We’ve always known that trees rock; studies show that trees fight asthma in kids, they keep everyone healthier, can save you tons on energy costs, and they’re beautiful and fun to hug. However, trees have some other benefits that you may not have heard of – in fact some of the benefits below I hadn’t even heard of, and I read about trees all the time. The Morton Arboretum has a fabulous piece up at their website about the many (research proven) ways that trees have a positive effect on people’s lives, including their health, homes, businesses, communities, …read more

In case you haven’t heard, DisneyNature: EARTH is being released on Blu-ray and DVD September 1st. As I noted previously, when the movie was released in April, this great family-friendly film is narrated by James Earl Jones and follows three families of animals, whales, polar bears, and elephants, through their daily lives. This is an excellent nature-minded film for kids and adults.

DisneyNature: Earth is being released in a couple of formats. There’s the 2 disc Blu-ray combo pack which includes both Blu-ray and the DVD along with Disney Blu-ray: Filmmaker Annotations which is exclusive to the Blu-ray pack. The set …read more

Kids aren’t simply born loving nature. You’ve got to help them to develop an appreciation for nature, so in turn they want to protect this planet. Good ways to do this include:

Hold a family hiking day once a month.
Encourage more outdoor minded field trips at your child’s school.
Plan games and activities that encourage outdoor time such as bird watching, rock collecting, plant identification, nature scavenger hunts, and more.
Get involved in your local community garden, or if you have the means, planting a garden at home.
Plan green travel – i.e. for family vacations, plan a camping trip vs. a trip to …read more

Getting your kids outside more often sometimes means adjusting your own outdoor space to fit your kids needs. Going wild is a great way to get the kiddos interested in what’s happening outside their door. Here’s how.

If you like a manicured yard, that’s fine, but if you leave one small corner a little wild, it’ll attract cool creatures like worms, snails, and pillbugs that kids will like to see. Creatures like these enjoy a little cover – so a pile of leaves, a few more weeds than normal, and so fourth encourages visits.
Make sure to go native to attract the …read more

Remember my story about our family of birds who moved into our flowers? Well, they’ve hatched! I’m a total bird auntie now. My son is thrilled too – and we’re surprised at how fast they’re growing.
The parent birds are a little kooky. One, they hate me because I have to water the flowers which means moving the pot, but other times they’ll come sit right by me on the patio. I think they’re torn between liking me and not. But in any case the babies are hatched and here are some pictures…

How cute right!? If you have any nature or …read more

Sometimes kids are leery of being outside. I think the kids I’ve met who hate being outside just don’t get out much. I’m guessing that’s mainly on parents. You have to get your kids outside, you have to enjoy it as well, and make it a fun experience or your kids won’t learn to love nature. That said, we discussed this before here, in the post, “What to do when your kids hate being outside“, and some parents noted that they love being outside, but their kids don’t.
You can do something about this though. Some cool nature gear may be …read more

To kick off Monday, I’ve got some giveaway news and some super adorable news… hmmm, which should we cover first? I’m going with adorable nature news. So, for Mother’s Day I got a pot of hanging flowers. There are a ton of birds around my place and they LOVE the pot of flowers. A lot. They keep hanging out above me in the flowers, and today when I went to water them guess what?

How cute is that!? I’m so going to be a bird auntie! Yay.
Now in giveaway news…

I recently posted about Disneynature’s Earth – a great new movie opening on Earth Day 2009. However, being me, I left out one very important point about this flick.

Disneynature is celebrating the release of their premiere film, Earth, by planting a tree in honor of every moviegoer who sees the film in its opening week. This is just one more cool reason why you and the whole family should go see the movie Earth. Besides being a family-friendly nature film, a good time, and a reason to justify overly calorie laden popcorn, it’s great that your outing will help to …read more

Now that warmer weather is coming it’s time to hustle the littles outside. I know I talk about this until I’m blue in the face, and all of you are sick to death of it, but seriously, kids who get outside = kids who love nature = kids who grow up into adults who WANT to preserve nature.

That said (again) below are some surefire ways to get the kids outside and keep them outside.
1. Get artistic: The best thing about outside art time is that your inside stays tidy! Set up easels or an art table with a tie on …read more

Why bother researching green communities? Especially for something as seemingly small as decent walkability?

There are plenty of reasons. First of all a walkable town or community means that most likely the area is greener than others. This is a major perk for the planet and your family’s health. Recent news about this includes…

Green Spaces Beneficial for Kids Health
Less asthma among kids – just one more reason to hug trees
One small step: spend one mile on nature today – yup green spaces help you stay fit.
Of course the more green there is, the more likely you are to ditch that car …read more