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This guest post was written by Eva Petruzziello, Editor-in-Chief of                      Simple n’ Delight, a website about sustainable living. Eva also currently teaches a split grade half French Immersion class in the inner city of Toronto, Canada. Eva incorporates outdoor education in her teaching and focuses many of her lessons on eco-initiatives. She lives with her husband and two young children. She maintains a healthy lifestyle by eating sustainably, exercising daily, and practicing mindfulness.

As a parent and elementary school teacher working in the inner city, I often struggle to keep students motivated, engaged, and attentive. Students are often struggling with family issues, poor nutrition, and problems with self-regulation. The pandemic has only exacerbated these issues, as children have been largely kept indoors. It has made it more difficult for them to concentrate and stay motivated to learn.

Outdoor education programs give children the skills they need to remain emotionally regulated and resilient, while also promoting the mental and physical well-being needed for children to succeed. We are seeing an increase in research about how outdoor education programs are beneficial to children. As a result, I have altered my focus to include more outdoor, cross-curricular activities for both my own children and my students. I have seen a clear connection between outdoor learning and focus. When children are stuck inside all day in a classroom, they rarely engage, have trouble paying attention, and show a lack of self-control. On the other hand, I have found that children are calmer and feel a greater sense of autonomy when given the freedom to conquer challenges while outside.

Benefits of Outdoor Education

Here are a few emotional benefits of outdoor education:

Improves Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is an important emotional skill that children are still learning to control in the primary grades. The confines of indoor space can make some children feel anxious and trapped. In addition, indoor learning often involves a screen or paper and is directed at a certain type of learner. Many children are kinesthetic learners who require the physical dimension to learn. These children can often feel disconnected and have challenges with self-regulation because their needs are not being met.

Bringing experiences outside and giving children clear goals can help with many aspects of self-regulation. Often, louder children become quieter and more controlled when outdoors because they are not restricted by the quiet atmosphere of the classroom. Overall, students are calmer and have a greater ability to self-regulate their behavior when outdoors.

Many lessons can be easily transferred to outdoor learning. For example, when studying symmetry in mathematics, students find it more engaging to study the natural world. Because they find a greater connection in the outdoors, their behavior is more regulated.

Develops a Greater Sense of Purpose

Outdoor education encompasses various learning styles, allowing students to learn intellectually and physically while utilizing all of their five senses. These types of experiences help kids realize how to become involved to accomplish the task at hand, which gives them a greater sense of purpose. When outside, teamwork with other children is often encouraged. This allows kids to feel purposeful in the role they can play in the group and how they can make a difference. All of these aspects of outdoor education ultimately help strengthen their sense of purpose.

Builds Feelings of Gratitude

Gratitude is a key tool for improving emotional well-being. It allows kids to focus on the positive aspects of their lives despite the many hardships they may be facing. Teaching children to have gratitude at a young age cultivates happier adults. Our school has been incorporating the science of gratitude into our programs. As a result, we have seen a vast improvement in emotional behavior. I like to give students time to express gratitude in a designated journal. Bringing learning outdoors can have a big impact on the gratitude children feel in their lives. They often express gratitude for simple things like their pets, a rainbow, the sky, and other aspects of nature. Outdoor education can be an effective way to encourage a positive gratitude practice in children’s lives.

Boosts Understanding

When educational skills are applied beyond the classroom, children acquire a greater sense of connection and understanding. They develop a real-life context of what is being taught and how it can be applied in real-time. When kids gain an understanding of why they are learning something, they have more desire to become invested in the topic. They even feel a greater sense of control over their learning. Any aspect of the curriculum can be easily extended and translated into an outdoor space. Math, science, art, language, health, and physical education can all be enriched when brought outdoors.

How You Can Move Towards Outdoor Education

There are so many emotional benefits of outdoor education for children. You will begin to see your kids develop a greater sense of focus, concentration, and engagement when they break away from many aspects of traditional indoor learning.

Most children are still taught in an indoor classroom setting, but more and more outdoor education options are popping up. If you are interested in exploring this type of education option for your family, check out organizations such as Free Forest School, Forest School For All, and Waldorf Education.

You can also carve out more time for your family to spend outdoors in nature. Citizen science projects are a wonderful way to link learning to the outdoors. Another idea is to sign your kids up for extracurricular activities that take place outdoors, such as nature clubs, sports programs, outdoor yoga classes, outdoor volunteer projects, and nature photography or other nature art programs. And don’t forget summer camp!

Do you ever encourage your kids to play in the dirt? It is certainly no fun as a parent to have to clean up muddy children after they have been rolling around outside, but now scientists tell us that getting dirty can actually be good for our well-being. According to the National Wildlife Federation’s The Dirt on Dirt pamphlet, “Making direct contact with soil, whether through gardening, digging for worms, or making mud pies, has been shown to improve mood, reduce anxiety, and facilitate learning.” And this advice isn’t just for our kids–we can benefit from soil as well.

