Helping Families Learn Homesteading and Self-Sufficient Living
Do you love the outdoors but struggle to find time for adventure now that you’re a mom? It’s a common challenge, but one that can be overcome with a little creativity and planning. In this article, we’ll explore practical strategies for how to find adventure …
So you’ve watched a few reality shows about folks living in Alaska and are probably wondering how much of that is true. Having moved here a few years ago from Georgia, there were plenty of questions that I had to move here in order to …
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The most wonderful part of homeschooling is the ability to teach our children real life skills. Don’t get me wrong, skills like basic math and reading are definitely life skills, but I am talking about the ones that go even further. Skills that apply basic math, reading, and science to the task. Spring is one of the most perfect opportunities for these skills and so I’m going to show you 5 simple life skills to teach your children in Spring.
Spring is our favorite time of year. After the long and dark Winter, it is refreshing to see the sunshine return. We love to watch the birds return home after their long stay South and we are eager to get outside to stretch our legs and feel the sun on our face. Here in Alaska, we start busting out the Summer clothes around this time. Once the temps reach 40 and sunny, you’ll likely find us outside in shorts and short sleeve shirts splashing in the puddles made by the melting snow. Harsh but fun, this state runs wild with learning opportunities that I can experience with my kids and Spring is the best time for this.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when trying to identify the many different varieties of plants on a walk? This is why I love Spring. At least here in Alaska, most plants begin to start showing a few at a time so there isn’t a huge selection to pick and choose. It is much easier to get started with foraging because you can focus on learning one new plant at a time.
Foraging is a controversial topic. There are strong advocates either for or against it. There are many who do not view humans as a part of nature. They view us as separate and believe in keeping nature as human free as possible. I cannot deny the immense destruction that humans have brought on nature, but it is my strong belief that this is occurring because of the separation from nature. When we were connected with acquiring our own food in nature, we had a stronger drive to take care of the many plants and animals that surround us.
My family’s absolute favorite plant in the Spring are the dandelions. They are easy to identify and my children love to collect them. The flowers, leaves, and roots are all safe to eat and use. You can make Dandelion jelly from the flowers, add the leaves to your salads or smoothies, and make a lovely “coffee” from the roots. It is all around versatile and a wonderful place to start if you are a beginner.
Our second favorite is clover. It grows in abundance with the Dandelions at our favorite spot on the Tanana river. In the Summer, you can find us basking in the sunshine and collecting these beautiful and tasty flowers. They are high in vitamins and minerals and are a sweet addition to many foods, including infused honey. I love a nice cup of clover tea during the Summer. Clover is another wonderful beginner plant to look for.
The first plants to make an appearance in our part of Alaska are the Willows. We live off of the Tanana river and are surrounded by beautiful river Willows. The telltale sign that we know Spring is in the air is the arrival of pussy willows. Once we see the little fluffs on the Willows then we know that the geese are soon to arrive and the snow is soon to be gone.
Willows are a well known pain relief remedy. White Willow bark is highly medicinal and contains the same compound as aspirin. You can make a simple Willow bark tea to help with pains instead of jumping for the Tylenol first.
Growing and obtaining food is probably one of the most important life skills for kids that you can teach. Along with being able to identify edible plants, being able to grow them is also important and fun. Kids naturally love gardening. My kids never miss an opportunity to dig around in the dirt and they love watching the seeds turn into plants.
You can certainly have a much easier time planting a garden on your own, but you will be missing out on the most wonderful learning opportunity for your children. Not only is it a life skill, but it teaches science, math, and reading as well. Between YouTube, books, and magazines, there are many wonderful resources out there to help you along.
Even if it is just a windowsill herb garden, which is where I started with my kids, you will feel really good about growing a couple of herbs to add into your kitchen or medicine cabinet. It is a highly rewarding experience and a fun experiment to try as a family.
Some easy plants to start with are tomatoes, peppers, green onions, chives, cilantro, beans, and cucumbers. These are easy to start and can be kept in containers on a patio if space is your concern. They don’t require a ton of care, but they have a nice yield.
Whenever I am learning something new, I tend to go headfirst and start with too much and there is a strong learning curve. It is much easier to start small and work up.
