Many kids these days are obsessed with technology. They have lost any sense of connection with nature. It affects their mental as well as physical health.
These kids suffer from a lack of interest in education too. Tech-obsessed kids are missing out on so much because of their disconnection from the real world.
Parents continuously complain about this, yet many never make an effort to encourage their children to explore the outdoors.
It’s not easy to pull kids away from their technological devices into the real world. But the trick that you’ll learn today will turn the tables. Your kids will be attracted to nature with the help of technology.
Read on to find out more.
Use Technology to get them acquainted with their surroundings
It truly feels like technology has taken over our children’s minds these days. The kids do what they learn from their smart device’s games.
Here’s where the trick comes in. You can direct your child towards applications that will encourage the child’s curiosity towards nature.
Here’s how you can use them to create a link with nature.
Play Scavenger Hunts
The thing is, you have to include nature in your child’s routine in somewhat of a disguised way. Asking them to join you to explore the world outside isn’t the most luring technique, honestly.
But guess what will instantly grab their attention? A fun game day that involves their best friends and favorite cousins too!
“Hey kids, today you’re going to compete against your friends in a scavenger hunt. The winner will get the biggest gift you can imagine!”
Now that’s the kind of thing that will sound like an advantage that the children will want to give up their screen-obsessed routine for.
You can plan a scavenger hunt that incorporates a smart device tool or application. Yet, it somehow contributes to their connection with nature.
So, what you can do is set up relevant clues. The children will have to look for the biggest tree or a blue color flower, for example. They must take a picture or record a video on their device of the said clue to receive the next hint.
The children can also use their devices to count steps. You can give out hints that involve counting steps or measuring the covered distance. Google maps is one example of a tool that tracks your covered distance.
You can add in hints like “walk 15 steps towards the direction of Mars”, which will encourage them to use apps like SkyView. It will be a scavenger hunt and stargazing experience all in one!
You can use an alternative to let the kids know that life without a smart device is also possible. For instance, you can have the kids count their steps instead of recording them in a device.
Use Apps to Promote Any Physical Activity
You can get your children involved in physical activity very easily. Here’s what to do:
Download an app that lets you create a route, something like Google maps. Finalize a location and set out on a race. All the family members can walk, run, or cycle to the site you agreed on.
This way, you can shoot two birds with one stone. The entire family will get some exercise, and secondly, it’s a remarkable way to explore new places.
Children may not be excited to visit a park or museum otherwise. But if you turn it into a race that ends up with a prize, your kids will be more than excited to participate.
Let them Identify Outdoors
You can use technology to make your children more eager about nature too. Try setting out on an adventure to explore new creatures.
Get your kid an inexpensive microscope that can be attached to the smart device’s camera. They can use it to pay closer attention to the structure of leaves, insects, and other things that the children are curious about.
The kids can record sounds of unidentifiable birds and upload them to an app that will identify the species for them. Some apps identify different sorts of flowers from a simple camera snapshot.
Little activities like these can be a part of every day of the week.
Help them explore Nature
Exploration of nature is ultimately the best way to learn about it. Sadly, the kids aren’t fascinated about the things outside their smart devices.
So, why not show them what you want through apps and tools before you head out to the physical location?
One thing you can do is introduce them to AR and VR applications. They can look at animated videos or cartoons that are set in the desired location and get a 3D experience of some phenomena or places they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.
There are many mobile or computer-based apps that allow you to take a 3D stroll through, say, ancient Greece or the bottom of the ocean!
Let’s say you’re interested in teaching your child about weather and climate. Let them use a weather tool to stay updated on the various elements of the weather.
Similarly, the use of visual representations of the eruption of volcanoes, earthquakes, the formation of mountains, pollination, etc. will allow the kids to learn about nature through their technological devices.
There’s an endless list of applications suitable for various age groups that can introduce kids to some of the wonders of nature mentioned above.
If you think about it, your child’s screen obsession will help you teach them more about nature than you’d be able to otherwise.
Another way to increase the children’s interest is to show them the history of places you plan on visiting. Moreover, a visit to the forest can be made more interesting if the children previously got familiar with some wild plants and animals on an application.
The Takeaway
The best way to get children interested in their natural surroundings is by smartly using their obsession. The same applications that they can’t seem to blink away from can do the job for you if you want.
All you need to do now is implement the suggestions above in your child’s everyday life.
Incorporate applications and other tech-based tools into some physical activities so that the kids get the best of both worlds simultaneously.