Plus, the best city for biking; First Americans Museum opens; Greeking out; virtual field trip to space
|  | Sunday, September 26, 2021 | | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY TODD HEISLER, THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX | | By Amy Alipio, TRAVEL Assistant Managing Editor
“Every tree tells a story,” Cathy Newman writes in one of my favorite essays in National Geographic. Conversely, I suspect everybody has a story about a tree.
A 19th-century logging camp story about a lumberjack named Paul Bunyan and his faithful blue ox, Babe, has become so popular that now you can find photo ops with them everywhere, from Bemidji, Minnesota (pictured above), to downtown Bangor, Maine.
In fact, in his giant wake, timber tourism has become a thing, as Kelly DiNardo writes for Nat Geo—and it’s perfect for teaching kids about trees and conservation. There are multiple woodsy places across the U.S. where families can dig into how and why earlier Americans harvested and processed trees. Kids learn about both the science and the economics of forestry, whether it’s through museums about pioneer life or by watching lumberjacks—and jills—saw logs the old-fashioned way.
Experiences such as Timber Tina’s Great Maine Lumberjack Show, near Bar Harbor, Maine, and the Great Lakes Timber Show, in Michigan, demonstrate wood chopping (and axe throwing!) and let kids test their balance with logrolling. On the banks of the Wild Wolf River in Wisconsin, the Menominee Indian Tribe Cultural and Logging Museum shares the story of how Indigenous people log on their reservations.
Behind all the fun and games is an educational element that you can impart to kids: “Good forestry practices can strengthen communities, rejuvenate cities, grow economies, and combat climate change,” says Lauren Jarvis, author of Lumberjack: The History, the Lore, the Life.
There are ample other opportunities to hear trees talk. The practice of forest bathing encourages kids to engage slowly and deliberately with nature. (Consider keeping the kids cozy on their outdoor adventure with Nat Geo hoodies from GapKids.) Families can also support the just launched Trees for Jane, a global campaign spearheaded by Nat Geo Explorer Jane Goodall to plant a trillion trees by 2030.
What’s your tree story? Let me know! Mine is about a big weeping cherry that stood in front of my childhood home in suburban Maryland. In spring, it would cry pale-pink petals onto our car sitting in the driveway. In fall, it spread crunchy brown leaves underfoot. But I didn’t realize how much I loved that tree until more than a decade later when my husband and I went househunting for our own family. The place we ended up moving into has a massive old weeping cherry tree out front. Coincidence? Maybe. But I think, for me, that tree symbolized home.
This is a special monthly Family newsletter dedicated to travel. Like what you’re reading? Drop me a line with comments or travel tips for our Nat Geo Family community. If you want to get the Family newsletter every week, sign up here. If you want your children to get Nat Geo Kids or Nat Geo Little Kids magazines, subscribe here. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK PETERSON/REDUX | | Best city for biking? I admit to being a nervous city biker, especially if I’m with my kids. But biking with them in Minneapolis, Minnesota (pictured above), as we did a couple of summers ago, was a delight. We loved the Midtown Greenway, a 5.5-mile-long former railyard corridor turned crosstown commuter bike path, with easy access to parks, shops, and restaurants. As Stephanie Pearson writes for Nat Geo, it’s part of a chain of 250 miles of on- and off-street bikeways that help make Minnesota’s largest city one of the top spots for urban cycling in the U.S. (Here are 10 other kid-friendly facts about bicycles.) We especially enjoyed wheeling around one of the city’s many lakes—no cars whizzing by, trees shading the path, and big smiles on our faces.
We asked, you responded. In last month’s family travel newsletter, we wrote about family travel traditions, like contributor Julian Smith’s repeat visits to Western dude ranches, and asked for your own trip tendencies. A recurring theme was summer road trips to visit grandparents. Destinations ranged from Pompano Beach, Florida, where Grandma’s condo had “a grand pool, a functioning TV where I binge-watched cartoons, and an impressive stash of sugary cereal,” to the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State, where Grandma would join in “scouring the coast for driftwood and washed-up jellies.” (And if you’re planning a road trip this fall, the Nat Geo Kids World Atlas Sticker Activity Book can keep junior travelers entertained with maps, activities, and, of course, stickers!) | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY FIRST AMERICANS MUSEUM | | First Americans Museum, Oklahoma City. Did you know the state of Oklahoma gets its name from two Choctaw words, “Okla” and “Homma,” meaning Red People? This and many more stories of Native American history, culture, and influence can be found at the new First Americans Museum (pictured above), in Oklahoma City. Thirty years in the making, the multimedia museum lets Oklahoma’s 39 Native American tribes share their authentic narratives and enduring traditions, with family-friendly experiences such as folktales told via video and audio, loom-beading demonstrations, and flute performances. (And if you can’t get there right now, I recommend for older kids the TV series on FX Reservation Dogs, which is set in Oklahoma and boasts a mostly Native cast and crew. Younger kids can check out this silly music video about the Sooner State.)
Family discussion: Speaking of destinations, how much time do your kids get to play—and get dirty—among plants, trees, or a forest? It could make a difference. In an experiment, Finnish daycare workers rolled out a lawn, planted dwarf heather and blueberries, and let kids care for crops. Researchers say the kids quickly had healthier microbes in their guts and skin. “3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds at these greened-up daycare centers in Finland showed increased T-cells and other important immune markers in their blood within 28 days,” Science Alert reports.
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| TRY THIS: BOREDOM BUSTERS FOR KIDS | |
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