How To Fight Bed Bugs

Stay close -
Reconnecting with nature can start by encouraging your kids to feed the animals which already visit your backyard. Stringing popcorn and dried fruit provides both embellishment and nourishment. Birdbaths attract the birds, while feeders keep them coming back for more. With a field guide to local birds nearby, every person will have fun identifying the many visitors.

You can help your kids "create" nature by giving them their own organery area and helping them select plants which will attract butterflies (many have "butterfly" right in their name). Common flowers, such as Bee Balm, Aster, Yarrow and Lilac, are also great at attracting butterflies.

Gregg Steiner is the president of Green Life Guru, which advises businesses and home owners on how to live a "greener" life. He sees organic vegetable gardening as one way to get kids back into nature. "It helps to teach them where food comes from and that food doesn't just magically appear at the grocery store," says Steiner. In his experience, children enjoy planting the seeds, pulling the weeds, and especially, "watching something they worked on grow into something beautiful and delicious."

Nighttime is the right time -
A great time to enjoy nature is during a night hike - taking in all the sounds and smells. Or throw down a blanket and relax under the stars. If you have camping gear, use it right in the back yard! It's as fun as any forest - but with indoor plumbing!

Robert Bixler is a professor in the group of Parks, Recreation and Tourism management at Clemson University in South Carolina. He advises parents to cover a flashlight with red transparent film (to protect night vision) and have their kids try a nighttime insect hunt or the straightforward task of catching lightning bugs.

Fairy houses -
Other ideas come from children themselves. At eight years old, Skylar T. Of Fairfield, Connecticut hadn't lost a tooth. Craving a visit from a fairy, she built her first fairy house and has been hooked ever since. "Fairy Houses" are small habitats, built with natural materials (sticks, pinecones, seashells) and a child's imagination. They may be created anywhere, but the best ones blend in with their surroundings, so that they are approximately private (except from fairies on their nightly visits)! Children enjoy checking on their creations in the morning. "I want to see what they did, what they ate," says Skylar. She has made chairs, beds, swings and even puny cups, using the tops of acorns. "Just don't make them with features or leaves on a windy day!" Skylar advises.

Hiking with a purpose -
Ann Kinder of Lisle, Illinois finds letterboxing to be a great way to seek nature. "It's basically like a treasure hunt. people bury letterboxes and post clues online," says Kinder. Although you've probably never stumbled upon one, these puny boxes are private all over the country. Each package holds a rubber stamp, ink pad and a notebook. The "hunters" also carry a stamp, ink and notebook. When a letterbox is discovered the hunter gets to put their family stamp in the boxes' notebook, along with the date and their hometown.

They use the stamp from the box to mark their own notebook. "It may sound a puny strange, but I went with friends and their kids and we all had so much fun. We found 3 letterboxes that day," Kinder proudly reports.

Misha Galley is the mom of two sons, ages seven and 12 years. She describes this hobby as "hiking, treasure hunting, secret-keeping and a puny arts and crafts." Her family starts online, choosing letterboxes which have been private recently and have straight-forward clues. Then they head out following the clues, checking for specific markers, and sometimes counting their steps. "When you think you know where it's private you have to be truthful that any 'muggles' on the trail don't catch wind of what you are doing - it's a private activity," Galley adds in a whisper.

Calling all Junior Rangers -

Fran Mainella, is the old director of the National Park Service. She encourages young people to seek the junior ranger positions that are offered at many national and state parks. To become a "Junior Ranger" kids need to visit a park which supports this schedule and unblemished a series of fun and educational activities. Once they share their answers with a park ranger they receive an official Junior Ranger badge and certificate.

Down time -
Another idea comes from Dr. Susan Kuczmarski, author of The family Bond (McGraw-Hill). She sees big benefits for kids that enjoy what she calls "hammock time." "This means doing nothing. Daydreaming, hanging out, getting lost in your thoughts, doodling," says Kuczmarski. "Too much focus on busy activities and games leaves very puny time to dream, wonder, reflect, and discover," she adds. A quite spot under a shade tree, or a big umbrella at a around park, is the exquisite place to let your child sit and dream.

Whether your kids prefer to become junior rangers, or veg-out under a weeping willow, every person enjoys a trip to the local arboretum, botanical organery or forest preserve. While hiking a trail, kids simply find all sorts of things to keep their interest.

While historically, each year brought an addition amount of visitors to Us forest preserves, since 1987 there's been a steady decline. This drop is balanced by a rise in video games, movies and web surfing. When it comes to the future of our environment, this can't be viewed as a step in the right direction. However, with a puny planning and the sharing of ideas, we can turn the tide and get our kids out of the house, and back into nature.