Join the Great Backyard Bird Count February 12-15

As a follow up to my previous post, here is a wonderful outdoor activity you can do with your children.  In that post, I listed "feeding the birds" as an easy activity to use to encourage them to go outside.  Well, this one will help you take it one step further because it will help you teach them about nature.

Consider participating in the National Audubon Society's Great Backyard Bird Count coming up in a few weeks.  At the end of this post, I have included the official press release from the National Audubon Society, which includes all the information you need to participate.

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Your kids didn't go outside today? What's your excuse?

Another winter day has passed.  Did your kids spend it hanging around in the house after school watching television or sitting in front of the computer? I have heard the excuses from my kids --- "it's cold, it's yucky out, I don't feel like it" and one of my all time favorites...."it's boring!"  Why is it so hard to get kids outside these days?  Sometimes I get tired of pushing them out the door and feel like giving in and letting them hang around inside.  And it's true, winter weather makes it hard to go outside to play.  It's so much easier to be outside when the sun warms your face and you don't have to bundle up.

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Bring the Outside In

There are those days when going outside to play just isn't in the cards.  That has been the case for my children these past few days.  My daughter is recovering from a stomach bug and it is just too darn cold for my son to be outside.  When the temps are in the single digits and the wind chill is fierce, his little fingers become icicles in a matter of minutes.  Needless to say, we are are going a little stir crazy and could use a breath of fresh air.

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Involve Your Kids in Holiday Preparations - Wreath Making

It is so much more difficult to encourage kids to go outside when it's cold!  Lately, my daughter always says "no" when I ask "do you want to go outside?"  My son, who has become the poster toddler for the "terrible two's" refuses to take one step onto the snow.  I really can't blame him.  For someone with very little experience with the cold, wet and (now) crunchy stuff, it is hard to deal with.  He wants me to carry him everywhere we walk in the yard.  This doesn't go over well with me, so he stands on the deck and watches us while complaining the entire time.  I just chuckle to myself knowing that next year, I won't be able to pull him away.

Last weekend, determined to get my daughter outside and helping to prepare for Christmas, I encouraged her to help me make the wreath for the front door.  We walked around the yard

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Include the Outdoors in Your Thanksgiving Traditions

So the BIG day is just around the corner!  In three days we will be gathering around the table to enjoy a delicious turkey dinner with family and friends. My little ones are getting excited about the upcoming holiday. We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner and our family members will be starting to arrive on Wednesday. The preparations for the feast started on Saturday with silver polishing, meal planning, grocery list making and centerpiece creating. Now the hustle and bustle begins with grocery shopping, cooking, ironing, setting, baking and everything else I am forgetting to add to the list.

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