Teaching your children to value nature

If there are two things I am admit in regards to raising Jasper it is spending a significant amount of time each day reading to him and spending an ample amount of time outdoors for play and exercise. As Jasper gets older I want him to feel like fresh air and books are just an important part of one’s day rather than something reserved for the weekend.

We have taken Jasper on many hikes over the past several years and it is fun to see both his stamina and his imagination grow. Nowadays, with technology at the forefront of everyone’s lives I relish in watching how sticks become ferry boats to shuttle people across rivers or stacked rocks become homes. I take pride in having a child who not only likes to be outdoors but who is able to entertain himself for hours on end.

Last week, we went hiking with a friend and her son and it was wonderful to see the boys running down the trail, moving their bodies and laughing together. For as complicated as life sometimes feels there is a wonderful escape I know called the mountains.

For those of you who do not live close to the mountains here are a few suggestions for spending quality time outdoors.

• go on an outdoor scavenger hunt. search for a small rock, a leaf, a pinch of dirt etc.

• create a nature rainbow. see how many different colored items you can find outdoors

• draw on your sidewalk all the items you think of when you think of fall.