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BOOK REVIEW: On a Magical Do-Nothing Day
Here in Portland we are back in the rainy part of the year (pretty much October through early June). I admit it becomes all too easy to just want to hang out indoors, laptop at one’s fingertips and a to-do … Continue reading
Posted in books, nature play, parenting, technology, Uncategorized
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BOOK: There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather & GIVEAWAY!
Last spring when I attended the annual Children & Nature Network conference in Vancouver, B.C., I met Linda McGurk, a Swedish-born, Indiana-living freelance journalist and mother of two girls who writes the blog Rain or Shine Mamma. We had been … Continue reading
Posted in books, education, nature play, nature play sign, parenting, Uncategorized, weather
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Monday thought of the week & a new book for parents – Let Them Eat Dirt
A thought: When children are out walking or playing in a green space… the risk of getting infected with microbes that carry human diseases decreases drastically. Allow your children to touch anything they want (except animal waste), including dirt, mud, … Continue reading
Posted in audio/video, books, parenting, thoughts, Uncategorized
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Monday thought of the week: little outdoor people
A thought: Kids are natural little outdoor people. It is we, the adults, that turn them into indoor people. – Mark Jenkins, in the Foreword to Jennifer Bove, ed., Wild with Child: Adventures of Families in the Great Outdoors (Palo Alto: Solas … Continue reading
Posted in education, mark jenkins, parenting, thoughts, Uncategorized
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BOOK REVIEW: Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness
As a parent to two children who spend a lot of time in nature with me, I am always being presented with questions about this or that thing we see along the trail, in the sky, or under the surface … Continue reading
Posted in audio/video, books, neighborhood nature, parenting, Uncategorized, urban nature
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Monday thought of the week: attention is the beginning of devotion
A thought: Teach the children. We don’t matter much. But the children do. Show them daisies and the pale hepatica. Teach them the taste of sassafras and wintergreen. The lives of the blue sailors, mallow, sunbursts, the moccasin flowers. And … Continue reading
Posted in education, parenting, Uncategorized
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Interview with Metro
In the winter issue of Metro’s Our Big Backyard, I was interviewed for an article about nature and health. Check it out! (online article here; the whole issue PDF includes more photos, pp. 3-5)
Posted in maricara natural area, metro, parenting, Uncategorized
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Monday thought of the week: a sacred fire
A thought: Children are natural explorers. They have the true explorer’s interest in their immediate surroundings as well as in faraway places, and they are eager to know why things are as they are. If you are a wise parent, … Continue reading
#OptOutside on Black Friday, Nov. 25
Go with #trailsnotsales on Friday, Nov. 25 and #OptOutside with REI and families across the country. There are much better ways to spend the day after Thanksgiving than joining the masses in stores. In Oregon, all Oregon State Parks that … Continue reading
Posted in holidays, intertwine, oregon state parks, parenting, Uncategorized
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Monday thought of the week: to instill these values
A thought: My kids go outside daily because they want to go outside daily. In fact, they love being outside. It is easily their happy place. So how did I get so lucky? Is it genetic? The fact is, I have … Continue reading
Posted in parenting, technology, thoughts
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