If you were fortunate enough to grow up in the countryside, you will have fond memories of your interactions with nature. Most people who had rural childhoods have a special love for nature and animals as well. Now, in this modern age of the Internet and video games, one has to strike a balance in a child’s daily activities and raise them well, especially in a rural environment.
- Living Rural – One of the perks of rural parenting is the opportunity to have more space and land. When living in a rural area, you have the option to build a custom home tailored exactly to your family’s needs. There are plenty of developers that provide custom homes built for you, and living in one of them allows you to choose features like the floor plan, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, finishes, and more. This means you can create the ideal living space for raising your family, with everything from the layout to the amenities designed around you and your children.
- Involve your Child – If you live in the country, it is advisable to involve your child in most of your daily activities, and with some careful instruction, the youngster will soon begin to understand the wonders of nature. If you run a farm, even better, and whenever you have to move livestock in the car trailer, your child can be involved in such an activity. Feeding animals and daily maintenance activities should be shared with the child if possible, and if the child is still too young for that, just exposing them to the environment is sufficient at an early age.
- Respect All Life – If a child believes that every living thing has a right to existence, then they will be kind to all animals and insects, and leading by example, you can model kindness and compassion. One idea is to allow your child a pet, which might be a cat or dog, and by teaching the child how to take care of their pet, you are instilling a caring attitude towards animals in general.
- Visit Local Farms – This is a great way to bring out a love of nature in a child, and there are sure to be farms nearby, and if you visit and explain that you wish your child to have a clearer picture of farming, they would probably be happy for you and your family to spend some time observing farm life.
- Creative Play – Those who were born before the digital revolution will remember how they amused themselves with simple natural things. It is always a good idea to explore nature with your child, and if you can’t remember the things you did as a child, there are websites with many natural activities that teach children to love and respect nature.
- Teach Responsibility – Children must understand the importance of the preservation of nature, which includes responsible practices, such as making sure you do not leave litter behind, and not doing anything that might have a negative effect on the environment. The natural environment is the best classroom ever for teaching children about the realities of the natural world, and if your child asks questions about nature and how to take care of it, you can instill good practices in their thinking.
If you live in the country, there are many ways you can involve your child, and having a pet would be a good start. It is best to allow the child to choose the kind of pet they would like, and whether it is a rabbit, a guinea pig, or a dog, the process of pet care will instill kindness and compassion in the child.