Getting kids out exploring nature is always a good thing. It exercises their body and mind in whole new ways, helps them develop their curiosity and imagination, grows empathy skills, encourages them to get fresh air and much more.

When I was 12, my step-father let me borrow his binoculars. It was like a whole new world suddenly opened up for me. I had always loved animals and nature - I proudly called myself a "Naturalist" - but due to eyesight problems had not had much luck with activities like bird watching.

The local park became my haven. I would take my little dog, Tiny, and my binoculars and seek out new kinds of birds and draw them on scraps of paper, try to identify them and follow them around.

There was a kestrel that I used to be able to find nearly every day. It was exciting to find him the first time – I knew it was a male by the bright russet color of his back and the blue-grey on his head and tail, the females are more drab and brown. He was sitting at the very top of a tall pine tree and stayed there for a long time before suddenly launching into the air without warning, and flying off in a hurry as if he’d just remembered an urgent appointment.

He was a creature of habit and I gradually got to know most of his regular haunts so most mornings Tiny and I would set out and search for him then watch him for as long as we could before he flew out of sight.

As I became more goal-oriented in my hobby of nature-watching, I became more motivated. Whenever I had a goal - wanting to locate my kestrel, or to find a bird that I had glimpsed and not been able to identify, for instance - then the whole experience became more exciting, absorbing and educational.

If your child is interested in nature, then this is a whole wonderful arena that you can use to encourage them to develop skills in goal-setting. For older children like me at age 12, bird-watching is an amazing hobby to take up and it is easy to identify specific goals, with a plan for accomplishing them. There are lots of books and magazines to look at for ideas.

However, if your children are much younger or perhaps you are looking for much simpler ideas on how to combine goal-setting and nature exploration, how about some of these ideas:

1. Take a flower book out with you and have a "treasure hunt" to see who can be the first to identify 10 different flowers.
2. Make a collection of bark rubbings - the only equipment you need is plain paper and crayons.
3. Make a small rock collection. See who can collect the most types of rocks - a shiny one, one that can draw like chalk, a flat one, a round one, and so on.
4. See if you can identify which types of trees grow on your road or in your neighborhood or local park.
5. How many different bird songs can you "spot" with your ears when out on a walk? Can you locate the bird that is singing?
6. Make it a goal on your walk to find something interesting to show a friend or a relative or even to take to school with you.

The ideas for helping your child to set and achieve goals when it comes to exploring nature are unlimited. Remember - every single time that you take your child through the process of:

1. Setting a goal
2. Taking some action
3. Recognizing the result that he achieves

.. you are building on his innate ability to succeed in all kinds of ways in the future - throughout his childhood and as an adult.