Month: May 2017

GEOCACHING, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Beginner’s Guide to Geocaching with Kids
- May 25, 2017
Raise your hand if your kids are into nature AND treasure hunting! If so, I have the ultimate hobby (addiction) for you – geocaching! Our family gave geocaching a try for the first time last year on a rainy spring day and quickly fell in love with it. Going for long nature walks with kids can sometimes lead to boredom or frustration, but geocaching will keep them focused, entertained, and begging to get back outside. It’s a really neat way to get out to explore local parks and nature trails while giving your kids a mission to focus on (finding treasure). And it’s totally FREE! So, get ready for some fun because this post is your beginner’s guide to geocaching with kids and will give you everything you need to know to get started.

Geocaching is easier than it sounds

When I first looked into geocaching, I was underwhelmed by the information out there on exactly how to get started and whether it was doable with little kids. The GPS and waypoints language frightened me. I was confused about whether I needed a separate GPS device or if my phone would work. However, we decided to give it a go and turns out it’s so much easier (and more fun) than we ever imagined.

(Update: since we initially started geocaching there have been a lot of new GPS-games for kids to come out (letterboxing, Pokemon Go, etc.). We’ve tried a few of them, but geocaching is still our favorite.)

Geocaching with kids

This Beginner’s Guide to Geocaching with Kids is for anyone wanting a fun new outdoor activity for the family to get them outside and active. Geocaching is great for kids of any age. It’s a fun combination of outdoor exploration and technology. It’s perfect for parents that want to be more outdoorsy and adventurous. My kids and I love it and had I known how easy and fun geocaching was, we would have started doing this ages ago!

So, if you’re interested in geocaching with your kids, but don’t know where to begin, let me walk you through the process.

What is geocaching?

According to the http://www.geocaching.com website, geocaching (pronounced GEE-o-cash-ing) is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunt using a GPS-enabled device (e.g. smart phone). Participants navigate to a specific set of coordinates and then attempt to find a geocache (container) hidden at that location.

Geocaches can be found all over the world and almost anywhere you can imagine. Geocachers usually hide caches in locations that are important to them, reflecting a special interest, memory or skill of the cache owner. These locations can be quite diverse. They may be at your local park, at the end of a long hike, along a bike trail, underwater or on the side of a city street.

What does a cache look like?

There are currently over a dozen “cache types” in geocaching, with each cache type being a different variation of the game. Geocaches vary greatly in size and appearance – everything from large, clear plastic containers to film canisters to a fake rock with a secret compartment. They can be large (traditional) or small (micro). The bigger they are, the easier (usually) for kids to find.

What’s in a geocache?

In its simplest form, a cache always contains a logbook for you to log your name and date of discovery. Larger caches may also contain any number of items, trinkets, souvenirs, etc. According to geocaching etiquette, you can take an item from the cache if you like, so long as you leave something of equal or greater value in its place. When you are finished, put the cache back exactly as you found it, even if you think you see a better spot for it.

What do you need for geocaching?

All your need to get started geocaching is a smartphone, a geocaching account (free), and a sense of adventure! Geocaches are everywhere and it’s a great budget-friendly low-entry activity that’s great for everyone in the family!

Step 1: Create an account and download the free app

Go to http://www.geocaching.com and create an account. It only takes a minute and is totally free. While you’re there, you can check out all the great information, videos and tutorials they have on how to play this GPS treasuring hunting game. Once you have an account, download the app to your phone. It’s also totally free and will give you “Basic” access to all geocaches with a difficulty rating of 1.5 and below (on a scale of 1-5).

If you’re geocaching with little kids, the free version will be perfect because it’ll ensure that you only get geocaches that are relatively easy to find, solve, and access. If you’re geocaching on your own as an adult or with older kids and want more of a challenge, you can upgrade your account to Premium plan, which gives you instant phone access to a lot more caches that are more difficult to find.

Step 2: Choose a cache to find

Open the app and use the map to find a nearby geocache. You might be initially surprised by just how many local geocaches are nearby in your area. They’re hidden, but everywhere! You can start looking in your neighborhood or drive somewhere with a variety of caches. I couldn’t believe how many geocaches there were close to me.

We picked a park in our area that has tons of local geocaches hidden within. We drove to the park, parked the car, jumped out, and picked the one closest to us. Your current location on the map shows up as a blue dot and all the “basic level” caches in your area will show as green dots, with the rest of them (the more difficult Premium ones) in grey.

