Getting out and moving around is a great way for both adults and children to get or stay healthy. Children not only discover nature’s wonders in a unique way during each outing, but it is also a great way for them to avoid obesity and ailments, which derive from lack of movement. Instead of grabbing the next bag of chips and watching excessive TV, your kids will quickly get in the habit of wanting to get out and make things happen in the lap of nature. They might just have so much fun doing so that they’ll want to show their kids the great outdoors one day.

How can parents make it more interesting for their kids to get out and enjoy nature?

Lead by example. If you are truly interested in the outdoors, then half the battle is won. Just be yourself, get out, and enjoy nature. Children will sense your enjoyment and will soon follow. Pretty soon, your children will be pulling YOU off the couch to jog on the moss-bedded forest path, jump from rock to rock along the stream, or simply look and listen to the sights and sounds of the surroundings while taking the daily family walk.

Make reading children’s books about nature exploration part of your regular reading routine to your children. Let your child choose his or her favorite book character – be it a boy, girl, or animal. Discuss that character’s discoveries in nature and compare them to those you and your child make. If the character made certain discoveries that you can realistically see or do in nature near you, make that your goal on your next expedition. Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, and friends set out in the Hundred Acre Woods to find the North Pole. The pole turned out being a long branch that they loudly exclaimed to be the North Pole.

In other words, your goals or discussions in nature don’t always have to be too serious or scientific. It’s about having fun and bonding. The stories you read and the goals you set before you take your walks give you and your child the possibility to talk about your expectations before leaving home and discoveries while in nature. They give you something to refer to during your walks or swims – even something to be silly about, laugh about.

Sitting at the dinner table can sometimes be boring for a kid. But if you start talking about the color of a flower you saw with your children or the height of the grass in a meadow that they barely found their way through, a visual world opens in front of their very eyes and they get hungry to discover more. As much as possible, let your children tell the story about what they saw in nature. You can fill in some of the gaps. There will be lots of gaps still remaining, though. It is exactly those gaps you can discuss filling on your next walk. For example what color exactly was that lichen on the tree or the fuzzy bumblebee?

Offer habit and variety: Children love ritual. So do take those walks along the same path. But also offer variety. Take a bike ride on a new path, go for a swim in a different lake, or ride a pony with your children. Your children will continue to feel the warmth of the better-known “home” path. But an occasional change of pace will help expand their horizons and wake their curiosity even more.

Include other children: Bring the neighbors’ kids along. Children usually love their parents. But when children see that other children are also interested in climbing trees in the woods and playing hide-and-seek in the yard, they will be that much more motivated to get out. Inspire them to do whatever most interests them.

进行户外运动,对成人和孩子们来说,都是获得和保持健康的一个极好的方式.孩子们不只在每次户外运动中以特别的方式来发现自然奇观,而且对他们来说,也是一种避免由缺乏运动而引起肥胖和郁闷的极好的方式,用于取代再来一包薯片和无度的看电视,你的孩子们会很快养成想出外,在大自然的怀抱中活动的习惯.总有一天,他们可能会觉得如此好玩,以至于他们想让他们的孩子们在户外多做运动.

父母们如何使孩子们的户外活动和享受自然更加有趣?

首先,如果你确实对户外运动感兴趣,那么就成功一半了?你自己出去,享受自然,孩子们就会感到你的乐趣,而且很快就会跟随,不久,在进行每日家庭漫步时,你的孩子们一定会把你从睡椅上拉下来,去满是青苔的林荫小道慢跑,或是沿着小溪上的石头跳来跳去,或仅是简单的欣赏自然美景和聆听周围的声音.

在你的日常阅读中, 为你的孩子们读些有关自然探险的儿童书,让你的孩子选出他或她最喜爱的书中角色----一个男孩,女孩或是动物.和孩子讨论这些角色的发现,把这些发现比喻成你和你的孩子们做的.如果这些角色的某些发现,你在附近的自然中能够真实的看到或是做到.那么进入下一个探险目标,"Winnie th Pooh"中的鲁滨逊和他的朋友们从阿克里森林出发寻找北极.树杆长出一个长枝,他们就大叫发现了北极.

换句话说,你在自然中的目标或是讨论,不用总是十分认真或是科学,有趣和吸引人就够了,在你散步之前,你所讲的故事和你所定的目标,要先给你和你孩子们留下谈论你的期望的可能,再走出家门和丢弃发现.它们会给你在散步或游泳时,留下谈论的话题------甚至一些话题有些愚蠢,可笑.

坐在餐桌上等开饭,孩子们有时会觉得无聊.但是如果你和你孩子们谈论你所看到的花儿的色彩或是他们所想象的牧场青草的高度.那么一个栩栩如生的世界展现在他们特别的眼睛里,他们会渴望了解更多.尽可能多地,让孩子们讲述他们在自然中的发现.你去填补一些漏洞,虽然仍然会有许多漏洞留下,但是这些漏洞你正可以在下一次活动中讨论填补.例如树上的青苔或是有绒毛的大黄蜂到底是什么颜色的?

同时提供习惯和变化:孩子们喜欢老规矩,所以在同一条路上做同样的活动.但也可以有些变化,如在一条新路上骑自行车,在另一个湖里游泳,或是和你的孩子骑马.你的孩子们会持续地感到熟知的"家庭"之路的温情,但是偶尔改变习惯,会有助于拓宽孩子们的视野,和更多地唤起他们的好奇心.

把其他的孩子们也算进去:把邻居的孩子们也带来,孩子们通常热爱他们的父母,但当孩子们看到其他孩子也喜欢在树林里爬树,在庭院里捉迷藏时,会更多地刺激他们进行户外活动.激励他们去做他们所感兴趣的事情.