![\"Couple](\"https:\/\/www.naturemoms.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/nature-family2.jpg\" "\\"Couple")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Homework, soccer practice, ballet \u2013 is there time in the schedule to play outside? Here are some tips to get a Green Hour — or at least part of an hour \u2013 during a busy day:<\/p>\n
1. Scenario: Traffic made you late, there’s no time to cook dinner, so you drive the family over to the rotisserie chicken place to get a quick meal.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tip: Keep a picnic blanket in your car for an impromptu picnic on any spot of grass you can find!<\/p>\n 2. Scenario: Backpack? Check. Lunch? Check. You’re ready to head to school.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tip: Whether you drive or walk to school, or wait with your child by the bus-stop, take a moment to notice nature. Make it a game of “I Spy” — or download this nature scavenger hunt at greenhour.org\/hunt .<\/p>\n 3. Scenario: Your child is studying plants at school and, at the dinner table, recites how photosynthesis works. You, yourself, have never successfully kept a plant alive.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tip: Start small: All you need is some bird-seed and a sponge. For sponge-garden instructions, visit greenhour.org\/spongegarden. Next step: check out National Gardening Association\u2019s parents\u2019 primer for gardening with kids at kidsgardening.com\/primer.asp .<\/p>\n 4. Scenario: You and your youngest wait outside your older child’s school, a few minutes before the bell rings.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tip: Look up at the sky together. “Wait, mom — is that a sheep or a donkey?” Picking out shapes in the clouds is a classic childhood activity — and needs no special equipment.<\/p>\n 5. Scenario: Your child looks at you and says, “Mom — I’m a little old for cloud-watching!”<\/strong><\/p>\n Tip: For older kids, combine technology with the outdoors and go geo-caching or, the lower-tech version, letterboxing. There are about 20,000 letterboxes and 250,000 geocaches hidden in North America. Visit geocaching.com\u00a0 and letterboxing.org.<\/p>\n 6. Scenario: The kids get home from school and immediately plop in front of the TV. You suggest going outside. They respond, “Indoors is more fun!”<\/strong><\/p>\n Tip #1: Set time-limits for TV watching and video game playing. It won’t be popular, so make sure you have a back-up plan. If you have a backyard, kid-customize it with a homemade fort, dart boards, a trampoline, a craft table. Set up a bird house to keep wildlife visiting.<\/p>\n Tip #2: No backyard? Find your local parks using nwf.org\/naturefind. For older kids, start stretching your child’s boundaries, allowing them to go for unsupervised walks in the neighborhood with groups of friends. They’ll love the feeling of independence.<\/p>\n