Contributors:
Gavriella Mahpour and Nancy Ryerson
All this bright and balmy weather lately has us feeling
pretty green. (Don’t you agree?) Inspired by the outstanding outdoors,
we’ve come up with 10 great ways to enjoy it with your clan. From nature-themed
arts & crafts to a hoedown at Wave Hill, you’re left with no excuse not to
take it outside! —
1. We’re Going On A Bug
Hunt
Having been inspired by Natalie Nevares of Mommywise, our favorite way to enjoy the great outdoors is a family bug hunt. Even something as simple as digging for worms in the backyard
can create long-lasting memories. This can also be an educational learning
experience, a lesson in entomology (just don’t tell the kids!). Teaching little
ones the names of different insects during your search can serve as an entertaining
way for them familiarize themselves with nature’s creatures. But if hunting for
creepy crawlers isn’t your cup of tea, a family butterfly garden project may be
the best alternative. Kids can watch as caterpillars build cocoons and
transform into butterflies, all in about three weeks.
2. How Does Your Garden
Grow
Lush gardens in NYC are much more abundant than you might
imagine. Recently, urban gardens have become even more popular, and a visit to
your local community garden is a fantastic way to introduce children to new
flowers, fruits and veggies. Some gardens even offer special events for
children such as festivals and workshops. But do your homework: most gardens
require membership in order to take part in the activities. For some ideas, check
out the 6th & B Garden, the Liz Christy Community Garden, and
the West Side Community
Garden.
3. Al Fresco Arts &
Crafts
The outdoors is the perfect place for kids to get messy with
arts and crafts. Tots can create colorful masterpieces with sidewalk
chalk, Play-Doh (minus
the mess!), or bubbles.
How about making a collage out of things from nature? Use glue to paste
brightly-colored leaves, small pine cones, and grasses on a piece of colored
construction paper. If you’re in need of more inspiration, Brooklyn’s Prospect
Park offers nature crafts for kids every Saturday and Sunday, where they
can create art projects from all-natural, recyclable materials.
4. Fantastic Botanic
There’s no better way to experience nature in the city than
the botanical gardens. These expansive greens feature flower shows including Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra
at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. The
Brooklyn Botanical Garden offers classes
for children such as Summer Trees & Saplings, Summer City Farmers, and
Summer Science Adventures. During many of these programs, kids can take home
flowers and vegetables that they grow themselves. The Queens Botanical Garden is home to
beautiful grounds like The Bee Garden, where plants and trees that attract bees
are found, and a Children’s Garden where kids can enroll in a summer program
with activities such as baking cookies in a solar oven and building planters
and terrariums.
5. Park Yourself Right
Here
Central
Park always has tons to do for kids of all ages. Pack a picnic and head
over to one of the park’s many lawns, spend some time monkeying around on one
of their 21 playgrounds, or go boating on the park’s 22-acre lake. Better yet, Central Park hosts programs for children
including Sandbox
Stories–where children ages 3-8 can listen to tales performed by
professional storytellers–and A
Clearing in the Forest–free performances showcasing dance, music, art, puppetry,
and wildlife.
6. Take The 1 To Natural Fun
Escape the
city without even leaving by heading up to the Bronx for a day at Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden
overlooking the Hudson. A quick-and-easy trip on the 1
subway will get you to Wave Hill in no time. Visit from July 15 to July 22 for
their special event The
Mow-Down: a Garden Hoedown. With field day activities, crafts and a
bluegrass band, kids will learn all about the grass family. Little ones will be
surprised to realize that we eat grass all the time (think: corn, oats, rice
and wheat!) while making hats, mats and baskets and hanging out in a wigwam
made of grass. Additionally, there will be lawn mower races, outdoor yoga for
kids, and guided garden tours – all for free.
7. Adopt A … Koala!
Why not introduce
your kid to environmental causes by helping him save his favorite animal? Teach
your tot about the Endangered Species List (Animal Planet has a kid-friendly version
here).
Then help your animal lover symbolically
adopt an endangered species. Pick a “pet” through the Worldwide Wildlife
Federation, and receive a photograph, info sheet and adoption certificate. When
you donate $50 or more, you also get a plush version of your adopted friend to
cuddle and keep. For a more up-close or hands-on experience, check out the Bronx
Zoo’s Summer Zoofari, where eco-minded boys and girls can see life-sized
LEGO animals, learn about endangered
species and even help Master Builders construct a Mystery
Mural.
8. Take A Hike
Most of the
hiking your family does is probably climbing up the stairs to your apartment,
right? For shame! Actual mountains and outdoor adventure are closer than you
think. Families interested in a kid-friendly hiking trip don’t even have to
leave the city. The New York Botanical Garden
contains 50 acres of virgin forest, and several wide trails cut through the old-growth
timber. Prefer sea and sky? Out near the Broad Channel area of Queens, in the 9,155-acre Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, sits
a 1.8-mile loop trail around West Pond. “Kids love to explore,” says
Skip Card, author of Take
a Hike: New York City, a guide to 75 trails around NYC. “These are
two family-friendly areas where people often say, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m
still in the city limits.’ ” So stock up on trail mix, strap on your
hiking boots and happy trails to you!
9. Reading Green
Spread the
love for nature during story time, too. Kindergarteners through second-graders
will enjoy Sandy’s eco-friendly adventures in Sandy’s
Incredible Shrinking Footprint. The pig-tailed tot reduces, reuses and
recycles, while teaching your kid how to do the same. Inspired by the
Highline in New York, little Liam in The
Curious Garden decides to make his big, dark city much greener one
garden at a time. It goes without saying, but don’t forget The
Lorax, the granddaddy of environmentalist picture books. Kids learn
that it’s more than okay to be a “tree hugger” through classic Dr. Seuss
rhymes. For older ones, challenge them to read essays from Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children’s Book
Authors Tell You How to Go Green. If your older child misses nature
when she’s not out camping and hiking, she can delight in escapism as she
follows the adventures of Sam Gribley, the main character in classic chapter
book My
Side of the Mountain. Set in the Catskills of upstate New York, Sam lives in a tree, befriends a
hawk and learns to love nature in this classic young adult novel by Jean
Craighead George. She’s written more than 80 children’s books starring nature
loving kids (and animals!) set in the great outdoors.
10. Madison Square Park
Explore the
mini urban oasis of Madison Square
Park with a fun, self-guided family scavenger
hunt. Discover the park’s flora and fauna and learn more about the park’s
ecosystem. The hunt’s worksheet gives clues and describes animals that depend upon
certain plants. So pack a picnic for a day in the park and learn a thing or two
about your natural surroundings.
BONUS: Spending a day at the beach? Let
your toddler become an oceanside excavator with SandoSaurs T-Rex
Dinosaur Molds. After she creates ten bone-shaped casts, hide them in the sand (no
peeking!) so she can conduct a search and dig them up later. If sea shells are
more your thing, go on a family shell hunt and collect as many as you can fit
in your beach
pail. Teach your little collectors the difference between a mollusk and a
shell. Then, have them arrange shells in size order from smallest to
largest, or according to shade or color. Bring the shells home at the end of
the day for an arts and crafts project. After washing your treasures with soap
and water, little hands can make seashell necklaces with just a nail and hammer (adult
supervision, of course) and some twine.
