From Sherri Osborn,
Your Guide to Family Crafts.
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As the weather gets nicer and the days get longer, encourage everyone to get away from the TV and go outside by planning some creative outdoor fun! Plan an outdoor adventure! Try going on a safari in your own backyard, set up bird watching stations around your yard, or take a nature walk and collect special treasures. Before you begin your adventure though, you might want to prepare some fun supplies:

• Home-Made Binoculars - A must for any explorer; made from 2 toilet paper rolls.

• Check Box Camera - No adventure would be complete without pictures, even if they are pretend.

• Fabric Sit-Upons - Make this handy cushion that is perfect for sitting on outside.

• Jumbo Treasure Sack - This sack has a shoulder strap and is perfect for holding almost any treasure you find.

• Periscope - This creation allows you to hide in bushes, etc. and peek out over the top without being seen!

• Noticeable Notebooks - Make a personalized notebook so you can takes notes during your adventure.

Here are some other ideas to get you going on an adventure. If you have any creative ideas, feel free to share them!

Backyard Safari

Build a safari tent in your backyard using blankets, lawn chairs, and/or a picnic table.

Make sidewalk chalk and draw pictures of wild animals on the sidewalk or drive way.

Play safari charades - pretend you are an animal you might see on a safari and see if others can guess which animal you are.

Have a creative snack - have trail mix or try making these Snake Refrigerator Cookies.

Pretend other animals you spy in your neighborhood are wild! Pretend a dog is a wild wolf or a cat is suddenly a fierce lion.

Try making some of these wild animal crafts.

Make wild animal masks out of paper plates and crawl around the yard pretending you are safari animals.

Print out some pictures to color. Start with these: Animal Coloring Pages.

Bird Watching

Find a nice quiet spot to sit and watch the birds. Count how many you see. Write about them in your notebook.

To help you identify different birds, check out this Wild Bird Photography Library.

Print out and color pictures of various birds. Compare them to real birds you see.

Get creative - create a new species of bird. Draw a picture of it, and write down information about what it eats, it's habitat, etc.

Make special bird houses and bird feeders to attract birds to your yard.

Try some of these special recipes for making treats for birds.

For a special treat for yourself, make an Edible Bird Nest.

Try your hand at making these Bird Crafts.

To learn more about bird watching and find many fun facts and activities about birds, check out the [link url=http://birding.about.com/msubmenu13.htm]Fledgling Corner[/link].

Nature Walk

Take a walk around your neighborhood, a nearby park, or a wilderness area. Make sure you do not disturb anything in nature. Do not pick flowers, break branches off trees, other things that might cause harm to plants or animals.

Play a game while you are walking... See who can find the most of one object; or, you can make up a scavenger hunt.

Learn a bit about collecting fossils and watch for some while you are walking. You can also have fun [link url=http://www.makingfriends.com/dinofosl.htm]making your own fossils[/link].

While you are out walking, do a good deed. Pick up any trash you pass!

While you walk, collect items you pass such as sticks, stones, leaves, seeds, pine cones, etc.

Make a collage out of the items you collect, or try some of these crafts:

• Leaves
• Pine Cones
• Rocks
• Seeds-Beans
• Sticks

Please drop by the Family Crafts forum and share your outdoor adventure ideas with everyone!