We’ve been focusing on growing and collecting food but now it is time to focus on the preparation. We take the plants that we have grown or foraged into the kitchen and prepare a tasty, seasonal meal from them. Like foraging and gardening, cooking at home is sadly a dying art. With the ease of fast food and meal delivery services, it is just too easy to go for the simplest option. I would also go so far as to say this is one of the most important life skills for kids to learn, as it will serve them the rest of their lives.
This is scary in a world where disease and sickness is on the rise. Food is medicine. Cooking at home using the freshest and most local produce to be found is the foundation of health.
Even if you are unable to grow your own food, you can shop at the farmer’s market and teach your kids how to prepare it. Kids are eager to get into the kitchen. You can begin at a very young age with age appropriate tasks.
I like to let my oldest chop the vegetables and my youngest kids will place them on the pan. I let my younger ones practice chopping with supervision and we have yet to have an accident. Kids are more capable than they are given credit for and will certainly rise to the task.
These are just a few of the many tasks that my children have. There are others, but it just depends on what I am cooking and what they are comfortable helping with.
Knowing how to cook is always a valuable skill. Your children will be adults some day needing to cook for their own family. It is best they learn as they are growing so it isn’t a hard learning curve later in life. The more experience I gain with cooking, the easier it is and the less likely I am to lean on fast food in a pinch.
Spring is that time of year where my husband gets to flex his carpentry skills, and he is always eager for it. Even now as we plan for our new raised garden beds he can’t stop grinning thinking of the project that lies before him.
He learned how to build and use tools from a young age because his dad taught him as early as possible. These skills have been foundational in his career and beyond helpful around our house. He has even been able to help friends and family who have needed it. This is one of the life skills for kids that my husband is thankful to have been taught.
It is nice to know that if something breaks or needs repair in the house, he can usually fix it or learn how to. He is determined to teach these skills to all of our children as well. I fully expect my daughters to outshine their husbands in the carpentry field some day with how their dad is teaching them.
Even if you have no knowledge of hand tools, a simple YouTube tutorial or well written book can remedy that. They are easy to learn and practice makes perfect. I love to learn alongside my children anyway, so anytime there is a learning opportunity for all of us, I jump on it.
You can start small by buying a simple birdhouse building kit like this one on Amazon. You can’t go wrong because it tells you exactly step by step how to do everything. The birds in your yard will thank you for it and your kids will have learned new skills. They will easily take pride in their creation once they see it come together.
Winter tends to take a toll on the house. The long, dark days offer less sunshine through the windows. The cold prevents the windows from being open and the stagnant air stays trapped inside. There is nothing like Spring cleaning to completely flip this around.
Enlisting the help of your children will not only make this task a little easier on you, but it will provide a learning opportunity as well. When they see that refreshing the house is important to you and you build it into your seasonal routine, they will expect it every year. This is an excellent opportunity to incorporate simple life skills for kids.
I’m not saying that every house should look perfect, but there is a certain peace to a clean house. Assign everyone a different task. The younger ones can help wipe the walls and load the linens into the washer. They can load and unload the dishwasher. Older ones can sweep, mop, and vacuum. Take out the trash. There is plenty that they are capable of and will feel proud to have accomplished it with you.
Again, I don’t think perfection is key here. I’m certainly not trying to teach my kids to stress over every little crumb, but I do want them to know how to pick up after themselves. This is important for when they are no longer living with me and they grow up and live on their own.
My ultimate goal as a mother is to pass on skills to my children that they will someday need when they are grown. Some may not classify gardening as a “need” but it is my greatest wish to gift my kids the familiarity of where their food comes from. I want them to always know how to grow and acquire more of it if needed.
Spring is also a time where we focus on stewardship of the land. In April we celebrate Earth Day and the kids have a lot of fun with the baking and projects we like to do on this day. It is a great opportunity to teach kids about recycling and taking care of our beautiful Earth. You can find 20 simple Earth Day activities for families here.
I hope that these skills have been an inspiration for your Spring activities with your family. I find immense joy in combining our home school days with real life practical skills. If you are interested in more content on homeschooling life and support for homeschooling mamas, you can find more content from me. What life skills do you find most important to teach? Which ones are you implementing in your home school days? I’d love to hear from you to find out!
