Written by guest blogger Lindsey Vandal, an independent nature-based early educational consultant in the Mad River Valley
So you’re at home with your youngster and you’re trying to figure out how to spend your time, keep them engaged and stay balanced, above all. Here’s a tip: go outside! The Mad River Path trails are open and ripe for exploration with kids. Here are some prompts for your time outdoors. Here’s the catch: I use the term “prompt,” because the following ideas are not a cookie-cutter curriculum. There is nothing to print out, there are no worksheets; all you need is an optimistic, adventurous state of mind! Here are some materials you may appreciate, but are surely not required:
Weather appropriate attire (for you and your kids)
Journal or paper
Colored pencils or crayons
Basket, paper bag or plastic bag for collecting things
Then, just go play! These ideas help you to be the “Guide on the Side,” rather than the “Sage on the Stage.” You don’t have to be an expert in identifying birds or spring ephemerals, and your children probably wouldn’t listen to a lecture from you anyway. They learn by playing and doing. So turn off your phone, give yourself permission to unplug from technology and plug into the natural world.
Go outside every day Every day! It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or raining, just 15 minutes will help dispel the cabin-fever crazies. There’s no such thing as bad weather; just poor clothing choices, as the adage goes, so don your snow pants and weatherproof wear and go join your children. Kids are so tuned in to their caregivers’ attitudes and vibes, so try to keep a positive outlook and avoid complaining.
Go for a walk Doesn’t have to be a new one each time, in fact going on the same route helps kids notice changes over time. Here are some fun games on your walk to keep things interesting:
Deer Ears: Walk along imagining you are a deer, and use excellent listening skills to see what you notice and hear (cars, birds, wind, etc.). Try cupping your hands and placing them behind your ears so you look like a deer. Does this change your ability to hear?
Fox Walk: Walk like a fox, slowly and carefully, and see what you notice. Slowing down and using your senses helps to notice more.
Owl Eyes: Imagine that you are an owl with huge eyes and amazing eye sight. Stand still and observe the world around you. What do you notice? Can you hoot like an owl? Spread your wings and fly silently through the forest?
Touch Game: Give your kids prompts for things to find, like, “Go touch something green, and run back to me.” You can invite them touch different colors, sizes, shapes, textures, etc. This is a great way to introduce vocabulary. Be playful and model this game and play with them.
Tornado: Every time you call “Tornado!” they have to grab a tree, as if a tornado was coming and it would keep them safe J
Flood: Every time you call “Flood!” they have to get their feet higher than yours, as if a flood was coming, like on a log or up a raised bank, etc.
Ice Storm: Have them walk behind you, and when you turn around they have to freeze like ice statues. They really dig this one!
Change it up! Walk at different times of the day, like first thing in the morning before breakfast, or have your kids write a picnic menu and pack a picnic for somewhere special along your walk. Walk at night with headlamps and flashlights, or go for a “Crepuscular (dusk) Crawl,” and see what you see. Any turkeys or deer out and about? What else do you notice?
Write about it! Enact a journal time where the kiddos can write/draw about their time outside after they come indoors.
Barefoot Game When the weather is a bit more amenable and spring is a bit further along, hit up your favorite trailhead and walk barefoot! (Of course, do a preliminary survey of safety for trash or unsafe objects and remind your child to avoid these things and tell you so you can pick them up and discard of them properly.) Work together to find opposite feelings with your feet. For example, can you find something bumpy and something smooth? Work together, or if your kid/kids are up to it, have them work together and bring back their finds. Here are some other opposite ideas:
Sharp/smooth
Warm/cold
Wet/dry
Soft/hard
Sticky/clean
Rough/smooth
What else can you find???
Choose a “Sit Spot” Have your child find a place that feels special to them in some way, a place that you can visit together or s/he can walk to from their doorstep. Have them visit it every day with a journal to write and draw what they see, notice, and experience. Maybe record the weather or a cool plant/animal they saw? The options are endless. This is a great opportunity for a literacy connection, too!
Make a Map Encourage your child to draw where they traveled today. You can add to it each time you go out, or do a new one each time.
**Here are some other nature pointers for successful nature adventures**
The biggest thing is to have fun and let the kids be the leaders. You don’t have to have a set lesson plan or objective to have a good time. I’ve heard master naturalists describe this way of being as “Forest Snorkeling.” Go at the leisurely, pace of a good snorkel, where you’re up to find whatever you might find that day, except you just happen to be walking!
Give them parameters for safety, like staying away from cars, being able see a grownup or be able to hear a grownup.
Avoid the term, “Be careful,” and opt for descriptive explanations, like “I notice ____. Are you okay with that?” or, “Use your feet to help you balance there.” The phrase, “Be careful,” makes us, as caregivers, feel better but the young folk often just tune it out and it doesn’t actually help keep them safer.
A little bit of healthy, risky play is good. Risk is how children learn, assess situations for themselves, and maybe get a little scraped up but can move on. If there is a hazard, like a dead branch hanging above their play area that could fall and cause major damage, tell them to move to a safe place. Try to balance the benefit of the risk with the possible outcome of them being hurt. For example, if your child is balancing along a log in the forest, it’s risky because they might tumble off and get a scrape. But the positive outcome of the balancing would be an increased sense of confidence, skill, strength and accomplishment. All good things, right?!
Go play, have fun, and enjoy the beautiful trails that we are so lucky to have in our backyard!
