I admit it’s become tougher to find time to connect with nature now that school has started. One way I’ve built time outdoors into our daily routine is to walk home from school.
Even though our route is pretty much the same every day, no too walks are alike. And there’s plenty of nature just waiting to be discovered every day.
Whether you’re walking to or from school, enjoying a stroll after dinner or visiting a new-to-you neighborhood, here are a few ways you can turn a routine walk into a nature adventure.
HUNT FOR NATURE TREASURES
There’s nature all around if you just take the time to look for it. Some of our walks involve keeping our eyes open for certain items. Our favorites:
- Fall, winter, spring & summer scavenger hunts
- Flower walk
- Color walk
- Leaf walk
- Seed walk
- Looking for letters in nature
- Touring neighborhood gardens
INVOLVE THE SENSES
Sometimes our walks are less about talking and more about listening and thinking. These are perfect opportunities to put the senses to work exploring nature. Some ideas:
START A COLLECTION
The big explorer loves gathering up flowers to create a bouquet for mom. And the little explorer never finishes a walk without a collection of sticks or rocks in hand. Some fun ways to walk and collect:
- Rock hunt
- Stick gathering
- Leaf, seed and flower petal collecting
- Dead insect collecting (your kid will love you for it, I promise!)
- Sticky walk (attach nature items to little wrists using masking tape)
GO ON A SAFARI
Even urban neighborhoods offer the opportunity for wildlife walks. Remember to look not just for animals, but for signs of animals too, like tracks, nests, scat (poop), webs and more. Urban wildlife walk ideas:
- Spider web hunt
- Spider hunt
- Bird watching
- Ant watching
- Neighborhood safari
INCORPORATE TECHNOLOGY
I’m not talking about anything high-tech here, since I’m anything but technologically savvy. A few ideas my speed:
- Camera walk (let your kiddo photograph favorite natural items)
- Flashlight walk
- Compass walk (pick a new direction to go at every block, for example)
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| One of the big explorer’s first photos |
How about you – what’s your favorite way to connect with nature on your neighborhood walks?
@Crystal: I love acorns, but we don't have any around these parts. 🙁 Luckily, the kids prefer blowing out the dandelion puffs & don't appear to have any desire to collect them.
I love the "sticky walk" — brilliant! <br /><br />Shane's been collecting things lately on walks. Dandelion puffs and acorns (without caps only!) have been his latest interests. Acorns are easy to collect and keep around for a while…but the dandelions tend to get a bit messy! 🙂
@Roy: How fun for your kids to get a surprise walk home from school with dad! :)<br /><br />@Juliet: LOVE your idea of going on what I called a "sticky walk." Thanks for sharing!
For young children, one activity I like is to have a masking tape bracelet, sticky side facing outward. The children can stick anything interesting to the bracelet which won't fall off or blow away.
That is a great idea, Debi! We are fortunate enough to live just a few blocks from school and I love it when I get home from work in time to surprise the kids, by picking them up at school.