The Earth is what we all have in common. Wendell berry Earth Day is an annual celebration that occurs on April 22 each year. We celebrate the achievements of the environmental movement and recognize the need to protect and preserve our wonderful planet. My family …
Where the glacier meets the sky, the land ceases to be earthly, and the earth becomes one with the heavens; no sorrows live there anymore, and therefore joy is not necessary; beauty alone reigns there, beyond all demands. Halldór Laxness Visiting Castner Glacier in Alaska …
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There is a feeling that you get when you are deep in a forest that just cannot be recreated. The deep connection to nature that is felt instantly calms the busy mind. You feel as one with the creatures and plants while wandering, as if you understand each other. As we grow farther apart from nature in our cities, it is increasingly important to find the best methods to deeply reconnect with our roots in nature. This article discusses a few tried and true methods to connect with nature.
We often forget that we are nature. Nature is not something separate from us. So when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we have lost our connection to ourselves.
Andy Goldsworthy
Before the dawn of our advanced technologies and Netflix binging, humans had no other choice but to understand our intricate relationship to the Earth. Without electricity to light their homes, much of the day was spent outdoors completing tasks needed for immediate survival. Between farming, fishing, hunting, foraging and many other daily tasks, humans needed to have a good idea of the world that surrounded them.
Our reliance on nature today is the same as it was. The difference is that we now rely on middlemen to complete the tasks that were once personal. We still grow food and harvest animals. We still drink water and enjoy the bounty of what nature offers, and we still get our daily exercise, only now it is done under artificial lights indoors on a treadmill that offers little resistance.
These seemingly small, but important tasks are essential in remembering that we are also nature. Like the wild animals in a forest, we also use nature to survive.
Like animals in the zoo, the quality of our lives has decreased while the quantity of our years of living has increased. Our average lifespan continues to increase and has reached around 76. Our rates of depression and anxiety are skyrocketing along with it. According to this study, the rates increased 49.86% just between 1990 and 2017.
The effects reach even further into our physical health. In another study, almost half of Americans (133 million people) are suffering from at least one chronic illness. This number has increased by 15 million in 10 years and is estimated to reach 170 million by the year 2030.
These are alarming numbers! There are many ways to combat the rising statistics, and many involve nature. From food to mindfulness, the great outdoors is an amazing solution to battle the effects of our sedentary and sickly culture. Don’t just take my word for it, according to Harvard , spending time in green spaces with trees and grass can dramatically improve mental and physical well being.
Whether you are living in extreme disconnection from nature and would like to remedy this, or are already a strong nature connection advocate, these methods will be sure to strengthen your bond with the natural world and bring you back to yourself and your roots.
Hiking culture is growing stronger every year. More and more people are taking to the trails to explore the beauty of the world. It is growing more and more accessible for everyone also, with increasing amounts of wheelchair accessible trails. Parents are are able to push their children in hiking strollers like this one, instead of carrying them to ease the burden on their shoulders.
There are long trails for experts and short walk through trails for beginners. Hiking can be done safely in the dead of winter and the heat of summer with proper planning and precaution. It is an all inclusive and amazing activity that will certainly boost your connection with nature.
Just a simple stroll through a meadow will leave you deeply connected to nature. The most beautiful sights and wonders of the world require you to step off the beaten path.
Most people understand the physical benefits to hiking, but it goes even deeper. Being outdoors is incredibly beneficial to your mental health also. Hiking reduces stress and improves your mood, allowing you to return to your center. People spending a lot of time outdoors tend to have lower rates of depression and anxiety and a greater sense of closeness with the natural world.
I have never left a hike unchanged. Each opportunity provides a unique experience with whatever area I am walking. Sometimes I connect more with the many birds singing in the trees. There are other times that I bask in the wildflowers or towering trees. Whatever it is that I am needing in that moment, nature tends to provide, deepening our connection even further.
There is a new resurgence towards seasonal living that is proving to help people feel more connection to nature. There are many surprising benefits of living seasonally, including understanding the natural rhythms of the seasons and involving them into your daily routines. These small steps make a huge impact in your ability to connect with the natural world around you.
