You probably hear or read this every year when spring buds are blossoming into warm-weather flora: Children don’t just stay the course academically during the lazy, hazy days of summer; they actually lose ground if they don’t engage in learning activities. But there’s a simple solution in the guise of Mother Nature. “Kids need to experience the things they’ve learned in school,” says Jeanne Bouza Rose, enrichment specialist at the North Side Elementary School in East Williston, NY. “The natural world offers experiences that can help them make these connections.” And what better time to help make this happen that the less-structured time of summer? Bouza Rose is passionate about encouraging children to turn off electronic devices and head outdoors to use their imaginations, get in touch with nature and just observe and interact. “The ultimate aim is for independent play out in nature that parallels indoor activities,” she says.

Here are some of her suggestions for helping your child keep school skills sharp and develop imagination as he connects with nature. Bonus: It’s good for you, too.

Create a personal TV station. Have your child spend several minutes each day looking out the window. “She can observe what’s ‘broadcasting’ just for her in her own backyard whenever she ‘tunes in’: birds flying overhead, leaves fluttering, clouds wafting by,” says Bouza Rose. “Then your child can open the door and go out and see it first hand."

Take nature time together. Recognize the importance of together time outside. Watch the changing sky, look at the stars, explore the flowers. See, smell and touch things. Engage all your senses. Children learn through their senses from day one.

Ask for directions. Examine the position of the sun in the sky to reinforce the directions learned in class: Discuss that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west each day, and let your child figure out where north and south are.

Create a passion for the world. Talk about stars, oceans and waves and enjoy your child’s comments and questions. Listen to his interests and empower him to pursue them. “It’s OK if you don’t know all the answers,” says Bouza Rose. “Talk about how and where to find them. Go to the library or look on the computer and learn the answers together.”

Give him room to explore. Devote a corner of the backyard for your child’s exploration. Let the weeds grow there so she can see what happens; maybe watch a squirrel wag its tail as it eats. She can watch and listen to birds. She can study properties: what happens when she adds water to soil; when she makes mud and a river and discovers soil erosion; when she add rocks or Legos to the river (Do they float? Do they make tracks?); when she mixes plants and leaves.

Plant a garden together. Journal the progress with drawings and descriptions. Encourage your child to include details. If you’ve grown vegetables, pick and cook them together.

Go out on an adventure. Grab a pair of binoculars, pack a picnic and spend the day at a beach, a park or the woods. Listen to the waves, watch the birds, take a hike. Compare the differences and similarities of the new location to your own backyard. For more family nature activities and ideas, go to: richardlouv.com, the website of Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Click on Resource Guide. sharingnature.com, inspired by Joseph Cornell, author of Sharing Nature with Children.  audubon.org, the National Audubon Society website with plenty of family time activities and crafts projects and overviews of great places to explore across the country. childrenandnature.org, The Children & Nature Network, “… created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature.”