Campground Cooking Is Fun And Easy

Loading up the car with kids, tents, sleeping bags and food often leaves minimal space for larger equipment. You need to be able to cook without lugging around large stoves or tons of accessories. The most convenient options are portable Coleman grills, small camp stoves or a traditional…

Love is the Color of a Rainbow, a unique children's nature book written by author KathyParra. www.kathyparra.com

Willow, a little girl who has been blind since birth hears pit-pats of the first summer rain, she quickly encourages her Mama to go outside, Mama shares all the colors of a rainbow with Willow through…

I had an interesting conversation recently around the idea of the "underprivileged" or the "underserved."  This typically refers to those that have fewer resources available to them.  Less money, less formal education, fewer opportunities, etc. But, when it comes to children and Nature Deficit Disorder I think that many financially privileged children will fall into the "underprivileged" category primarily because they are over-scheduled by their parents thus not allowing them enough…

Today is National Public Lands Day and there are activities around the country that will help you participate in you public land near you.

Try the National Environmental Education Asso.'s site with its interactive map.

Try the…

Avoid Camping Injuries

Camping is a wonderful family activity.  It brings adults and children together in a common adventure.  Everyone can be involved in the planning of the camping trip. There is one area of preparation that should not be…

"What mattered to my father (Edward Kennedy) was not the scale of an accomplishment, but that we did our share to make the world better," Kara Kennedy.

Kara Kennedy died today. I know this because of an NPR headline that I saw my iGoogle page. Were it not for that fact I would not have become aware of that quote. It is a quote that struck me and that inspired me to type up this brief post.



When we undertake…

Our Favorite Trail - Beach Lake Trail

This trail never fails us! No matter what time of the…

Hunter, the cartoon mascot for the association teaches wilderness safety to small children. Older children will appreciate the stories about real search dogs.  Some publications to download and print, lots of kid friendly activities on the site.

Busy at the nursery I work in at Edinburgh.  We have a new woodland to play in which is close to the nursery.  The wood is 15 years old and hasn't been touched since it was planted.  Staff, rangers and parents have worked hard to get it ready to use.  Back at the nursery we are preparing for mud play-big style.  The area is being created alongside a consultation process with children and parents.

23 days until my big trip to America.  I will be spending  3 weeks looking at nature play…

My feet don't make much noise on the damp pine needles as I climb up the steep hill that marks the beginning of my favorite local trail, the one I used to run laps around when I lived down the street from the small state park, ten years ago. On this trail, I am used to pushing myself. The hills aren't long, but they are steep, and covered with roots that make you dodge and…

Camp Safely With Your Children

Camping with your children is a terrific family activity.  You want your children to have fun and to learn about nature, but you want to make sure that they are safe and comfortable.  Some commonsense safe camping  rules will help you achieve this…

Join fellow WILD READers and discuss our newest WILD READ book, The Thunder Tree: Lessons from an Urban Wildland by Robert Michael Pyle.  Pyle's account is a personal memoir of his youth along the ill-fated Rocky Mountain aqueduct, written in a series of essays that pay…

http://reconnectnature.blogspot.com/

In the Park - Santiago Creek…

As a parent, I know that it is risky to say the word "never." Never is undeniably a long time from now. When I say "never" now, I mean "never" now. But somehow, "now" has a way of changing into "then" and with "then" comes a time when "never" doesn't mean "never," but instead means, "I was wrong."

It's a word I try to avoid. But last weekend, while hiking…

This has been a tough year for weather. Here in Texas we are experiencing the worst drought in the state’s history. In the coastal bend of Texas the temperatures have routinely been in the high 90′s and in other places of the state the temperatures have topped 100 for many, many days. With weather like that everyone and everything suffers. Today it is hot enough that I feel like I could bake cookies on the sidewalk. I have no desire…

In our voyage on  the Baruna Adventurer in 1996, across the Flores Sea to the southern islands of Sulawesi, we encountered impoverished fishing communities & malnourished children. As we approached the island of Alor east of Flores in the Indonesian Archipelago, entire villages…