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a tent or trailer, breathing in the fresh air, listening to the sounds of birds as you wake up, (or, during the night, listening to the sounds of raccoons making tooth marks in the water jug that was left on the picnic table.)

Adopt a few pets and have your kids involved in their care. In your day-to-day life, mention when you see your pets doing something interesting, like two cats wrestling, or the dog pricking up his ears when hearing an unfamiliar sound.

Engage all their senses! Run around in a spring rain; listen for the sound of peepers. Pick a flower for them to touch the petals and feel how velvety soft they are. Look up to the sky and show them how the moon looks like a pale frosty disc when it is still up during the daylight hours, point out how beautiful the clouds are, or how when the sunlight hits a sugar maple in autumn, the tree looks like it is glowing. If you hear an owl calling at night, and feel it is appropriate, wake them up to hear it too. Or the sound of coyotes singing.

Show appreciation for all types of weather; find the beauty not only in the sunny, blue-sky days, but also in the rainy days, when fingers of mist trail through the trees. Even in those in between gray winter days, find the beauty. Watch a thunder and lightning storm together.

Utilize the Internet. Look up all sorts of amazing facts about animals and plants. Show them how the deepest parts of the ocean are so dark, the fish that live there have their own lights.

Expose them to all these wonderful things in a relaxed, informal way. Watch for cues that they are getting restless and if it occurs, move on. You don't want them to start dreading every time you bring up another nature subject.

When I was growing up it was not uncommon for my mom and dad to wake my brothers and I in the middle of the night to see a comet, or an asteroid shower, or even, on rare occasion, the northern lights. It was always exciting to venture out into the dark yard, all hush and quiet with the night, and gaze up at a sky so covered with stars it was impossible not to feel a sense of awe. You see, some of the above ideas are my own, but for the others I give credit to my parents. Because it was they who taught me to appreciate the abundance of our rich natural world, who dragged me all over the country on camping trips, who made their own mini natural history displays in our home, and who said more times than I can count "Kids! Look at this scenery!"

Learn more about this author, Lynn Schwalbe-Larson.
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