Play Animal Detectives

Even if you don’t see animals on your walk, kids can look for clues to show them what critters have been on the path before you got there.

If you are walking in nature, it can be frustrating and disappointing for children (and adults) to not see any animals roaming about the woods. Of course, I should clarify that statement by saying that we might not notice animals as opposed to saying that we might not see animals on our walk.

One, many people don’t count birds and insects as animals. They move too fast, they don’t travel in straight lines, and oftentimes we hear them but we don’t get a good look at them. Two, many animals are active between dusk and dawn when the lighting allows for them to be seen. Noon is when the day is brightest and hottest. However, you can still look for signs of the animals that have recently moved through the area you are walking at the moment.

Although we call them ‘signs’ they are anything but as obvious as the signs that people make. Animal signs can include holes in the ground and in trees, droppings, tracks, nests, chewed twigs, bent twigs, and scratched up areas of ground or leaves. You don’t need to identify the sources of these signs of animal activity but it can be fun to guess. Avoid spending a lot of time analyzing the source of each sign, as children will tire of the activity. For older children who desire some competition, award one point to the first person to notice each sign.

If children really want to learn what animals are moving around in nature, look for a tracking field guide that shows more than footprint patterns.

Experience the Outdoors, Don’t Just Read about It - Part Two

I’m not opposed to learning about nature from books. When I taught my first class about reptiles I went to the library and acquired a dozen books and then I went to the bookstore and bought a few more. There is a lot of general information about groups of animals that you can learn in books. I am particularly fond of learning about a topic by gathering information from children’s books – I mean here is the basic stuff you want to learn about a topic in a palatable format. Once I have an understanding of the topic, then I branch out to the adult books.

But, as I was talking about in yesterday’s blog, if you get too stuck in learning everything from books you kind of miss the point of learning about the topic. Studying, or reading, about nature in books can give you a basis of understanding what you are looking at. If you are in New England, you know the information that you read about rainforests or the Arctic doesn’t apply to the ecosystem you are in – no matter how rainy or snowy it is in the Northeast.

For kids (and adults) who memorize facts in books but never lift their head to look out a window or never take an exploratory walk in nature, they miss a big connection. You can read about a gray squirrel’s or blue jay’s behavior, but unless you experience it, the facts are flat. When you look at the way insects chew up the leaves of certain plants, the fact has more import when you look and feel those leaves.

I can read about carpenter ant nesting behaviors, but the day a tree snapped and I could watch the ants hurrying to bring the eggs and larvae to a new safe place made the facts real.

Watching a frog at a pond for 15 or 20 minutes is a different experience than diving in and grabbing it and shoving it in a critter keeper for a quarter-hour observation. I once had a group of art students draw a picture of a frog that we found in a swamp. The frog remained in the water with just its head poking out. The kids were amazed that it didn’t move. I could then bring out the book-facts – frogs don’t hop around looking for food because it would be a waste of energy.

Facts from books are important, just don’t forget to go outside and see those facts in action.

15 Minutes Outside

Whether you are at home or on vacation today, go for a walk with your child. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy walk – 15 minutes will do; and you don’t have to go anywhere ‘special’ for this walk. One of the goals of the walk is to remind yourself and your children that nature isn’t ‘out there’ – some place that takes effort to get to, a place that by some definition is ‘nature.’

Today, walk around the neighborhood and name ten wild things that you and your children can see, hear, feel, or smell. Yep, even if you are taking a 15 minute walk, notice ten things in nature – a crow flies overhead, the rough bark of the tree along the side of the road, crickets chirping, the smell of fresh cut grass, etc.

The time limit, layered onto the simple observation activity, forces you and your children to pay attention to your surroundings. Even if you were going for an hour-long walk, you wouldn’t be able to keep up the intensity of observation. Instead, you’d drift into conversations about schedules and other activities that you’ve done or will do.

After fifteen minutes, you’ll return home full of your experience in nature. Although there may be more trees in the forest, your children will have felt the bark, noticed the shape of the leaves, and seen the birds perching on the branches of the trees you walked past. Nature is everywhere.

Make a Bucket List for Nature

Transform the idea of writing a bucket list, a list of the things you want to do before you die, to a kid-friendly, nature-inspired task. Whether your children are preschoolers or preteens, you can encourage your children to create a list of things they would like to experience in nature. For preschoolers, you may ask them what nature activities they would be interested in doing that day or that week. Older children and preteens, who have a better sense of the passage of time, could make lists of what they want to do during a particular season, the upcoming year, or
before they graduate from high school.