Each season has its own abundance and we are usually looking forward to the next season to enjoy it.
We connect to nature in the Summer by swimming in lakes and rivers or by gardening and eating fresh foods of the Earth.
We can connect in Fall by baking with apples and taking walks to admire the changing colors of the leaves.
Having a fire outside during winter and connecting with the warmth that nature can bring even in the cold is a great way to connect.
Once nature begins to emerge in the Spring, it is easier to make that connection. Collecting dandelions to make jelly or just simply observing the plants as they come back to life are simple yet fulfilling ways to connect with nature.
Living seasonally is an important step in connecting to nature. It is something that has been a part of our history for as long as we’ve been human. It is deeply fulfilling and quite fun to include in your life.
If you ask my children what my motto is, they will tell you it is “anything done indoors can be done outside.” I am constantly trying to motivate my kids to get outside more by offering to take their toys, drawings, and snacks outdoors. This is almost always met with the usual amount of resistance kids offer when they are seeking the comforts of a warm and comfortable house. I remain adamant in my argument nonetheless.
From dinner prep and cooking to writing a blog post, it can all be done outdoors to provide the nature immersion needed for a strong connection. After all, it is hard to connect with something you spend little time with. The same context applies to relationships. You spend more time with your kids to deepen your connection, why not apply the same concept to nature?
Prepping dinner and cooking outside is my favorite easy method for connecting with nature on a daily basis. It is something I will do anyway, so taking it outside isn’t too much of a stretch. To make it even easier and prevent any excuses, I keep an outdoor cooking kit handy and within reach. I keep my absolute favorite outdoor kitchen knife in this kit to make the experience even more enjoyable.
If you are looking for an extremely affordable and versatile outdoor knife I highly recommend this one. I bought my first one 5 years ago and haven’t used another since. It is my all around go-to knife when preparing food outdoors.
Aside from cooking, I also love to eat the prepared meal outside. I read my favorite books and write in my journal outside. I can take my laptop outside and instantly be inspired to write. My kids will often bring their favorite toys outside, even in the snow. They play with them the same as they would indoors. During Summer, you will find my children sitting on the porch or in a hammock even enjoying their tablets. We are immersing ourselves at every opportunity to connect with nature.
The most grand method and I’d say the longest lasting is to visit an awe inspiring location. A grand landmark that leaves you breathless. Somewhere you feel most alive. You will be surprised at how many of these places are close to you. A simple exploration around your local trails or a quick google search will probably point you in the right direction.
If you have the opportunity to visit a distant location vastly different from your home, I would recommend jumping on it. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing what you aren’t used to. What isn’t common. This leaves you with the most profound connection with nature.
This was the feeling we had when we first saw the seasons of Alaska after moving here from Georgia. Moving from the tropical swamps of South Georgia to the arctic wilderness of Alaska is vastly different. You can read about why this move was the best decision for my family here. My connection to nature is growing with each new experience.
Just yesterday we took a spontaneous road trip 3 hours southeast to visit Castner Glacier, an ice cave south of Delta Junction. When I tell you that I felt alive isn’t an understatement. Leaving the hills of Fairbanks to explore the giant snow capped mountains in the Delta Range felt like the opportunity of a lifetime. Seeing those mountains struck something deep inside.
Walking into the cave itself is awe inspiring. The ridges carved into its walls from years of wind and melting Summers are pleasing to the eyes. The darkness of its cavern is tempting to explore. The sight of it is something you simply must see. It feels like magic within.
There are many places like this in the world just waiting for you to see. You simply can’t leave without feeling that deep connection you are seeking. I can’t imagine spending my entire life without seeing some of these wonderful places. They are truly remarkable and bring me back to the root of my connection with nature.
These methods that I use to connect with nature have been working for me whenever I feel like I have spent too much time indoors. I am human and I have my weeks where I like to binge watch my favorite show. Whenever I emerge from the binge, I feel disconnected and not like myself. This is the perfect time to implement these strategies. Each one is slightly different and requires a different amount of resources or effort.
Sometimes the limitations of life force me to pick the simplest one, which is performing my usual indoor tasks in the outdoors. If I have a little more time and energy, I will plan a simple hike at a local trail. There are plenty of easy trails that are really just a stroll through the woods but are just as powerful.
