I know it’s a little late for New Year’s resolutions, but everything just calmed down enough for us to start dreaming about the year before us. We’re so ready to get out in the wild and explore! Here are some of our goals for bringing our family closer to nature this year:

1. Learn Our Local Birdcalls

When we made our outdoor edible tree for the animals, it brought a lot of birds right to our front door. A few days later when we were out on a walk, The Wild Child pointed at a Chickadee and made its call (it’s one of the easiest to teach because the call resembles the name chickadee-dee-dee!). It was a magical moment and it made me even more excited to learn more of the birdsongs we hear every day.

Cool Stuff

• The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s comprehensive online catalog of birdsong and video (free)! Find it here.
• A huge list of kid-friendly birding resources via Greening Sam and Avery.
• Bird Song Hero is an interactive online game that teaches users how to identify the songs of different birds.

2. Embracing the Dark

The Wild Child isn’t exactly scared of the dark, but I wouldn’t say she is comfortable with it either. We want her to be just as excited about the stars as the sunshine. We’re going to go on more night walks, listen for more night creatures, and work on our own inherent human fears about the night.

Cool Stuff

• Inspiring “Sleeping Under the Stars” project where a family camped outdoors for at least one night, each month for the entire year. Read more here.
• We love the book Flashlight by Lizi Boyd! You can get it here. Also, here’s a sweet little trailer for the book:
  

3. Eating Wild

At one and a half my daughter identified and ate her first wild plant – Purslane (we call it Bruce Wayne). I’m so excited to keep sharing my love and knowledge of wild crafting with her. We’re going to venture beyond the grass, farther into our woods in search of wild leeks, burdock, and geranium.

Cool Stuff
I can’t recommend Herb Fairies through Learning Herbs enough. Essentially it’s a children’s herbal learning system that engages kids through stories and hands-on activities. I could say so much about this resource, but you can check it out for yourself here. 

4. Living the Farm Life

Our goal is to encourage our daughter’s curiosity, interest and connection to our family farm. She is old enough to start collecting eggs, planting seeds and realizing where her food is coming from.

Cool Stuff

• This is a wonderful interview from Joel Salatin sharing ways to get kids excited about and involved in farm activities. Listen here.
• Great article on age appropriate farm “chores”. Read here. 

5. Growing Wild Together

By the time the flowers are blooming, we’ll have another little addition to our family. We are aware of how much The Wild Child is going to influence her baby sister, and during this next year we want to help nurture that relationship. We’re going to encourage Cora to share her love of nature and introduce her new sibling to the wild.

This year is going to be a wonderful year for outdoor families. I can’t wait to share these experiences with you and follow along on your adventures.

Your Woman Gone Wild,