Both sides of my family(paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother) were the first Nature mentors for me. My Ukrainian grandmother spent more times outside than in working in her garden and delighting in bird watching which she passed on to me. My grandfather was  a Pensylvania  outdoorsman who hunted an fished when not running his general store. My brother and I would spend time with our cousins in the backwoods when we visited him. His love for the outdoors and knowledge about the animals;tracks,bird sounds and fish started us off in wanting to know what they were. My parents carried on the tradition of outdoor vacations as well as we would always include hikes and visits to the Canadian forests and the lake or ocean beaches. As for my goals for spending time outdoors with a child/children: I teach a Nature Art journal class with my middle school students and want to enhance that experience for outdoor appreciation moreso. As for my younger students, I do what I can to get them outside to draw.

Mi interés por las aves se remonta a mi niñez en la que caminábamos al bosque con mi papá para recolectar arcilla que luego nos servía para elaborar piezas de cerámica, sin embargo en el camino nos invadía el canto de los guardabarranca (Clarín Jilguero), esta ave despertó mi amor por la montaña. Organizaba salidas a las arboledas cercanas a mi casa cuando era el encargado de cuidar a mi hermano menor, les contaba historias y los entretenía por horas, y mi objetivo es volver a hacerlo como parte de mi emprendimiento para el conocimiento de la naturaleza y ecoturismo en Totonicapán, Guatemala.

I grew up in the Mojave Desert in Southern California in a small town called 29 Palms.  In the summer evenings, when the bats would come out, my dad would go into the yard and toss small pebbles in the air.  He delighted in watching the bats dive down towards the pebbles in an attempt to catch them.  Between my dad's enthusiasm and the fun my brothers and I had catching Desert Iguanas and Horned Toads, I developed a strong appreciation for nature, and especially the desert environment.

We have a lot of rabbits in our neighborhood. I remember my son being very curious about what kind of rabbit they were, so we went to the library and checked out rabbit books and found the rabbits in our development were Eastern cottontails. My son wanted to know more so we reserved all the books in the library system about Eastern cottontails.

Making mud pies and following my dad around the garden, asking questions about plants.

As a young child growing up in Montana, we could ride our bikes or walk to creeks, and hills, and follow country roads. I spent a lot of time with my cousins exploring the land around our town and riding out into the countryside.  We would catch frogs from the creek and muddy spots.  There were stands of trees, gentle waving grasses, and many other outdoor natural things to wonder about and discover. We also had a lot of "poisoned" ground from local mining claims. Our parents of course insisted we not play on or near the ore hills.  As 8–9-year old's we of course did not listen and collected shiny rocks and other bits of Debrie from contaminated sites. I was always interested in being outside versus indoors and that continued into my adulthood.        

When I was 2 or 3 years old I was babysat by out neighbor 1x per week. At the end of the day my babysitter would take me outside under her huge walnut tree and we would sit together and feed the scrubjays walnuts. That is one of my favorite memories.

Some of my favorite memories outside, were just sitting with my mom and observing everything around us. I remember being "bored" with this, and now that she is gone, I cherish those moments I had with her. I now just sit outside and watch the birds I am feeding and their interactions.

Growing up, my brother and I spent all of our waking moments outdoors in the woods,visiting our grandfather's camp in the PA forest where he taught us about the weather,animal tracks, and the forest trees and plants.Family vacations were filled with hiking trails to explore. We took it for granted then, but as a teacher now, I realize how limited the experiences are for my students who prefer video games over the outdoors.Safety is also an issue for students as well.This year I started a Nature Journal Art club for my middle school students to assist with this. I would like to pursue more ways to help my students

To see my Grandson grow with nature. Which he is fascinated with. See his knowledge of Nature at 7 yrs old. Already amazed on answers he gives to some of the questions and topics of the course that i dont think of.

My childhood memories all revolve around the outdoors.  I remember having most of my most creative times outisde!  I plan to build a program to help children and families get outside with structured activities to do alone and together!

Remembering that as a child, my grandfather and mother would take me and my brothers (2 or 3 at a time) for hikes in the forested areas around his home.  We would walk for miles and he knew the local names of each path. I learned to identify the different trees in the area, different mushrooms, skeletons of animals and wildlife creatures (no bears). An extremely wonder time with family, each time we visited from the "city" to the "country".

I had great aunts with an amazing picture window looking into a garden with bird baths and bird feeders. Their love of birds was infectious. I sensed it in myself when my kindergarten teacher asked us why the male bird was usually the more colorful of the pair, and I knew the answer.

As I was growing up, I remember the first time to see the long crested eagle. I was coming from the garden with grandma who pointed out an eagle to me. She told me the bird can be asked direction of any place and it will point there. Like many young people in rural areas, I liked to visit Kampala the Ugandan capital city. Since it was almost impossible for me to visit the city, atleast I would ask the long  crested eagle and be happy by knowing the direction. Upto today, some even old people believe the bird can show directions. Every time I saw the bird parched, I had to ask it for directions. Today, when I see this eagle my memories come back, it's one of my favourite bird.