The first time you use the app, it’ll ask you to point the phone in the direction of the cache you’re looking for, but you shouldn’t have to do that again. If you want more information on the cache, just click on the dot and it will give you information on the difficulty, terrain, and size of the cache (see middle photo above). Most of them also include a description of or story behind the cache. Some have clues/hints, if you want them.

Step 3: Click START and begin walking

Once you’ve picked a nearby geocache, click that green START arrow. The compass will guide you straight to your treasure! All you have to do is keep the red line of the compass directly in front of you. Adjust your bearings as the compass moves. Red arrows will appear telling you which direction to move if you’re too far off course. Your screen will tell you which direction you’re moving, how far from the cache you are (in feet) and a line showing the shortest route.

In the park we were exploring, most of the geocaches we found were just a little bit off the beaten path, which was really fun because it led us down hidden trails and into the woods. The kids (and adults) loved this and they thought the caches back in the woods that took some effort to get to were much more fun than the ones right along the road.

Step 4: Find the cache

As you get closer to the cache, make sure to zoom in/expand the map so you stay on track. Once you get within 30 feet of the cache you’ll get a warning on your phone that you’re almost there. The website and app both warn you that the location isn’t exact within 30 feet sometimes, so when your warning goes off, start to look around for good hiding places. This is when you let the kids know it’s time for treasure – first person to find it wins!

Remember that geocaches can be anything from a large Tupperware container to a tiny camouflaged film canister (or even smaller), depending on the level of difficulty (the app will tell you the size). Start with easy “traditional” geocaches. Initially, I was worried the kids wouldn’t be able to find them or would get discouraged/bored after searching for a few minutes. Not so! My 3.5 years old is amazing at finding the caches and gets super pumped every time he spots one.

The ones we found this day were hidden inside hollowed-out tree trunks, at the base of giant trees, inside stumps/logs, and in between rocks. They ranged in size from a plastic take-out container to a small barrel. Some were protected in Ziploc bags and some were hidden where rain wouldn’t bother them.

As the difficulty of the geocache increases, they get harder and harder to find. We had no issues finding five in one day ranging from 1.5 – 2.5 difficulty! Make sure you really celebrate every find, so your kids get really excited about finding more treasure!

Step 5: Check out the contents & sign the logbook

Even the most basic geocache should have some form of a logbook or sheet of paper. This is for anyone that finds it to record their name and date. All the geocaches we found this day had an available logbook with a pencil provided. However, I’d suggest bringing along your own pen and maybe a couple of sheets of blank paper in case the current logbook is full.

In addition, all the geocaches also had quite a few fun trinkets inside that the kids loved to look at and talk about. The rule is that you’re welcome to take a trinket, so long as you leave something of equal or greater value in its place. We brought along a handful of plastic gold coins, glow in the dark stars, and little army men. When we took a trinket, we left these in it’s place for the next finder. The trinkets are usually little toys, marbles or stickers. The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever and it made it feel like a real treasure to them!

Step 6: Log your find and post a message

Once you find the geocache, click on the big green button at the bottom of your screen that says “Log Geocache” and record your find. You can also leave a comment about the geocache. You can say you loved it, comment on how long it took you to find it, leave a hint for a future geocacher, post a photo, or note that the geocache needs maintenance or couldn’t be located. These posts are accessible to anyone, so try not to give away any secrets or take away the element of surprise.

Beginner’s guide to geocaching with kids

That’s it! So easy. The great thing about geocaching is that it’s basically free (as long as you have a smartphone) and you can do it anywhere! I can’t get over how many geocaches are out there close to me… and everywhere! Even the teeny tiny town I grew up in has at least a dozen! And since we started geocaching, we go treasure hunting everywhere we go, including when we go on vacation. We’ve found caches in four states so far!

Every cache is different and the kids are getting quicker at finding them. We’ve found a small pillbox container in the pilings outside our local fire station, a camouflaged container hidden inside a planter, under a trashcan, up a tree, under the beach boardwalk, and a geocache in a padlocked birdhouse where we had to crack the code!

If you’ve never tried geocaching, I highly recommend you make plans to get out this weekend and try it! There’s treasure out there waiting for you!

Have you ever been geocaching?
CRAFTS, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Painted Tic-Tac-Toe Rocks
- May 23, 2017
Tic-tac-toe is a great game for kids of all ages (and adults alike)! It teaches kids valuable skills like problem-solving, anticipation, logic, strategy and more. Playing tic-tac-toe can be done anywhere at nearly anytime, but we have a fun way to take the game outside! Today, we’re sharing the painted rocks tic-tac-toe game we created out of river rocks and a slice of wood. This game is fun for the kids to make and portable so you can play anywhere. All you need are a few supplies and you’ll be set with a game that will keep your kids entertained for a long time!

