Have some spare time on your hands? Getting outdoors can be a great way to practice social distancing while enjoying some needed fresh air! Whether it’s birding, hunting, fishing, hiking or photography, spending time outside is a great way to take a mental health break.

Before spending time in the outdoors, be sure to check out and follow guidance from the Oklahoma Department of Health to minimize the spread of COVID-19. To help you stay healthy, we urge you to follow the same social distancing practices in the woods and on the water as you would in other settings.

Add Your Outdoor Hobbies to the Spring Cleaning To-Do List

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• Get hummingbird feeders ready by washing them in hot water with a bottle brush. Feeders can also be washed in a 9 part water to 1 part bleach solution as long as feeders are thoroughly washed and dried. Seed bird feeders can be washed with hot soapy water or in a diluted bleach solution. A rake or leaf blower can also be used to clean spilled seeds and droppings from under seed feeders.
• Organize your tackle box; replace old fishing line; or clean out your hunting bag (and hunting coat!). As you go through your old gear, consider donating some items to a rookie.

Keep Your Outdoor Skills Sharp

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• Brush off your field guides (or rediscover online guides like allaboutbirds.org) and reacquaint yourself with key field marks. Challenge yourself to learn a new bird, frog call, or mammal track.
• Have a family casting contest. If you’re staying in the backyard, get creative with buckets and angles.
• Set up a backyard archery range to practice your shot.
• Get ready for the upcoming turkey season by practicing your calls.
• Prep for your next outdoor adventure or test a technique mentioned in an Outdoor Oklahoma episode or magazine issue. 

Plan a Nature Staycation

• Explore the nature in your own backyard by taking a bird walk; setting up a campsite; going on a habitat hunt to find your yard’s habitat features; or taking a night hike to find or listen for calling frogs or other nighttime animals.
• Get crafty with coloring pages; make Oklahoma animal puppets; sketch or sidewalk chalk Oklahoma state animals; make a pinecone feeder; or paint nature scenes on landscaping rocks. More craft ideas can be found at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's website.

Distance Learning

• Bring nature into your home classroom with lessons from Project WILD (K-12), Aquatic WILD (K-12), Growing up Wild (ages 3-7) and Flying WILD (K-12). Many activities come with “copy me” pages. If you don’t have a printer, consider making rough sketches and getting creative with alternatives.
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offers a series of activities and lesson plans that can be adapted to Oklahoma.
• Learn how to make your backyard more wildlife friendly with the Wildlife Department’s “Landscaping for Wildlife:  A Guide to the Southern Great Plains.”