Getting out and moving around is a great way for both adults and children to get or stay healthy. Children not only discover nature’s wonders in a unique way during each outing, but it is also a great way for them to avoid obesity and ailments, which derive from lack of movement. Instead of grabbing the next bag of chips and watching excessive TV, your kids will quickly get in the habit of wanting to get out and make things happen in the lap of nature. They might just have so much fun doing so that they’ll want to show their kids the great outdoors one day.

        How can parents make it more interesting for their kids to get out and enjoy nature?

        Lead by example. If you are truly interested in the outdoors, then half the battle is won. Just be yourself, get out, and enjoy nature. Children will sense your enjoyment and will soon follow. Pretty soon, your children will be pulling YOU off the couch to jog on the moss-bedded forest path, jump from rock to rock along the stream, or simply look and listen to the sights and sounds of the surroundings while taking the daily family walk.

        Make reading children’s books about nature exploration part of your regular reading routine to your children. Let your child choose his or her favorite book character – be it a boy, girl, or animal. Discuss that character’s discoveries in nature and compare them to those you and your child make. If the character made certain discoveries that you can realistically see or do in nature near you, make that your goal on your next expedition. Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, and friends set out in the Hundred Acre Woods to find the North Pole. The pole turned out being a long branch that they loudly exclaimed to be the North Pole.

        In other words, your goals or discussions in nature don’t always have to be too serious or scientific. It’s about having fun and bonding. The stories you read and the goals you set before you take your walks give you and your child the possibility to talk about your expectations before leaving home and discoveries while in nature. They give you something to refer to during your walks or swims – even something to be silly about, laugh about.

        Sitting at the dinner table can sometimes be boring for a kid. But if you start talking about the color of a flower you saw with your children or the height of the grass in a meadow that they barely found their way through, a visual world opens in front of their very eyes and they get hungry to discover more. As much as possible, let your children tell the story about what they saw in nature. You can fill in some of the gaps. There will be lots of gaps still remaining, though. It is exactly those gaps you can discuss filling on your next walk. For example what color exactly was that lichen on the tree or the fuzzy bumblebee?

        Offer habit and variety: Children love ritual. So do take those walks along the same path. But also offer variety. Take a bike ride on a new path, go for a swim in a different lake, or ride a pony with your children. Your children will continue to feel the warmth of the better-known “home” path. But an occasional change of pace will help expand their horizons and wake their curiosity even more.

        Include other children: Bring the neighbors’ kids along. Children usually love their parents. But when children see that other children are also interested in climbing trees in the woods and playing hide-and-seek in the yard, they will be that much more motivated to get out. Inspire them to do whatever most interests them.

        進行戶外運動,對成人和孩子們來說,都是獲得和保持健康的一個極好的方式.孩子們不只在每次戶外運動中以特別的方式來發現自然奇觀,而且對他們來說,也是一種避免由缺乏運動而引起肥胖和郁悶的極好的方式,用于取代再來一包薯片和無度的看電視,你的孩子們會很快養成想出外,在大自然的懷抱中活動的習慣.總有一天,他們可能會覺得如此好玩,以至于他們想讓他們的孩子們在戶外多做運動.

        父母們如何使孩子們的戶外活動和享受自然更加有趣?

        首先,如果你確實對戶外運動感興趣,那么就成功一半了?你自己出去,享受自然,孩子們就會感到你的樂趣,而且很快就會跟隨,不久,在進行每日家庭漫步時,你的孩子們一定會把你從睡椅上拉下來,去滿是青苔的林蔭小道慢跑,或是沿著小溪上的石頭跳來跳去,或僅是簡單的欣賞自然美景和聆聽周圍的聲音.

        在你的日常閱讀中, 為你的孩子們讀些有關自然探險的兒童書,讓你的孩子選出他或她最喜愛的書中角色----一個男孩,女孩或是動物.和孩子討論這些角色的發現,把這些發現比喻成你和你的孩子們做的.如果這些角色的某些發現,你在附近的自然中能夠真實的看到或是做到.那么進入下一個探險目標,"Winnie th Pooh"中的魯濱遜和他的朋友們從阿克里森林出發尋找北極.樹桿長出一個長枝,他們就大叫發現了北極.

        換句話說,你在自然中的目標或是討論,不用總是十分認真或是科學,有趣和吸引人就夠了,在你散步之前,你所講的故事和你所定的目標,要先給你和你孩子們留下談論你的期望的可能,再走出家門和丟棄發現.它們會給你在散步或游泳時,留下談論的話題------甚至一些話題有些愚蠢,可笑.

        坐在餐桌上等開飯,孩子們有時會覺得無聊.但是如果你和你孩子們談論你所看到的花兒的色彩或是他們所想象的牧場青草的高度.那么一個栩栩如生的世界展現在他們特別的眼睛里,他們會渴望了解更多.盡可能多地,讓孩子們講述他們在自然中的發現.你去填補一些漏洞,雖然仍然會有許多漏洞留下,但是這些漏洞你正可以在下一次活動中討論填補.例如樹上的青苔或是有絨毛的大黃蜂到底是什么顏色的?

        同時提供習慣和變化:孩子們喜歡老規矩,所以在同一條路上做同樣的活動.但也可以有些變化,如在一條新路上騎自行車,在另一個湖里游泳,或是和你的孩子騎馬.你的孩子們會持續地感到熟知的"家庭"之路的溫情,但是偶爾改變習慣,會有助于拓寬孩子們的視野,和更多地喚起他們的好奇心.

        把其他的孩子們也算進去:把鄰居的孩子們也帶來,孩子們通常熱愛他們的父母,但當孩子們看到其他孩子也喜歡在樹林里爬樹,在庭院里捉迷藏時,會更多地刺激他們進行戶外活動.激勵他們去做他們所感興趣的事情.