Give your children gifts that make a difference. Especially the gift that can last a lifetime and echo through generations: A Love of Nature<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Begin by exploring the nature in your own backyard with your children or grandchildren. Even the smallest discovery there can lead to something big: Your child’s life-long connection with the natural world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s the visible and easily-identified residents like birds, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. But, wait! There’s so much more going on in your backyard that needs closer observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bugs! There’s a lot to look at, think about and connect! Insects are a food source for animals, but they’re so much more. Literally, many are busy doing work that contributes to human food sources, too. A native insect population is an important part of your healthy backyard and ultimately, part of a healthy planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next level:<\/strong> Continue learning about Native Pollinators, like Butterflies, Moths, Bees and Bats. Get ready for interesting questions! Read Bringing Nature Home, Douglas Tallamy<\/a>. And the next, next level? Grow native flowers and other plants that support and attract pollinators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Help your child start a backyard micro-habitat for wild birds.<\/strong> A habitat starts with just three humble elements, no matter the scale, budget or level of effort in the way you provide them. It’s food, water and shelter. Even the smallest effort made by the smallest hands contributes to making a difference for generations of wild birds. (To find out how every<\/em> micro-habitat contributes to a better future, see our resource: Food + Water + Shelter = Habitat<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Backyard Naturalist’s goal: Keep it simple for you and make it fun for them! <\/strong>Tell us about the birds you’re seeing in your backyard, the ages of your children and your budget. We’re here to help you every step of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next level:<\/strong> Go full hands-on and get kids fully-engaged with DIY build-your-own kits. After all, The Backyard Naturalist store was inspired by one build-your-own feeder! See how Debi and Mike started a habitat that became a store! <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next level:<\/strong> Learn more about feeding birds. What they need to eat to be healthy<\/a> (and why to never feed bread<\/a>!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the weather keeps kids indoors, help them identify their visitors and find out more about individual species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last, but not least by any means, there’s still an infinite world to explore! Leave no stone unturned! Spark the interest of a future geologist or junior rock hound! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell children how their micro-habitat is contributing to make a global difference. See ‘Every Effort is Making a Difference<\/a>‘. It’s also part of The Backyard Naturalist’s Mission Statement (on our homepage.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, playtime together can reveal much about the unique nature of your child and help give you a direction to develop specific interests. We are here to help you at every step of the way with personalized recommendations for books<\/a>, games, puzzles and activities<\/a> suited for age and interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Engage and Ignite Curiosity Give your children gifts that make a difference. Especially the gift that can last a lifetime and echo through generations: A Love of Nature. Begin by exploring the nature in your own backyard with your children or grandchildren. Even the smallest discovery there can lead to something big: Your child’s life-long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-backyard-naturalist-store"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10482"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10507,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10482\/revisions\/10507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Introducing Your Action-Packed and Infinitely Amazing Backyard!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Think small and get close!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Empower and Encourage Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Start a backyard habitat<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Ownership and Responsibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What’s UNDER your backyard?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Even the smallest effort is the beginning of something bigger!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It’s Also About Discovering the Unique Nature of Your Child<\/h3>\n\n\n\n