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Taking the Kids: Getting Them Outdoors and Away From Electronics this Fall

By Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Media Services on

And too many of them aren't getting it. Adults either. So while you can, go jump in the leaves! Find more festivals and ideas for outdoor getaways at our special fall getaways section (http://www.takingthekids.com/travel-topics/fourteen-favorite-fall-getaways-2/).

Family Travel Forum (http://www.myfamilytravels.com/what/activities/12807-leaf-peekers-guide-Americas-fall-foliage.html) has a state-by state directory of leaf peeper hotlines. It's not just about looking at the leaves, of course! Let preschoolers jump in them and make leaf scrapbooks and acorn or pine cone sculptures for school.

Take your little ones not yet in school to a national park (www.nps.gov). You won't have trouble getting a room at Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, where you can ride the Grand Canyon Railway to the park. The kids will love the hokey cowboy entertainment. Come on an October weekend and ride a special train to a secret pumpkin patch, http://www.thetrain.com/pumpkin-train-8498.html. (While you may want to skip camping at Yosemite this fall as a result of the Hantavirus outbreak, you will find plenty of hotel rooms at other national parks.)

Spend a few days hiking or biking where the leaves are especially pretty. You'll find great deals in ski towns across Colorado (www.colorado.com), Utah (www.visitparkcity.com) and California (www.visitinglaketahoe.com).

At Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa (www.stoweflake.com), in the picture-perfect New England town of Stowe, Vt., check out the foliage from Vermont's highest peak or hike along the Appalachian Trail -- save up to 15 percent on rooms and 20 percent on spas or restaurants. (Rates start at $199 a night.)

In New Hampshire's Waterville Valley, in the middle of the 770,000-acre White Mountain National Forest, you'll find plenty of hiking trails, fishing, a skate park and Summer Unlimited Packages until mid-October, starting at $169 a night and including a variety of activities (http://www.waterville.com/summer-trip-planning/summer-unlimited-packages.html). Come at the end of September for the storytelling festival (www.nhstorytelling.org).

The National Wildlife Federation, meanwhile, has just announced its Hike and Seek program (www.hikeandseek.org), which consists of a series of outdoor events aimed at families in six major cities across the country -- all part of a broader "Be Out There" effort to get kids outdoors and connected to nature.

The hikes (one to two miles) have interactive "Stop and Study" stations with nature crafts, live wildlife displays, and more.

 

In the South? Nantahala Outdoor Center (www.noc.com) in Bryson City, N.C., invites families to come learn how to paddle with instruction geared to kids and teens.

You'll all be the better for it. "Most parents want their kids to get what it is like to be fully alive, using all of your senses," said Richard Louv, best-selling author and the founding chairman of the Children and Nature Network (www.childrenandnature.org), which strives to connect families with the outdoors in new ways.

"Everything -- critical-thinking, mental health gets better outside," Louv said. "It is as important, or more important, than Suzuki violin."

So where are your backpack and M&Ms?

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For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.


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