Hale at Home
Find Nature in Your Back Yard
Birding in Your Back Yard
Birding is a fun and easy way to observe and track Mother Nature’s creatures. How many different types of birds can you identify? Tyler offers tips to any budding ornithologist.
Audubon Bird Guide
Our friends at the National Audubon Society offer an excellent free app that serves as a digital field guide to over 800 species of North American birds.
Raised Bed Gardens
Raised bed gardens are a great way to grow plants when your soil quality isn’t suitable for produce. Tomás will show you how to get started.
Raised Beds 101
Resource share! Check out this comprehensive guide to building a raised bed garden—kidsgardening.org will show you how.
House Plants
Even when bad weather keeps us inside, house plants can improve air quality, soothe sunburns, and more. Tomás offers a few tips for how you can bring #natureinyourbackyard into your living space.
Kitchen Garden
House plants are fun, but a few can even be edible! Reduce your carbon footprint as you turn your windowsill into a miniature farm.
The Bees in Your Backyard
From honeybees to bumblebees, pollinators come in all stripes! Learn about the important role they play in our ecosystem, for everything from flowers to food.
Pollinator Race
This activity is one part arts and crafts and one part scavenger hunt. What’s it like to be a pollinator? Compete with your family members to find out!
Natural Seeding
Now that you’ve learned to make soil and start a garden, you might notice just how many plants seem to grow and spread on their own—without a gardener! Tomás explains how nature helps flora flourish.
Gone with the Wind
A few basic arts and crafts supplies can illustrate natural seeding with the help of a fan. Scientific American will show you how to Bring Science Home.
Starting a Garden
From fruits and vegetables to flowers and shrubs, learn how to grow your own garden with Tomás in this video.
Make a Terrarium
Recycle a soda bottle and use it to start a small garden anywhere. Adirondack Girl can teach you How to Make a Coke Bottle Terrarium.
Composting 101
Have you ever wondered how to turn food scraps into rich soil? Learn how to compost at home with Tomás in this week’s video.
Composting FAQs
Check out this guide to starting your own compost bin at home. If you need to visit a store or interact with others, practice social distancing and observe recommendations of public health officials. Safety is always our first priority!
Your Activities
How have you found #natureinyourbackyard? The Hale community has been hunting for geological treasures, landscaping, observing tree blossoms, and exercising with four-legged friends! Email us a photo and caption so we can share your activities, too.
Support Hale
We hope you’ve enjoyed these activities! Our heartfelt thanks goes to everyone who continues to support our creative facilitators, activity specialists, and staff members as we build community in a socially distanced world. We’re doing our best to support you in turn.
As you may know, Hale began as a gift. Since March 11, 1918, we’ve relied on your generosity. It’s through your philanthropy that our programs serve more than 15,000 children and families from more than 70 communities throughout the Greater Boston Area. Please consider a gift today to sustain the people who make our programs possible.