Research on Soil Benefits

The secret is in the microscopic bacteria found naturally in soil. Believe it or not, the discovery that soil could improve mental health was made by accident. In 2004, Dr. Mary O’Brien, an oncologist in London, published a paper with unexpected results. After injecting lung cancer patients with a common soil bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae (not live) to see if it could prolong their life, she found that it significantly improved their mood and quality of life. Her patients reported feeling happier and more energetic. This spurred additional research over the years.

A few years later, neuroscientist Dr. Christopher Lowry injected Mycobacterium vaccae into mice and observed them during a series of stress tests. The mice injected with the bacteria showed less stressed behavior than other mice. Lowry and his team explained that the bacteria activated neurons in the brain responsible for producing serotonin. This interaction is very similar to how antidepressants work and how we feel more positive emotions after physical exercise. In addition, the neurons that lit up were related to the immune response, suggesting a connection between the immune system and emotional health. Lowry’s research also found that eating the bacteria could result in the same benefits. He went on to conduct follow-up studies over the years that confirm the positive effect of the bacteria on mental health.

An intriguing study in 2020 found that playing in a forest-like environment can alter children’s microbiome in a positive way. Daycares in Finland created such an environment by rolling out a lawn, planting forest undergrowth, and having the children care for crops in planter boxes. As a result, the diversity of microbes in their guts and on their skin was healthier after about a month. Compared to other children in the city who play in standard urban daycares with schoolyards made of pavement, tile, and gravel, these children had more diversity in their microbiome, which is linked to a healthier immune system. Also, their intestinal microbiota was similar to children visiting a forest.

What This Means for Us

It is believed that we can take in Mycobacterium vaccae by touching the soil, eating trace amounts of it on garden vegetables, and even breathing it in. The bacteria are known to thrive in typical backyard gardens or anywhere soil is enriched with organic matter. As much of society has moved away from an agricultural lifestyle to spend the majority of time indoors, we have lost contact with the microorganisms we need in our gut to help regulate our immune system. This puts us at higher risk for inflammatory disease and mental health issues like anxiety.

Activities to Engage with Soil

We can easily use this information about the mental health benefits of soil to help our family feel happier and calmer. Spending time reconnecting to the earth can improve our overall health and well-being. Here are some ways to engage with soil:

• Create a family garden in your backyard. If digging an entire garden in your backyard sounds intimidating, consider starting slow by growing a few herbs on your windowsill or one vegetable at a time in a large flowerpot. Just be sure to still touch and connect with the soil in the pots.
• If you do not have the room or desire to create a garden in your backyard, collaborate with a neighbor or purchase a plot at a local community garden to tend.
• Look for opportunities to volunteer in a local school, hospital, or community garden.
• Join a local gardening club or start one in your community.
• Volunteer at a local farm to help plant, pick, and water the produce.
• Try some earthing on the soil. Also known as grounding, earthing involves standing or walking barefoot on the ground. The goal is to walk barefoot while paying close attention to the soles of your feet as they connect with the earth’s surface.

Want to discover more nature activities to help you and your family feel happier and calmer? Check out my new book, Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer.

When I am feeling stressed, I often need to head outdoors and go for a walk where I can sort out my thoughts and feelings. There’s something so healing about being outside breathing in the fresh air, hearing the birds chirping, and enjoying views of the trees and flowers.

So many people are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, and looking for ways to feel better. Nature therapy, also called ecotherapy, is one therapeutic option. It focuses on both what we do to the earth and what the earth does for us, like improving our emotional well-being. It involves a range of practices, from animal therapy to horticultural therapy, that help us connect to nature in a mindful and meaningful way with the guidance of a trained professional. The premise is to reconnect with nature, which can help us feel more grounded, positive, relaxed, energized, and resilient.

Here are a few different types of nature therapy and what they entail:

Walk and Talk Therapy

Walk and talk therapy is becoming more popular, as therapists realize the many benefits of spending time outdoors with their patients. This type of ecotherapy involves meeting at an outdoor location like a park, pond, hiking trail, botanical garden, or urban green space to conduct the therapy session. Throughout the appointment, the therapist and patient might sit together on a bench or walk around outside. Nature is incorporated into the session as a positive distraction, to offer opportunities for mindfulness, and to guide the conversation.

Nature Prescriptions

Another type of nature therapy that is really catching on is the concept of a nature prescription. More and more pediatricians and general practitioners are turning to nature as an intervention. Just like a prescription for medication, doctors prescribe time outdoors to their patients. It can be written down on a typical prescription pad or generated electronically. To be as effective as possible, each nature prescription has a specific location, activity, frequency, and duration included.

Water Therapy

Spending time in and around water, such as the ocean, can be extremely therapeutic. Maurice “Maui” Goodbeer, Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit StreetWaves Inc., has made it his life’s mission to bring youth from under-served communities out to the ocean to swim, surf, and sail. The ocean is a place where they can escape from the chaos and find calm. StreetWaves helps children deal with their stress and fears through the healing power of the ocean. Essentially, the water becomes their therapy.