This activity can give you ideas for things to do with your child. You’ll also get a better sense of their interests. If your ten-year-old gets bored on walks and yet lists activities such as rock climbing, camping, and kayaking on his bucket list, you know you have a child who enjoys the outdoors – as long as the time includes active, challenging pursuits.

Encourage your child to list specific places they want to go to. This will create an opportunity to learn more about your child and discover what draws them to these locations. If your child is drawn to waterfalls are there some (even small waterfalls) within driving distance? Make your own list and share it with your child. Together you can plan places to go and activities to try. This may guide you toward sending your child to an active camp where they can sample all sorts of recreational pursuits. Or, you may realize that your child is happiest taking photographs of the backyard and neighborhood.

Although you may not be able to help your child do the things on their bucket list in the time frame they would like, by having them state the things they are interested in, you will both become more aware of opportunities to help them meet those goals.

Explore the Backyard

You and your kids will need a backyard for this activity. Even if you live in an apartment, chances are there is some small patch of trees and/or shrubs and maybe even a bit of grass. Don’t discount that patch of greenery.

Oftentimes, we overlook the things closest to us, and that includes nature. Granted a patch of grass shaded by a tree isn’t the same as local conservation land with paths leading you through acres of forests, fields, or wetlands, but you can still explore.

• Give kids a magnifying glass for getting an up close view of insects, seeds, soil, leaves, flower parts, etc.
• A collection jar with holes doesn’t cost a lot of money (check dollar stores) and gives kids the chance to hold onto insects, worms, and small frogs for a short period, giving them the opportunity to examine the creature. Keep the creatures out of direct sun and release them after ten-or-fifteen minutes.
• A white pillow case or piece of fabric will allow kids to set their discoveries – including crawling insects – on the ground while providing maximum contrast.
• Paper and crayons, markers, or watercolors encourages children to take a closer look at their discoveries as they create a journal entry or create a picture.
• A digital camera also encourages exploration, particularly if you challenge a child to take a certain number of photographs of their surroundings.
• With kids ages 8-or-9 and up, you might want to supply some “First” field guides that can help the children to identify the trees, flowers, or insects around them. Trying to identify aspects of nature is something like solving a mystery – can the children notice enough clues that will lead them to the correct conclusion.

Don’t worry if kids don’t stay “on task” by accomplishing some specific exploration. Get them outside with a hook, “Can we find any caterpillars in the garden?” and then watch them discover the things that most interest them.

Nature Observation Games – A New Way of Seeing

It is easy to get caught up in walking and talking and looking straight ahead in the direction you’re headed. If we hear a noise, we may look up. If the footing is uneven, we may glance down. However, what do we miss by not looking up, down, and side-to-side as we walk? What do we miss by not noticing some of the smaller details along the way?

These two activities will get you and your children looking at those smaller details with a couple of games. ‘Angles’ can be played with any age. With young children, you may need to hold the object at the item you want them to describe. ‘Camera’ is appropriate if you are with one child or you have an even number of children who are at least seven years old and up so they can safely lead a partner wearing a blindfold. As always, you best know the children you are with.

Angles
You can do this activity one of two ways depending on if you want to use something small that you can hold or something large that you can stand next to. With a small object, you can either stop to pass it around or you can pass it among the children you are will as you walk along.

If you find something small, you hold it and describe it. The next person takes the object and describes it in a different way. Recommend that the child turn the object so she can look at it from a different angle. Continue passing the object around, each child describing it in a different way.

Remind children that they can use senses other than sight. How does the object sound if they run their finger down it? What does the item smell like? What is the object’s texture? (The children should avoid using their sense of taste.)

If the object is too large to hold – say a building or a statue, stop to gather around the object. Again, each person describes a different detail that they see, hear, smell, or feel. If the group is large, this may seem too challenging, but look at it as a way for the kids to use their creativity and imagination.

Large or small object, because children can’t repeat something else that someone else has said, they must not only use their observation skills but also pay attention to what the other children in the group have said.

Camera
Look for an area that offers a variety of things for individuals to observe. Since one player will have his eyes closed during much of the game, you may want to select terrain that the children with you will be able to physically manipulate.

