Contrary to popular belief, bird watching is not just for scientific observation. It has actually become a favorite past time for many families. Bird watching is relaxing and peaceful. Those who take part in this activity say that it is, without a doubt, one the best leisurely activities available for those who love to get up close and personal with nature. If you are considering including bird watching to the list of your families favorite spring time activities, you will first want to purchase a good pair of binoculars.

The better your bird watching binoculars are, the more up close you will be able to get with the birds you are watching. Bird watchers love to see the beautiful, distinguished colors of the birds that they observe. Without binoculars, you will only be able to see a far away view of the beauty of each bird species.

Carson Hawk Kid’s Binoculars

Bushnell Powerview 12×25 Compact Folding Roof Prism Binocular

Tasco Essentials 10×50 WA, Zip Focus Binocular

Binoculars take bird watching to the next level. Beginners usually do not view binoculars as important, however, seasoned bird watchers attest to the fact that this activity cannot be thoroughly enjoyed without them. Locating the birds through a lens provides a better picture of what life is like for the birds.

If you are considering taking on this new hobby, be sure to purchase a new pair of binoculars for bird watching. They can truly make bird watching an amazing experience. Seek advice from seasoned bird watchers when purchasing the perfect pair.

Posted by Tami

One of my favorite springtime activities is geo caching. It is adventure wrapped in fitness while spending time with your loved ones. I’m not sure how long this phenomenon has been going on around the country but I picked it up off the internet a few years ago. It is essentially a treasure hunt but the emphasis is on the adventure rather than the treasure. Truthfully, there never is really anything too dashing in the little containers. Actually, my family has found it enjoys finding those geocaches with a sign-up sheet enclosed more than those with little trinkets, aka junk.

You’ll need a geocache navigator or GPS device in order to track the coordinates. There are plenty of sites out there with the coordinates of already hidden treasure using geocaching maps. Of course, you are also welcome to hide your own cache in your favorite spot. Pick a spot that is remote, yet so beautiful it begs to be seen by others. Our favorite spots always have a stream and plenty of foliage. In this electronic era, when we are always connected, it is a real pleasure to get away from society, internet, and TV and experience nature like I used to as a child. It is very important to me that my children feel the excitement of exploration even if it is just in our hometown.

Click below to purchase geocaching containers, log books and more.

It’s a Treasure Hunt! Geocaching & Letterboxing Geocaching and letterboxing are pastimes that offer a modern twist to the age-old scavenger hunt by combining a hike in the outdoors with the technology of a GPS unit and the joy of gift-giving and receiving.

Geocaching Log Book A handy logbook, to record info about the caches you have done and plan on finding. A great way to keep all your info in one spot and handy while on the trail in search of caches.

Dr. B’s Geocaching Newbie Kit This Kit has everything a new cacher should need to get started on the trail to finding and hiding caches. (GPS and sense of adventure not included)

We will often make a picnic to take with us as we try to pick long journeys. Of course, it is important to be safe, so take a first aid kit and plenty of water. While the hike is most of the fun, there is almost always a challenge to find the geocache first. Most of the hiders will give you excellent coordinators, yet still find a way to make it very difficult to find the treasure. Really, you have to keep a keen eye out as you do not know what the cache will look like or how small the container will be.

Hidden behind all of this fun, is an excellent work out. You end up staying active for at least half of the day without even realizing it. Best of all, your kids become enthralled with the outdoors and staying active. In a time of obesity across the country, stressing good health and exercise in such a fun way is invaluable. In summation, quality time, exercise, health, and the outdoors combine to make geocaching a wonderful springtime activity for one person or many.

Submitted by Lea:

Spring is one of my son’s favorite times. After a long cold winter, we look forward to spring fun like our long morning walks (weather permitting, of course – those spring storms don’t always make it easy!), time at the playground, and fun in the backyard sandbox. Bath days are his favorite days in the spring, because those are the days that he gets to go outside and get as muddy as he wants without getting yelled at by Mom!

Last year was the first year that he was old enough to really enjoy the time outside. We purchased one of those bubble kits that can create the really big bubbles, and Dad and I drew out some gigantic ones that he could chase across the yard. We even figured out, thanks to the instructions, how to blow little bubbles inside the big bubbles with a little bubble wand and the large bubble circle. A word to anyone thinking about doing this: not all dogs are friendly to bubbles in their yard. You might want to test bubbles on your dog before launching into a full-fledged bubble blowing session. Our son was so disappointed on the first day when we had to pack up after just a few minutes because the dog went bonkers. Luckily, we found leaving her inside with a huge rawhide chew would distract her successfully for enough time to get a lot of bubbles blown!

We also did a lot of hiking last spring. At first, we took him along in the backpack carrier…there were a lot of questions coming from up above about the trees, birds, and other nature that he was seeing from that vantage point! It was a great opportunity to get him in touch with the great outdoors, and we learned a lot too. Any question that we didn’t know the answer to, we would research on the Internet when we returned home. We found an amazing site that would help identify a plant just based on the descriptive characteristics. We started taking home some of the leaves and flowers originally to help us look them up online, but we ended up saving them and making a scrapbook of them throughout the hiking season. It was a great way to look back on the summer months when winter hit.

This spring, we’re looking forward to expanding our outdoor experiences. We’ve already purchased a kiddie fishing pole, and we’re looking forward to test driving that… plus, our son finally has large enough hands for his own ball glove! Swing, batter, swing!