The 30 Day Slow Down Childhood Challenge – 2018

by wilderchild | Oct 22, 2018

As I look around the farm, the signs of fall are all-encompassing. The leaves turning and letting go, milkweed pods releasing their seeds – when we take note, these small happenings serve as reminders to slow down and simplify. Paradoxically so many of us tend to...

How to Raise Kids Who Never Lose Their Love of Winter

by wilderchild | Dec 4, 2015

As difficult as it is for me to admit it, I have not always had the best relationship with winter. For most of my adult life, I’ve lived in the Midwest half heartedly participating in the season. It’s sad when I think about those times now – six...

50 Nature-Inspired Kid’s Birthday Parties

by wilderchild | Apr 17, 2015

Confession, I am really into birthdays. For me it’s a month-long event that kicks off with me saying to myself in the mirror, “Treat yourself!”  That being said, birthdays don’t need to be elaborate or over the top (my daughter’s first...

6 Ways to Get Your Kids Outside (When They Don’t Want To Go)

by wilderchild | Jan 26, 2015

Yesterday I asked my daughter if she wanted to go outside and paint snow butterflies. She looked up from her Play-Doh induced trance and politely said, “No thank you.” Sigh. OK, yes I am working on raising a self-inspired child who loves the feel of the...

5 Things I Don’t Say To My Daughter When We’re Out in Nature

by wilderchild | Sep 24, 2014

Ahhh Mother Nature. She brings out the best and sometimes the paranoia in us. It’s those unconscious fears and thoughts that have a real potential to shape my daughter’s perception about the wild outdoors (no pressure). So for her sake and mine, I’m...