If I am needing an enormous dose of nature for re-connection, I choose to plan for an awe inspiring trip. Sometimes I am feeling great already, but am just seeking to further that connection and will plan for this anyway.
Whatever the case is for you, I invite you to try these methods to deeply connect with nature. Not only will you thrive mentally and spiritually, but you will also be boosting your physical health. You will not regret any of these, but will be profoundly changed. Nature tends to do that to us as humans. We seek that connection, whether we know it or not.
Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning Fred Rogers It is no secret that playing is an essential part of childhood. From the moment my kids are awake, it is time to …
You should never go to Alaska as a young man because you’ll never be satisfied with any other place as long as you live. John muir It has been two years since moving to Alaska and welcoming our new home. It’s a place that never …
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Before we go into the why, we should first discuss what exactly an “adventure” truly is. There are a slough of activities that can be labeled as such. The most common in our days are “micro-adventures,” or little bits and pieces of adventure that can be found in areas as common as in our home or backyard. I love these micro-adventures because they make an adventure with your kids attainable.
This can be as simple as sledding the big hills, exploring the woods, and climbing trees. You could expand this to include adventurous activities around town, such as hiking, skiing, exploring new places/shops, exploring new parks, and finding new and creative things to do. Simply put, if it feels like an adventure, then it is.
Then there are the big adventures. The ones that cannot be mistaken for anything else. These look more like long camping trips, big hikes, travelling, and road trips. For us, it was also moving 4,000 miles away from everyone we know and love with nothing but our savings and sense of adventure. If you want to read about why that was an amazing decision for us, you can on my 5 Reasons Moving to Alaska Was the Best Decision. It can be as grand or as humble as you wish, so long as you remember that it is an adventure.
It seriously feels like everyday lasts about 100 hours. Though I wouldn’t trade that time for the world, it doesn’t change the fact that mothering can be challenging. Between diaper changes, bouncing crying babies, making meals and snacks, chauffeuring everyone through town to activities, grocery shopping, cleaning, and everything in between, it seems almost impossible to make time for anything else. It all makes an adventure with your kids seem quite impossible.
I feel you mama! These years go by so fast. It seems like yesterday my oldest was an infant, and now she’s halfway through childhood (10). When I look back on our lives together, I don’t remember the day to day memories as well as I do the ones that stand out. The adventures we went on together. Every night that we slept under the stars, every trail that we hiked, even if we ended it soaked in rain. This is why I believe it is so important to adventure with your kids.
I remember our first real camping trip on the Appalachian Trail when Madee was not quite yet two years old. We only hiked about a mile or two past the trail head and set up camp for the day before a massive storm went through the area and we were stuck in the tent for two days.
That evening, Madee started to act like she had a stomach bug and needless to say, it was a rough evening. We debated on hiking back to the car in the pouring rain, but decided against it with a little one. Once she felt better, we had the best sleep of our lives and then a nice hike back to the car once the rain let up the next day.
Though they seem insignificant, I can always remember these little bouts of adventure with my children, and I hope they do as well.
There is only so much time that I can spend under one roof. Even if it’s just going outside for a few minutes alone while everyone is occupied indoors. That breath of fresh air is invigorating. Once we’ve gone through the routines of the day, it can get a little boring.
Going on an adventure with your kids offers relief. Any homeschooling family will tell you that this is a must, even on the micro level. Break away from the books to go outside and climb a tree. Better yet, take the book into the tree. Let the world inspire you and give you a fresh perspective for your day. We are creatures of habit, but also lovers of new and interesting things.
Kids naturally thrive in novelty. From a baby’s perspective, everything is entirely new. This is why children are natural learners, because they are seeing and experiencing the world for the first time. I don’t think this is something that we outgrow at any point. I have never heard anyone say that they don’t like to travel.
Our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors were travelers, seasonally following the migrations of herds over the landscape. Once we were able to circumnavigate the globe and see new places, we never stopped. Travel and vacations are a huge industry because people love to have novel experiences.