I am a volunteer naturalist at a local state park. My goals are to work with homeschooled children to hopefully ignite interest and connection to the natural world, specifically in the park. I believe that children are the hope for the future and only through introducing them to the environment, specifically their local environment, can we hope to maintain and provide continuity with nature for future generations.

We had a little patch of woods behind our house that was almost like another world. It had some paths and I could walk through and just enjoy it. We also raised a young squirrel we were able to set free and he brought his mate back to our house for their peanut treats. It was nice to know that he was able to have a normal squirrel life.

I remember seeing a Swallow-tailed Kite soaring in the air above my home, and wanting to be able to have that sort of freedom in my own life. To this day, I am in awe of their athletic agility and yearn to know more about them and the environment surrounding them. Since that moment, I have been doing all I can to further my knowledge of nature, and cannot wait to share it with the next generation. After that, i remember seeing nature and pointing out birds, caterpillars, and squirrels to the young child I nannied. That created a bond between us that is still with me. As a child, I did not play outdoors much- my interest was more in reading, not to mention i am allergic to anyting with fur or pollen as well as most types of grass- and I grew up in California and Florida, where it was seemingly always hot. I remember liking to look out my window at the wildlife, but I had no desire to leave my precious air-conditioned home. My goals are to enrich the lives of the children I teach by exposing them to nature and encouraging their natural discovery instincts in a safe and constructive way that they will be able to build upon in their future.

I grew up in a suburb. My parents, though, both grew up on farms. My dad came home from his corporate job every evening and went straight outside, to care for the grass and bushes and flowers.We had the loveliest yard on the block and a flower on the table every evening. I also was lucky enough to spend weeks of every summer at my grandparents. I always ducked out of the house chores and my grandfather and uncle were welcoming and took me to the fields and dairy barn with them everyday. It was heaven to me. Getting into the car to drive home to the suburbs always made me crushingly sad. But even back home, I found plenty of ways to be outside for most of the time, playing with friends and pets, including rabbits, and  exploring the little creek behind our house.

I grew up in a very chaotic household so as a very young kid, I found safety and serenity in nature.  I always felt I was the most protected when I was in the woods.  I owe my sanity, peace of mind, and safety to Mother Nature and it has been my life's goal to pay her back by protecting it for others who may need the same protection.

My first memories of moments in nature are the long sunday walks with my mother and my elder brother . Although I had my best dress on, I did not need to take care of it. We collected coltsfoot  and lime blossoms to dry them for the coming winter. My mum made wreaths out of daisies, we played badminton and climbed the orchard trees. At such moments my mother seemed to be at peace with life and so was I and still am when I am outside watching birds or looking at plants. I will always be grateful to my mother that she passed on her love for nature to us children. The most memorable experience was when it was raining and storming.  This was the time she would take me for a walk. I still love it to be outside in stormy or rainy weather - it is so regenerating. All the troubles get blown away and your mind clears up. Connecting with nature, recognizing birds or birdsongs, being able to name trees and plants , is my great source of happiness. There is always something that fills me with astonishment and admiration. I wish I could pass this on to my grandchildren like my mother did to me.

Hi My response to "What are your favorite memories of outdoor childhood play?"  - My favorite memories include laying in the grass and watching the stars, swimming in a lake and imaging I was a mermaid, climbing trees, watching fish swimming, and running through the grass barefoot. My response to:  What are your goals for spending more time outdoors with a child?  - I have four granddaughters ranging in age from 3 to 8.  I want to infuse in them a love for nature and a desire to be good stewards of our Planet.

Thank you, thank you for prompting me to bring back some of my fondest memories.  I lived in Flushing, Queens, NY as a child so there was very little 'space' to appreciate nature.  But every summer, I was lucky enough for my parents to send me to camp in Massachusetts.  To this day I remember the unbelievable scent of the pine trees as we disembarked from the bus into camp.  And wandering under the very long row of pines and taking deep breaths in was magical.

My goals for spending time outside with a child center around our Family Nature Club. I want to learn how to be a better leader during our nature walks. It sounds like the first two of the "3 essential strategies:" embracing curiosity and encouraging observation might be just what the doctor ordered! I'm looking forward to learning more about these topics.

My goals for being outside with children include: that they'd have that positive experience of finding something that lights their curiosity. That they'd see that nature is full of amazing things that they can learn about! My favorite outdoor play was going down to the exposed hillside and digging "dinosaur bones" and rock "crystals" out of the hill face; pretending to rappel down the steep hill attached to baling twine tied to a big rock at the top. I didn't think I was interested in nature until I met my future husband. All he wanted to do for fun was hike. :)

I remember this walk with my grandmother. she lived in Canada, and I in Virginia, so we didn't see each other often. It was special for me to have this time with her. My father  photographed this moment, back in 1965.