KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Making time to get outside during the virtual school day can be tough, but Ijams Nature Center is bringing the outdoors to you through the computer screen!
Getting outside while your kids are learning from home is an easy way to engage them beyond the classroom and Ijams Nature Center is here to help.
You don't have to drive to South Knoxville to take advantage of their outdoor resources. All you need is a search engine and a backyard!
The nature center started an E-Learning station website when the pandemic started.
It's full of nature information, resources and activities. There's links to scavenger hunts, backyard adventures, arts and crafts and even coloring pages.
"It gives us this opportunity to explore and get inspired in this new way with nature that's been here all along but maybe we were too busy and we were blowing right past it," Jeremy Clothier, Ijams public programs coordinator said. "But now we can be like 'the plants outside my house are amazing! I never looked at them before!'"
Every activity encourages getting outside in some way. Ijams added several links since it first launched in the spring, and now, since so many students and parents are working and learning from home, it's the perfect excuse to learn outside.
"The whole theme is to find inspiration in the nature of this moment," Clothier explained. "So even though you know things are very cattywampus for us now and not the way they usually are, nature is still here and it's closer than ever now in our backyards."
It's a free service and you don't need a subscription. All you have to do is go to Ijams.org and click on the E-Learning station link from a drop down menu.