You don’t have to travel farther than the town you live in to experience new places. There is almost always something or somewhere new to see, even if it’s just a new creek bed to play in. I have always lived in smaller towns but have never been disappointed with exploring and finding something new. New restaurants, museums (even hole in the wall locations), stores, coffee shops, parks, river or lake spots, the opportunities could be endless and just right around the corner. Go ahead, find those places and adventure with your kids.
I have had the realization that there is learning in all that we do. From reading the signs for museum exhibits to counting the birds we see on a trail, there are many opportunities for formal education while adventuring. When you adventure with your kids, you are making new discoveries.
In the “real world,” there is more to learn than just reading, writing, and math. Leadership skills, punctuality, responsibility, resiliency, and creativity are all important skills to know, but are not necessarily learned through a curriculum. Real world experiences teach these skills much faster than a book can. Even if the lessons are harsh, there is learning.
I think back to a time when our oldest was barely two years old and we went back to Blood Mountain along the Appalachian Trail. On our drive north, we stopped at a truck stop that sold souvenirs. I immediately fell in love with the leather moccasins on display.
This was when I was starting my journey into more holistic living, including movement. I had the “brilliant” idea to wear our new moccasin shoes on the trail instead of the superior soled hiking boots that we initially invested in. I had forgotten the rocky terrain that the trail turns into about 3 miles in.
My husband will never let me live that miserable hike down. By the time we made it back to the car, our poor feet were bruised and swollen from attempting a basically barefoot mountain hike. Only our daughter was saved because she stayed in the hiking carrier. Though the lesson was harsh, we definitely learned a valuable lesson on proper footwear in the mountains.
Looking back on my own childhood, there are a few significant toys I was given that I can still recall, but not many. I do remember my set of Lincoln Logs, a power wheels four wheeler, and my Lego set. They brought me so much joy at the time.
What I remember most are the unique experiences that felt very adventurous as a child. Riding horses, ATV’s, and trucks back through our property and getting stuck, having to walk home and noticing every little detail for the first time.
I remember beach trips with my mother and exploring new beach shops and restaurants. Exploring the rocks at the beach to find sand-dollars, hermit crabs, and shells.
My dad would take us fishing, hunting, and for “hikes,” though they were only through our neck of the woods and were really just a short walk. I couldn’t help but feel as if we were embarking on some grand adventure at the time.
I hope that some day, my own children will look back at our memories exploring with a fond recollection. They rarely remember what they were gifted for Christmas last year, but they do remember camping at the beach, eating the most delicious homemade sandwiches, and playing until they dropped like flies at the end of the day in exhaustion.
There is nothing more unmotivating than having to put snow gear on four kids and yourself while a baby is crying and a very anxious dog is whining in your ear to go outside. My older two can put most of it on by themselves, but they have days where they just want mama to do it.
We all desperately love the outdoors and the adventures that await us out there, but getting ready for it? Not so much. Once on the trail, it can be hit or miss with the youngest ones. There will inevitably be tears and snack hungry toddlers who cannot take another step.
But in all of this difficulty, there is not a time that I regret getting out the door and going. Watching the endless curiosity and resiliency grow in my children when we are out exploring is warmth to a mother’s heart. The older they are, the easier it will be if you start early. All of my children have endured my sense of adventure from infancy, often being placed in a baby carrier and along for the ride. If you can start to adventure with your kids from an early age, you’ll unlock their natural sense of adventure.
When we first moved to Alaska, I was surprised to see them so resilient to the negative temperatures. The excitement for them was stronger than the cold. Once that excitement wore off, however, it was back to the usual complaints about getting out in the cold. Repetition and routine has given them the peace of knowing what to expect, and they have grown to love it as much as I do.
I feel that starting all of them early with adventuring has fostered a sense of adventure in their own hearts, taught them the skills and resiliency needed to go on the more difficult explorations, and overall will give them skills they will need as adults. Kids who are able to face a literal storm now will grow into adults who can face the metaphorical storms later in life.
The size of the adventure does not matter. There isn’t a need for anything costly or fancy, just a sense of fun and exploration. Nothing brings people together like an experience. If you gain nothing else, you are able to spend quality time with your children and build a strong bond with them. Whatever adventure awaits you today, heed the call.