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.

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.

Photography for Kids – Go Out and Take Pictures

The past three days I’ve given tips and “assignments” that can help kids (really anyone) take better photographs. Reading tips, however, isn’t enough; kids need to explore nature with a camera in hand. The nature can be in their backyard, at a state forest, or at their summer camp. Kids can give themselves a goal – take 25 pictures a day, for example. They could take 25 pictures in ten minutes or over the course of ten hours. If they find an interesting subject they could take additional photographs.

I know a graphic designer who received a camera one Christmas and made it his goal to take 100 pictures each day, thereby teaching himself how to be a photographer. Granted, he had a trained artist’s eye, but still, he did a lot of experimentation as he played with the best angle to photograph ice and learned how the lighting at different times of day affected the forest, the field, water.

The first thing, of course, is that kids need access to a camera. There are enough inexpensive digital cameras that will allow a kid or teen to experiment without the concerns that come with borrowing mom or dad’s camera for a day. Here are some other tips for kids …

- Read the manual. It may be boring but it will tell you about features on the camera that you might overlook.
- Keep the batteries or camera charged. Have an extra set for backup. I’ve known a lot of kids that have had to stop taking pictures because their batteries died ten minutes after they turned on their camera.
- Download photos regularly and clear you memory card. There is nothing worse than losing a photo-taking opportunity because you are scanning through your camera’s memory trying to decide what to delete.
- Set a goal each day. Take pictures at different times of day. Do the “assignments” in composition, lighting, and angles.

Photography for Kids – Angles

Changing the angle at which you take a photograph is one of the most fun and easy ways to create interesting photographs. Instead of taking a picture head-on from the obvious “front” you produce imagines that get viewers to pause and maybe even think about what you are showing them.

By walking around a subject kids may discover a “secret” about that object that others overlook. By changing the tilt of the camera, kids can manipulate an image so to make it look larger or smaller

If you hold the camera high and angle it down, you can make something look smaller or foreshortened. Angling the camera is an easy bit of ‘trick’ photography; although you’re not creating an optical illusion, you are making people see the subject of your photo in a different way than they may normally have view that subject.

Walk around one interesting subject and take a
__Front angle
__Back angle
__Left angle
__Right angle

Select one subject and take a
__High angle
__Normal angle
__Low angle
__Take a picture while holding the camera at a small tilt
__Take a picture while holding the camera at a medium tilt
__Take a picture while holding the camera at a large tilt

Check out more fun art projects in by eBook, Art in Nature, Nature in Art.

Photography for Kids – Lighting

The bright summer may be the most challenging light to take photographs in – particularly at midday. The lighting is harsh and the shadows create sharp contrasts. Maybe the best way for kids (and adults) to learn how to handle the challenges of natural lighting is to go out and take photographs in different conditions.

Unlike indoors, lighting isn’t something that you can control when you’re outdoors – or can you? You and your child can go to a location at different times of day to experience a variety of lighting situations. Let’s say you are vacationing beside a lake. You could take pictures of the lake from the same vantage point at sunrise, early morning, noon, late afternoon, early evening, sunset, and even at night. Kids could take pictures on a cloudless day, a partly cloudy day, and a cloudy day (even a cloudy day can have different lighting throughout the day).

Even if you are at home, kids can go into their yard and take a picture every day (or a few times throughout the day). Take some notes on paper or rename the pictures on the computer to note the lighting. It may seem like a bother at the time, but remind kids that they probably won’t remember the details a few days or a few months from now. Again, all of these experiments allow you to know what will work in the future. Learn to Take Beter Photographs.

__Take a picture in direct sunlight
__Take a picture in shade
__Take a backlit picture (the sun is behind the subject)
__Take a picture with the flash in direct sun
__Take a picture with the flash in shade
__Take a picture with the flash with backlighting

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.

Finding Peace of Mind in Nature

I’ve spent the last week and a half coping with my father going from the hospital to a nursing home. This has been an opportunity for me to clean through 37 years of stuff … in many cases because I need to get my hand on a document or item.

