
Image courtesy of the National Recreation and Park Association.
As we deal with the constantly changing reality of coping with COVID-19, Chicago Wilderness reminds you that nature is always here for you.
Nature offers us many benefits: wondrous places to explore, as
well as opportunities for learning and discovery. Healthy ecosystems also provide us with essential services--such as fresh air, clean water, healthy soil, flood protection, and pollution filtering--that underpin our economy.
Most
importantly, in these unprecedented times, appreciating nature--whether from a trail, your backyard, or through your window--is critical to your physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. If you do go outdoors, please follow any local restrictions that are in place.
Here are some resources
from Chicago Wilderness partners and others.

Explore the Outdoors Responsibly
Family Activities
- AAA Play: 50 Backyard Birds and the Sounds They Make
- Audubon Great Lakes: The Nest (activities, videos, webinars, webcams, and articles) and Great Lakes and Migratory Birds (virtual spring migration)
- Barrington Area Conservation Trust: Bringing Nature Home
- Big Green Chicago: Ready, Set, Grow Curriculum and Weekly Activities
- Bird Conservation Network: Monitor Chicago's Birds
- Birdsh^t podcast
- Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods: Face Mask Drive
- Chicago Audubon Society: Migration in Motion
- Chicago Botanic Garden: How-To Activities
- Chicago Children's Museum: Recipes for Play at Home
- Chicago Ornithological Society: The Cyber Birder (activities and live streams)
- Chicago Wildlife Watch
- Children & Nature Network: 10 Nature Activities to Get Your Family Through the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Children & Nature Network: Staying Connected to the Natural World During Covid-19 (resources, activities, stories)
- Cornell Lab: Make Life Easier, Courtesy of Birds
- Cornell Lab: Online Guide to Birds and Birdwatching
- Cornell Lab: Beastbox (mix animal voices with beatbox loops)
- Dunes Learning Center: Nature Scavenger Hunt
- eBird Citizen Science to Track Birds (plus videos, games, lectures)
- Field Museum at Home
- FIeld Museum: Beginner's Field Guide to Spring in Chicagoland
- Illinois Audubon Society: Spring Migration Dashboard
- iNaturalist: Citizen Science and Sidewalk Botanist Scavenger Hunt
- McHenry County Conservation District: E-Learning Courses
- Morton Arboretum: Online Courses, Digital Library Resources and Nature-Based Learning in Place
- Naperville Park District: Meditations Podcast
- National Audubon Society: The Joy of Birds (activities, videos, webcams, and articles), Audubon for Kids, and Audubon para NiƱos
- National Environmental Education Foundation: Environmental Education at Home
- National Wildlife Federation: Destress While Helping Wildlife
- Nature Conservancy: Nature Lab (youth curriculum for students and parents)
- PBS: Schools Closed? Make a New Home Routine
- Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: Nature Museum Comes to You (resources and activities)
- Ranger Rick: Stuck Indoors?
- The Revelator: Wildlife webcams
- Sea Grant: Education at Home (state-specific information for MI and WI)
- Shedd Aquarium: Live Cam
- Sierra: Visit 5 National Parks Online
- Shape of the World podcast
- Tinkergarten (activities)
- Travel & Leisure: Live Zoo Webcams
COVID-19 Information