Introducing…
KidZ’n Nature
Dino Diane’s Mission…
…is to encourage our young people to come out of their electronic caves (get off their screens and come out of their rooms), strap on their hiking boots, sneakers or flip-flops, and discover the wonders of our natural world.
Explore KidZ’n Nature as a resource for kids and their families offering all kinds of useful tips and strategies with wagonloads of fun things young people and their families can do in their own backyards and neighborhoods.
Two hours a week outside in nature is all it takes!
The Healing Power of Nature!
Published research suggests time in nature
may reduce your family’s risk of:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Anxiety & depression
- Serious asthma attacks
- Anger & mental distress
- Feelings of loneliness…
- Behavioral disorders in kids
- And much, much more!
Let’s help our youth become curious adventurers
that are kind, respectful, and caring for others and
Mother Earth!
Dino Diane's Nature Cures
Cure One
Limit Screen Time to Two Hours Daily
Whether it’s cell phones, social media or video games, our young people need to learn how to balance homework, screens, personal development (sports, music, art, reading, martial arts, etc.), connecting with friends and family, and spending time together in the outdoors.
BALANCE SCREEN TIME, FAMILY TIME, AND TIME IN NATURE!
Cure Two
Eat Together Without Screens
Set the screens aside and enjoy connecting at mealtime! Use open-ended questions as you discuss the family’s daily events and happenings. Use questions like:
- What do you think about that?
- How did that make you or your friend feel?
- Why do you think that happened?
- What could you have done or what can you do about it now?
- How could you or your friend have handled that differently?
- What could you do to make the situation better?
BE A PROBLEM SOLVER!
Cure Three
Spend One Hour Daily as a Family in Nature
One hour a day Monday through Friday equates to five hours of outdoor activity a week! Remember, you need at least two hours a week in nature to be living a healthier lifestyle. But, five hours a week gives you and your family optimal health!
LET’S GO FOR FIVE!
Cure Four
Collect Screens Before Bedtime
Why not set up a routine—homework, dinner, family adventure time, then screen time? Display your routine on a weekly calendar on the kitchen refrigerator and teach time management at an early age.
BE SURE TO CHECK FOR LIGHTNING BUGS UNDER THE SHEETS!
Cure Five
Screens Stay At Home During Family Adventure time
Family adventure time is all about connecting with each member of your family. Get to really know each other. Talk, laugh, and tell personal stories. Build trust and create fond memories that last.
ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS IS NATURE’S WAY OF HEALING!
Benefits of Spending Time with Family
Your family, including your closest friends, step-parents & siblings, and guardians, largely make up who you are.
Spending time, one-on-one connecting with family forms the basis of a healthy, meaningful life filled with happiness, confidence, resilience, and an internal sense of emotional well-being.
Dr. Todd Thatcher, DO, CMRO, offers the following benefits of spending time with family.
Improves Mental Health
Spending time with family—especially face-to-face communication, as opposed to digital—significantly reduces the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and other mental illness. Being physically present with loved ones creates a strong emotional support to buoy you up through life’s challenges.
Helps Children Perform Well Academically
On average, kids who are spending time with family, tend to do better in school. They learn communication skills and the importance of education. When needed, assisting with assignments or new concepts reinforces the fact that their success is important to you. just asking about their day and what they’re learning showS your children how much you care.
Lowers Risk of Behavioral Problems
Children who are spending time with their family have shown less risk of behavioral issues, such as violence or substance abuse. When they receive positive attention for positive behaviors, it increases their desire to continue those healthy patterns.
Family is so important when it comes to a young person bringing problems to you, because your advice can allow them to become better equipped to cope with problems and make positive choices.
Boosts Self-Confidence
Spending time with family builds confidence for all of its members. Parents can teach children to build self-esteem through specific skills such as problem solving and communication. They can also model the ability to love oneself without degrading others. For parents and children, confidence grows simply with the knowledge that they are valued and appreciated by their loved ones.
Helps Kids Learn Future Parenting Skills
The memories you create together will instill in children a desire to foster that same loving atmosphere in their own future homes. They may even practice now by copying your behaviors when they interact with siblings.
Teaches Effective Conflict Resolution
Being with family is fun, but it can be difficult, too. When conflicts arise, you can’t just walk away for good. You’re in this together, so you have to work together to solve the issues that come up. Spending time with family teaches interpersonal communication skills including healthy, constructive ways to discuss, debate, and solve problems.
Promotes Adaptability & Resilience
Your ability to face life’s changes and challenges is greatly improved by a strong family bond. Being with family gives you the feeling of knowing that you belong, you are cared for, and you are needed, which gives a sense of meaning and purpose.
Reduces Stress
Those with strong family relationships tend to seek out healthier coping mechanisms for stress—such as confiding in friends and family—instead of other unhealthy outlets. This establishes a habit of talking through problems together to relieve stress and find effective solutions.