This stress has meant that I haven’t spent much time outdoors; in some cases, I didn’t even look out a window for hours. I pushed myself this weekend to make time for my walk. I have to admit that there is so much stuff going on in my head (to do lists, questions for the nursing home) that I walked but saw nothing. Today, my head cleared for moments so that I actually noticed squirrels and birds and insect-chewed maple leaves.

Encourage your children, whether they are two or twelve, to discover that nature can be a refuge for confusing feelings. While teaching them this, you too will develop this habit if you do not already possess it.

Don’t wait for your child to experience turmoil over an argument with a friend or a bad grade or another disappointment. Practice this stillness activity when your child is in a happy or relaxed mood so they will be receptive to the activity.

Activity 1: Find a quiet spot where there is someplace to sit – lush grass, a boulder, a log. Sit so you cannot touch anyone else in the group, giving each individual their own space. Move no body part but your neck, which will allow you to turn your head from side-to-side. Announce that everyone will sit still and observe for thirty seconds or five minutes or whatever works for the child’s age and temperament. That’s it. After the allotted time, stand up and walk a bit. If desired, everyone can discuss what they observed.

Activity 2: For a more active experience, each person walks without speaking to anyone. Set your feet quietly on the ground, trying to pass silently until you reach that rock up ahead on the path or for a set amount of time.

Both activities encourage observation and, perhaps, a bit of quiet reflection. When you child is used to the activities, and you know he or she is sad or disappointment, encourage the child to go outside, even if it is in the backyard, as opposed to allowing your child to brood in their bedroom. Your child may or may not feel better outside, but it is worth the try to get them to notice what is around them and not just what is going on inside their head.

Take a Look at Nature through a Magnifying Glass

Chances are that somewhere around the house you have those inexpensive plastic magnifying glasses that are geared to kids. You might even have a slightly nicer magnifying glass (i.e. a magnifying glass that cost more than fifty cents) in a drawer for those times you need to take a closer look at something tiny.

Unless your child would throw a magnifying glass at a tree or a sibling, consider giving your child a slightly nicer magnifying glass.
By ‘slightly nicer’ I mean a magnifying glass that costs a couple of bucks but that gives your child a better view of what they are looking at.

Those inexpensive plastic lenses scratch and become fairly useless after a short time.) Don’t spend so much money that you’ll be upset if a lens gets dropped or banged about even if your child is trying to be careful.

After you have the magnifying glass, you need to show your child how to use it. Most children hold the lens against their eye as if it were a monocle. The proper use it to hold the magnifying glass close to the object you wish to magnify. Your child’s eye should be at least six-to-eight inches away from the lens, more is okay.

Now, encourage your child to look at a leaf, noticing the veins and the cells. Then turn the leaf over and get a clearer view of the stomata, through which the tree takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. Don’t worry about knowing the names of the things your child is looking at; all you want to start giving them is a view of things that are often overlooked.

Take a close look at flowers and notice the spotted patterns on the petals of some flowers; these help direct insects toward the pollen and nectar the plant offers. Encourage your child to look at blades of grass, found feathers, crystals in rocks. Once you offer your child a more effective magnifying glass and show them how to use it it won’t matter whether your child is two or ten, they will move about the yard or wherever they are exploring this newly discovered territory of the tiny.

Check out other ways kids can Become an Animal Detective.

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.

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.

Gratitude Meditation

Originally published 3/12/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

I’ve read numerous books and articles that claim your happiness or joy for life will increase if you develop a daily habitat of expressing your gratitude. Depending on the author, the suggestions lean toward keeping a journal in which you write three-to-ten things for which you are grateful. Apparently, it is impossible to feel down or depressed when you are acknowledging those people, occurrences, and events that you appreciate.

Try taking a walk with your children, naming those things for which you are grateful. Be specific. Saying that you appreciate trees doesn’t say anything about trees. Instead, notice that gratitude focuses on particular things.