One player (the photographer) leads another player (the camera) with her/his eyes closed to an interesting object. The photographer aims the camera and taps the camera’s shoulder or gently tugs on the camera’s ear. The camera opens its shutter (eyes) for 3-to-5 seconds then closes its shutter. After a few exposures, switch positions. Afterward, you could have students draw a picture of the most memorable thing they saw.

Introduce one of these games on a walk and save the other for another time. Both of these activities can easily work into your repertoire of walking games as they require no planning or supplies, just an awareness of the place around you.

Exploring Color in the Outdoors – Activities with Children

Color activities aren’t limited to preschoolers who are learning their colors. Color hunts and matching games can help young artists notice how the variety of hues around them goes beyond what a box of crayons or paint palette offers. Color activities work on observation skills and help children and adults become more aware of their surroundings. For more art-oriented activities, see my book, Art in Nature, Nature in Art.

Color Hunt
Go to the paint department of your local hardware store and gather an assortment of paint chip samples. Cut the paint strips into individual colors. For younger children who may be overwhelmed by the subtle variations of color offered by paint manufacturer’s, use a box of crayons so the children can stick with general colors.

On a walk, give each child one-to-three of the color chips. While walking, they should watch for items that are a close match to the examples. When they find a match, they can trade that color sample for another. You can also stop along the way and hand out color chips for the children to match while at that particular location.

Quick Colors
While walking, the adult stops and calls out “quick colors.” Everyone freezes for a count of ten and then starts calling out the different colors they see. Although younger children can be satisfied calling out colors like “green” or “blue,” older children can try to be more specific and imaginative and name colors as “blue-gray,” “cheddar cheese,” or “grape jelly.”

Just One Color
At any point during the walk, ask the children to look for items that share one particular color. Make the walk a challenge and select a color that doesn’t seem to be predominant in the area. Objects can be natural or manmade and can be any size. Depending on where you are walking, look for yellow in a swirl of a ball, the frame of a trampoline, a flower. If you are taking this walk with young children who are still learning their colors, bring along a crayon or piece of construction paper to show the color.

Nature Investigation and Imagination

When walking with your child or children you can keep a few games in mind to play along the way. The games help to focus both you and your children on your surroundings. It is easy to get caught up in conversations, which, although valuable to your relationship, can move you out of the present moment. Instead of noticing where you are walking at the moment you are busy talking about going to the mall and selecting a birthday present for the child’s friend.

You can still talk, but every so often try to bring everyone’s awareness to the moment with sensory activities. The following game starts off with observation and works its ways to a (sometimes wild) imagination activity. Whether your child is a preschooler or a preteen, this word game allows kids to stretch their creativity.

One person starts this game by looking around and selecting something fairly large that is within view, such as a mountain or a tree, and says, “I see a tree.” The next person then picks something big on the tree, and says, “I see bark on the tree.” The next person has to pick a thing that’s on the bark, “I see a branch on the bark.” (If two people are playing, then you would go back-and-forth with your child.)

Participants continue in this fashion, noticing smaller and more specific details until they can no longer actually see anything to mention. Then they are free to make up details, such as, “I see a bug on the leaf,” and the next person might say, “I see a baby bug on the back of the big bug,” and so on until players can’t think of anything smaller. Move down the trail and have a different individual start another round.

Backyard Nature Fun

Whether your child loves collecting rocks or looking at insects, you don't have to travel far to encourage their interest in nature. By looking at the nature in their backyard, kids learn that nature is all around them and that it isn't limited to rainforests and polar bears that they can watch on television.

Below are links to explorations, games, and craft projects that kids can do in their own backyard, some on their own and other activities with at least one other child (or adult).

Play This Magic Square Nature Collection Game
Go Bug Collecting for Outdoor Fun
Make a Stone Cairn
Nature Memory Games
Backyard Games that Get Kids Playing in Nature
Activities for Kids Who Collect Rocks
How to Discover What Worms Need to Survive

Getting Ready for Winter in June

For the past month, as spring has been working its way toward summer, I’ve been watching chipmunks zipping around the park where I walk. Their cheek pouches are so enlarged with seeds that their bodies don’t seem to be large enough to support their distended heads.

It is amazing to think that it is barely June and these small creatures are already in full-force winter survival mode. Humans are pulling on their shorts, slathering on the sunscreen, and talking about trips to the beach, meanwhile animals the size of chicken nuggets are planning to deal with three feet of snow on the ground.

