Shaking the Trees

Daphne Lynch, 2019 Like many of you, I fell in love with nature as a child. I grew up in the rural mountains of Pennsylvania with acres of forest to explore at my feet. Fast forward to adulthood and I found myself starting a family in the DFW area. I now have two children of my own, two boys (a 3 year old and a 7 month old). It is a priority of mine to help them understand and appreciate the nature around them, but I have been struggling on how to accomplish this in the suburban setting. I can’t just send them outside and tell them “you’re not allowed inside until its supper time” – direct quote from my mother. I’m not an expert in the area of child engagement but from my progress so far with the three year old, I think it’s going pretty well. Here are some of my tips for getting children interested in nature: