Bringing your child outside to experience nature and all of its wonders is an absolute must. Even if you live in a city, you should be able to find a quiet place nearby to get in touch with your spiritual side. Fortunately, since small children can be hard to please sometimes, here are 4 tips on how to make the great outdoors more entertaining:
1. Encourage your child to interact with his or her surroundings.
If you take your child out into the wilderness, it’s very important that you first teach them about how to safely interact with their surroundings. By doing so, you will help teach your child how to respect nature and stay safe at the same time.
When taking your child outside, be sure to let them explore at their own pace under your constant supervision. While some people may give lectures to their child when walking along to help them learn, it’s better to let them think for themselves. For example, instead of telling your child about the stream, let them touch the water, listen to the babbling, and see the way sunlight glints off the surface. By allowing your child to experience things on their own, they will create cherished memories and respect nature more.
2. Bring toys along for your child to play with.
To make some parts of nature more fun, you may want to consider bringing toys. For example, if you visit a lake, bringing floating toys and rafts can make the experience more memorable. By having toys available to keep a child from becoming bored, parents or guardians will also have the chance to enjoy nature as well.
3. Bring along the family pet.
If you have a dog, you may be able to bring it along for the family outing. Having the beloved family pet along for the trip will keep your child entertained and provide company. However, depending on where you visit, be sure to check that pets are allowed. Also, always clean up after your pet to avoid ruining the outdoors experience for other individuals and families.
4. Bring a laptop or iPad to watch videos if the weather is bad.
While exploring nature can be great, there may be times when bad weather makes it difficulty to be outside. In such a case, you can use software to download YouTube videos to keep your child entertained until the weather clears up. Fortunately, you can download videos that are educational and related to nature to keep with the theme. However, it’s important to only download videos that you have permission to download.
Having a laptop, iPad, or mobile phone handy can also make planning for an outing easier. For example, you can find plenty of websites that share great places to visit or new activities to try. You can also keep updated about changing weather conditions that may not only ruin an outing but present real harm.
With these 4 tips, you can make experiencing the great outdoors a cherished memory for your entire family.
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Dexter Bell is a campground manager. He likes to share his insights with others to help individuals and families make the most of their time outdoors.
