Kids playing the the backyard is important for healthy development skills, especially in this age of video games. Creating a wildlife habitat enhances kids curiosity and engagement with nature and involves all their senses. Getting kids active outside, digging the soil, planting seeds, making bird houses, and exploring the habits of frogs and butterflies, develops fully functioning individuals that care about their environment.
The loss of native habitat has reduced the American landscape with significantly with less food for insects, birds, and wildlife. Kids can start a wildlife habitat in an unused area of the yard by planting organic local native plants. Birds, butterflies, and bees need certain plants, shrubs, and trees for food and shelter, such as milkweed, clovers, mallows, lantana, and butterfly weed that have not been sprayed with poison. The main food of adult butterflies is nectar from red, orange, yellow, blue, or purple wildflowers. Kids can plant native plants in the right place for their sun and water needs as they need less care than non-native plants.
Kids can plant a balanced ecosystem, with aesthetically beautiful native flowers and organic herbs for the kitchen, that repel pests and attract friendly insects, birds, and critters. Kids can plant mulberry, blackberry and elderberry bushes to have the best food sources for birds. Kids can add a bird bath, a fountain, or a small pond to their habitat, along with a shallow source of water for the bees and butterflies. Kids can be responsible stewards of the earth by starting in their own backyard habitat. A sunny zone of bright colored native flowers, the sound of running water, and the smell of fresh fruit and herbs attract birds and butterflies, as well as turning the yard into a tranquil garden retreat.
Cooking Magic for Kids 