Float Therapy

Float therapy is a type of hydrotherapy typically done in a float center, but can also take place outdoors in a natural body of water. Float therapy provides a lovely relaxation experience that truly allows you to escape from your worries and just enjoy the peace and quiet of the moment. Floating is a great tool to try if you are looking for a new way to reduce stress and anxiety for you or your family. Learn more.

Nature Play Therapy

Based on play therapy, this type of nature therapy involves a therapist strategically using play activities to encourage children to express their feelings, modify behavior, and develop problem-solving skills while also incorporating aspects of the natural world into this process. Nature play therapy taps into multi-sensory aspects of nature through tactics like storytelling, sand tray play therapy, nature art, natural sounds, and other earth-based components. While a nature play therapy session can take place inside a therapist’s office, it often involves time spent outdoors. This approach helps the patient feel more relaxed and free outside compared to sitting in a small, confined office.

Adventure Therapy/Wilderness Therapy

These outdoor therapies mix traditional therapy techniques—such as talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and group therapy—with being outside in a wilderness setting. A unique aspect of these approaches is that participants work through their issues in a physical way with challenging experiences that facilitate self-discovery and personal growth while learning flow, grit, growth mindset, and self-efficacy. There is a slight distinction between the two approaches. In adventure therapy, participants engage in experiential activities that involve some level of risk that are both physically and emotionally challenging. Typical activities include backpacking expeditions, mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, doing a ropes course, geo-caching, canoeing, skiing, river rafting, and paddle boarding. With wilderness therapy, participants are immersed in nature and sense a radical change of their environment. They learn healthy coping strategies and build confidence through a daily routine in the wilderness and basic life skills like pitching a tent, starting a fire, cooking at a campsite, building a shelter, and creating primitive art and instruments. These activities and adventures help individuals feel safe and connected to their therapists, making them more open to the therapeutic process overall.

Horticultural Therapy

This practice uses plants, horticultural activities, and the garden environment to promote well-being. A therapeutic garden is designed to facilitate interaction with the healing elements of nature. The basic features of a therapeutic garden include calming entrances and paths; raised plant beds and containers; and a variety of plants selected for their color, texture, and fragrance for clients to explore with their senses. Therapy sessions are administered by professionally trained horticultural therapists. The therapist works with and guides clients in activities in a garden setting, such as planting seeds, watering, weeding, picking fruits and vegetables, making flower arrangements, composting, participating in meditation practices, and journaling about their time in the garden.

Animal Therapy

Animal therapy can look a few different ways, including engaging with emotional support animals (ESAs), participating in equine therapy, visiting a therapeutic farm, and spending time around wild animals. ESAs can be a dog, cat, or other type of pet that helps ease symptoms of an emotional or mental issue through companionship and affection. A variety of domesticated farm animals are also used for therapeutic purposes. The therapist communicates with the patient through the animal, reducing pressure on the patient. Horses are widely recognized for the therapeutic benefits; Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) involves using a horse as a therapeutic tool in which a licensed therapist and a horse professional work collaboratively with the children. Besides horses, other types of equines used in therapy include donkeys, ponies, miniature horses, and camels.

Looking for more? My book is filled with tons of ideas to connect to nature. Click below to get your copy today.

Pets can have a profound impact on our children’s well-being. Their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development improves when they interact with a pet. Walking, grooming, feeding, and playing with a pet are enjoyable activities for everyone in the family. Pets also push family members to slow down from their hectic lives, realize the importance of nature, communicate with one another, and spend quality time together relaxing with their animal friends. Learn more about the emotional benefits of having a pet dog.

Choosing the right pet for your family depends on your preferences and the demeanor of the individual animal. India Blake, award-winning photographer, animal advocate, and author of the children’s book Gypsy to the Rescue, shared the following important reasons to rescue a dog.

Save a Life

When you adopt a pet, you save a life. The number of animals that enter the shelter system is staggering, and sadly that will continue without education and awareness. Every year there are 3.3 million dogs and 3.2 million cats that enter shelters nationwide, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASCPA). People find that rescued pets show their genuine gratitude and appreciation when they finally feel safe in a home.

Select the Right Pet For Your Family

Although there’s nothing more adorable than a puppy, they can be a lot of work. Training takes time and commitment. An adult dog may be a better fit for your family. Adopting an adult dog who is already house-trained and knows basic commands is often much easier than adopting a puppy. You will also be able to see the personality of the adult animal and won’t have any surprises down the road.

Be Informed

When you buy a pet from a pet store, you have no way of knowing whether your animal will be healthy or not, because you don’t know the breeder. And, once you walk out of the store, you are on your own. Most pet stores don’t provide any support if you have questions or problems with your new pet. When you adopt, especially from a rescue group, you know what you are getting because the group has a history on the animal. The rescue group will also help you through the familiarization period because they are invested in providing a suitable home for that animal.

