Mosquitoes can be the bane of summer evenings. Luckily, there are animals that love to eat them as an evening snack. Small bats such as the Little Brown Bat are voracious mosquito-eaters. They also love other small insects like moths. To go bat watching, you will need a small flashlight or headlamp. If possible, place red cellophane over the lamps and flashlights. It helps reduce the amount of light that the forest animals see, and this will make it easier to spot animals in the dark. The ideal time of year to go bat-watching is late summer, when the children … Continue reading →

Looking for a hands-on nature project to do this summer? Bats have been both feared and revered, and the places where they live have been feared as well. Wetlands are disappearing, particularly in urban areas. They are places where mosquitoes grow, and they have been subject to pesticide use and infill. Since North American bats tend to eat mosquitoes and live near ponds, their populations have also been challenged by the damage to their habitat. Bats also like to live in small crevices under tree bark and in rocky cliffs. Old trees are also disappearing, but your children can help … Continue reading →

Going on a night walk? Exploring the forest at night is a good way to increase children’s understanding of the life that goes on while they are asleep. Animals such as owls, bats, and flying squirrels are most active around dusk and dawn and in the evening. Go to a forested area or field that is very close to your home to make it easier to get home after the walk. You can either walk through the forest or explore in one small area. If you decide to go on a walk, make sure that you walk the area during … Continue reading →

In my other life, I’m an outdoor educator at a local nature center. This summer, I’m inviting you on a journey into my world – the world of science and nature education. From activity ideas to crafts to books and curriculum, we’ll explore ideas that will inspire you to engage in real life, hands-on science education outdoors. But before we start, let’s take a look at the reasons why children should learn outside. Nature provides challenges that are different than the challenges children will encounter in other contexts. In a playground, children certainly encounter physical challenges. However, these challenges are … Continue reading →

Some of us enjoy gardening. Some of have children who enjoy gardening. Others are not so lucky. Ah, it is far from the days when my daughter used to look at me adoringly and follow my every move. I think that happened for a few months, anyway. It didn’t last. Now, she’s much more interested in doing her own thing. If I suggest an activity that I enjoy and she does not, faces are made. Sure, we still do activities that she’s not particularly fond of, but I don’t like to push the matter. I want her to love gardening … Continue reading →

Yes, I bark with my daughter. Sometimes I even run around on all fours in the living room. But I haven’t WOOFed with her, at least not yet. This past January we trekked to Costa Rica, where we spent several weeks on an organic dairy farm. We got to help feed the calves and participated to a small degree in farm life. What is WOOFing? It’s World Wide Workers on Organic Farms. It’s a farm-based volunteer opportunity for individuals and for families. For a small membership fee, you can get listings for farms around the world that offer food and … Continue reading →

After our successful adventure into the world of the chicken this February, we decided to delve right into the invertebrate area of the zoo. By that I mean we’re raising butterflies. This we’ve done before, at least we’ve done it at my daughter’s preschool. I quickly realized that having someone else coordinate the entire thing for you is not quite the same as doing it yourself. Butterflies require an enclosure. For us, a Rubbermaid bin with PVC pipes stuck to the sides works well. We’ve enclosed the entire thing in a mesh canopy that I got for free. It’s a … Continue reading →

We love vegetables that come in boxes in the summer time and the fall. We love them because we love to visit the farm that they come from, because we know the farmer, and because they vegetables are local, fresh, and good for us. However, we also love them because they hold a lot of useful lessons for our family. Getting farm fresh vegetables helps your children understand the seasons. Around here, there are very distinct growing and dormant seasons, yet we can get fresh strawberries and lettuce all year round. While this is useful for cooking, it doesn’t really … Continue reading →

This February we raised chickens. Now, we don’t live on a farm. Oh no. Our farm is a three-bedroom townhouse, and two of the bedrooms are occupied by people. Our farm is actually more like a one-room show. Of course, we didn’t get to keep the chicks. Before they learned how to fly up onto my library shelves, they went back to the farm where they began. But for a few weeks we had some fantastic and very educational pets. When I was in grade three, I visited a farm where there were chicks and ducklings. I was entranced. I’ve … Continue reading →

What’s green and brown all over? A farm, of course! Every spring, more and more families are heading back to the farm. They don’t necessarily live there, but they’re flocking to farms in ever-greater numbers to connect themselves and their children with their source of food and the farmers who grow it. In our community, urban agriculture is booming. This morning we are going to the grand opening of a small urban farm, one that was born out of the abandoned end of a soccer field. It was relatively unused land, so the city donated it and it is becoming … Continue reading →