Home Schooling Authority

Your yard and neighborhood provide many wonderful opportunities for kids to both play and learn.  In addition to swimming and other outdoor sports, your child can also use your backyard for science projects. If you want to help them achieve this, take the time to familiarize yourself with science and nature activities that can be done in your backyard.

Exploring the outdoors is not only a fun activity, but it can also provide many educational science experiments.  There are a surprisingly large number of different plants and living creatures that can be found in your yard or near your home, even in an urban environment.Encourage your child’s natural curiosity about nature, and they will love exploring their environment. This is particularly true with toddlers and elementary school aged children. Your kids may need your help, so pick things you are also interested in.

One way for children to learn science is by examining the local plants. You can find many different species of plants in your own backyard - some of them planned, and others unwanted. The most interesting environments may be found in wooded, bushy and unmowed areas.

There are many different animal habitats to be found in your yard and your neighborhood. See how many different species you can identify. Be patient and quietly observe them for awhile. What do they eat? Can you find where they live? Bird watching is a popular hobby, and even amateur bird watchers often contribute to real science projects. If your child really enjoys it, they may ask for a new pet.

Your backyard is also likely full of many different insects. Kids are often fascinated with bugs, and want to examine them more closely. It is both fun and educational to study the types of insects that are in your yard.

In addition to the living things that can be found in your backyard, you and your child may also want to examine the weather and the impact it has on the yard and everything living there. Backyard conditions change as the weather changes. By examining your backyard after a rainy day, your child may find that many of the plants, flowers, and bugs have either changed or retreated to safer grounds. Examining the effect the weather has on the things in your backyard is not only fun, but educational.

To make the most out of your child’s next backyard adventure, you may want to consider purchasing them some science supplies. A possible list includes books and nature guides, a magnifying glass, various containers, a butterfly net, etc. Many kids like to catch insects to observe them more closely, so poke some air holes in a jar or get a small cage. You can buy these supplies at many stores, such as toy stores, department stores, or sometimes even dollar stores. Or find what you need by searching online.

Nature and science books may be a good addition to your child’s library, as resources they can turn to again and again. Many books and guides have a specific focus on insects, birds, plants, or flowers.The pictures and information found in these resources can help you identify the animals and plants living in your yard. You can find a large choice of science and nature books at local book stores, or at online retailers.

When examining the plants, bugs, and flowers in your backyard, you and your child may want to document what you see.You can easily do this with a camera or a notebook. Your child can record their adventure by using a camera to take pictures.Save the pictures - they could be useful for other projects. You can turn the photos into memories by using them in a scrapbook or collage project.

It doesn’t matter whether the backyard exploration in planned or spontaneous, your child is sure to find something interesting. Teaching kids science in your own backyard is just one of the many adventures that you and your child can share outdoors. And it just may be the start of a life-long interest in science.

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