So, start gathering seeds now for the winter. Collect leaves and flowers; press them between the pages of a dictionary until they’re dried. Take photos of the flowers blooming now. Take walks with your kids and when you go home, list three details of the season that you’ll forget about by the time November rolls around. Chances are you still have a bank calendar in your desk drawer that you didn’t use this year – turn it into a nature diary.

Collect memories and images of the season so you can pull them out when nature is gray and brown and white and nourish your and your children’s spirits the way the busy chipmunk nourishes its belly.

Nature Counting Game – Outdoor Inventories

Doing things in nature doesn’t have to be complicated (camping, kayaking) or require vast knowledge of the outdoors (lenticels?). Just go outside and take a walk with your children. Notice what is out there. Games, like ‘I Spy’ are fun because they get you to pay attention to the things surrounding you in a low-key way.

You don’t have to feel as if you are teaching your kids something each time you go outside. Nor is it necessary for them to spout nature facts. Experiencing the outdoors with your senses is enough for both you and your children to learn something about the world.

The nature counting game is an easy, you-don’t-have-to-plan-anything-in-advance, sort of activity. Simply select something to count while you are on your walk. No, really, it’s more fun than you might think (or maybe I just like counting things!).

You can count chipmunks, yellow flowers, red leaves, white rocks, etc.
The key is to select something that you think you’ll find but not in such a great quantity (field of daffodils) that it would be ridiculous to count. Do this with your kids for five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Or, count as you walk from one spot to the next.

If your children are young, work together looking for one type of thing (you don’t really have to count, just look for and notice one thing – but, chances are, you’ll start counting). If your children are older, each person could look for something different; perhaps starting the walk with each person predicting what they think will be the most obvious thing to find that day on that walk.

Your goal isn’t numbers, but an awareness of what you have walked passed along the way.

Observation Loop – Get Kids to Focus Small

A common naturalist’s tool for getting children to focus on a small area is to intentionally or randomly set a Hula hoop on the ground. Kids then use this boundary for their close-up investigation. See, if you just point to a grassy area in a yard or a leaf-strewn area in the forest kids will glance at the area (maybe, but not likely, crouching to do so), and tell you they see nothing. Define the area and now it’s easier for kids to center their attention.

Of course, a Hula hoop is an awkward item to carry on a walk, so you can carry a piece of rope. Tie two sliding knots and you can adjust the size of your loop. To do this, take a twelve foot piece of rope and cross the two ends over one another so they extend approximately a foot beyond the point where they cross. Now, knot one end to the loop and the knot the other end to the loop. You should be able to slide the knots along the loop, making the circle larger or smaller.

Go for a walk and find a spot to set the loop. Don’t worry if you don’t see anything obvious about that location, the key to the observation loop is that it helps to reveal things that you’d overlook. You and the kids may have to squat or kneel around the loop to get closer. Move the leaf litter (gently), push aside the blades of grass as you and your children look for insects, worm castings (little piles of soil), seeds, rocks, holes or trails worn into the soil, and whatever else you might find.

You don’t need magnifying glasses, although kids may enjoy using them as they are thinking small. The object of the activity is to learn that you just can’t give something in nature (and beyond) a quick glance and think that you’ve seen and learned everything that you need to. This activity encourages patience and if your child isn’t patient then when you set down the observation loop you can challenge them to find the five or ten secret or hidden things. You don’t have to know what these five or ten things are, but a random number makes this observation more task-oriented.

You can bring this loop of rope anywhere – forest, field, backyard, etc – and learn to see the tiny worlds that you normally walk past.

Go Outside for a Walk with Your Children

As an adult, do you associate the outdoors with chores such as mowing the lawn and gardening; sports (as a spectator and as a participant); or with outdoor recreation such as canoeing/kayaking, mountain biking, or hiking up mountains?

You know your kids should spend more time – more free time – outside, but they do sports and have recess at school, so is that enough? However, look at spending time outdoors not just as a “kid” and not even as a “family” thing, but as something that everyone can enjoy in their own special way. The outdoors doesn’t have to be about chores, sports, and organized activities. Spending time outside can be as simple as taking a walk.

Think of a walk as exercise for your body, mind, and spirit. Your heart will pump a little more, your thoughts may seem a little clearer, and your heart may lift a bit higher as you watch the changes of the seasons. A walk is simple. You can direct your child with a few Hiking Games to Get You Moving Outdoors, or just allow your children to explore as they will. If your children like to meander and look at things, then plan to walk a shorter distance so you can stay within your time expectations.