Tic-tac-toe is great for kids

Tic-Tac-Toe is one of those games that’s easy enough for preschoolers, yet is still competitive enough to entertain older kids and adults. It’s one of my 4-year-old’s favorite games to play. It’s fast and quick, so it holds his short attention span and you can play many times in a row before he’s ready to move on to something else. I love tic-tac-toe because I believe it teaches kids a lot of valuable skills. Kid learn logic, reasoning, creativity, strategy, coordination, visual skills, motor skills, concentration and how to be a good loser.

Another great thing about tic-tac-toe is that you can play anywhere, with anything! There’s no required game board or small pieces, no batteries to charge or dice to lose. You can write with a pen/paper, a dry erase board or just by using your finger in the sand. Our favorite new twist to the game is to paint river rocks to serve as the X’s and O’s so we can play outside. We painted a grid onto a wood slice so we could take our board anywhere we wanted. However, if you don’t have a board to use for the grid, there are tons of ways to make your own! Use four long sticks for the outline, draw a grid on the sidewalk with chalk or use 9 large leaves to designate the spots.

Make rock collecting fun

If you want to make your own DIY painted rock tic-tac-toe board, start by collecting the rocks for your game pieces. Take your kids to a creek (or even just a dry creek bed) and let them explore the area and collect the rocks they want to use. Explain to your kids that round flat rocks work best and show them a few good examples and let them choose their own. Give each kid a small bag and tell them they can bring home as many rocks as they can carry! Once home, pick the best ones, clean them with dish soap and let them dry outside.

Let them pick the colors

When painting the rocks, you can use regular craft paints in any number of bright fun colors. We debated between using just 2 colors (all X one color and all O another color). We decided it would be more fun to mix them up. I let the kids choose 9 different colors and then painted two rocks (one X and one O) each color. Once my kids are a bit older, this might add an additional element to the game. Maybe part of the gem is that they have to use rocks in colors that haven’t been played on the board yet, so that each of the 9 spaces contains a different color rock. But for now, we don’t worry about that.

Put the rocks on paper plates or newspaper and let the kids paint them by themselves. If your kids are little (not the best painters) or if you’re a bit Type A (like me), just know that the rocks will need multiple coats of paint to fully cover and you can correct all the splotchiness later. After you get the rocks fully coated (top and bottom), let them dry overnight. The next day you can paint X’s and O’s on them with black paint. In order to keep the paint from chipping/scratching off, lightly spray them with a coat of Mod-Podge or any other type of clear coat you feel comfortable with (or skip this step).

Play anywhere

Once your rocks are painted and dry, you’re ready to play! The rocks make it easy to play over and over again and the board’s portable – we love playing it outside in the back yard or on the front porch on our swing in the rain. These tic-tac-toe painted rocks are a fun craft, easy for kids to make and don’t require a lot of prep work from parents. And at the end of the day, you’ve got a great game that they can play for years! Good luck!

Do your kids like playing tic-tac-toe?
NATURE SCHOOL, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Raising Butterflies with Kids
- May 16, 2017
One of our favorite spring and summer activities is to raise our own butterflies from caterpillars. Watching the life cycle of a butterfly is absolutely fascinating, for both kids and adults. My husband and I are always surprised to find ourselves incredibly invested in the health and growth of our little caterpillars and we watch over them like concerned parents. The kids love observing the caterpillars as they inch their way around and explore, they marvel at how quickly they grow and can barely contain their excitement when the first butterfly emerges from it’s cocoon. Watching this spectacular metamorphosis up close and personal is an incredible experience that every kid should try.

Raising your own butterflies from caterpillars is a much easier and low maintenance science project than you might imagine. It’s an easy project for parents to set up and teaches children valuable lessons about observing nature, the metamorphosis process and taking care of wildlife. Whether you want to hunt for your own caterpillars or just purchase a kit online, we’re here to walk you through the process and make this an experience that you and your children will always remember and want to recreate every year.

Finding caterpillars

Did you know that there are at least 725 different species of butterflies in North America? If you live in the U.S. it’s likely that there are about 100 butterfly species near you; even more the further South you are. If you know what butterflies are native to your area, you can look up the particular host plants that caterpillars prefer. Once you identify the types of plants, start looking for caterpillars on the leave. Caterpillars can usually be found on trees, grass and leaves near wooded areas. Caterpillars may also hide in piles of decaying leaves and on tree bark. Monarchs love milkweed. Caterpillars look different based on what species of butterfly they come from/will turn into. They can be brightly colored, dark and camouflaged, hairy, spotted, skinny or fat. June is usually a good month for finding caterpillars.

