Outdoor Family Fun

There’s no better way to nurture our planet than by appreciating the interconnectivity between it and all living things—including us. Here are 10 activities we found that are educational, fun for the whole family, good for the planet, and great for the soul. Reconnect with your family and your planet today.

Visit an animal sanctuary.

Many animal sanctuaries allow visitors—including us! Visiting a sanctuary allows you to meet animals as individuals, which helps change mindsets from thinking of them as food. Hearing their personal stories and the fates they escaped teaches children empathy. Combine this outing with a pledge to go vegan for a day, a week, or a lifetime. Going vegan is the best thing you can do to help combat climate change, deforestation, and food insecurity. Can’t visit a sanctuary? That’s okay—why not sponsor a rescued animal? Let everyone in the family vote on YOUR animal. You’ll get updates, pics, and feel good about the difference you’re making in someone’s life.

Connect by spending time outside.

If your kids love their tech, the change over may be slow. Be patient, make it fun, and make it a priority. Encourage your kids to spend time outside by signing a family pledge to do so together. Truth is, the average American kid spends 1,200 hours on computers each year so…they’ve got the time. The National Parks Service offers several ideas for making the transition fun and meaningful.

Organize a local park clean-up.

Get messy, get sweaty, and get friends involved, too. Spend some time nurturing the Earth by cleaning up the messes we humans have made. Just like us, kids love to end a day feeling like they’ve really made progress. Want to go bigger than a few friends….bring some attention to your event!

Make a birdfeeder.

Creating and hanging birdfeeders is a great way to instill the concept of taking care of others. A birdfeeder also provides hours of fun birdwatching from you window, and reinforces the connection between us and our feathered friends. Helpful hint from someone who has done this: If you have squirrels nearby, you may want to use wire rather than string to hang your feeder! Of course, you could always create a squirrel feeder while you’re at it. Hey, rodents need love, too! And they’re extra fun to watch as they sit and nibble, storing some in their cheeks before washing their little hands and faces, and leaping off.

Cook a vegan meal together.

Whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner…or dessert, kids love creating in the kitchen—especially when the whole family is involved. As you’re cooking, you can point out all the ways veganism is better for your health. Don’t forget to explain how cooking vegan is related to conservation.

Add to NASA’s Globe App.

Be a scientist for the day! This wonderful app allows NASA to collect data about Earth from users all around the globe. Connect with people everywhere by uploading pictures of clouds, observations about mosquitoes, land, and trees. Working alongside NASA scientists, you’ll play a key role in the efforts to eradicate mosquito-transmitted diseases, and in determining which environmental concerns to address next.

Build a Fairy Garden.

How does this help Earth? It gets kids outside and enjoying the outdoors. Don’t we all protect what we love? You can throw some educational elements in by teaching them about the found materials they use: acorns, mosses, leaves, and flowers—it’s built-in hands on learning about life cycles, and wildflower identification. While you’re at it…why not adopt a wildflower?

Have a backyard campout .

If you haven’t camped as a family before, this is a great way to start. If you have, it still makes a fun night and connects you all to nature. Studies have proven that time spent outdoors boosts moods, making this an ideal activity.

Take a virtual tour.

We offer virtual tours that teach about compassion and the role of animal agriculture in climate change—with a side of adorable thrown in. And we’re not alone. Visit the tundra and some resident polar bears with Discovery Education. Show students a biome they may never otherwise get to see with Nature’s virtual tours. Filling children with wonder and awe about their Earth is so important. Equally important is reminding them they they are connected to all this beauty.

Start a native pollinator garden in your yard or neighborhood.

Now more than ever, we need pollinators. Pesticides and herbicides are killing them, and habitat destruction leaves them few places to rest. Bonus? Lots of hummingbirds, butterflies, and bumble bees flitting about your yard. Want to go bigger? Start a community food garden. In doing so, you can teach your kids about how you’re helping make a more sustainable planet. If that’s too much work (it is a big project) start small: plant your own vegetable garden—potted or otherwise. A garden is a commitment that can turn into regular family time with an added bonus: kids are more likely to eat vegetables that they’ve grown themselves.