Where to go? Go beyond your backyard and walk through your neighborhood. Explore wooded areas around schoolyards and recreations fields as long as they aren’t posted as private property (they may be an extension of the school or town’s property). Ask other families if they walk in nature and where they go. Look on your town’s website for walking trails.

Do an Internet search of your state and find out what conservation and recreation organizations have locations in your area. Although many charge an annual membership fee, that can work out cheaper than paying one-time trail fees. Before you join, make certain that there are sites within an hour of your house. Closer than that is better because then it won’t feel like an ordeal to drive the distance to take a short walk and then have to drive home. The closer the locations to your home, the more likely you’ll go walking when your child has a half day at school or plans fall through on Saturday morning and you’re wonder what to do for a few hours.

Be creative in getting yourself and your children outdoors for a walk. I love walking the paths of a local cemetery. I’ve found wooded walking paths around a couple of museums. Make a list; keep a file of trail maps the way you keep a file of pizza places. Know where you can get to in less than twenty minutes; jot down notes about what you and your kids liked and didn’t like at different locations. Put on your sneakers and go outside.

The Colors of Nature

Color activities work with children of all ages. With younger children, looking at the colors in nature helps to teach them their colors as they learn that “red” isn’t always the red in a box of Crayola crayons. With older children and preteens, color activities become more art-based and noticing nature can help this more independent bunch learn how to combine colors in their clothing or their rooms.

Rainbow Hunt – For a color activity that doesn’t require any props, simply challenge children on a walk to find one example of every color of the rainbow or the basic box of eight crayons. Play this as a memory game as well, by naming the different colors and having the children respond with what they found with that color.

Colors of the Season – Cut four-inch squares of construction paper in colors that the child would see on a nature walk – for spring, yellow, light green, dark green, white, pink. Punch a hole in each square and string onto a piece of yarn. As the child walks, they must find examples of those specific colors. If you are with more than one child, rotate the necklace to different children who then get to show the others with them at least one example of each color on the necklace.

Seasonal Color Wheel – Older children may prefer the challenge of mixing paint or color pencils to create the colors they see during a particular walk through nature.

Rainbow Stories – For this activity you’ll need a bag of multi-colored pony beads and enough yarn to make a necklace for each child. As the children find object in different colors, they earn one bead for each color. You can require that two children can’t suggest the same item to earn a bead (so if one child earns a yellow bead for a buttercup, another child must look for a bumblebee or a dandelion to earn their bead).

At the end of the walk, the children must recall the items that earned them each bead and then incorporate those items into a story that they will tell the others with them.

For the child interested in animals, try these Adventures in Color and Camouflage to show the child how animals rely upon the colors of nature to offer them protection. Whether kids are learning their colors or already know their colors, you can incorporate the hues in nature into art, storytelling, and science activities.

Nature on the Edge

Finding animals in nature is not like walking around the zoo. When kids visit the wildlife sanctuary where I work and they ask what animals they will see, I usually start off by telling them that large animals like deer and coyote aren’t often active at ten in the morning, nor would they tolerate the large and noisy group of children stomping through their home.

However, if they pay attention, they will see lots of insects, see and hear birds, and see (and perhaps hear) frogs. Quite often we get to see red and gray squirrels as well as chipmunks. On occasion, deer (usually yearlings or mothers with fawns) hang out alongside the trails. Sometimes a mother turkey (once with eleven poults) will claim the fields along the most traveled trail for her territory.

Sometimes, it is a matter of looking carefully. Children will often see snakes that I just walked by. My movements probably cause the snake to move, so those children behind me get to see its response. I once saw a ribbon snake clinging to the side of a yellow birch, sunning. I wouldn’t have expected to catch a snake there, I’m glad that it caught my eye.

Where I live, the backyard doesn’t go back ten feet before turning into an edge habitat - tangles of shrubs and weeds, rocks and fill. Beyond that is the neighbor’s backyard from the next street over. A narrow wooded area runs between the backyards from the two streets.

Here I have watched gray squirrels, rabbits, and a groundhog. Last year I was highly surprised to watch a long-tailed weasel dash from my front yard across the street. Earlier this spring I watched a hawk land on a branch and stare at the scruffy edge at the end of the lawn. Within minutes, the hawk swooped and returned to the branch with a shrew. This past weekend I saw a deer meandering in the woods.

