Get out to your local parks for some simple family fun!

Monday’s Nourishing Thought:  

Children are born with wonder and amazement. Let nature inspire your child!

The sun is out and kids are ready for summer but are you?  

If you are looking for some simple ways to keep kids busy, active and reinforce some healthy habits, look to your local state and county parks.

County and state parks are great because first of all, you are taking your child outside and into nature.  That is always a healthy activity.  It gets them away from the computer, the ipad, the mp3 players, the video games.  

Depending on what your family enjoys, you can:

take a nature hike:  most parks have a nature trail that is easy to walk and usually less than a mile.  But parks are filled with wonderful trails and you can usually get a map that gives you a little more detail on difficulty of trail and a guide to how far you might want to venture.  

take a bike trail: many parks have trails that are good for biking.  Again, read the map and ensure that the trail is not too difficult for the children (depends on their age) and check for age appropriateness.

water fun:  many parks have lakes or streams that your family can enjoy.  Whether it be fishing, kayaking or paddle boat!  

bird watching: another fun activity is looking for specific birds.  Many state and county parks will have some information on the birds that you may see while walking.  You can make  a list with the kids and use your binoculars to see how many birds you can actually find!

insect collection:  (this is not one that I would ever do!) but many kids enjoy looking at different bugs and they have a world of their own.  But careful since some bugs can bite!  I am not an expert on this area but with a little research, it could be fun for kids that love this type of activity.  

Follow it with a healthy, tasty picnic or barbecue!

Promote A Healthy Summer With Healthy Eating Habits

Find a park:

• do a search on the internet for "list of county parks" to find a county park near you.
• do a search on the internet of "list of state parks" to find a state park near you.
• Here is a list of national parks by state!