I’m delighted to announce the launch of The Kids’ Nature Shop.

We all know the importance of getting our children out into nature but today’s busy family life makes it hard to find the time. Not just that, but sometimes parents themselves have lost touch with the outdoors. They long to get outside with their families but don’t know what to do or where to start.

The Kids’ Nature Shop can help. Whether it’s spotting birds, bugs and spiders; growing giant sunflowers; or learning how to stargaze, our carefully-selected products will spark your imagination.

Plus, our Reading Room contains specially-written articles about why nature is good for your kids (and for you!) with tips and tricks to help you get started.

Why Do We Need A Nature Shop For Kids?

As my earlier blog post about Richard Louv’s new book ‘Vitamin N’ explained, there’s a growing amount of interest in the benefits to kids of interacting with nature.  With my grandparent hat on, however, I’ve noticed that it’s quite difficult to find the kind of products which support outdoors activities. They tend to be scattered around Amazon and other online stores, and I’m not aware of any offline shops which bring them all together. That’s why we need  The Kids’ Nature Shop.

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Erin Thomas Wong & Sue Thomas

This is a new venture for me. My daughter Erin Thomas Wong and I devised it together and it’s a first for both of us. We’ve never run an online shop before, and this is the first time we’ve combined our very different sets of skills and interests.

In recent years Erin has focussed on empowering her fellow mums to develop their own businesses, first in London and more recently online via her website Making Mumpreneurs. Readers of this blog will know that my focus is on research into nature, technology and wellbeing. This is the first time I’ve directed my efforts towards a child-centred project, and at the moment the shop is not especially technobiophilic. But that will change as the website grows.

What We Sell

If you buy for children, grandkids, nieces, nephews and friends – or even just for your grownup self! – please pop in and take a look.  Whether the ideas here are new to you or you’re already a seasoned outdoors person, we hope our website will inspire you with practical ways to connect families to the natural world.  We currently offer five categories of products:

Brilliant Books (for children and adults)
Creepy Crawlies
Great Outdoors
Green Fingers
Moon & Stars

We hope you’ll pop in and browse the shop for fantastic activity ideas from sowing winter crops to going on a treasure hunt or studying snails in their own fascinating world!  And there’s a hidden extra – scroll to the bottom of each Category page for a brief tiptoe into nature as described in a classic children’s book.

We’ve only just launched and we’re adding more products every day, so please drop by to take a look. And do share the link with friends. We’re keen to spread the word!