What I’m saying, is that you have to be willing to see what you see. You can’t expect a certain animal to appear when you want it to. Whether you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area, take the time to look out the window throughout the day. If you and your children are outside, you may disturb the animals, so this is an odd case where you need to be indoors to see what is outdoors. Look outside before the sun is up, when it first rises, mid-morning, afternoon, mid-afternoon, dusk, night. Don’t just glance outside, gaze.

You can encourage children to look out their bedroom window throughout the day. Set a journal beside the window so the child can record what they see and when they see it. This requires some patience, days and days could go by without spotting a squirrel. But, the day the child notices a hawk in the tree in the front yard, it will be worth the wait.

A Backyard of Baby Animals

Originally published June 12, 2009 at Suite101.com

I’m sitting at the dining room table, writing, or pretending to write because a gray squirrel has perched on the railing surrounding the deck behind my apartment. After a moment of vigorous grooming, it sprawls over the railing, four feet dangling. Flattened on this branch-substitute, a second gray squirrel meanders across the deck and down the stairs. Neither squirrel seems aware of the other.

Unlike the third squirrel to appear, this one walks along the railing until it notices squirrel number one (that also notices this railing invader) and with distinct “hey, I’m not here to cause any trouble,” body language, squirrel three backs up.

Only it doesn’t get far because a slightly larger gray squirrel is right behind it. It presses the smaller squirrel to the railing and immediately begins grooming it (with much enthusiastic chewing of fleas, lice, and whatever else). At this point, I want my camera, which I usually keep downstairs, but it’s upstairs charging for a weekend event. I risk crossing the room and getting the camera (the back door is wide open and I’m convinced the squirrels will hear the floorboards creak and head up the nearest tree). The squirrels are still grooming.

Squirrels two, three, and four bound off for a vigorous wrestling match in the poison ivy (their fur protects their skin from getting a rash). Squirrel number one is still draped over the railing, watching.

Three house sparrows drop onto the deck, all with the dull coloring of the female. One sparrow hunches into a ball and cheeps until another sparrow feeds it. A male house sparrow, with his brighter chestnut feathers, drops nearby into the grass. I realize that I’m looking at parents feeding their fledglings – juveniles old enough to fly short distances but still looking for a handout from mom and dad.

The gray squirrel, tired of perching on the rectangular branch that is my railing, jumps to the ground, causing the birds to take wing. Even in the small, shared backyard of an apartment, the spring’s bounty of baby animals is evident.

Nature Lists

Okay, maybe the only writing you do on a regular basis is emails; the idea of writing for fun – for the sake of writing – may have never crossed your mind. Your child may or may not feel excited by the prospects of writing; most of what he does is connected to schoolwork.

So, why write in nature? Nature provides a wonderful source of inspiration. Instead of dredging through memories, you can write about what you see at that very moment. Before you turn away from this blog, the writing activity I’m suggesting is super easy, as in if you can write a list for the supermarket you can write this list poem.

A list poem is just what it sounds like – a list. You don’t need to worry about rhyme, parts of speech, punctuation, grammar, or anything else that often causes people to stare at a white sheet of paper as if they are gazing at their doom. This is a fun (really) poem for one or for a group.

Select a topic, something that you are looking at, whether that is the beach, a forest, a park, a tree, a garden, a flower, or whatever else captures you eye. Write the name at the top of the page, “Horseneck Beach,” “Piping Plover,” “Red Maple Swamp,” “Tree,” “Thunderstorm.”
Now, write a list. The list could be nouns – tangible things associated with your topic. You might list verbs – actions engaged in by the topic.

You may even combine the two into short phrases, object with its action (“branches sway”). Each word or brief phrase gets its own line in this poem. The words don’t have to be in any particular order, although as you make your list, you could decide to rearrange the order of some of the words.

This is it. You’ll want at least five lines to your poem. Although this sounds simplistic, the effect of reading the list aloud can be powerful and impressive. The single words or brief phrases captures not just the essence of your topic but shows your emotional connection to your subject through your word choice.

For young children, this can be a bit like a game; for older children, adolescents, and adults, this is a simple way to express their observations. A group can call out words to one person who records them and they will create a document that binds together their experiences.

You and your children can incorporate these poems into artwork, photo albums, scrapbooks. List poems can become a spontaneous activity at any time, in any place.

Exploring What and When in Nature

Originally published 4/08/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

If your exploration of nature is snuck into your schedule while walking your child to and from school, then you’ve both probably noticed the differences in your environment between morning and afternoon – the changes in lighting and the temperature are probably the most significant differences that you notice. It is just another small push to your awareness to notice the activity of birds, squirrels, and even insects at these two times.

