Do you remember Ranger Rick from your childhood?  Maybe your kids read the magazine now.  It’s the time-honored publication brought to you by the people at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).  The same people who are now bringing you a new “Be Out There” initiative to inspire families across America to open the door and get outside.  As part of the Five Hens special Wild Week, I want to encourage you to take part in the initiative and be out there too.

As part of their initiative, the NWF has released a guide called Time Out: Using the Outdoors to Enhance Classroom Performance.  It is for teachers and parents alike and includes tips on how to provide fun and valuable outdoor experiences for kids, even with their busy school-year schedules.  Something we all probably know, and which is highlighted in the guide, is that kids are spending more time in front of a “screen” and less time outside.  Plus many children are involved in after school activities which offer enrichment and socialization but are often held indoors.  I love having the opportunity to share the outdoors with my kids, but sometimes it seems as if the hustle and bustle of the school year (and starting up a new blog!) takes over our time.  Sometimes I need that spark of inspiration to remind me to just slow down and appreciate the fun and beauty outside my front door with my kids.  Happily, I found some extremely helpful tips in the guide called 10 Ways To Get Outside Even After School Starts.  The tips are simple ones like keep a blanket in your car so that you can have a picnic on those days when you can’t cook and have to pick up a quick meal.  I also like their advice on how to create a manageable nature table to showcase your child’s treasures (I definitely need this one!)

In addition to the Time Out guide, the website also provides some great “Be Out There Activities” for kids, teens and families, with added links to help you plan your own Green Hour activities and crafts or plant a wildlife-friendly garden.  A fun event that caught my attention is Wildlife Watch, a national nature watching program for people of all ages.  The event is held quarterly, and the NWF and it’s partners collect and review your findings to track the health and behavior of wildlife and plant species nationwide. You can print out a Watch Item checklist for your state, and then see your observations online – the statistics are shown by state and county.  Every piece of information helps!

The NWF has also partnered with Where the Wild Things Are to help promote the Be Out There Initiative.  They’ve created a downloadable Wild Things Activity Guide for Kids that includes great crafts, such as a Wild Things mobile, Create a Creature or making your own crown and scepter out of recycled materials.  After having fun with the online activities, the Be Out There site offers some great suggestions on how to explore the outdoors with Ranger Rick.  They also have a Wild Things Guide for Educators and Parents that explores the same concepts in a format for older children that includes a wildlife inventory worksheet, creating a diorama of your own special island and ideas for community service.

I hope you enjoy these fun ideas and are encouraged to join the Five Hens and Be Out There!