Pete the pheasant wants you to "Get Out!"

The purpose of Game, Fish & Parks' No Child Left Inside program is to encourage kids - and adults, too! - to go outside and explore the natural world which surrounds them. This page contains resources, activities, and contact information to help parents, teachers, group leaders, and others facilitate this exploration and discovery. Be sure to check back often as we add new activities. If you have ideas and suggestions for activities, we'd love to hear them so please let us know. Safe, unstructured experiences are also often highly effective ways for kids to explore and learn about the outdoors. The important thing is to just GET OUT!

Lacking direct experience with nature, children begin to associate it with fear and apocalypse, not joy and wonder.

-Richard Louv

Activities

WINTER

Preserve a Snowflake

Paint the Town Mix up food coloring and water in a squirt bottle. Then, go outside and color any animal tracks you find in the snow.

Spend Some Time With Your "Buddy" Most deciduous trees will form a winter bud in the fall to protect the developing leaf inside. Conifers do not form this bud until the spring. Try "forcing" a bud by taking a small cutting and placing it indoors in sugary water near a window for a week or so. What happens?

SPRING

Hunt for Spring Watch and listen for the signs of spring such as robins, frogs, etc. You can log your sightings at Journey North and track Spring's progress.

A Rainy Day Experience Dress to stay dry but with your hands free (no umbrellas!) and go out on a rainy day with your child. Peek into puddles, listen for bird & frog calls. How many kinds of raindrops can you see? Can you find plants with a drip tip? Try to find out where animals go when it is raining.

Discover Color in Nature Get 10 paint swatches of various natural colors from a paint store. Cut them into individual squares and take these and your child outside. One at a time, have your child look for each color in nature. You will be amazed at what colors you can find if you really look! This activity would work well in combination with "Discover Shapes in Nature" described below. A variation is to take an empty egg carton and paint each "cup" with a different color. Then the child would try to find something to match each color and place it in the matching egg cup.

SUMMER

Cricket Thermometer Use the help of a cricket to give you and your child an estimate of the temperature. The warmer the temperature, the faster a cricket will chirp; the cooler, the slower the chirps. Count the chirps for fifteen seconds. Add 40, and you will have the approximate temperature in Fahrenheit degrees.

Go on a Bug Hunt Equip your child with a small jar and encourage them to look for natural life around them. Look under leaves & logs, on tree trunks & leaves and in flowers. Handle the bugs gently and let them go when you are done. Name your favorite bug according to its colors, the way it moves or something different about it.

Pick Up Hitchhikers Tuck your pant legs into your socks and go for a hike through some long grass. Afterwards, check out what seeds, insects, etc. hitched a ride on your socks.

Watch the Clouds Cloud gazing is free and fun for all ages. With a creative imagination, clouds can look like just about anything.

Go Barefoot  Try green lawns and interesting rock surfaces, or let mud squish between the toes! You have to pay attention: watch out for burrs and thorns. There are places where barefooting won't work, but plenty of places where it will.

FALL

Dot-to-Dot Star Pictures Together with your child, observe the sky on a clear night. Look for patterns of stars. Draw the stars you see on a piece of paper and help him or her connect the dots to discover pictures of lions, dippers, hunters, or whatever you can imagine!

Leaf Printing Make colorful shirts, bandanas, hats, etc with tree leaves. Go {here} to find out more.

Get Out & Scout Take your child with you when you go scouting for the upcoming hunting seasons.

Make Some Jewelry Collect seeds of varying sizes, shapes, and textures. Thread them onto a piece of string with a strong needle to the desired length and tie off.

ANYTIME

Wildlife is Everywhere

Geocaching is a modern, high-tech treasure hunt for all ages.

Tree Rubbings Make a tree rubbing by placing a blank piece of paper against the tree trunk and rubbing lightly across it with the long side of an unwrapped crayon.

Sensory Bingo (probably best for Spring through Fall) Take a short hike. As you walk along, read one of the blocks to the child/children and have them try to find the things that match the description on this list. After the child/children discover something, have them touch and smell the object as a way of finding out more about it and put an X on its block. After touching objects outside, have children wash their hands.

Discover Shapes in Nature Print off and cut out a variety of shapes {sample}. Take these and your child outside. One at a time, have your child look for each shape in nature. You can also punch a hole in each shape, attach a length of yarn, and create a "shape necklace" for your child to refer to as they look for their shape. You will be amazed at what shapes you can find if you really look! This activity would work well in combination with "Discover Color in Nature" described above.

Take a Hike Check out this web site from the Girl Scouts for ideas for some fun "themed" hikes. Check out a Walk in the Park for some great activities.

Sit Outside with your child for a few minutes. Make it part of your morning, after-dinner or just-getting-home routine. Just sit. Breathe the air. Look at the sky. Share one thing about what you hear, see or smell.
Go for a Walk even if it’s just around the outside of the house. Look for bugs. Touch the plants or trees. Notice the leaves on the ground. Feel the difference between the air and ground temperatures.
I Spy Have your child stand inside a Hula-Hoop or rope lying on the ground. Tell him/her to face whatever direction s/he wants and play "I Spy" together. Take turns being the one who spies something.

Here are more great ideas for getting kids outdoors, exploring and learning (from Texas Parks & Wildlife Department)

Resources

A traveling trunk designed for group excursions is available statewide. This kit contain field guides, equipment, and activity ideas for taking kids on an outdoor exploration. Contact Chad Tussing for check out information (605) 773-2541. The kit may be borrowed for free, with a required $75 deposit.

Project WILD is a national curriculum designed to teach students about wildlife conservation.

The Outdoor Campus is our outdoor education facility in Sioux Falls.

The Aquatic Resource Education program provides educational programs, materials, and publications for teaching about fish, fishing, and fisheries management.

State Parks and Recreation Areas and other public lands provide wonderful settings for outdoor exploration. Free Class Field Trips are available.

Other Links

Note: these links are provided for information purposes only.

Review of Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv Help Your Child To Wonder by Rachel Carson (1956) - large (3 MB) file

 Coming Soon

Resource backpacks will be available for free loan via a pilot project at the Rawlins Public Library in Pierre on May 13, 2008. These kits contain field guides, equipment, and activity ideas for taking kids on an outdoor exploration. More kits may become available in other communities in the future.

Contacts

Wildlife Division

Statewide (Pierre) Chad Tussing, Education Services Coordinator SD Game, Fish & Parks 412 W. Missouri Ave. Pierre, SD 57501 (605) 773-2541	Region 1 (Rapid City) Laurie Root, Naturalist SD Game, Fish & Parks 3305 W. South St Rapid City, SD 57702 (605) 394-5362
Region 3 (Sioux Falls) The Outdoor Campus 4500 S. Oxbow Sioux Falls, SD 57106 (605) 362-2777 Email	Region 4 (Watertown) Marnie Lammle, Naturalist Consultant SD Game, Fish & Parks 400 W. Kemp Watertown, SD 57201 (605) 886-9410

Parks Division