While it’s very exciting to go out and find your own caterpillars, that is easier said than done. Feel free to give it a shot with your kids, but if you can’t find any, don’t feel bad about ordering a kit online. Trust me, it doesn’t make you any less of a butterfly-lover to just have them shipped to your front door! Last year we purchased this butterfly growing kit that contained a mesh net butterfly habitat, feeding pipette and a voucher to order our caterpillars. Once our order was placed, a cup of 5 tiny caterpillars arrived at our door. The lid of the plastic container had air holes punched in it and there was a thick layer of “caterpillar food” (whatever that is) at the bottom of the cup.

Creating a caterpillar habitat

If you find your own caterpillars in the wild, you need to create a habitat for them. A large glass jar or small aquarium works great. Make sure it has a secure lid with lots of breathable fresh air (more than just poking a couple holes in a lid). Try using cheesecloth or mesh over the top. Gather some leaves of the host plant you found your caterpillars on and put them in a large jar with some sticks for crawling on and some grass in the bottom of the jar. Caterpillars only like fresh leaves, so change them out daily. And they get their hydration from the leaves, so no need to put any water in the habitat.

If your cup o’ caterpillars was shipped to you, you’re all set. There’s no need to take them out of the cup they come in, however, you can do the same thing and create a larger habitat for them, which makes it easier for kids to observe them and gives the caterpillars some extra space and things to crawl around on. We did this and left the cups of food at the bottom of the jar for the caterpillars to eat. We filled the jar with grass, sticks and leaves. The caterpillars loved exploring their surroundings, but they spent a lot of time down to the food cups to eat.

Watch them grow

It’s amazing how quickly your tiny little caterpillars turn into big fat caterpillars. The caterpillars you receive in a hatching kit will only be in caterpillar stage for 5-10 days. In that time they will more than triple in size. Mainly, they’ll eat, but they’ll also crawl around the habitat and practice spinning silk, which you can see on the outside of the container. You’ll also notice they they shed a bit, so don’t be alarmed when it looks like the caterpillars may have left a fuzzy segment or two behind. Keep the container around room temperature and out of direct sunlight, which can overheat them and cause condensation in the habitat.

Changing into a chrysalis

When they’re big and fat and ready to change into butterflies, the caterpillars climb to the top of the container/habitat and attach themselves to the lid with strands of silk. They hang upside down and form a J-shape, which signals the start of the chrysalis process. They shed a thin layer of outer skin. During this time it is very important not to disturb, shake or move your container.

Once all your caterpillars form chrysalises, wait 24 hours and then transfer them to the hatching habitat (mesh pop-up). Move the entire lid and do not detach the chrysalises. Be very careful when transferring and remove any webbing that may be stuck to them. You can rest the lid against the side of the habitat, so the chrysalises hang down and lay against it. Once a day, spray a fine mist of water into the habitat for a tiny bit of extra moisture, but do not over-water.

The birth of butterflies

After the caterpillars form chrysalises, they emerge as butterflies in 7-10 days. The change is absolutely remarkable and it’s a great time to read a book or two on butterfly metamorphosis with your kids. The chrysalises grow darker as they get closer to emerging and sometimes they even shake! When your butterfly emerges, you may also see a red liquid that looks like blood – this is meconium. We call that the butterfly’s first poop!

When butterflies first emerge, they cannot fly. They need some time to stretch and strengthen their wings and push blood into their veins. After a few hours, the wings will be fully unfolded, dried and hardened and the butterfly will be ready for flight! However, you’ll probably be pretty attached to them by this point, so it’s okay to keep them a day to two to observe before releasing them. Make sure to have some food in the habitat, like fresh fruit (watermelon, bananas, strawberries, oranges) and a few drops of sugar water. Butterflies taste through their feet and eat through a tube called a proboscis.

Release your butterflies

When you’re ready, release your butterflies into their natural habitat. The release can be done by just opening the top of the habitat and letting them leave on their own or by gently cupping them and letting them go. If your kids want to release the butterflies, show them how to hold them very gently, so as to not damage their wings. It’s ok to shed a tear when they fly away. Even though you’ve raised them from tiny baby caterpillars, don’t worry, it’s not nearly as hard as sending your kid off to kindergarten or college (or so I hear). Once released, butterflies usually stick around the area and can be seen for several days in the vicinity of their release. Hopefully you’ll get lucky and they’ll stick around!

