Show of hands of all you city-dwelling parents that want to incorporate more nature into your child’s life, but feel inhibited due to your urban surroundings. Today’s post is for YOU! Being outdoors and immersed in nature isn’t just for kids that live in the country. An outdoor lifestyle and love of nature are possible to foster no matter where you live. I’m thrilled to have Amber Richcreek of The Playful Learner here today sharing all kinds of ways you can find nature in the city. Because one the of benefits of living in a big city is easy-access to so many wonderful things — nature should be one of them! Today, we’ll show you how to make that happen.
City vs. nature
I’ve spent a lot of my life completely immersed in natural settings. I grew up in the middle of nowhere on an acre of land, right by a national forest in the mountains of New Mexico. My husband and I fell in love while traveling the United States and hiking through national parks. Spending time outdoors is one of our favorite things to do together.
However, before having kids, immersing myself in nature felt like an all or nothing thing. I lived in the city; nature was something I visited on the weekends and on vacation. We were living in Seattle when we had our first son. Shortly thereafter, we moved north to a smaller city with a population 87,000 residents. It’s not as urban as Seattle, but it’s still substantial. We live about a 15-minute walk to downtown and just a couple blocks off from a major street.
Prioritizing outdoor time
This past year when choosing my New Year’s resolution, I sat down and reflected the things that are most important to me and the values I want to instill in my children. I then wrote out a schedule of the things we actually do every day to see how the two listed compared. At the top of my “values” list was spending time nature and instilling a sense of love and responsibility for Mother Earth in my kids. However, while spending time in nature was at the top of my values list, I realized we almost never went outside! That’s when I knew that I needed to make nature a part of our daily lives, no matter where we lived.
We are a one-car family and my husband uses that car to commute every day, so driving into the country with my children isn’t an option on the weekdays. We needed to figure out ways to incorporate nature into our daily lives with just walking nearby, or maybe a bus. I no longer wanted the excuse of living in a city to stop us from connecting with the environment and spending time outdoors. I realized that being immersed in nature couldn’t be all or nothing anymore. It’s too important and shouldn’t have to wait for the weekends or vacation. We need more nature every day!
Ways to find urban nature in the city
When you live in the country it’s easy to immerse yourself in nature. It’s obvious…nature’s right there! But when you’re in a city it’s easy to forget that nature is still all around you and never far away. Research has shown that having even just a little bit of natural settings in an urban environment can help with anxiety and depression. Finding those little pockets of Mother Earth for our children isn’t just a nice idea; it’s essential for their mental health!
Today I’m here to share some simple ways we’ve put urban nature into our every day lives in the city. I hope these ideas will inspire more city-dwelling parents to get outside more with their kids and explore. Because nature really is all around, you just have to look for it!
Look up
We live in the Pacific Northwest so we have plenty of clouds. I’ve taken to pointing them out to my son. Looking for familiar shapes in the clouds, and telling the weather. Now, instead of only looking up for airplanes and helicopters, we look up to find birds, bees and butterflies. We lay under trees in the park and watch the sky shine through the leaves, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fresh air.
We also love looking up at the night sky, too. While city lights may block out some stars, the moon is almost always visible. We observe the phases of the moon and watch for special lunar events, like new moons, supermoons and blood moons.
Look down
Nature is literally right there at your feet! Make sure to look down occasionally and your child will be delighted to find a variety of insects, crawly critters, worms and even flowers growing through the pavement. Little ones are so close to the ground already, it gives them a great vantage point for discoveries. I only had to point out natural novelties on the ground a couple times before my son started finding these things (and more) on his own.
And while your child is looking down, let them turn over stones and look for rolly-pollies. Point out any mushrooms your find or pinecones that have fallen from trees. There are all kinds of discoveries kids can make just by being observant of what’s right at their feet.
Watching a favorite tree through the seasons
My son has a cherry tree right outside his bedroom window. We started watching it when it was beginning to sprout new buds and leaves after the winter. It was a beautiful pink in the spring, and so we call it “Solomon’s Pink Tree.” Now, this tree is part of our morning ritual. We look out his bedroom window to check on his pink tree every day, observing it through the seasons and watching how it changes. Sometimes in the afternoons we’ll go outside and sit under it, have a picnic or read a book. We hung a bird feeder on a branch and now we love watching the birds eat, communicate and chase each other. Our tree is located on that strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street, but it’s our own little slice of Mother Earth, right in the city.
Parks aren’t just playgrounds
Almost every city has hidden away parks filled with nature. We are lucky to have a lot of parks in our city. Before my New Year’s goal to spend more time in nature, we would go to the park just for the playground and then head home. However, I recently discovered that parks have so much more to offer than playground equipment! Now, we make a point to walk around and explore the whole area, including any wooded areas, creeks, and streams.
Some of our parks have perfectly landscaped nature that’s not meant for exploring. In that instance, we just look. We listen for bird songs, look for nests, point to the different flowers and plants, watch for squirrels, etc. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to find a city park with some wild nature we’re allowed to explore! I usually do a quick visual check that there are no homeless people sleeping in the bushes (we are in a city, after all) , and then allow my son to explore around as he chooses.
Neighborhoods
We feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful neighborhood surrounded by neighbors who love to garden. On days when a trek to the park isn’t in the cards, we’ll stick closer to home and just circle the block and enjoy our neighbor’s yards and gardens. One of our neighbors even has chickens! My son constantly requests to “visit the chickens.” Some of our neighbors have vegetable gardens, and that sparks conversations about how much of our food comes from Mother Earth.
We love playing iSpy in our neighborhood or going on a neighborhood scavenger hunt. It’s amazing how much nature you can find on your own street if you’re actively out looking for nature.
Community gardens
We rent, so, unfortunately, we cannot plant our own garden, but we’re on the waitlist for a plot in the community garden. Lots of cities have community gardens for those that rent or don’t have space in their yard. Community gardens are a series of plots where you can rent out a garden box or two and grow your own flowers, fruits or veggies.
When we lived in Seattle, I worked at a preschool with a drab, metal, green-less playground that jutted out into a parking lot. However, across the street we had a large plot in the community garden. Together, our school community and the children built a beautiful little oasis in the city with climbing peas, lush greens and potato buckets. It’s amazing how children will eat kale by the handful when you tell them, “You can eat that plant!” If you have a yard or garden, encourage that! And if not, look into your city’s community garden options. Even if you have a black thumb like me, the experience of digging in the dirt and trying is worth it.
Making small changes
That realization about my imbalance of values and time followed by implementing these simple changes has impacted our lives dramatically for the better. Getting outdoors and into nature is no longer an all or nothing thing for us; it’s a part of our daily lives. It’s had a huge effect on my older son and how he views the outdoors. Two-year-olds are like little mirrors, they mimic our habits and phrases. I’ve found that now on walks my son will say things like “Look at this flower, mama!” or “What’s this, mama?” as he picks up a pinecone, rock or leaf. It’s not sweeping mountain views or acreage of pasture or long hikes through national parks, but it’s still impactful. Even just small changes of getting outside a few minutes every day or a few times a week can make a huge difference. Every time we go outside my children are learning to cherish nature, and pay attention to it in their everyday lives. And that’s the best way to start.
Hi, I’m Amber! I’m a preschool teacher by trade but currently a stay-at-home-mom of two boys (8 months and 2 1/2). We live in the Pacific Northwest, where I spend my time playing, writing, reading, and taking photos. I blog about play-based learning in the home at ThePlayfulLearner.com.
Find me on Instagram @AmberRoseCreek.