Books to Get Young Kids Outside
This little list comes to us from research scientist-turned-award-winning children’s author Heather C. Morris. Her picture books include Trunk Goes Thunk! A Woodland Tale of Opposites, and Backyard Stew, which just made the USA Today Bestseller list! Next year she’s got another one coming: Dribble, Shoot, Swish.
You can find Heather’s science and writing adventures at heathercmorris.com. And you can find your child outside, we hope, once they read some of the books she recommends.
Reading That Opens the Door, by Heather Morris
Sometimes it’s hard to get outdoors. Screens and schedules, homework and housework keep kids inside, as do those times when turning your kids loose can be slightly frightening.
Go jump in the stream!
When we moved across town to a house with an enormous backyard, my kids were 11, 9, and 5. My then-9-year-old was (and still is) my outdoors kid. She relished the trees, plants and animals in our new yard. But the drainage ditch behind our property — that was her favorite part.
An older kid next door showed her the best place to leap across the trickling stream, the best place to build a fort, and the double drainage pipes that led under some railroad tracks! My daughter was bewitched. Almost every afternoon, she opened the back gate and disappeared down to the ditch.
She enjoyed showing off this suburban wilderness as well. One afternoon, she and a friend took off, followed by my five-year-old. After a little while, I went to check on them — and found the older kids leading my youngest through the drainage pipes. After my initial shock, I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to remind them about supervising younger kids and recognizing potentially dangerous situations.
But did I forbid my daughter from visiting the ditch?
Never.
The back gate was open the very next afternoon.
Books That Inspire
Now, six years later, I still find that same daughter on a blanket under a tree doing her homework. But not every child is naturally inclined to head outside. My other two need a little coaxing, or an activity.
So when I began writing children’s books I was thrilled to discover a host of picture books that made the outdoors appealing to my indoors kids. Here are some that have encouraged them to head outside…and maybe even try something new.
By Alison Farrell. This one is a family favorite, and it’s often checked out of our local library. It’s FULL of adventure, as well as plant, animal, and bug names, and a great story about sisters on a hike together. (Bonus: only the kids are pictured. Oh — and the family dog).
By Megan Wagner Lloyd, illustrated by Abigail Halpin. This delightful picture book begins with two seemingly simple questions: What is wild? And where can you find it? From there, it challenges kids to listen, smell and touch wild…to really seek it. Even in places where it seems to be buried.
By Heather Montgomery, illustrated by Maribel Lechuga. A clever picture book that combines exploring the outdoors with stories of famous scientists—from George Washington Carver to modern-day Diego Cisnero-Heredia—who collected items in their pockets, sorted them, and never stopped asking questions!
Written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. People may be more familiar with McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings. But this charming story follows a little girl and a little bear both picking and eating blueberries on the same hillside.
By me! Illustrated by Chantelle and Burgen Thorne And —
Backyard Stew (coming in September)
Also by me! Illustrated by Deborah Schreiber. My picture books celebrate different ways to explore the natural world. In Trunk, readers discover natural recycling, forest dynamics, and basic opposites. In Backyard Stew, I shift from the woods to the backyard. This interactive story involves the reader tapping, turning, swiping, and counting wild “ingredients” that can be found right outside most back doors, encouraging kids to get outside and imagine their own (non-edible) stew!
I hope these books — and many others — inspire you and your family to head outside.
Let Grow here: Here’s a list of children’s book that we feel can help spark conversations with your kids about childhood independence.
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