SF Children & Nature

San Francisco Children & Nature

Connect with Nature in SF

Resources for STUDENTS, Parents and educators

Now more than ever, we need nature. Fresh air, exercise, and play bring a multitude of physical and mental health benefits including reduced stress and a stronger immune system. Nature helps us heal. It makes us and our children happier and more resilient.

Below is a collection of San Francisco-based resources for nature connection from our partners.

Hike, Walk & Run

Discover nature in your neighborhood—it’s everywhere, in parks, front gardens, and streetscapes (SF Environment) and visit SF’s many parks: SF Rec & Park, The Presidio, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, and SF Port Parks and Open Spaces

Make Nature Inspired Art

Draw or paint outside or from the window. Discover Nature Journaling and learn how to teach it (John Muir Laws/BayNature). Create Park Art Projects (Parks Conservancy), try Neighborhood Nature Art (Green Schoolyards America). Find inspiration from the Anywhere Artist book to create with rocks, leaves, pine cones, and twigs (Hannibal Ferret Story Books)

Yoga, Dance & Stretching

In your neighborhood park, backyard, or in your home, take a minute to breathe, stretch and move your body. As a family, try yoga (Storyhive).

Explore! Look for bugs and other creatures

Use garden binoculars to help you look close (SF Botanical Gardens). Take pictures with a camera or phone. Use seek by iNaturalist, the family-friendly app that helps you identify and learn about species while earning badges (Cal Academy). Use Merlin to help identify birds (the Cornell Lab). Celebrate bugs with the Randall Museum.

plant a seed and watch it grow

Bring nature inside. Grow plants from with seeds you may already have in your kitchen (A piece of rainbow). Try growing your own beans (Food Corps), avocado (Avoseedo), and making seedling pots from toilet paper rolls (Instructables).

Celebrate the Earth

Catch a sunrise or sunset. Track the moon. Observe the clouds. Honor Earth Day and bring attention to climate justice by recycling materials to make #WindowEarths (Ruth Asawa School Environment Club). Learn about oceans with the Randall Museum.

Engage all of the senses

Find a spot in nature. Sit still and observe what you see, hear and feel.

Cook!

Make delicious food together and appreciate the work that went into bringing your food to the table. Recipe ideas with lesson plans (Food Corps).

read about nature. Take story time outdoors if possible

See our recommended list of nature books for tots lovingly curated by the SF Public Library. Tandem Partners in Early Learning has storytime and activity guides for young children. Check out these multicultural book recommendations for K-5 from the SF Botanical Gardens.

Go on a scavenger HUNT

Search for and identify natural objects in your backyard, on your block or at a nearby park. Try the Backyard and Neighborhood Native Species Bingo (Cal Academy), this one (REI), this one (Patterson Audubon), or create your own.

Additional Resources

NATURE ACTIVITIES

ONLINE LEARNING FOR KIDS

ONLINE SERVICES 

VIRTUAL NATURE VISITS

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SAN FRANCISCO CHILDREN & NATURE

SF Children & Nature is part of the national Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN) initiative and is working to address the disparities in nature access along socioeconomic and racial lines to ensure all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in the outdoors.

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CONTACT

(415) 298-7532
info@sfchildrennature.org