Astronomy Online

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 are interested in helping them achieve this, you may want to familiarize yourself with some popular backyard activities, especially those that have a focus on nature and science.

Exploring the outdoors is not only a fun activity, but it can also provide many educational science experiments.Whether you live in a rural, suburban, or even urban area, there are a surprisingly large number of different plants and animals to be found in you yard.  Most children love exploring nature, especially with your encouragement and help. This is especially true for kids in pre-school and elementary school. Your kids may need your help, so pick things you are also interested in.

One of the many ways that you can incorporate science is by studying the plants that can be found in your backyard and neighborhood. If you look closely, most backyards have many different kinds of plants and flowers. Although many animals and insects live in your lawn, don’t neglect the other, uncut areas of your yard. 

You can find many habitats for the different animals and birds in your backyard. 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? Many people find bird watching fun and educational. 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 not only fun to see what kinds of bugs live in your backyard, but it is also exciting to learn about how they survive.

Encourage your child to study the impact of the weather on the environment for the plants and animals in your yard. Backyard conditions change as the weather changes. Study your backyard after a heavy rain, and have your child look for all the changes they can find. Weather plays a big role in the lives of the plants and animals living in your backyard.

To make the most out of your child’s next backyard adventure, you may want to consider purchasing them some science supplies. These supplies may include, but should not be limited to containers, butterfly catching nets, magnifying glasses, picture books, and resource guides. If your child is planning on capturing a few insects, a small cage or breathable container may be just what they need. 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.

To keep your exploration focused on education, science books and nature resource guides may be a nice addition to your child’s science collection. Many books and guides have a specific focus on insects, birds, plants, or flowers.Use the pictures and information in the books to identify the plant and animal species you find. For a large selection of science and nature books, you are encouraged to shop online or visit your local book store.

When examining the plants, bugs, and flowers in your backyard, you and your child may want to document what you see.  This can easily be done with a notebook or a camera. Have your child record their exploration and findings by taking pictures.  Those pictures could also be used for other crafts. 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.