Take a Stand Against Puppy Mills

When you buy a pet from a pet store, you are actually supporting the puppy mills that are “breeding factories” that put profits way before the welfare of dogs. Animals from puppy mills are housed in shockingly poor conditions. Without any proper medical care, they often end up sick and are behaviorally troubled as a result. Also, the breeding mothers are kept in isolated cages with little hope of any form of companionship.

Save Money

Adopting a pet costs less money. Adoption fees are lower than buying a purebred animal for profit. The adoption fees go right back into the facility, covering expenses such as spaying or neutering and vaccinations. Many shelters and organizations also host “clear the shelters” events, and adoption fees are waived.

Set a Good Example for Children

Taking in an animal that needs a home sets a great example for your children, and teaches valuable life skills through pet ownership like responsibility. Re-homing a pet will also encourage empathy by making them think about how they have helped to give an unwanted animal a loving home. Pets can also help children with separation anxiety and provide them with security.

Looking to adopt a pet? Find your local animal shelter or contact an animal rescue organization, such as The Humane Society of the United States, Petfinder, or Adoptapet.com. They are bound to have exactly the pet you are looking for to help your family feel happier and calmer!

Have you ever encountered a wild animal that stopped you in your tracks? I will never forget seeing eagles flying over my head in Alaska. My mouth fell wide open and I could not take my eyes off those impressive creatures. When encountering animals in the wild, we often feel as though time stands still and we get lost in the moment as we observe their size, shape, sounds, color, and every move. We are intrigued and in awe. These experiences are powerful and can leave us feeling happier, calmer, and more energized.

Seeing wildlife provokes a deep sense of well-being that can lead to psychological health benefits. Our senses are heightened as we move into a state of flow where our thoughts and actions focus on spotting, watching, identifying, recording, and appreciating the wildlife around us. Being immersed in nature and among animals in the wild helps us step away from our day-to-day worries, making us feel more relaxed.

In the book Our Wild Calling: How Connecting With Animals Can Transform Our Lives—And Save Theirs, Richard Louv suggests that the next frontier in treating mental health will be to incorporate wild animals into therapy by encouraging patients to notice the animals in their yards, neighborhoods, and beyond to improve mood. For example, sharing wildlife encounters with others, such as feeding ducks, has been shown to make people happier.

Observing wildlife is a special way for us to connect to nature and feel better overall. Here are some ideas for exploring animals in the wild:

Birdwatching

Birdwatching is a lovely way for children to experience wildlife in a safe, captivating way. There are mental health benefits for those who can see birds around their home, no matter if they live in the city or suburbs. Lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress are linked to the number of birds seen, no matter the type. Birdwatching is a form of mindfulness that can help us feel calmer as we focus on finding the birds soaring through the sky or perched up on top of a tree branch. It requires patience, stillness, silence, and slow breathing to be able to catch a glimpse of vibrant feathers.

Birdsong, in particular, is especially comforting. I find chirping birds to be extremely peaceful—and I am not alone. Listening to birdsong can help restore attention and decrease stress. In fact, birdsong has been found to be the natural sound most commonly linked to stress recovery.

Try going birdwatching in different habitats, such as the beach, forest, and around a pond or lake. Bring along a bird guide book and challenge yourself to identify the different species you see. Notice details like their behavior, feather colors and patterns, and any unique attributes like beak size. Also, try to learn different birdsongs to listen for. Some of the most uplifting birdsongs come from blackbirds, curlews, skylarks, nightingales, willow warblers, wrens, robins, and oystercatchers. Finally, many birdwatchers like to take photographs out in the wild. Learn more about nature photography.

Trips

Another wonderful way to immerse yourself among wildlife is to take a trip to a local, state, or national park to go hiking, boating, camping. Feeling adventurous? Plan ecotourism vacations to get up and personal with wildlife, such as an airboat tour in the Florida Everglades, swimming with the dolphins in The Bahamas, or even an African Safari! You can also visit nature centers, butterfly gardens, aviaries, wildlife refuges, and animal-focused theme parks to be in the presence of wild animals.

Look in Your Own Backyard

Did you know that wildlife may be closer than you thought? Look for wildlife in your own backyard or while visiting a neighborhood park. Try to identify all the animals you spot. Make it even more enjoyable by playing games like wildlife Bingo and I Spy or creating a scavenger hunt. My family loves to connect with wildlife in our backyard, from vivid birds chirping to sneaky lizards hanging out on our sliding glass doors, to ducks that like to pay us a visit and paddle around our pool.

Citizen Science

Citizen science involves volunteering to collect scientific data, and is a way to gain science knowledge and experience while directly help the scientific community. It can really open your eyes to notice all the wildlife around you that you may have missed before. You can get involved in a citizen science project to collect data on wildlife in your area. Learn more about citizen science.

Enjoy your precious time with animals in the wild. Be sure to capture your wildlife experiences in creative ways and discuss your observations with others. Some ideas include putting a slideshow together, creating a collage of the animals you spotted, keeping a nature journal, and drawing or painting animals or nature scenes you enjoyed. Have fun!

