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.

A Stillness Activity

Originally published 3/09/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Stillness isn’t something that we often explore with children. We might long for quiet as they stand in place crunching leaves underfoot or they speak using their very loudest “outdoor voices” while walking along a trail. To capture stillness is different. Stillness isn’t just the absence of sound or movement because it also includes a vibrant level of alertness.

We are more than motionless because every sense is on alert. So, how do you convince kids to explore stillness? For children, stillness is less about meditative reflection and more about the chance to hear insects munching leaves and locating chipmunks roaming through the leaf litter. If you can’t see your children enthusiastically plunging themselves into observant stillness, try a trick that captures their attention.

You can introduce the rewards of stillness and listening by stopping and asking with great surprise and intent, “Did you hear that? What was that?” Use some body language to discourage questions. Now, you didn’t have to hear anything in particular, but chances are when you fall silent you will hear something. Of course, you can’t pull this too often, but at some point you can say that you found it really interesting to listen to the different sounds in nature. If your children agree, try the following activity

Find a spot where you can avoid being disturbed for five-to-fifteen minutes. If you are with two or more kids, look for a clearing where everyone can sit looking out from the center of the space to avoid having the kids stare at one another. Kids should be out of fingertips range of one another. Older children may prefer to scatter to different spots within your sight.

Before separating the kids, let them know how long they will be doing this activity. Plan approximately 30 seconds for each year the child is old (average the number for mixed age groups). If the activity appears to be going well, you can always extend things for a minute or two, but don’t push beyond that time.

Each person sits, lays, or stands in one place with her eyes either opened or closed. Encourage participants to open their attention to the surrounding sights and sounds as well as noticing any interesting smells or textures within their reach. The key is – no movement (no wiggling, twisting one’s head this way and that, no wandering, etc.) except for one’s eyes.

After the experience, ask participants (this includes the adults) to mention at least one thing that they are grateful to have noticed while remaining still. Try this activity at different times of day – dawn, morning, afternoon, dusk, or night. Each time brings unique sights and sounds, even if you always do this activity in your backyard.