Fun Friday activities are quick-and-simple ways to explore nature in your own backyard.
When it comes to nature, sometimes it’s a good thing to have your head in the clouds.
We enjoy cloud watching almost every day, often in the moments between parking our car in the driveway after school and heading into the house. I love how quickly it allows us to connect with nature and with each other, no matter what distractions the day might have brought.
How it works: Find a quiet spot to sit or lie down outside and stare up. Ask your kids what they see – what shapes, colors, creatures or other things they spy in the sky.
There’s often more to see than just clouds. Sometimes there are birds flying overhead, planes zooming by or a beautiful sunset just begin to take shape. Enjoy whatever nature has to offer.
Why it’s so fun: This activity is all about using the imagination. The sillier you are with your “visions,” the more your kids will enjoy it – and begin to think outside the box as well.
We often describe what we see in the clouds to each other by demonstrating how the shape looks, which is always good for a giggle.
Variations on a theme: It’s fun to go cloud watching at different times of the day to see how things have changed or in different types of weather to see how clouds change color, texture and shape.
Older kids might like trying to capture their cloud images in photos or on video. Another creative take on cloud watching is to have your kids sketch their visions in a nature journal.
I hope you’ll take a moment this weekend to stop and see what’s happening in the sky. You’ll have to let me know what you find!
My son is convinced he's a weatherman because he says he can tell what's happening just by looking at the clouds. I'm just glad he likes trying!
Me too – clouds are great. I don't get many of them in Kansas, at least not the interesting ones. Yesterday and today we've had fog, which is very unusual for here. I think I could count on one hand the other times we've had fog in the last 10 years.
We love looking for things in the clouds too. And looking at the sky and trying to guess the weather.
Great post, Debi! I love cloud-watching. You can do it almost any time and something about it automatically slows one down enough to notice other wonderful things in nature and in our lives. Plus, cloud formations and weather never cease to be fascinating!