Have you ever raised butterflies with your kids?
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES, PRINTABLES
Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt
- May 11, 2017
Kids need adventures, but not every outdoor adventure needs to be deep in the woods, on a mountainside, or next to a river. While those types of adventures are great, adventures can also be found in your own backyard or while exploring your street. We realize that not everyone has easy access to trout streams or acres of wooded areas, but that doesn’t mean that kids can’t observe and connect with the nature that’s around them, wherever they may be.

As much as I love unstructured imagination play, sometimes kids (especially young ones) need a little encouragement to connect with nature and explore – they need some (loosely) structured activity to get them engaged. One of my favorite ways to get my kids to be more observant of their surroundings, particularly on days when we can’t leave the city, is to send them on a neighborhood scavenger hunt.

Neighborhood scavenger hunt

A few years ago I developed this fun Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt printable for my son. He was 2 years-old when our daughter was born and those first few months having a newborn and a wild toddler were hard. They were both happiest when we were outside, so we took a LOT of walks around the neighborhood. Eventually that started to get really boring for him, so I put together a scavenger hunt to make going on a short walk down our street fun and interesting for him. Nearly three years later, we’re still using this exact same scavenger hunt to explore our neighborhood, the surrounding streets and local parks.

Easy to find items

The items on our scavenger hunt are all things a kid should be able to find in any suburban neighborhood or park (with a little help from an adult if your kids are small). Our scavenger hunt contains a mix of natural items (butterfly, spider web, pinecones) with a number of “neighborhood” items (stop sign, truck, bricks), which makes it versatile for a variety of areas. If you’re in a super urban big city, start at home and play while going to a local park. There are 48 items on the list, both with pictures and words (for kids too young to read), which means 4 pages of fun. My kids have never really had the time (or attention span) to find all the items at once. Sometimes we try to find the things on one page together as a team. Sometimes we only find a few items on each page. And sometimes we get completely distracted and end up doing something else entirely…that’s fine too! This is just a starting point to get them outside and exploring, which is really the important part of this activity.

Never the same game

The great thing about this scavenger hunt is that it works well in the city, the suburbs and in parks (even small ones). It’s a great outdoor activity for all you parents that mentioned that you’re not super “outdoorsy” but want ideas for getting your kids outside. Plus, this is something your kids can play multiple times and never have the same experience twice – it’s always changing. Even though the items you have to find remain constant and your street probably doesn’t change dramatically, nature and your surroundings change with the seasons and the places you find flowers or bugs during the spring will not be the same places you find those items in the fall.

Some of the items in the scavenger hunt are harder to find during certain seasons. If we do the scavenger hunt during the winter, we don’t find any dandelions, pink flowers or butterflies. But that really doesn’t really seem to bother my kids at all. It’s more about the exploring and the adventure of the hunt that makes it fun for them. Kids like doing things they’ve done before, so once you do this scavenger hunt with them, they’ll love doing the same familiar activity in a new location or during a new season. It also grows with your kids and can be used for many ages – toddlers and preschoolers will need some guidance and coaching from parents, but school-aged kids will love leading the exploration on their own.

Watch and observe your kids

While the kids love hunting for the items on the list, I love watching them and observing how they play the game. What surprised me most was that some of the items on the scavenger hunt that were easy for the kids to find were less fun for them. While I thought they might really enjoy checking some easy items off their list right away, finding rocks or sticks or leaves was so easy for them that it wasn’t as exciting as finding something that we had to really hunt for. Even at 2 years-old, my son spent a lot of time digging in the flower bed in February for a roly-poly. We also sat at the end of our street for a good 10 minutes watching cars drive by and waiting for a red truck. We never found either one, but he didn’t mind. This showed incredible patience and determination from him that completely impressed me and in the meantime we spent that time talking and connecting and being a part of something fun together.

Four pages of fun

The printable contains 4 pages of items to find, ranging from squirrel sightings to stop signs and bird nests. Depending on how ambitious you want to be, your kid can do all four pages or you can split them up into multiple hunts. If you have multiple kids, you can give them all the same pages or divide them up so they each kid has their own items to find. I recommend you give them each a marker to cross off the items they find, which gives them a huge sense of accomplishment. (Who doesn’t love checking something off their to-do list!) If you’ve got competitive kids, turn it into a game with a prize (first person to find all the items on their page wins) or just go out and see how many items you can find together as a team effort. There are so many different ways to play and you can mix it up each time.

