Getting your family outside — but at a safe distance from other people — can help them become more resilient. "Your vitamin D level goes down if you spend too much time indoors," says a proponent of food-based health practices and nature therapy. However, a growing amount of scientific data links Vitamin N (for Nature) to lower stress, improve mental and physical health, and improve cognitive performance.
Choose a sitting spot.
Children and adults should discover a particular spot in Nature, whether it's beneath a tree at the end of the yard, a hidden bend of a stream, or a rooftop garden, according to Jon Young, one of the world's foremost nature educators and writer of Coyote's Guide. He writes, Know it by day; know it by night; know it in the rain and the snow, in the dead of winter and the heat of summer. Know the birds that reside there, as well as the trees in which they live. Learn as much as you can about these things as though they were your relatives.
Won't you be able to go outside today? Create a window through which you may observe the rest of the world.
Shortly, you should avoid visiting major national parks, which see considerably bigger people than usual, causing alarm among employees and health officials.
Do you have any dirt?
Set aside a section of land in the backyard for the children to dig in. According to research, children's immune systems are strengthened when they play in the dirt, but their immune systems are weakened when they avoid it. Norman McGee of South Carolina purchased a truckload of dirt and delivered it to his yard for his children to dig in. He claims the dirt mound was less expensive than a video game and lasted far longer.
Look for Nature wherever you go — and make more of it.
Finding Urban Nature, a National Geographic online resource, can assist city residents. Check out the National Wildlife Federation's advice on creating a backyard wildlife habitat if you have a yard: "By establishing a modest garden that offers habitat, you may entice animals back to your yard and community. Imagine a garden full of chirping songbirds, bright butterflies, flying hummingbirds, and other tiny wildlife.
Plant or adopt a family or friendship tree.
Whether you live in a heavily crowded metropolitan area, a suburb, or a tiny town, nurturing Nature is a beneficial activity to perform. Adopt or plant a tree to commemorate significant family events such as holidays, births, deaths, and marriages. Tree-planting options are listed on the Arbor Day Foundation's website. Check your adopted tree or shrub once a week to see if anything has changed.
Become a digital wildlife observer.
Thanks to the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Conservation Training Center, you can see a bald eagle nest in real-time. It's one of several virtual wildlife watching venues available online. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology welcomes the public to participate in the Celebrate Urban Birds initiative, including Spanish and English links to bird cams and kits. Gardening, creating nature-related art, and observing neighborhood birds are all encouraged as part of the initiative, with data being sent online to Cornell Lab scientists.
Give a book that will motivate you to go on an outdoor excursion.
Most of us can recall our favorite picture books, early and middle reader novels, and young adult literature from our youth. The novels that parents and other family members enjoyed as youngsters will have an exceptional value for children as gift books. Children's books about adventure and amazement are more likely to motivate them to go outside than environmental sermons.
Make up your nature tales.
Many individuals shared their experiences of transforming encounters and profound ties with different animals when I was researching and publishing Our Wild Calling. Sometimes it's a pet, and other times it's a wild animal — a coyote strolling across the yard, a mother raccoon with her young, an injured bird being nursed back to health. These stories had much importance for the storytellers, and that meaning became more robust as they retold them.
Some further thoughts. Boredom is grossly undervalued. And, on occasion, so is hope. Boredom may lead to creativity when school is closed due to poor weather or sickness. Parents often hear the whining complaint, "I'm bored," especially during the summer. Fear's boring cousin is boredom. It may keep youngsters away from Nature—or push them to it—because it is passive and full of excuses. Many of us remember how perfectly planned events paled compared to more spontaneous ones and how boredom drove us to make up our own stories, which we still tell now. It's even more essential to share those experiences during terrible times.
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