How to Tune Kids in to Nature When Traveling

Wherever your family’s travels take you this summer, you’ll find places for kids to get up-close and personal with the natural world. Kids are naturally curious and you can channel that curiosity into observing nature around them.

Your family vacation doesn’t need to be a camping or hiking trip to include nature and wildlife. Even the most urban cities have parks, public gardens and tree-lined streets providing relaxing respites from sightseeing and a place to refresh in natural surroundings.

Whether collecting shells on a beach, spotting colorful birds or looking for hidden wildflowers, kids hone their observation skills and an awareness of the natural world. Nature games and challenges get kids looking around them. Start friendly competitions for who will be first to spot a bird or an insect or ask how many different leaves they can find. Suggest looking up the tree names on the iNaturalist app.

Build on kids’ individual interests. Those who love to draw might carry little notebooks to sketch flowers, or make leaf rubbings. A simple nature game you can play in any park is to “stake a claim” with a circle of string on the ground and see how many different natural things they can count inside (including any that crawl through).

National parks make learning about nature fun and easy, with Junior Rangers naturalist programs and free activity booklets filled with games, puzzles and activities geared especially to the park’s own environment.

Families with a fourth grader have a special perk from the National Parks Service. Every Kid Outdoors allows fourth graders and family members free access to more than 2,000 federal lands and waters.

For hands-on activities that inspire kids aged 5–10, Take-Along Guides are colorful books featuring various types of wildlife including Birds, Nests and Eggs; Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies; Frogs, Toads and Turtles; Rabbits, Squirrels and Chipmunks; Seashells, Crabs and Sea Stars; Trees, Leaves and Bark; and Wildflowers, Blooms and Blossoms.

As kids are encouraged to look more closely at the natural world around them, they become more observant and invested in taking care of the environment as they get older.