Outdoor Skills · Ages 6 and up

Caring for Nature

Take care of the outdoors: leave no trace, help wildlife at home, and add your sightings to real science.

Everything outdoors depends on healthy woods, fields, and creeks, and this one is about giving something back. Back in 1914, Dan Beard included a chapter on building huts “without injury to the trees,” and he admitted that peeling birch bark could kill the tree. Today families help by leaving no trace, making room for wildlife, and sharing what they observe with scientists.

Things to try

In any order, at your own pace. Tick what you've tried if you like keeping track; ticks stay on this device.

Learn the leave-no-trace ideasLearn the seven ideas in the table and come up with an example of each from your own outings. A good goal: you can explain all seven to a grown-up.
Clean up a place you loveWith gloves, a trash bag, and a grown-up, pick up litter at a park, along a street, or at a schoolyard. Sort out anything that can be recycled. A good goal: one hour of cleanup, or two shorter sessions.
Do a home check-upLook for ways your home can use less water and energy. Check for dripping taps, lights left on, and long showers, and make a family plan to fix one. A good goal: your family has followed the plan for a week.
Make your yard wildlife-friendlyDo two of these: keep a birdbath clean and full, leave a corner of fallen leaves, build a brush pile or a bug hotel, or plant a native plant. A good goal: you've spotted an animal using what you made.
Be a citizen scientistWith a grown-up's account, share real observations with a project such as iNaturalist, the Great Backyard Bird Count, or Journey North's monarch sightings. A good goal: you've submitted at least five observations.
Meet a species that needs helpLearn about one threatened or endangered plant or animal in your state: what it needs and what's hurting it. A good goal: you can share three facts and one thing people are doing to help.
Try a low-trash weekFor one week, try to pack lunches and snacks with as little throwaway packaging as possible. Weigh or count your trash before and after. A good goal: you can show the difference.
Spread the wordMake a poster, a short talk, or a slideshow about caring for nature and share it with your family or co-op group. A good goal: you've presented it.

Seven leave-no-trace ideas

Idea	What it looks like
Plan ahead	Know the rules and the weather, and bring what you need
Stay on durable ground	Walk on trails and camp on established sites, rock, or gravel
Pack it out	Take home all trash and leftover food
Leave what you find	Take photos, not flowers, rocks, or feathers
Keep fires small or skip them	Use a stove, a grill, or an existing fire ring, and put fires out cold
Respect wildlife	Watch from a distance and never feed wild animals
Be kind to other visitors	Keep voices low and share the trail

Read about it in the old books

Teddy Rook Book is not affiliated with or connected to any scouting or youth organization. These pages are free ideas to use however you like.