*This post is part of Twinkl Life’s Children’s Anxiety campaign, and is featured in their Creative Calming Activities for Children with Anxiety post.

While we know the benefits of spending time connecting with nature, it’s not always easy getting our kids off their screens to head outside. However, we can actually use technology to stimulate our children’s interest in nature.

Recent research shows that technology can help us successfully connect to nature in a number of ways. A 2017 study showed how children used an app to help them connect to nature. Actually, it was just as effective as if they were with an in-person environmental educator and it offered additional benefits, including more fun and increased social interaction. If we use technology as an enhancement rather than a distraction to engage in nature activities, we will reap the most benefits like stress reduction and feeling more balanced.

I discovered an incredible resource that can help get kids interested in nature. DIY.org is an online learning community made just for kids between the ages of 5 and 16 to empower them to learn new skills. Watching children learn, create, and share while inspiring other kids to develop their skills has become the most enriching experience on the platform. The site’s subject matter spans the spectrum of science, tech, art, music, mindfulness, and engineering, covering a wide range of topics related to nature.

The site has a vast library of hands-on projects, online courses, how-to videos, live workshops, and an awesome kid community. Kids can explore over 150 skills, work on more than 3500 projects, and earn skill badges for their achievements. The platform can be accessed either through the website or a mobile app you can download.

I am very impressed by how many of the skills and courses on DIY.org relate to nature. In fact, many of them correspond to the areas of my book and blog: mindfulness, food (gardening), outdoor play and adventure, creative arts, animals, and volunteerism. There is a directory of topics for you to easily discover videos, challenges, and more.

Here are a few examples related to nature for you to check out on the platform:

Nature Skills

Activism Challenges: Explore Your Food Mileage, Volunteer at Your Local Shelter—Dog Day, Go Guerilla Gardening

Backyard Farming: planting seeds, growing plants in containers, harvesting food from your garden, making a raised bed, composting, managing soil

Camping: traveling a trail, purifying water, protecting the wild, cooking on a campfire

Fishing: practice your cast, keep the water clean, find live bait

Forestry: hug a tree, plant a tree, identify local trees

Mindfulness: stroll through nature, do animal yoga poses, eat mindfully

Oceanography: clean up a beach, draw a rare species of fish, set up an aquarium

Painting: learn to paint a rock, paint flowers, paint a landscape

Zoology: design a fantasy animal, photograph an animal in the wild, build a wildlife habitat

Nature Courses

Be a Climate Change Champion: This is a series of videos that also have specific challenges to try after watching the videos. The course covers topics like what is climate change, growing your own food, saving energy, and issues with plastic. The videos do a fabulous job introducing the issue to the kids and then offering simple solutions that they can do to make a difference.

Art classes where kids can focus on nature. Since both art and nature are such effective and fun stress reduction tools, we can seek out ways for our kids to connect with nature and be inspired by it to create a masterpiece. Children can really connect to nature through hands-on art projects like nature drawing, painting, and photography. DIY.org offers tons of art-related activities for kids.

Strange Science. This section of courses includes all kinds of intriguing science experiments, including a whole series of videos specifically about nature.

Yoga Adventures. There are marvels of nature yoga videos with yoga moves related to nature, including earth’s creations, feathered friends, creepy crawlers, and friends from the sea. Your kids will love trying out all the relaxing animal yoga poses.

Benefits of DIY.org

I encourage you to check out DIY.org for your family. Here are some of the many benefits of this online learning community for kids:

• 30-Day FREE Trial. Cancel Anytime.
• All content is advertisement-free.
• Can watch videos or join live classes.
• Something for all ages.
• Simple projects designed with everyday materials in mind, especially stuff commonly found around the house (and inside junk drawers) like paper, pencils, cardboard, glue, and baking soda.

Start your FREE TRIAL today!

Art is healing, and every time I turn to it to ease my feelings of stress and anxiety, I immediately feel better. This is especially the case when a creative project involves nature. When we create in, around, or based on nature, we benefit tremendously. We feel happier, calmer, inspired, and a whole host of other positive emotions.

One way to add soothing nature art into our lives is by creating a nature mandala. These are often used in mindfulness practices as a relaxation tool. Find out what mandalas are and how you can create a mandala in nature and from nature to enjoy as a family activity.

 

What is a Nature Mandala?

Mandalas are circular designs with concentric shapes that radiate out symmetrically from the center. Originating in India, mandalas mean “sacred circles” in Sanskrit. They have universal spiritual significance and can be found in Buddhist temples, Muslim mosques, and Christian cathedrals around the world.

In ancient Tibet, monks created intricate mandalas with colored sand made of crushed stones to use during their meditation practice. Well-known Swiss psychologist Carl Jung used the mandala for his own personal growth and also had his patients color mandalas a hundred years ago as a tool for relaxation and self-discovery.

