Summer’s here and there’s no better place to be with our kids than outdoors! Whether you are traveling close to home or far, the outdoors offers endless benefits to all members of your family from recreation to health perks to sanity and soul readjustments. Plus, time outdoors is fun and free (usually!).
When you have kids of different ages or you’re just in the mood to try something new, it can be hard to figure out exactly what to do outside or how to tackle nature in a new way. www.naturerocks.org is your answer – a new website I learned about recently that, in addition to having one of the most creative web names online today, has one of the most comprehensive and useful sites I’ve seen for families in a long while.
Founded by the Children & Nature Network and ecoAmerica, Nature Rocks is a new national program that aims to get people outside to not only connect with nature but each other. The goal of the program is fun, safety and sanity, as noted by this intro to the program on the home page: “This site will help you find all sorts of nature activities, plus tools to help guide and plan your adventures. You’ll also find useful tips and information to help you get into nature without getting over your head. It’s fast and easy so you can shut your computer down quickly, open up that door and be on your way in as little as 5 minutes. Nature is closer than you think!”
That’s it in a nutshell – fun, quick and within our limits. Let’s face it – nature is awesome…in the amazing sense and in the overwhelming sense. We want to enjoy it…not be consumed by it’s power and elements we can’t control.
Even before checking out the site, a few perks popped to mind as to why we’d all want to spend more time outside this summer in true nature, away from civilization and plugs:
- A break from our daily grind for old fashioned R&R (Rest and Relaxation)
- Unplugged time to allow us to decompress from the high octane pace of digital life
- To refuel and feeling good
- To connect with our families and our thoughts
- To expand our life experience
The Nature Rocks website, also points out that time outside gives us many health and brain power perks, too, for ourselves and our kids. We’re basically exercising while having fun and the benefits of that pay forward for a very long time.
To help you plan your outdoor adventures, the site has two great guides. If you are staying close to home, check out Nature Rock’s Staycation Guide for ideas. If you are travelling, REI’s Passport to Adventure has suggestions for hikes and bike rides all over the country.
Here’s a challenge. Go to the Nature Rocks’ home page and listen to the sound track. Notice the family laughter and sounds of nature in the background. Notice how relaxed everyone sounds. Notice the lack of distraction from cell phones going off or texts being typed. That could be your family’s next soundtrack. In fact, that sound be all of our families soundtracks much more than it currently is. I’m up for doing something about that…how about you??