On the other hand, if your children’s exploration of nature tends to be afterschool in the backyard, they likely notice the seasonal changes from month-to-month while, perhaps, missing the changes throughout the day. Try the following activity on a weekend when you don’t have a zillion things to do – or during a day when you and the kids on vacation.

Along with time, you’ll need a natural location that is close enough for you to visit three or four times throughout the day. In a pinch, this could be your backyard. These visits don’t have to take a lot of time; fifteen-or-twenty minutes tops. You will want to space out these visits to allow for some dramatic differences because of time of day.

For example, you may decide to go outside just before or just after sunrise, then at noon, followed by late afternoon, and then an hour or two after sunset. Again, lighting and temperature will be the first thing you’re likely to notice. Then focus on your senses in turn. What can you hear? What does the ground feel like when you touch it with your hands? How does the air smell? As you move throughout the day, you can compare these sensory experiences to the other times.

Give each child and adult a few minutes to explore followed by a couple of minutes to talk about what they noticed and to share their appreciation of ever-changing nature.

When I used to lead night walks for scouts, the energy level was often off-kilter. Being outside, in the woods, at night, would wind kids up. Eleven-year-old boys would refuse to turn off their flashlights even though they were less than half a mile from the nature center. Going outside much earlier or much later than normal may leave your kids acting wired because it is outside their norm. They may not be able to notice details in their environment because it will seem like so much is going on – both outside as well as in their minds.

You may need to explore these different times of day throughout the year; so, slow that dash from the car to the house to feel the night air on your cheeks and gaze at the moon. Notice not just the what of nature but also the when.

The Logistics of Exploring Nature with Kids

Originally published 4/01/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Everything that you read and hear about kids spending more time outdoors sounds logical. In fact, you think it would be great for your family to go walking in nature during weekends. But where should you start? What do you need to bring with you? What if the kids are miserable and they refuse to go hiking a second time?

Check out How Families Can Take a Successful Nature Walk or Hike with Kids for ideas on keeping kids fed, watered, and entertained whether the walk lasts thirty minutes or two hours. At minimum, bring along water, snacks, basic first aid supplies, sunscreen, insect repellent, a map of the location’s trail system, and a cell phone – turned off, but handy in an emergency.

Which may bring up the thought, how long should you go walking with kids? If neither you nor the kids are used to hiking in the woods, start with five minutes for each year old the child is (or the average age of a few children).

When this proves successful, go with seven-to-ten minutes for each year old. Of course, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule and it doesn’t mean uninterrupted walking time. Allow some time for snack or water breaks, exploration, and even games – like “I Spy” – or the occasional art project. Thirty minutes of walking can be broken with other activities so you may end up spending an hour or more out on your “walk.”

Remember, that “down time” is probably as important as movement – if you just want exercise, then walk quickly; but, if you really want to appreciate your time in nature, you’ll need to meander so you can actually notice your surroundings; Help Children Develop an Appreciation of Nature with Observation. If you enjoy the experience of walking in nature, chances are your children will develop an enthusiasm for exploring the outdoors.

What's Up?

Originally published 3/14/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

At this time of year, when I go for a walk, I tend to look down. I’ve always been a bit of a klutz and I feel safer keeping my eye on ice, mud, sand, and the inevitable potholes. This morning, I forced myself to look up.

It wasn’t difficult. The juncos and black-capped chickadees kept zipping across my path. I was berated by more than one crow, although the robins quietly watched my walk past their perches in the trees. I did see two hawks sitting next to one another on a branch, which brought many happy feelings and a big, “awww.”

A single sycamore leave twisted at the end of its limb. Squirrel drays, round nests of oak leaves nestled in the crotch of trees. I started counting them (I count a lot of things after thirteen years of taking kids into the woods) and then lost track of the drays as I tried to figure out if the shape in the distance was a male turkey or a really convincing shrub.

If when you walk outdoors you normally stare straight ahead or look down, try looking up every so often. At this time of year you can watch the buds on the trees swell and then burst. You can catch the songbirds claiming their territories as they chase away the competition. And, one of my favorites, looking for interesting shapes in clouds.

Looking up isn’t a hard thing to do. However, when I watch many people walk along, their eyes never gaze skyward. Chances are, though, that on the way to looking up you’ll find yourself looking around and perhaps finding some small joy in what nature is presenting.