Today, nature mandalas are used during nature therapy to help people relax. One therapist I spoke with, Jamie Lynn Langley, uses different types of sand with varying colors and textures to encourage children to create mandalas from sand. She calls these “sandalas.” She has nature mandala and sandala stations set up in her office, and every season she puts out different color sand and nature items. In winter, for example, there is white sand to resemble snow. The children really enjoy these activities. You can try these activities at home, too.

How To Find Or Create a Nature Mandala

We can use mandalas to explore nature in a creative way. If we look closely, we can find patterns in nature similar to mandalas, such as spiderwebs, flower petals, leaves, tree bark, seashells, and of course, snowflakes. Take your kids exploring outdoors and ask them to identify the mandalas in nature. You can challenge them by asking them to draw or paint the naturally occurring mandalas they find.

Another approach is to build mandalas outside from natural items you collect, which becomes like a creative scavenger hunt. This takes a great deal of focus and ingenuity, and your kids will be so proud of the designs they develop. Just be sure to take a picture before you leave so you capture the beauty to enjoy at a later time.

Here are some simple steps to build an outdoor mandala:

1. Venture outdoors to a natural area like the woods, beach, or local park. Even your own backyard will work.
2. Gather natural items to make your mandala, such as leaves, flower petals, sticks, rocks, grass, pinecones, pine needles, feathers, sand, shells, soil, etc.
3. Find an open area to work.
4. Identify the center of your mandala and mark it with one of your items.
5. Create one layer of the pattern at a time by building a circular layer around your center item and radiating your design from the center point.
6. Continue to add on as many layers as you want. Try to alternate colors and textures to make it interesting.
7. Enjoy looking at everyone’s mandalas and be sure to capture the moment by snapping a few photos.

Additional Nature Mandala Tips

• Leave No Trace Behind. One concern with nature art activities is when people remove natural items, which can slowly damage the land. Do not pick flowers or leaves; instead, look for items that have already fallen to the ground. If you clear an area with items like rocks, twigs, or pinecones, be sure to replace them before you leave. While it does not seem like picking a few flowers will be an issue, if every visitor does this, there will be a significant impact. Learn more.
• Make it an indoor activity. If you can’t get outside due to weather or another issue, you can still create a nature mandala. You can plan ahead and collect nature items and keep them on hand to make a mandala inside.
• Use pictures as an alternative. What if you don’t have any natural items to use? You can still create a nature mandala using pictures of nature. Cut up some old magazines, print out images from online, use your own nature photographs, or simply draw nature items to place in your nature mandala.
• Try coloring a nature mandala. Finally, you can always draw and color your own nature mandala or use a coloring book. As a therapeutic activity, coloring can help us feel calmer, happier, less anxious, and more focused.

We know there is a clear link between exercise and stress reduction, and nature and stress reduction. But if we aren’t moving enough or getting outside enough, what happens?

Human movement is at an all-time low, leading to children facing both a movement and nature deficiency with mental, physical, and environmental consequences. We can blame technology and modern conveniences for this more inactive lifestyle, but we can also take action and make some changes in our family’s routine to get moving more.

In Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More, Katy Bowman offers a fun, simple solution to this movement problem. She focuses on ways to stack our life for richer experiences that involve more movement.

What Happened?

First, let’s take a look at the history of movement that Katy highlights so well in the beginning of her book. She points out that each technological step forward during the Industrial Revolution and Information Age was also a step toward decreased movement. Sadly, we are now in a time of rapidly accelerating sedentarism (the habits and routines associated with relatively low levels of activity and movement), with children having never moved as little as they move today.

Katy writes, “For almost the entire human timeline, movement has been woven into all aspects of humanity, beginning at birth. Eating, learning, dressing, playing, building, foraging, celebrating, and traveling all required changing your body position over and over again, in different ways. Movement was inseparable from human necessities; every task was accomplished through movement.” She then goes on to explain how for millennia children grew up experiencing all-day, every-day movement with tons of walking, running, climbing, jumping, digging, carrying, etc.

That just isn’t happening anymore. Think about how you and your kids spend your day. I would guess for many, it is sitting in front of screens.

What Can We Do?

Rather than being a book filled with exercises for kids, Grow Wild is about recognizing how sedentary culture removes movement from our lives. Once we see where movement used to fit into everyday activities, we can take steps to add more movement into our day. The book will help you explore how to tweak different aspects of your life to get moving more, including clothing, cooking, home life, learning, activities, and celebrations.

The most interesting and unique solution that Katy Bowman offers throughout her book is how to stack your life to move more. She describes this as “an approach to selecting daily activities so fewer tasks allow you to efficiently meet more of your needs and accomplish more, naturally.” Stacking your life means to take all of the categories of needs you have and, instead of trying to meet them one at a time, doing something that fulfills many needs at the same time. Thinks of all the time you will save! Brilliant!

She breaks the categories of need down by:

• Family
• Play
• Nature
• Food
• Work
• Community
• Movement
• Learning
• Rest

Nature Movement Ideas

The book is filled with gorgeous colorful photos to showcase what families can do to get moving more. There are countless movement opportunities wherever you live and whatever interests you have. You and your family can thrive by learning to move more through outdoor adventures.

