May 17, 2021 | kimba
"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."
--Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Nature has long been considered a cure for the troubled soul. Some studies have shown that time in nature is an antidote to stress: It can lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce nervous system arousal, enhance immune system function, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve mood. It is also just plain fun! Especially with a few helpful suggestions to make your nature observations even more enjoyable.
CPL Program:
- Exploring Backyard Wildlife on July 13
- K Club: Backyard Birds on July 27
Activities:
- Draw What You See - Drawing what you see in a garden, park or on the trail is a wonderful way to spend time in nature.
- Learn how to observe fireflies and report your sightings!
- Take part in the local Rouge River Frog and Toad Survey
- Learn about other Citizen Scientist nature initiatives - some for the whole family!
- Make a nature remembrance, start a nature journal or find another hands-on nature activity in Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center.
- Check out the Top Locations to Go Birding in Southeast Michigan - then make Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders with your kids! (CPL card required)
- Visit a state park or recreation are for little or no cost with the Michigan Activity Pass (MAP)! Library patrons can access hundreds of participating institutions by visiting the MAP website to print or download a pass to their mobile device.
Resources:
Look for more information about the animals you see during your nature observation in Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia or PebbleGo.
When a girl walks through the woods with her grandma, she's so excited about reaching their destination that she misses out on what's around her. But with Grandma's help, she learns how to breathe, be peaceful, and notice the little surprises along the way. Find mindfulness in nature through this gentle story.
A wordless picture-book journey through the Boundary Waters, canoeing and camping with a family as they encounter the northwoods wilderness in all its spectacular beauty It's a place of wordless wonder: the wilderness of the Boundary Waters on the Minnesota-Canada border. Travel its vast distances, canoe its streams and glacial lakes, take shelter from rain under a rocky outcropping (or in your tent), camp in its vaulting forests as stars embroider the darkening sky. Come along--join a family of three as their journey unfolds, picture by picture, marking the changing light as the day passes, the stillness before the gathering storm, the shining waters everywhere, rushing here, quietly pooling there, beckoning us ever onward into nature's infinite wildness one summer up north.
For those readers who want to get closer to the nature all around them and bring it back into focus within their lives, this book is the ideal companion. We're not just losing the wild world. We're forgetting it. We're no longer noticing it. We've lost the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing. But we can make hidden things visible, and this book features numerous spellbinding ways to bring the magic of nature much closer to home. Once put to use, they wake up and start working again. You become wilder in your mind and in your heart. Once you know the tricks, the wild world begins to appear before you.
Head back to 62 Days of Summer for more ways to participate in the summer program!