Viewing wildlife in its natural habitat is a great way to nurture a child's love for nature and wild animals. Keep your viewing trips simple and fun. You won’t need to go far. Your backyard or other familiar favorite outdoor spot is the place to start. Go at your child's pace and follow his or her interests—you'll be impressed by how many different things a three- or six-year-old can find.
Keep in mind that adults look up and into the distance; young children look at the ground. Your child may be far more interested in looking at bugs with a magnifying glass and marveling at worms and beetles than in watching hawks and eagles, or looking at elk on the hillside. Overturn a rock, a log, or even a pile of leaves outside and look for insects. If you find a cocoon on your journey, revisit it from time to time. Maybe you’ll be there to see the butterfly or moth emerge and open its wings!
If you do use binoculars to look at wildlife, don’t hand them to your child and expect him or her to locate the animal. Instead, crouch down beside your child and share the binoculars. If you are looking through one eye opening and your child is looking through the other, you can locate the animal and focus the binoculars. This technique ensures that your child will see the animal. To point at a bird in a tree or an animal in the distance, stand behind the child and hold up their arm to point to the animal. That way, you both will be looking in the right direction!
Make a game of looking for animal tracks and signs. Whether it’s by building nests, eating their dinner (and then leaving their droppings behind them) or just moving from place to place, animals are always leaving clues for the intrepid young nature detective to discover. Help your child find and interpret the clues that animals leave behind: tracks in the snow or mud, bird poo, a feather, nibbled leaves, marks on the bark of trees. Carefully observe tracks of birds, dogs, cats, people, and talk about their different kinds of feet. How do duck footprints look different from pigeon footprints?
Be sure to teach a little bit about habitat each time you venture out. What does wildlife need to survive? Point out a spider’s web, nests in trees, holes in the ground, or other animal homes. When children learn to respect and care about the wildlife that is so close to home, they can learn that we can do good things to help wildlife, but that sometimes the things we do can hurt wildlife. Discuss litter. When you take a walk around the block, point out (and pick up when it’s safe to do so) any litter you see. Discuss dangers posed to wildlife by litter. A small animal could get its head stuck inside a jar and die. An animal could cut itself on the sharp edge of a can. Some animals eat bits of litter and get ill or die. Teach children to be sure not to litter.
Don’t get too serious though. Take time for other outdoor activities to create lasting memories of shared experiences. Remember lying on the grass and looking up at the sky, skipping stones across a pond, floating sticks down a stream, making a daisy chain, or blowing a grass whistle? Be sure to enjoy all your wildlife adventures with children!
Important wildlife viewing safety rules for children:
• Always stay within sight of an adult
• Do not approach animals, especially baby animals
• Never try to pet, feed, or pose for a photo with a wild animal, even if the animal looks tame