Snake Deer Eagle Nature Walk

This walk encourages children to look around and notice things they may otherwise not have notices as they are moving from one place to the next. You can play this game along a nature trail but you can also do this while walking along a street, playing at the park, moving through a museum, or even while in a store.

Start off by explaining to your children that they are going to take an animal-eye view of the area as they travel along the way from one place to the next. Ask them where snakes, deer, and eagles focus their attention. Snakes slither along the ground, getting their view of life from that level. Deer see things from human eye level. Eagles see things well above our heads and even look down on us.

As you walk, call out “snake,” “deer,” or “eagle.” The kids stop for ten seconds and look down, straight ahead, or up (depending on the animal that you called). They then call out something that they see from that angle. The important part is to stop walking so you don’t bump into a tree, another person, fire hydrants, etc.

If you have two or more kids with you they, along with you, can take turns calling out the names of the three animals. Although you can randomly call out and have kids stop to discover what they will notice, you can also notice something interesting, say on the floor, and call out, “snake.” If kids don’t notice what you noticed, you can again call out “snake,” prompting kids to look around a bit more.

This game shouldn’t slow your walk much, even though the kids stop for a few seconds. You can change the names of the animals to suit your child’s interests or the area you are investigating.