We enjoy studying nature. What child doesn’t really? They love learning about the world – smelling flowers, digging in the dirt for worms, watching ants build hills, and feeding the birds and squirrels. We do the nature walk thing regularly. Looking for new things in nature all the time, watching birds on our walks and looking for toads along the creek side. The kids are always curious and seem to be seeing the world with eyes that I don’t remember. It is new and exciting to them and it makes it fun!
Even though we live in the city and don’t have a rolling countryside surrounding us, we decided to make our backyard a nature study all by itself. Here are some ways to make your backyard a nature study.
1 – Plant a Wildflower Garden – You can very inexpensively plant a backyard wildflower garden. We planted one in the corner of our backyard planting flowers that specifically attract hummingbirds (at my daughter’s request). We are considering adding another wildflower section to the side of the house that attracts a different type of bird. That way we are able to observe several types of birds in our yard. This gives us the opportunity to have birds that frequent our bird feeders and bird watch right from our back patio.
2 – Add a Squirrel and/or Bird Feeder – You can make a homemade bird feeder or squirrel feeder with just some household products. We found some easy do-it-yourself feeders on Pinterest and were able to add them to the trees in the backyard and even on the fence in order to attract and feed birds and squirrels. We have even found some rabbits taking advantage of it. This gives the kids the opportunity to see additional wildlife in our backyard.
3 – Have a Designated Digging Place – One of the things that we love to have in the yard is a designated area for digging. Since the kids LOVE to dig for rolly pollys and worms, we have a place for them to dig and explore. For one, it encourages digging, planting, and building in the outdoors at the same time keeping the digging in the designated areas and not in the vegetable garden or the flower beds. The kids love seeing what they can find digging and exploring.
Are there ways that you make your backyard a nature study? We would love to hear about them.
Great entry! The only thing I could add is watering garden from the wading pool and getting them to help you weed or identify edible wild plants.
Barb Klein
Thanks Barb. Yes, those are good ideas. I like the edible wild flowers idea. My daughter would love that. May have to incorporate that. Thanks for the comment.
Tawnee recently posted…3 Ways to Make Your Backyard a Nature Study