, and about the Indigenous land from where each square came. You can create your own Nature Quilt; find instructions here!
This infographic illustrates how nature-based interventions can help children and families recover from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES). It includes evidence-based therapeutic strategies and outcomes that support children’s health and well-being.
This infographic presents 5 key outcomes of nature-based interventions for children and families encountering Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES).
A 4-year-old boy pounds a branch on a round slice of tree trunk, known as a “tree cookie.” Realizing he can make music, he smiles and begins to pound in rhythm. Across the yard, another group of preschoolers follow a teacher along a log on the ground. The kids hold their arms wide, balancing and following directions. Ahead of them are children who are jumping from rock to rock, squealing as one kid yells, “Ground is lava!”
The Children & Nature Network's Inside-Out International Conference brings practitioners together to advance strategies for turning the trend of an indoor childhood back out to the benefits of nature. Keynotes, breakout sessions, and hands-on workshops will explore current best practices within six tracks: family engagement, youth development, green schoolyards, policy and public sector leadership, equity and inclusion, and cross-cutting themes. To showcase our conference and promote an evidence-based look at these topics, our January and February Research Digests will introduce research aligned with these areas.
Interest in children’s spirituality has increased in the past decade, yet definitions and descriptions remain somewhat nebulous. Related research also remains scarce. What is known, however, is that engagement with nature promotes aspects of child development generally considered to be elements of their spirituality. We’ve sampled those studies for this Research Digest. We hope this Digest offers a moment for you to reflect on your own connection to nature as a pathway to, or an expression of, your own spirituality.
In the summer of 2020, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, nature centers were authorized to begin slowly opening their trails. Those of us in the education department at Beaver Brook knew we needed to provide opportunities for families to safely get out into nature. Families were being particularly hard-hit by pandemic-related changes; we knew that nature could provide numerous mental, social, physical and family-bonding benefits
My family had fallen into a rut. More time indoors was equating to more time on screens. Gaming with screen names, avatars and portals in a dynamic online world captivated my son, Max, and his imagination for hours on end. We were, and are not, alone in this indoor state of inertia.
The Children & Nature Network worked closely with educators and parents to develop a meaningful, practical and immersive outdoor curriculum designed for families, called Nature Quest.
This Digest focuses on factors limiting children’s engagement with nature, some residing in the child and/or family; some associated with urban parks and public greenspaces; some specific to schools.
Children and teens from around the world share art and creative writing that expresses their love of nature along with their thoughts, dreams, questions and concerns about the future. This exhibition is organized by the Children & Nature Network.
A roadmap to overcoming nature play barriers.
Learn about the importance of free play in nature, especially for families. This webinar offers valuable content for family, school-aged and early childhood program providers, as well as parents and caregivers.
Sign up to receive this free Fall Playbook, full of ideas for play breaks, parenting tips, and expert advice designed to help your family thrive.
If the coronavirus spreads at the rate that experts believe it will, schools, workplaces and businesses will...
Join thousands of parents and educators who are weaving outdoor play into the fabric of their family’s lives; share photos, successes, struggles, and ideas for playing outdoors in all four seasons.
Evidence-based infographic highlights how meaningful outdoor experiences can benefit children and inspire then to care for the natural world.
Tips, tools and resources to help you grow green schoolyards in your community.
During a family vacation to the Grand Canyon, I purchased a National Park Annual Pass. For one fee, the pass would allow our family to visit all 58 National Parks over the next year. Great deal, I thought. So much nature for the kids. Surely, in a year’s time, we would be able to see a few parks, especially those in my home state of Texas.
This report discusses why spending time in nature with your children may be an ideal way to nurture family bonds.
This report discusses why spending time in nature with your children may be an ideal way to nurture family bonds.
This report discusses why spending time in nature with your children may be an ideal way to nurture family bonds.
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