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West Virginia Wildlife
Kids In The Outdoors
Patrick McMurtry Tips For Getting Kids Outside

July 20, 2011
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice


EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO


These kids have the right idea, spend a nice summer day in the woods, playing in a creek. You never know what you're going to find, but you have to get outside and look!

Art Shomo, a biologist with The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, says parents should get their kids outside more. "The kids spend a lot more time inside behind computers and game stations and they feel no connection to nature and unless you feel a connection, you're probably not going to try to protect it or save it, take care of it."

That's one good reason to get your kids outside, another is they need exercise and a chance to explore they're natural curiosity. But before you load up the car and head to the woods, there is one important thing to keep in mind-safety first!

"The most important thing in getting kids out is safety, especially if you are around water, make sure they don't fall in and that you are around them all the time. When they're older, it's fine to let them go in there. It's important to get them so they get comfortable with nature." says Shomo.

And these kids clearly are comfortable with anything they'll find out here.

That's the beauty of nature, you really never know what you're going to find-that's half the fun of looking! Art says the key is getting your kids interested as early as possible!

"Take them outdoors, the earlier you do that, the more they get used to it and the more likely they are to do it once they get older. Just take them out to a creek and let them turn over rocks, look for crawdads, fish, insects, whatever they can find in a stream, take them for hikes in the woods." says Shomo.

Do that, and chances are you'll rediscover your own love for nature. That way, everybody wins.



LEARN MORE at the W. Va. DNR


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