Some simple ideas to stack your life with nature and movement include:

• Turn a meal into a light hike. Pack a bag and thermos and take your food and drinks on the go—around the block or through a local park.
• Create a dynamic homework station outside in your backyard that allows your kids to move differently than they do at school. They will get some exercise in while getting their work done.
• Put the kids to work outside helping with some household chores, such as weeding, mowing the lawn, taking out the trash, and watering the lawn or garden.
• Walk or ride bikes as a family to get a local errand done, such as buying groceries, shopping at a farmer’s market, or going to the post office.
• Hold a celebration, such as a birthday party or holiday dinner, outside at a local park.
• Pick your own produce at a local u-pick farm and enjoy creating a delicious healthy meal together.

To discover more ways to inspire movement in your family, download 30 Ways to Move With Kids and Grow Wild! and read the book.

About the Author

Bestselling author, speaker, and leader of the Movement movement, biomechanist Katy Bowman is changing the way we move and think about our need for movement. She teaches movement globally and speaks about sedentarism and movement ecology. Her work has been featured in media such as the Today Show, CBC Radio One, Seattle Times, the Joe Rogan Experience, and Good Housekeeping. One of Maria Shriver’s “Architects of Change” and American Walks “Woman of the Walking Movement,” Bowman also consults on educational and living space design to encourage movement-rich habitats. She has worked with companies like Nike, Patagonia, and Google as well as non-profits and other communities. Her movement education company, Nutritious Movement, is based in Washington state, where she lives with her family. You can follow the organization on Facebook.

Looking for a fun, relaxing, creative hobby for your family? With the prevalence of iPhones and iPads, starting a photography hobby is easier than ever. By focusing on outdoor photography, you will reap the many benefits of both connecting to nature and engaging in a creative activity.

Why Nature Photography Is So Relaxing

Photography is a wonderful art form to help us feel happier and calmer. It allows us to place our focus outside of ourselves by distracting us from emotions like stress, anxiety, and sadness.

Overall, art has been scientifically proven to reduce stress levels and boost our mood. It is a way of tapping into the right side of the brain where creativity, intuition, visualization, emotions, and daydreaming stem from. Creativity helps us focus on something more positive, productive, and inspiring. It also gets us in a state of flow, which means becoming so absorbed in our creative project that we reach a near-meditative state. When we are in a state of flow, we forgot about all our thoughts and lose track of time.

The main reason nature photography is so calming is that it serves as a type of mindfulness practice while snapping photographs with our camera. It can be quite calming to take photos, especially of gorgeous nature and awe-inspiring images. This whole process enables us to capture the objects we find extraordinarily beautiful in the world and gives us a whole new perspective.

The entire process of shooting photography, from choosing a subject matter to discovering new angles to manipulating the light, requires a great deal of focus and attention. This process ends up being meditative, so we feel more relaxed as a result. A large part of photography involves capturing the colors that we see with the naked eye. This helps spark imagination as we process what we capture through the camera lens.

Ruth Davey is the Founder and Director of Look Again, an organization in Great Britain that offers mindful photography courses that merge the creative and therapeutic benefits of photography, nature, and mindfulness to support individuals by increasing their well-being and mental health. She works with students of all ages, including youth groups and children with special needs.

A large portion of her classes involve students going outdoors to apply a mindful approach to nature photography, such as taking a walk and focusing on all the colors they see. This practice helps them slow down, stay calm, view the world with a fresh perspective, and connect in a creative way to themselves and the beautiful natural surroundings. “Mindful photography is using our sight and a camera or smartphone as an anchor to help us become more consciously aware of the present moment. It is experiencing the process of creating photographs in a non-judgmental, compassionate way,” she explains.

As you can see, nature photography provides so many positive benefits to all of us.

How To Start a Nature Photography Hobby

One of my favorite hobbies is taking pictures of nature and then painting them with watercolor. I gravitate towards nature painting because I love how flowers, trees, and animals are so unique, vivid, and fresh. When I focus on a gorgeous flower, for example, I feel more relaxed. When I go on walks with the intention of finding some intriguing nature objects to take pictures of, I end up viewing my surroundings with an artistic eye. This can be a helpful skill to teach children, too, since it encourages them be more mindful and curious.

Here’s a bit about my process. First, I go for a walk and look for attractive nature in my neighborhood or I seek out nature during our travels, whether it be a trip to the beach or a garden. Then I snap a photo of it using my phone. When looking for beautiful images, I notice how much more mindful I am of my surroundings. Later, when I’m ready to sit down and paint, I scroll through my images and choose one to create my artwork. I can pull up the image on my phone or computer, or I can print it out the old-fashioned way to use as a reference photo. Next, I draw the object or animal. Finally, I get creative with my color palette. I really enjoy painting natural scenery using watercolor. In addition to using the nature photos for painting, I post them online to inspire others with the beauty of nature all around us.