On my solo walk today I was grateful for the dozen robins doing their quick-stop-quick tango-like dash over the drab lawn. I was grateful for the crisp air that helped wake me up – particularly since we turned the clocks ahead and I woke earlier than my normal time. I was grateful for the view of the early morning sunlight frosting a line of pines. I was grateful for the blue sky and sunlight while walking (an hour later the sky was blanketed with gray clouds). I was grateful for the gray squirrels dashing around; they always cheer me up.

As you walk, state aloud something that catches your eye and for which you are grateful. Encourage your children or whomever you are with to do the same. You may find that expressing your gratitude for nature persuades you to make connections to the other aspects of your life for which you are grateful. For example, watching the birds chasing one another makes me think of the approaching mating season and then prompts me to express my gratitude for the presence in my life of my husband of four months.

If you are doing this with your children, you may want to go home and record some of these in a journal or as a poem. Children can draw or paint a picture and include a line with the image expressing their gratitude for nature.

Don’t limit this to a “do it /did it” sort of activity. Repeat it often. You will find that stating your gratitude while sitting in the house and while moving outdoors creates a different quality to the things that are mentioned.

Wandering in Nature

Originally published 3/12/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Why did I start a nature activity blog in March when, quite honestly, I’m a bit of a weather wimp? I don’t like being cold or walking through deep snow or over ice. For years I’ve toyed with the idea of taking up cross-country skiing or snowshoeing so I could get a better appreciation of winter, but I’ve never mustered the motivation. I’m happy to appreciate nature in winter by gazing through my window.

Don’t get me wrong, if there is less than six inches of snow on the ground and there isn’t a brisk wind, I love walking in the winter. Part of my point is that you don’t have to be into numerous outdoor recreational activities in order to appreciate nature.

Today, I took an early morning walk in the park where I walk all but the winter months. The wind was brisker than I’d like it to be but I needed to get outside without a group of students in tow. Most of the snow has melted except for the plowed piles alongside the roads within the park. Some of these piles are so encrusted that they look a bit like sand castings.

I spotted a couple of chipmunks staring over the top of one pile of sand and snow. When I turned to look at them they vanished, the first chipmunks that I’ve seen since last autumn. Gray squirrels ran here and there, startled by my presence. I saw no white-tailed deer although with the snow gone a winter’s worth of scat was revealed in pebbly piles.

I looked up at one point and saw a hawk flying against the sun. I wondered if it was the red-tail I’ve often seen during warmer weather. The hawk landed in a pine then soared in a half circle, sinking over the other side of a hill, likely in search of one of those chipmunks pushing its way up out of its winter den.

Appreciating nature doesn’t have to take a lot of time, nor does it require any recreational equipment aside from some comfortable sneakers. It only requires some time, a place, and a bit of attention.

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.

Wild Encounters

Originally published 3/04/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

The other day I was teaching at an environmental education conference and I met a gentleman who recognized the wildlife sanctuary where I work as the place where he went to camp sixty years ago. He recalled putting peanut butter on his fingers to encourage dragonflies to land on his hand. I don’t recall ever hearing or reading this tip but I was fascinated by the magical quality of such an experience. Did that experience capture his attention so that he remained connected to the environmental field?

I few years ago I’d stand in the cold with a scattering of sunflower seeds in my palm as I would try to entice chickadees to land and snatch a seed. A few birds were brave enough or hungry enough to stop for a fraction of a second before flying off. The touch of the tiny claws was unbelievably delicate.

I would tell kids about my experience in my backyard and I’d convince them to join me in the front yard of the wildlife sanctuary. The promise of this contact with a wild animal (even a chickadee) was enough to get a group of 8-year-olds to stand like statues for 20-minutes and then ask to try again the following week.

A favorite book that I read time and again as a kid was something along the line of Pets from Woods, Fields, and Streams, about the joys and work involved with keeping raccoons, crows, and snakes. I would have adored having wild pets, although even a dog and cats were the extent of my parents’ idea of pets.