Download our free printable

Here’s the link to the free downloadable printable Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt. We hope that you love it and get as much use out of it as we do. This is a (at least) once-a-month activity around our house and is perfect for killing that hour of time after work and before dinner prep begins. It encourages kids to get outside to explore, be observant of their surroundings, appreciate nature. Hopefully you can play this with your kids and use it as a starting point to explore your everyday areas and get them to see their outside surroundings in a new way.

Have you ever done a scavenger hunt with your kids?
GARDENING
Gardening with Kids
- May 9, 2017
Gardening may sound like a lot of work and a time commitment, but it doesn’t have to be. Gardening can be as hard or easy as you want it to be, and surprise…it’s also really fun! If you’re considering starting a garden with kids this year, you’re in the right place! Gardening is an amazing way to connect kids with nature, spend time together outside, instill a sense of responsibility in your child, help develop patience, and more! There are so many amazing benefits of gardening with kids, and we’ve got some great tips below on how to make the experience fun for everyone and how to get them involved in the process.

Starting a garden with kids

A few months ago I decided that the kids and I would plant a garden this year. I used to have a small garden in the backyard before there were any children in my life (oh, glorious free time!), but busy spring months at work and having two summer babies put my gardening on hold for a couple of years.

This year, I decided to give it another go. I knew that it would be a really fun project for the kids to “help” me with and a great way to teach them about nature, food production, and responsibility.

Start small with the space you have

If you’re new to gardening, start small with just a couple of plants. Plenty of fruits and vegetables grow well with just a little nurturing. You also don’t need a huge amount of space. While a large plot is ideal, lots of plants can be grown in containers on your back porch or windowsill. It’s not too late to start a garden now. A variety of plants can be planted in May to produce this summer and fall.

How to involve kids in garden prep and planning

Planning and prepping for your garden can take a lot of time and effort, so involve your kids from the beginning. Here are a few suggestions for ways to get them involved from the get-go.
- Read a few books with them on gardening to familiarize them with the process.
- Let them scope out the backyard with you to choose the perfect spot for the garden (somewhere that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight a day and good drainage).
- Let them help you measure your plot and build any necessary containers, raised beds, trellises, or fencing.
- Go to the store together to pick out seeds or starter plants. Talk to them about options for your garden, and let them choose at least one plant that’s theirs.
- Discuss how many plants you can fit in your garden space, where they’ll go, and make a map of the garden so they can visualize it.
- When you’re ready to prep, let them help measure the distance between plants (applied math!) and plot out where the plants will go.
Let them get dirty

Half the fun of planting a garden is getting your hands in the dirt – let your kids help! This is definitely the most fun part of gardening for kids. Once you’ve picked your spots for your plants, let them help with prepping the soil and digging the holes. Show them once how to do it and then supervise the planting of the seeds and/or plants.

Teach them to be gentle with the plants and roots. Show them how to pack the soil around the plant to support it. Let them use real tools and be part of the process. Obviously, older kids will be more helpful with this part than little kids. But either way, it’s a great way to get them directly invested and involved.

Grow foods that kids will eat

I know I’m not alone when I say that my kids have a hard time eating vegetables. It doesn’t matter how we prepare them or how much we tout their nutritional value, my kids just aren’t eating them. But, growing our fruits and vegetables in our garden this year made a big difference!

It’s no surprise that by allowing kids to take responsibility for the veggies in the garden, kids will feel incredibly proud of their bounty and more likely to partake in consuming it! Let your kids choose at least one variety of plant as their own. Whether that’s their favorite fruit or vegetable, or just one that has a funny name (arugula!).

If your kids are not familiar with the plants/fruits/vegetables, take them to your local farmer’s market to show them the options. Then, you can purchase a few seed packets for them to try growing at home in your garden. Chances are, even if they weren’t huge fans of the vegetable before growing them on their own in the garden, they will be once they taste fresh picks straight from their backyard.

Plus, when kids pick and harvest the vegetables in your garden when they ripen, it turns veggies into a reward! How genius is that?

Some of our favorite plants (which are also relatively easy to grow): strawberries, snap peas, zucchini, beets, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, carrots and kale.

Make gardening a learning opportunity

Nearly everything about gardening is a learning opportunity for kids. From when to plant (and why) to where to plant (and why), planting a garden is all about teaching children about nature, growth, and food production.

When it’s time to get your garden going, start some seeds indoors in small containers that are easily accessible to kids. This allows the kids to learn about how plants grow from seeds with soil, water, and light. They can learn how to use a grow light to replace the sun that plants would get outside or why placing plants near a window is important.