You can easily start a nature habit in your family. You can choose from a variety of cameras—from children’s cameras to iPhones to serious high-end cameras with fancy lenses. Then it’s just a matter of making the time to venture out to snap some photos. You can visit places like gardens, national parks, nature centers, farms, and local water bodies or you can find nature right in your own backyard. I bet you could even capture some gorgeous images from your front porch, balcony, driveway, or even window. Get creative and see what you find!

Fun Ideas For Your Nature Photography Hobby

There are so many ways to keep your family’s nature photography hobby fun and exciting. Try out some of these ideas:

• Print out your pictures and create a collage.
• Design a digital scrapbook with all your incredible photos.
• Use your images to make cards to send to family and friends.
• Add your images to a nature journal by writing captions, stories, or poems to describe what you saw.
• Enter a nature photography contest.
• Share your images on social media, along with uplifting quotes.
• Put together a nature slideshow set to relaxing music or nature sounds.
• Decorate your home or office with your own nature photography.
• Give your nature photography as gifts. You can go on a variety of websites and order special gifts with your images, such as blankets, mugs, shirts, and more.
• Have nature photography challenges as a family, such as only taking pictures of natural objects of a certain color, looking for specific shapes, or searching for all the animals in a specific location.

I closed my eyes and was transported to a tranquil world. I felt weightless, as if I was resting on top of a fluffy cloud. My arms floated out beside me. No, I wasn’t flying. I was trying float therapy for the first time.

Float therapy is a type of hydrotherapy that is becoming more popular these days. There are now hundreds of float centers popping up across North America and Europe. Float therapy provides a lovely relaxation experience that truly allows you to escape from your worries and just enjoy the peace and quiet of the moment. Floating is a great tool to try if you are looking for a new way to reduce stress and anxiety for you or your family.

 

How Float Therapy Works

The general concept is that you pay to float in a special water tank for about 45 to 90 minutes per session. You can book a float therapy session at a spa or a center that specializes in it. The experience involves relaxing in water that is about ten inches deep in a dark, private room.

You are able to easily float because of the high concentration of Epsom salt in the water. It provides a relaxing experience because of the weightlessness and sensory deprivation. By removing sound, light, and other outside stimuli, float therapy can be very meditative.

During my session, I kept the door slightly open to allow some light to come in. The floating chamber was part of a private room that had a sink and shower. I was asked to shower before entering the water and after my session was over. I was also given special moisturizer to apply after floating because the salt can dry out your skin. You can choose to wear a bathing suit or not, but if you wear a bathing suit, just be aware that the color could fade.

The attendant also provided me with a flotation device to place around my neck to keep my ears above the water and my head stable. Some centers have the option to listen to soothing music while you float, or you can just enjoy the silence.

I was a bit apprehensive about feeling claustrophobic in the float chamber, but it wasn’t an issue at all, especially since I kept the door slightly ajar. I really did feel transported to an alternate universe and was so in touch with my own thoughts and feelings during that time as my body melted in weightlessness.

Benefits of Float Therapy

Research has found that floating can actually change our brain waves and reduce cortisol levels, therefore making us feel more relaxed. A 2001 study found that spending time in a flotation tank effectively decreased anxiety and depression, and increased optimism.

Experts believe that float therapy allows the brain to transition from a waking state to a state of deep meditative consciousness similar to the moment between waking and sleeping. In this altered state, our mind settles down and we can experience a blissful feeling.

According to Clinical Neuropsychologist Justin Feinstein at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, floating creates an ideal environment for practicing meditation. So much of meditation is about focusing our attention, and floating very naturally reduces all the external distractions that often get in the way of reaching a mindful state. He also thinks that floating can help put the nervous system into an extremely relaxed state, reducing heart and breathing rates and lowering blood pressure.

We also know that spending time in water, in general, has a tremendous soothing effect. Some believe this is because it is reminiscent of the time we spent in our mother’s womb surrounded by amniotic fluid. It may also be related to how the water makes us feel airy and free. We are also naturally attracted to the blue color, shininess, sparkles and reflection of light, and motion of water.

Essentially, when we are immersed in water, such as floating, we feel lighter and more relaxed. As a result, we enjoy lower stress levels; relief from anxiety, pain, and depression; improved mental clarity and focus; and better sleep. Float therapy gives us a chance to reset and recharge both our bodies and minds as we disconnect from stimuli like electronics.

Can Kids Do Float Therapy?

Children can do float therapy, but just be sure to ask what the age requirements are at the center near you. Some have a minimum age and require a parent or guardian to sign a release form or be in the room with the child.

While float centers say that the therapy poses little danger of children drowning in the tank because of the salt and minimal depth of the water, it is still a good idea to monitor your children while they are in the tank so that you can be there to help them if needed.

Here are some other ways for your children to spend mindful time in water to feel relaxed:

• Encourage them to practice floating on their back in the swimming pool.
• Turn bath time into a mindfulness moment by asking them questions about how the water feels and sounds.
• Take trips to visit rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

Find a float therapy location near you.