Get Together! The outdoors is too cool not to share with someone, so here are some ideas for getting others involved in the great outdoors: • Volunteer to read or play games outdoors with kids or seniors. • Invite environmental organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society to a block party or a community center event to show simple ways to protect wildlife in your neighborhood. • Organize a group of friends to spruce up the window boxes of seniors with soil and plants donated by nurseries, greenhouses, or other stores that sell gardening supplies. • Take a homebound person's dog for a walk in the park—on a leash, of course. Hey, who said only humans appreciate the outdoors?

Sun Fun: Outdoors on the Cheap

By Monica Shah, staff writer

Summer is a perfect time to enjoy nature. Whether at a beach, forest, or city park, here are five ideas for making the most of the sunshine—for 99 cents or less!

1. Plant a Sunflower.

Get some sunflower seeds (a packet should cost $.99 or less!). Fill a small pot 3/4 of the way full with potting soil and place two seeds in the middle. Sprinkle another layer of soil on top and place the pot in a bright, sunny spot. Water enough to always keep the soil slightly moist. The sunflowers will sprout in a week or two. If you have access to a garden, plant them outside in a spot that gets drenched in sunlight. Live in an apartment? Miniature sunflowers will do nicely on a sunny windowsill.

2. Build a Queen Amidala-worthy Sandcastle.

Fill a bucket, flowerpot, or other container (experiment with different shapes) with damp sand and turn it upside down on the beach. Build as high (or wide) as you want. Decorate with driftwood, shells, and seaweed. Sculpt in a moat around your final creation and you'll have a fortress to be envied.

3. Picnic in the Park.

Whether you live near a national forest or in the urban jungle, there is probably a park somewhere close by where picnicking is allowed. Call some friends together and ask each to bring enough of one food item for everyone to share, and a drink for themselves. They should each also bring a game (or game idea)—cards, Frisbee®, Pictionary®, freeze-tag, etc. They can bring music, too, but it should be enjoyed at a volume that doesn't aggravate others.

Eating under clouds, playing in the sunshine, and laughing with friends will become some of your best summer memories when September rolls around…unless you forgot the sunblock!

4. Learn about Native Wildlife.

Search the Internet or your library for the type of plants and animals that live in your neighborhood: birds, flowers, insects, etc. Check out some field guides from your library and walk around town trying to find and identify some of them. Look for butterflies, ladybugs, and, if it's twilight, fireflies (or lightning bugs). Take a close look at anything you catch, but set it free after a few minutes. Don't overlook sidewalk cracks, street trees, or your neighborhood park—many interesting things live in small spaces.

5. Make Sea Shell Wind Chimes.

Spend an afternoon beachcombing—not in a protected area, though. Or check out a craft store and gather a dozen or so small- to medium-sized shells. Look for shells that naturally have holes in them. Cut twine, ribbon, or string into 10 pieces of equal length (8–16 inches). Tie the end of each piece of string to a different shell. If the shells don't contain any holes, just glue the string on with tacky glue and let it dry for several hours. Punch 10 holes in a row in a paper towel cardboard tube (you can use a pencil). Tie each string to a different hole and loop a new piece of string through the tube and tie it together so the wind chimes can hang by your window.