Enhances Physical Health
With the right kind of activities, spending time with family can positively impact physical well-being. Participating in outdoor activities like sports games, hikes, or gardening together helps to improve fitness. Being with family can also encourage one another to maintain healthy lifestyles.
Lengthens Life Expectancy
Healthy relationships could increase your lifespan up to 50%. Combine all the physical and mental health benefits discussed above, and you can see why family time has been linked to living a longer, healthier, happier life.
Take Your Family on a Magical Adventure with Dino Diane
in Saddlebags of Gold and The Secrets of the Five Rays of Light.
Reading by campfire light is a memorable experience for everyone!
Let's Get Your Family Outdoors
Teen Limits
The Neighborhood
Whether you live in the city, the suburbs, out in the country or the wilds, there are a myriad of places and opportunities nearby for you and your family to spend more fun time outdoors.
Here are just a few suggestions from Dino Diane to help you connect with Mother Earth and each other. More to come with our Dino Diane’s Adventure Club. Sign up today!
Use your imagination. Be creative. The possibilities are endless!
- Take a family hike, walk, or bike ride in nature, parks, or just get outside. Many cities have hiking, biking trails, or paths through parks. Stop and read any informative markers—learn through adventure!
- Walking the dog becomes time together to connect with parent and child. One on one is recommended. Parents take turns with each child.
- Eat outdoors as much as possible. That includes lunch at school or work by the fountain, out in the park, or garden area.
- Have a family game night under the stars and lanterns—card or board games, or action games. Flashlight tag is one of Dino Diane’s favorites!
- Put a campfire ring and camp chairs in the backyard to enjoy storytelling and other campfire fun. Plan family outings and connect!
- Adventure movie night under the stars. Watch nature films, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, real-life adventure films.
- Put up a tent and camp in the backyard.
- Family adventure book club; read the same book and report weekly around the campfire. Each member chooses a book everyone reads together. Why not start with Dino Diane’s Adventure series!
- Take up family outdoor hobbies—photography, wildflowers, gardening, etc.
- Find out what your area zoo, botanical garden, Parks and Recreation Department, recreational equipment stores offer as outdoor programs for kids and families.
- Teach your kids how to care about others by volunteering at parks, zoos, animal shelters, children’s hospitals, etc.
Family Adventure Trips
Either weekly, monthly, or annually, take the family on an adventure away from their immediate surroundings.
Hold a family adventure meeting around the campfire to discuss their choices. Everyone has a say within preset perimeters—number of days, season, location, activities, costs, etc. Parents make the final decision.
Make a plan and set the dates. No more “someday.” Just do it!
- Take an adventure ecotour, digging dinosaurs, dolphin tours, caving, Everglades airboat, etc. Google and find which adventures are near you!
- Initiate new family outdoor activities—backpacking, hiking, camping, picnics, fishing, boating, canoeing or kayaking, etc.
- Add a national park to your annual summer trip to Disney World, Sea World, or Universal Studios. Create balance with a healthy dose of nature!
- Take a pure nature vacation and explore a national park!
- Become the family expert on wildflowers, butterflies, birds, wildlife, trees, rocks, geology, fossils, ethnobotany, insects, etc. Everyone picks an area of interest and does the research ahead of the planned adventure.
You’ll love the “Seek” app by iNaturalist to learn about nature’s plants, animals, insects, birds, and more.
Connect with Nature
Personal Time with Mother Earth
Taking time to yourself is good for your own healing, balance, and well-being. Look for ways you can incorporate more nature into your daily routines.
- Begin your day by meditating in nature.
- Pay attention to your surroundings and connect with nature by activating your four senses (not taste). Crack a leaf or blade of grass and smell it.
- Breathe deeply and feel appreciation, sending gratitude to Mother Earth.
- Journal your nature experiences by drawing, taking pictures, or making videos.
- Read a book in nature; sit under a tree, in a hammock, camp chair, at the beach or park.
- Spend time quietly observing nature—birds, clouds, insects, plants.
- Eat as many meals in nature as possible. If you work in an office, enjoy lunch outdoors.
- Take a short walk in a nearby park.
- Learn about wildflowers and ethnobotany. Identify them; know them.
- Ground yourself with Mother Earth and stand barefoot in the grass or beach.
- Become a birdwatcher, expert in animal tracks, wildlife, geology, etc.
- Become a nature photographer!
Seven Secrets to
Get Your Kids Off Their Screens,
Out of Their Caves,
and into Better Mental Health
by Adventuring in Nature!
It’s all about getting kids off their screens and into nature!
A recent survey found that half of all kids spend less than an hour a day in nature, a phenomenon some experts are calling a “Nature-deficit Disorder.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that our youth could improve their mental health by spending time outdoors.
And Dino Diane shares her secrets of how families can connect with nature and achieve optimal health and happiness.
Download the Seven Secrets Now . . .
(Dino Diane promises to not share your email)