Three new books about kids and the outdoors should interest readers of C&N Connect.  The titles are below, and the brief reviews are published in my June Lifestyle Column at BookPage.com: Come Out and Play).

The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids

by Whitney Cohen and John Fisher

(Timber Press, $19.95, 264 pages, ISBN 9781604692457, pub. date May…

Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.



Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is Hungry, Hungry Ants.



Once you spot an ant hill, see if its inhabitants have a trail of workers leading away from their…

Most children will find fun the idea of a hike and explore. Still, kids can be fickle creatures. Their lack of knowledge and experience in the world often makes them cautious about suggested activities. And in today’s video game-oriented, 300-cable channel, Internet-connected world, some kids may be reluctant – or even afraid – to get outside.



You want to sway kids to at least entertain the notion that a hike might be fun. If they hit the trail thinking a long stretch of…

Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.



Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is "Indentifying Animals.

"

Bring a kid-friendly field guide and see how many animals you can identify on the trail. Most of the animals you…