Your backyard is a great place for your child to get outside and play. In addition to swimming and other outdoor sports, your child can also use your backyard for science projects. If you want to help them achieve this, take the time to familiarize yourself with science and nature activities that can be done in your backyard.
Exploring the outdoors is not only a fun activity, but it can also provide many educational science experiments.Whether you live in a rural, suburban, or even urban area, there are a surprisingly large number of different plants and animals to be found in you yard.Kids naturally enjoy nature, and you can encourage them with your help. This is particularly true with toddlers and elementary school aged children. Your kids may need your help, so pick things you are also interested in.
Botany is the scientific study of plants - encourage your child to examine how plants grow. If you look closely, most backyards have many different kinds of plants and flowers. The most interesting environments may be found in wooded, bushy and unmowed areas.
You can find many habitats for the different animals and birds in your backyard. Try to identify as many different kinds as you can. Be patient and quietly observe them for awhile. What do they eat? Can you find their homes? Many people find bird watching fun and educational. Don’t be surprised if you child decides they would like a new pet bird.
Your backyard is also likely full of many different insects. Kids are often fascinated with bugs, and want to examine them more closely. It is both fun and educational to study the types of insects that are in your yard.
Encourage your child to study the impact of the weather on the environment for the plants and animals in your yard. Backyard conditions change as the weather changes. Study your backyard after a heavy rain, and have your child look for all the changes they can find. Examining the effect the weather has on the things in your backyard is not only fun, but educational.
Providing your child with some basic scientific supplies can reinforce their learning experience. A possible list includes books and nature guides, a magnifying glass, various containers, a butterfly net, etc. Many kids like to catch insects to observe them more closely, so poke some air holes in a jar or get a small cage. These supplies, along with others, can be purchased from many retail stores, including department stores, home improvement stores, and toy stores. Or find what you need by searching online.
To keep your exploration focused on education, science books and nature resource guides may be a nice addition to your child’s science collection. Many books and guides have a specific focus on insects, birds, plants, or flowers.The pictures and information found in these resources can help you identify the animals and plants living in your yard. Your local library or book store will have many good science and nature books available.
Encourage your child to document the animals, birds, insects and plants they discover. This can easily be done with a notebook or a camera. Have your child record their exploration and findings by taking pictures.You can use the pictures for other science projects and crafts. Scrapbooks and collages are a great way to turn traditional photographs into something much more.
Whether you plan the activity or it simply happens, your child will certainly find something to interest them. Teaching kids science in your own backyard is just one of the many adventures that you and your child can share outdoors. And it just may be the start of a life-long interest in science.