Parents are sighing a collective sigh of relief as school concludes for the year.

No more sticking to a schedule, dealing with online meetings and Google classroom. 

No more worrying about getting your kids to finish their assignments and trying to figure out if all the assignments were accounted for.

At the same time, you may be asking yourself – now what?!

Yes, the school year is complete but now summer is here. And with summer generally comes summertime activities such as sports, swim lessons, play dates, and more.

Unfortunately, many of us are still being restricted to stay at home so summer camps, group outings, and summertime curriculums are all gone for the moment.

What can we do to entertain our kids now? Or at the least, to guide them into a pattern of curiosity and learning when they can’t join in a group activity that helps to foster that.

I’m going to give you some ideas on how to get your kids outdoors and into nature for this summer! And at the end of this article, I have a free gift coming up for the month of June that you’re going to love.

School’s out, now what?

With the weather warming up and many states going into different phases, outdoor time is becoming more available. Whether you can head out to a park or just explore your back yard, here are some fun things that can be done to learn about the plants that grow around you.

I’m going to add lots of links here to free articles and printables that I’ve created in the past that can help you out.

1. If your child loves flowers, they might enjoy keeping a record of when each herb blooms. They could do this in their own journal or you can print off my  Herbal-Bloom-Chart for them to fill out.

2. Go outside and see what plants you can find! You can start off with my free Spring Scavenger Hunt printable or if your child is into making lists, try Building Your Backyard Herb List

3. If your child likes to study one thing at a time, consider picking a herbal mascot – one plant to study for a week, month, season, or year. You can read more about how to Choose Your Own Herbal Mascot and print off my free Herbal-Mascot printable. Use the  Herbal-Profile-Template printable to write down more in depth information about your herbal mascot.

4. Does your child enjoy reading? I’ve listed some fun herbal story books that can help to pique their interest in herbs. Read all about Summertime Reading and Herbaling and how to use these books to learn more about the herbs they talk about.

5. Simply take your child outside to play! Natural Outdoor Play is a Gateway to Herbal Learning and being outside will encourage their natural curiosity to learn about what they discover when they are outdoors.

6. If your state allows for small gatherings, consider Throwing Your Own Herbal Party to get your friends involved in herbs. When it’s a shared activity, kids often get even more excited to learn.

7. Here are 35 Activities for a Screen Free Week which can be incorporated into your daily routine anytime you need to distract your kids from the computer.

As you can see, the ideas for encouraging your child to learn about herbs are limitless! Sometimes the hardest part is just getting them outdoors – once that happens, nature takes over and does the rest!

June 30 Day Challenge

Are you like me and need a bit of extra encouragement or motivation to engage your kids?

I feel ya!

It’s always helpful to know that you’re not alone!

That’s why in June, I am offering a free 30 day challenge to give inspiration daily on learning about herbs together with your child.

Every day in June, I’ll send out a quick little email giving you a tip/challenge to incorporate some herbal learning into your day – activities that can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour – that will help to encourage you and your child to explore herbalism at your own pace.

For extra motivation, I’m even going to be offering a free gift to the person who participates the most in the challenge!

EDITED TO ADD: The 30 days challenge has been converted into a free online course that you can access here