OUTDOOR EDUCATION

The best education a child can have is in the outdoors -
exploring . . . discovering. . .observing. 

And Mother Nature provides it all.

Sometimes it's enough to just sit and be . . .with all your senses.

Nature helps children develop powers of observation and creativity and instills a sense of peace and being at one with the world              
~Wm Crane


happy day!

ALMOST SPRING

Can you feel it?

Can you see it?

Can you hear it?

                   

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.                       ~ Marcus Aurelius 

happy day!

DISCOVERING SPRING in Haiku

melted winter snow

discovering nature's gifts

boundless energy

pine tree uprooted

imagination flowing

a faeries abode?

green grass, squishy earth

exploring, senses heightened

 Look! fallen birds nest 

icy covering

luminous crystal mirror

numbing tingling cold

meadow slumbering

wild rabbits frolic concealed

a hawk soars above

exhilarating

unhurried time, connection

abundant nature

What discoveries have you made today?

                       happy day!

HAVE A NATURE HUNT

What child can pass up a scavenger hunt? 
It's a great activity to do when the cold winds blow and there is not much to do outside-so you may think! 
But don't let nature fool you; even though the area seems barren with empty trees, frozen ground and even snow, there is still much to discover. And children love to find things!

Some children like the cold more then others, but if a child is dressed in layers, with warm feet, head and hands, you will be the one coaxing them inside after a few hours.


A nature scavenger hunt is fun and a great game to look closer and focus in among the varied areas of the outdoors.  You can make the list of items that pertain to your area, things they can find where you live.

 Each child has a partner, and with a list, pencil and collection bag, they hurry off to find their treasures.
Our list:
~ a pine cone
~ a white stone
~ an acorn cap
~ a piece of bark
~ lichen
~ a berry
~ a colored leaf
~ an evergreen needle
~ a seed head
~ AND a bonus item*


With a snow covered ground, I would add :
~animal tracks
~ find a nest in a tree
~ a leaf still clinging to a branch from autumn
~find buds on the trees, etc.

*The bonus item is something special they find while exploring, that perhaps noone else has seen, that they can share with others.
Some examples of what they found:
~ a branch of thorns
~ sap from a pine tree collected on a stick

~ white downy feather from a duck

~ intricate seed pods

Once inside, we spread out our collections and the children share their bonus finds. Field 
guides and nature books are used to look up what we want to know more about. 

Some might draw what they found or just add to their nature collections.  

It's exciting to have a Nature Scavenger hunt in each season . We are always amazed at what we  find!


happy day!

THERE'S WHITE IN THE AIR

You are probably thinking snow, right? Not quite yet in our neck of the woods. But the air is filled with tiny floating specks of white.


You remember the cattails we focused on in our Nature Game?

Well, the white we saw was the seeds being dispersed by the wind. It was exciting for the children to discover and observe.

It doesn't seem enough to just talk about the process with the children. It has so much more meaning when they can experience it themselves IN the world.

For them to wonder what it is and where it comes from, and build on the knowledge they had before, is glorious. After all, life is all about connections.


Notice all the changes around you! It's a wondrous world we live in.


happy day!

CHILDREN IN NATURE

The children came to play and explore. 

It was the last day in November and so mild that heavy jackets came off quickly.  

It was a glorious day to spend most of our time outdoors. The days of sunshine and warmth were limited.

The pond was one of their favorite spots. They fished there in spring and autumn, and now it had covered itself up with a layer of ice. 

Winter is on its way. Despite the mild temperature of the day, the cold nights have solidified the pond.

It's fun for the children to see the changes each season brings to the areas they play in. 

How thick is this ice? they wanted to know.

The stones didn't even break through, they just slid across.

One by one, the children searched for sticks to break the ice.

The sticks didn't break through when they tossed them on the pond though.

So they came up with a better plan.

chop . . . 

chop . . . 

                                              chop !

Soon everyone was chopping.

and had fun breaking the ice.

   They decided to check out all the other areas around the pond, and even stuck their feet in once they broke through.

Some areas had less ice, some had more.

They explored around the *island*

One chopped with a stick, the other scooped up the ice.

A ping ping ping sound was heard when the bits of ice and pebbles they threw slid across the pond.

They noticed when they threw a rock in, and it broke the ice, it made air bubbles.

The larger the rock, the bigger the air bubble.

They said it looked like glass. . . 

and forgot how cold it was.

The children could have lasted for hours doing all of this, over and over again. In fact, they did do it for hours. 

It's this connection with nature that takes precedent over anything else we may do. Everything else can wait for another time. Nothing is as important as being 

 IN the world, IN nature, exploring, observing, discovering and enjoying themselves while doing it.  It is something they will always remember and always treasure. 

And it is the people, who have that connection with nature, who will care for it in the future. Like the children.

happy day!