Gardening is also a great way to teach children about the symbiotic relationship between birds, bees, bugs, worms, and plants. Once your plants are outside, explain how certain animals/bugs will help your garden and how others could hurt it.

Teach them to be gentle with the plants and how to handle and harvest the produce carefully. Allow your kids to be a part of the process and learn from the plants that thrive and those that fail.

Gardening teaches responsibility

Planting and tending to a garden gives you a lot of opportunities to give your kids responsibilities. By including your kids in the process of planning and planting your garden, they’ll feel like it’s their garden, too, and take ownership of it.

A great way to get your kids involved in the family garden is by giving them daily and/or weekly responsibilities for the garden. My kids are 2 and 4, and they love watering the plants and checking to see if they’re growing. Every day, they check on their plants and water them with spray bottles (which keep the plants from being majorly over-watered).

They are very proud of their plants and want their garden to grow.

Making gardening fun for kids
- If you’re creative, have your kids make their own plant markers from stones or popsicle sticks.
- Let them measure the plants weekly with a tape measure (my kids LOVE tape measures) and keep a chart of how tall they’re getting.
- Allow them to decorate the garden with fairies, gnomes, princesses, Transformers, Minions or whatever else they’re into right now.
- Give them their own gardening gloves and tools.
- Allow them to help with the sprinkler and watering.
- Reinforce the notion of encouraging plant growth by working with nature and allowing your kids to interact with the bugs and worms that surround your plants. Let kids dig up worms from other areas of your yard and transplant them into your garden. Treat an aphid problem naturally with ladybugs.
- Come up with new recipes that incorporate the food from your garden and let the kids help with cooking.
Gardening with kids

Our garden is still a work in process. The excessive rains and flooding in our area have damaged a few of our plants, but the rest are hanging in there. I’ll keep you updated on the progress throughout the summer. I’m taking bets on whether or not my children actually eat a single thing we grow (other than the strawberries), so let me know if you want in on that action!

Additional resources on gardening with kids

If you’d like more information on gardening with kids, here are some additional resources and recommendations:
Do you garden with your kids?
What’s your favorite thing to grow?

About the author

Sara (@sara_mccarty) is the Founder of Run Wild My Child, a resource website, online community, and podcast all about getting kids off screens and outside, one adventure at a time. She’s a mom of 3, wife, and corporate securities lawyer. She grew up in the country, but now lives in St. Louis, Missouri, and is determined to raise her city kids to be as wild and feral as possible. You can usually find her family exploring a creek, fly fishing, hiking, duck hunting, camping, canoeing, biking, or geocaching. She’s passionate about reading, photography, plants, coffee, cooking, and key lime pie.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Strawberry Picking with Kids
- May 3, 2017
Strawberry picking with kids is a fun and delicious outdoor activity to do with your kids in the summer. Our strawberry season in the Midwest starts around the end of May, just when it’s getting hot. Freshly-picked strawberries taste so much better than anything you can buy at the store and are perfect for making desserts, jams or just popping in your mouth. From what to pack, what to wear, when and where to go, we’re here to help you with everything you need to know before you go strawberry picking with kids.

Strawberry picking season

Strawberry picking with the kids is one of my all-time favorite spring activities. Every May, I stalk the “Pick Your Own” online calendar of our favorite local farm and dream of the day when we get to gorge ourselves on fresh strawberries. This May will be our 4th year going to the same place to pick strawberries (as well as peaches, blackberries, apples and pumpkins) and I love that my kids are familiar with the orchard and the “pick our own” process.

The first year we went strawberry picking, I had no idea what to expect. I felt a bit unprepared for the blazing sun, mud and entire picking process. But now that we’ve gone fruit picking a number of times, through various fruit seasons and developmental phases (the baby, toddler and preschooler stages), I feel like a pick your own expert! Here are a few recommendations and tips to ensure that your strawberry picking experience is fruitful! (see what I did there?)

1. Find a local farm & choose the right time

There’s a lot to be said about choosing the right “pick-your-own” farm for you and your kids. You can find most information on pick-your-own farms in your area with a quick internet search, or by going to pickyourown.org, where you can search farms by county (although not all local farms are listed). I highly recommend calling the farm ahead of your visit and asking about the pick your own process, busy hours, prices, etc. With little kids, choose a time that’s the least busy and works with your kids’ schedules.

We like going first thing in the morning to avoid the heat and the crowds. We usually get to the farm when they open on a random weekday and we have the entire strawberry field to ourselves for an hour or so. That gives the kids plenty of time to run around without bothering others before it gets too hot mid-day. If you’re in it for the photos, go in the evening when crowds are dying down and make good use of the golden hour in the fields. Harsh mid-day sunlight is tough when taking photos, but you can make it work.

