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How to give your Children an Appreciation of Animals and Nature.

There are so many ways to help children learn to appreciate nature and all living things. The best way is by example. Express your own deep appreciation of the natural world by using a rich variety of ways that include your children either directly or indirectly. Love, interest, enthusiasm; all of these are contagious.

If they see you interested in something, they will wonder why and investigate.

I'm a collector. I collect everything. Feathers, seashells, leaves, nests, eggshells, rocks, crystals, minerals, meteorites, fossils, pine cones, and various other tidbits. I have an old turtle shell, and two framed specimens; one of a sphinx moth and one of a monarch butterfly. Various parts of my house resemble a museum of natural history in miniature.

My sons, now 5 and 9, have been surrounded by all this natural "stuff" since they were babies. It has stimulated their natural curiosity (if you pardon the pun), and they are already coming along nicely with collections of their own. The most average of rocks is a thing of beauty in their eyes, and feathers a real treasure. Let your children collect.

There are so many ways to get your kids excited by nature and animals. Here are a few more suggestions that have worked for me.

If you can, invest in a telescope and a microscope. Even looking at the moon through a half decent pair of binoculars can be amazing. For the microscope, find insect wings to look at, or bits of leaves, or collect a sample of pond water for a really amazing time.

Hang up bird feeders and when the guests arrive, be excited. Learn about the different species of birds and point them out to your kids.

Give them books with lots of photographs or drawings about anything having to do with nature that you can find. Feel out their interests; find books on subjects they enjoy. Keep your own books in plain sight.

Search for rocks out in your yard; let the kids turn them over and discover all the activity that goes on just out of sight.

Raise a caterpillar or two into butterflies. Gather tadpoles and watch them morph into frogs or toads.

Give them a small pouch of polished stones as a gift.

Take nature walks. Go to the closest state park. Even if you live in the city, find a park to visit. When taking walks on the city streets, point out the beauty of a tree or even a humble dandelion. Better yet, do the ultimate nature walk and take the kids camping. Nothing

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