Children love nature, and our family likes to be outside, exploring, getting muddy, climbing trees, splashing in water, finding bugs (well, some of us like this), getting sandy, climbing rocks, and looking at all of God’s wonderful creations.

Since the day I was assured by an earnest 3-year old that all of worms under our dining room table needed a new home inside, and would stay under the table because they were good listeners, we usually keep the bugs outside :)

Not so much in this house, but in prior houses I was forever picking up sticks that found their way inside and tossing them in the trash. Each child has a precious collection of rocks, shells, feathers, bones (thanks, Nana), and other strange nature treasures. Danny currently has a half-disintegrated dead Monarch butterfly on his shelf. It makes me sad to look at, because the vibrancy and beauty is long gone; it’s now a tattered and broken thing, but it’s a prized possession for sure. Maria has a whole sand collection in her room. She has over 50 jars of sand from all over the world, and that was one of the first things she wanted to pack in the last move, just to make sure her collection came to the new house. Jack has a shelf full of rocks, and we break out the rock tumbler now and again just to see what happens to the treasures we put inside. I had a collection of sand dollars and shells that I moved around for years until I became a wanna-be minimalist and tossed them.

What is it about nature that makes kids —and adults— want to collect, examine and even display? I don’t know. But I do believe there are few things more rewarding than letting children immerse themselves in all kinds of nature’s wonders.

TIPS:

• When outside, look for different colors, textures, shapes and scents.

• Think of all your senses!

• Use tweezers, magnifying glasses and scissors to “dissect” elements.

• Sort objects by color, shape, texture or size.

• Let the children explore without too much input from you. If they need help, jump in!

• This is a great activity for discussing changing seasons and animal/bug habitats!

• Teach and follow “leave no trace.” Please don’t break or uproot plants. Use things that have naturally fallen to the ground.