How to bring nature play home

At home, indoors:

Allow fort building using materials at hand.

At home, outdoors:

·      Allow fort building play using found or collected natural materials.

·      Climb trees.

·      Build balance beams or seesaws.

At home, indoors:

Forage small items on outdoor walks then use them inside when building tiny homes for imaginary creatures.

At home, outdoors:

Use found natural objects to build tiny homes or villages for imaginary creatures.

At home, indoors:

Grow plants on window sill or in containers.

At home, outdoors:

·      Cultivate a garden or a couple of food plants in containers on a balcony.

·      Consider joining a local community garden.

·      Let your child choose a food plant to grow.

At home, indoors:

·      Listen to rain and make music with it.

·      Use bubble play, water-pouring play.

At home, outdoors:

Make mud, mud pies, earthworks, and riverworks play.

At home, indoors:

Arrange flowers purchased at a market or bodega.

At home, outdoors:

Grow flowers in backyard or on balcony; notice whether the flowers draw insects.

At home, indoors:

·      Do a “window watch”: Look out the window together in search of something living- birds, insects, trees, even stars.

·      Older kids might enjoy “citizen science” recordkeeping by creating written logs with lists.

At home, outdoors:

·      Take walks in the neighborhood, schoolyards, parks, to the bus stop. Look for things that are living and let your child direct conversations and interactions.

·      Look for “signs of spring,” etc.

·      Lead a worm rescue or test puddles on rainy days. 

·      Organize a family nature play group.