Tamara Harbar
Going Green
A funny thing happened while I was researching activities to help kids connect with the natural environment, as I’d promised in last week’s column. Most “activities” had kids sitting at a computer screen clicking on pop-ups, taking quizzes, or downloading colouring pages.

One website offered a walk in the woods without any walking and without any woods via an excellent slide show. But what about feeling the breeze on your skin, hearing the crunch of twigs underfoot or breathing air fragrant with all things green and growing?

Learning about nature is a contact sport. Teaching kids about the natural world without going outside is like teaching kids to swim without going in the water.

But thanks to the sheer “wow” factor of modern gadgets, we’ve replaced a living environment with an artificial one and many kids are growing up with something called a “nature-deficit disorder.” To balance this out, parents can give kids one “Green Hour” a day for unstructured outdoor play.

Think of “Green Hour” as a time to unplug from stress and re-connect with nature and each other.

Impossible to find an hour a day? Make it a half-hour or 15 minutes, maybe every other day. Or it can become a weekend ritual, whatever fits your life and your schedule.

It’s as easy as playing in the backyard or the neighbourhood park. No structure, no rules, just let outdoor experiences unfold, with a little guidance here and there. Kids are instinctively drawn to exploring the natural world.

Here’s a mini “Green Hour” guide to start the fun (with web resources for extra ideas and support – just make sure to back away from the computer and get going on those grass stains).

• Get kid-friendly books about clouds and birds from the library. Cloud-spotting and bird-watching can be done almost anywhere anytime. Find shapes and pictures in clouds. Set up a bird-feeder. To make your own humming-bird feeder, see www.greenhour.org/content/activity/detail/4301#make.

• Start collecting, whether it’s leaves, rocks, shells, fossils or feathers.

• Plant something and watch it grow in a backyard garden or a container on a balcony or windowsill. Check out www.kidsgardening.org/family.asp.

• Whether it’s strawberries or blueberries, take your kids berry-picking. In the fall, pick apples and pumpkins.

• Revive traditional outdoor activities. Weave daisy or dandelion chains. Roll down grassy hills. Make mud pies. See www.greenhour.org/content/activity/detail/4303 on how to climb a tree and start a tree journal.

• Walk through Stratford’s T.J. Dolan Natural Area (John St., south of the Avon River). Enjoy the birdsong, dragonflies and wildflowers.

• Pack an explorer’s kit for your excursions, including everything from a magnifying glass to sunscreen. Find some more details on this at www.greenhour.org/section/about/parentsguide.

• Camp out in your own backyard or borrow a friend’s. Gaze at the stars. For backyard camping ideas, see www.greenhour.org/content/blog/detail/4449.

• When outdoors, play “I Spy.” In addition to colours, as in “I spy something orange” (answer: swan’s beak), try “I spy something that can fly,” or “something that has webbed feet” or “something that has keys” (answer: maple tree).

• Remember Wildwood Conservation Area and McCully’s Hill Farm for more outdoor adventures.

Web Peeks of the Week:
www.richardlouv.com/children-nature-resources
www.greenhour.org/content/activity