“We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.”

Charlotte Mason

Children seem to be born with an innate desire to experience nature around them. Watch a toddler tromp around in the spring, and you’ll know what I mean. I spent a lot of time when the kids were little sitting in the cool grass. We collected leaves and rocks. And I fished pill bugs out of their tiny mouths and hands.

The more time we spent outdoors, the happier my kids seemed to be. On the coldest winter days, while we try to get outdoors as much as possible, none of us are fond of the chilly Texas Panhandle winds. So I look for ways to bring the outdoors into our home. Here’s some tips for simple ways to add nature to your home!

Plants

Here’s some tips for bringing plants indoors.

• Grow easy house plants! Some low-maintenance ones we like are airplane plants, ivy, and sansevieria.
• Have your children help make a schedule and water. Better yet, have them help to plant the plant in the soil when you bring it home.
• Give them a magnifying glass to observe the leaves.
• Encourage them to draw the plants you have in your home.

Birds

I am not the kind of mom that’s ok with having a pet bird much to my son’s dismay. While that’s not for us, we do spend A LOT of time observing the birds in our neighborhood.

• Mount an inexpensive birdhouse or grab a kit from Hobby Lobby for your kids to help build!
• Get a bird feeder! Next, install it near a window where you spend a lot of family time. Ours is right outside the big picture kitchen window where we eat breakfast.
• Another thing we purchased is a singing bird clock! You can find the one we bought here. Our family loves to identify each bird song with the hour.
• Set some child’s binoculars near a window to encourage birdwatching.

Collections

Another thing we love to keep out is specimens. Every time we move, I have at least 2 boxes labeled just “Shells & Rocks.”

• Shells – We found most of our shells at a local thrift store. If you visit a beach, encourage your kids to collect what they find.
• Fossils – You can order bulk fossils here. You might also be able to find collections of these at thrift stores or estate sales.
• Rocks – This one is pretty easy. If you’re like us, you can probably dig some rocks out of the dryer right now that your kids picked up on a walk and stowed in a pocket. Keep these on hand for craft projects. Make rock buddies, paint scriptures on them, stack them high. Paint them and leave them around town for others to find. As children grow older, you can also grab geology id rocks. Put a magnifying glass or jewelers loupe nearby for closer investigation.
• Leaves, acorns, sticks – In addition to rocks, in the fall, our kids never fail to come home with their pockets stuffed with acorns. Collect those beautiful red and yellow leaves and preserve them in wax. Make garlands. Hang them from the windows or the ceiling. Do leaf rubbings with crayons. Glue sticks together to make fairy houses. Use pinecones! Also be sure to keep lots of jars around in case you need to store large quantities of treasures.

Garden Planning

Although the weather is cold, when the winter sets in, it’s the best time to plan the garden! Once you do this with your kids, they will want to help every year.

At the end of each year, I subscribe to many, many seed catalogs! You can find so many online and most companies will allow you to request a mailed catalog for free. Each year, our kids have so much fun cutting images out of the catalogs, sketching out and planning their gardens. During the winter we love to dream about the vegetables we’ll harvest in the summer and the flowers that will come up in the spring.

Books

One easy way to bring nature indoors is to keep a variety of field guides around the house. In our home, we have a little nature library that constantly keeps the kids busy looking up the birds and types of trees. From wildflowers to lizards, butterflies to fish, the National Audubon Society has a huge variety of these available. Also be sure to get the guide for your area, and enjoy hours of fun.

In conclusion, I hope this has given you some ideas for bringing the outdoors in this winter! For a few other ideas think of scents, colors and natural materials that you can bring into your home. Eat fresh, seasonal produce. And if all else fails, bundle up and get outside for as long as you can handle it.

Children are made to marvel at the world around them and so are we!