Photo: Algonquin Books
You don’t have to be a naturalist to lead a nature-rich life. Richard Louv’s Vitamin N offers 500 activities for the whole family to connect to the natural world, whether you’re in your home, the inner city or the wild countryside.
1. Practice wildcrafting by gathering plants for food or crafts. This isn’t your grandmother’s leaf pressing (though that’s fun, too). Forage for herbs in the city or go mushroom hunting in the woods.
2. Play outdoor games from around the world. Here are a few:

Rede, Tanzania

To play rede, players sit in a circle around a mound of sand. An upright stick is plunged into the top of the mound. Players take turns removing a handful of sand from around the stick. When the stick falls over, the player who removed the last bit of sand must run to touch a home base?this could be a rock or a spare hoodie to mark the spot?before the others can tag her. Reset the stick and start digging again. Once a player is tagged a predetermined number of times, she’s eliminated from the game. Marbles Sliding Game, Cree (Native American)

In this traditional Cree game, a dirt slope or snowbank is made into a ramp for marbles. The ramp should be about five feet long. Players dig 12 small holes at the bottom of the ramp and assign each a different point value. Players take turns trying to accumulate points by rolling a marble down the slope and trying to get it into one of the holes. The person with the ...