When I was in junior high, the students could explore a pond during recess. Most of us would catch the small frogs in the pond. I now know that the pond was really a vernal pool – a basin that would hold snow melt and spring rain water and create a breeding pool for many amphibians. The tiny frogs were spring peepers – I don’t remember anyone explaining any of this when I was a kid. Sticking my hand in the brown water, feeling the slime on the leaves and the squashy mud was worth the reward of holding a frog.

Although it isn’t safe to touch many wild animals (and sometimes the danger is to the animal), there is something to be said for those magical encounters with the inhabitants of the natural places we visit.

Children and Nature v Parental Rules

Originally published 3/03/2011 at explorealongtheway.com


I was never an outdoor sort of kid while growing up. Yes, I spent time outdoors but my mother never wanted my brother or me to stray far from the house. We could ride our bikes up and down a stretch of our street but no further unless our father was with us. If we didn’t ride past the house at regular intervals, mom would call for us. If we wanted to play with the neighbor a few houses up the street, we had to let her know.

I’m 45 years old. I grew up in a safe suburb. When I read Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods a few years ago or I listen to people who teach in the environmental field talk about the wonderful times they had in nature, I don’t entirely understand their experiences. However, when people talk about children’s disconnection from nature, I better understand – my parents didn’t want me wandering through the woods or getting dirty.

I remember one day a girl from the neighborhood raking the leaves in the front yard into a pile. My family got home from errands and we were baffled by the pile of leaves. When the girl showed up and announced that her efforts were so the kids in the neighborhood could jump in the leaf pile, my father discarded the idea. Yes, if we played in the leaves, they would have scattered everywhere and dad would have had to rake, but if the neighborhood girl hadn’t made a pile of leaves we would have been raking them anyway. I don’t really recall ever jumping in a pile of leaves.

Another neighbor had a quarter acre of land, most which was field. We could see the line where a fire had burnt much of the land years ago. I didn’t know about field succession, how plants grow back after a patch of disturbed land is left alone; but the place was magically different than any other yard in the neighborhood. We had a “house” formed by staghorn sumac that grew over our heads. (I only learned the name of the shrub in my 30s when I started working in the environmental field.) This connection to nature fell within my parents’ parameters, although I was forever getting in trouble for not returning home when the expected me.

I entered the environmental field by accident. My parents weren’t happy with the choice – why didn’t I work in medical billing or as an accountant or for the post office? I’ve come to believe that even without a childhood filled with jumping in leaf piles and catching fireflies that it is possible to learn to truly see and appreciate nature. These are my steps along a forest path ….

Taking Mental Pictures of Nature

Originally published 2/28/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Many ways exist to encourage children and adults to see nature in different ways. The following nature game, often referred to as “Camera” encourages observations skills. Individuals should work in pairs. Preferably, the two paired together are similar in height, because one will guide the other individual who will keep her eyes closed. One player will be the photographer and the other the camera.

This isn’t the best activity to do with one adult and one preschooler because the child won’t be able to determine that he is directing his father into a low-hanging tree branch. This is a good activity for children to work together. Adults can try this observation game with preteens who will be able to direct an adult.

One person will be the camera and the other the photographer. After five-to-ten minutes, the players will switch roles. The camera closes her eyes as the photographer gently moves his camera, walking to a nearby location where he wishes to take a picture. The photographer can also tilt the head of the camera so she is at the proper angle for the photographer. When the photographer wishes to take a picture, he taps the camera on the shoulder, essentially pushing the shutter button.

The camera responds by opening her eyes for a count of one and then closing her shutters/eyelids. The photographer continues guiding his camera through the area snapping “pictures” while within the time limit. At the end of the time, the camera “processes” the images and tells the photographer what she remembers seeing or what she most enjoyed.

Switch roles. By acting as the photographer, an individual focuses on what he finds interesting and hopes that someone else will find interesting. The camera, by only looking at what the photographer wants her to see, is capturing small parts of the area she and her partner are exploring. This nature game allows both players to gain a different appreciation of the area they are investigating.