When you call the farm, also be sure to ask: (a) if the farm provides baskets or if you need to bring your own (baskets with handles are a must); (b) the price for fruit and if they accept credit cards (some small farms don’t); (c) if/which pesticides they use on their crops (particularly if you’re organic).

2. What to take

Strawberry picking is very fun (and very delicious), but it can be hot, sunny and muddy. Make sure you dress your kids (and yourself) appropriately in clothes that are cool enough to wear in the sun, but ok to get really (REALLY) dirty. If you go strawberry picking soon after a heavy rain, expect it to be incredibly muddy. Strawberry vines are on the ground and kids have no problem sitting, kneeling or laying down right in the mud to get the best berries. Your kids’ clothes and shoes might get caked in mud and covered in strawberry juice stains. Bring an extra pair of clothes for the ride home and let them wear boots or Crocs/Natives or something that can be put in a plastic bag and then cleaned off with a hose when you get home.

Make sure to lather the kids with safe sunscreen before you go and reapply if you stay out in the fields for a while. If you’re not into sunscreen, dress them in UVF-protected clothing and a kids’ sun hat. Strawberries grow very close to the ground, so there’s no overhead protection from the sun. Bring along a pair of sunglasses for the kids and/or a hat. Most farms allow pickers to eat as many strawberries as they want as they pick (which is amazing!!), so unless your kids don’t like strawberries, you probably won’t need to bring snacks along, but a big bottle of water is encouraged. Good for re-hydrating and quick clean-ups on the go (also bring wet wipes).

3. Prep the kids

Don’t assume that just because your kids have eaten strawberries in the past that they’re qualified for strawberry picking. My kids had only ever seen red strawberries, but that didn’t stop them from picking all the small white/green unripe berries they could find. We had to have a quick team meeting to re-strategize and explain what was ripe to pick. Before getting in the fields, let your kids know only to pick the red strawberries. Tell them not to pick any that are smashed, mushy (overly-ripe) or covered in mud. Most farms grow their strawberries in elevated mounds covered with a tarp that keeps the berries off the ground and out of the mud. It never hurts to remind the kids which berries to pick and which to pass on.

Also, advise your kids to be kind to the plants. Don’t step on them (step/jump over them to get to the next row), don’t pick berries you don’t intend to eat/keep, leave unripe berries on the vine and try not to crowd others. Let them know that they’re allowed to eat as many berries as they want, but encourage them to eat the entire berry once they’ve taken a bite out of it.

Once you’re in the fields, there probably won’t be any bathrooms, so make sure the kids go before heading out to pick.

4. Let them run wild

Strawberry picking is a great opportunity to give your kids a bit of independence and let them do things their own way. As I mentioned above, strawberries grow low and you can see a very long way when picking. It’s okay to let them explore a bit on their own, rows away. Give each kid a basket and monitor their picking. Also, allow them to choose berries on their own and take ownership of their baskets. Trust me, your kids will appreciate the freedom and be so proud of themselves and the strawberries they picked.

5. Enjoy your berries

If you’ve never had freshly picked strawberries straight from the vine, you are going to be blown away. They are so sweet, juicy, and soft. Nothing like those cold rock hard berries you buy in the grocery store. The big red strawberries you bring home are going to be uber-ripe and ready for immediate consumption. Not totally necessary (unless your drive home is a beast and it’s miserable hot), but it’s never a bad idea to bring a cooler along so you can throw your strawberries on ice when you get back to the car.

Once you get home, immediately soak the berries in cold water and chill them in the fridge to keep them fresh longer. If you’re not going to be able to use/eat them right away, hull them and freeze them. The biggest/ripest berries are best eaten plain (or maybe with a little chocolate sauce or a dollop of whipped cream). Smaller/firmer berries are great for pies and jams. Frozen berries are perfect for throwing in smoothies or turning into popsicles or ice cream. The possibilities are endless!

Have you gone strawberry picking with your kids?
MCFAMILY
Welcome to Run Wild My Child
- May 1, 2017
HELLO THERE!

Hi and welcome to RUN WILD MY CHILD, your one-stop shop for all things kid-friendly and outdoorsy. This website is dedicated to getting kids (and parents) outside and back into nature, one adventure at a time. Whether it’s through family travel, nature crafts, forest school lessons or outdoors games and activities, we know that kids are happiest and learn best when they’re outside, exploring and getting their hands dirty. (more…)