Ten steps towards discovery
We want our children to be intelligent and observant . Hence we make them watch documentaries and buy computer software assisting them to develop these qualities, but we absolutely neglect showing them the world out in the countryside.
Psychologists maintain that an accurate perception of nature helps a child see himself/herself as an integral part of the outside world, where there is a place and purpose for everything. Spending time in the countryside or a park makes children healthy and vigorous, while watching TV drains them. By the way, the same rule applies to their parents too!
Before going for a walk in the countryside or a park, browse through an encyclopaedia or a science magazine which explains scientific phenomena in a simple way. You do not have to take it along – you are going to explore nature after all. We offer you ten interesting tasks which will help develop imagination, curiosity, love for knowledge and sharp mind.
The woods and a big park are the most suitable for:
Bird watching
It takes only one time to engage a child in this activity, and he/she will stay involved in it for long. While you are out there, watch for sizes and colours of birds, their behaviour, listen to their chirping and singing, and watch how they fly. Teach your child to watch in a professional way. To this end, take binoculars along and focus on the tops of tall trees and telephone wires while looking for birds. With older children, you can jot some observations down so you can identify the birds you saw using the reference material you have at home.
Collecting
Small objects found in nature are worthy of our attention as you can amass a fascinating collection of unusually shaped pebbles, twigs, acorns or pine/fir cones. Using those things will help you in creating unique artworks when it is raining cats and dogs outside.
Exploring animal tracks
This activity is useful for development of a sharp eye and carefulness. While on a walk, you can tell a story about the animal whose tracks you have just come upon. But if you have read something similar to The Pathfinder by James Fennimore Cooper, be sure your “little Indian” will find no rest until he/she explores all the footpaths and tracks.
Getting acquainted to a ladybird
Children find a particular interest in insects, perhaps due to their tiny size and agility. Choose the one your child likes best. Neither a ladybird, nor a grasshopper or a firefly will do any harm. Help your child to catch a bug, put it into a jar with a piece of a twig and some grass blades or leaves, cover it with a punctured lid for the air to flow and find out together how many legs the bug has or how long his antennas are. Just be quick to explain your offspring that it should be released shortly.
Having a guessing game in the woods
For example, suggest your child running to an oak and then ask if that is a real oak and how a child knows the oak is real. Let him/her describe its wide trunk and intricately-shaped leaves. You can ask the child to close his/her eyes so you can put into his/her palm a pebble, an acorn or a cone and have the child guess what it is If they answer correctly, ask him/her how he/she succeeded in coming to the right answer. That contributes to developing child’s speech abilities and teaching to distinguish between whether it is heavy or light, soft or hard, and round or long.
Staging a performance That is right! You can give the first lesson on science out in the woods! You have already got acquainted to a squirrel while reading books, so now you can demonstrate that in the woods: let your offspring show how it can jump, collect mushrooms and wash. To be fair, the next turn in this game is yours!
Looking at the sky
Admire the beauty of the clouds, find out what images and pictures your child can see, tell him/her about the wind guiding the flocks of little clouds. Older children can distinguish between cloud types: cumulus, stratus, cirrus and cumulonimbus. It is such a pleasure to observe astarry sky. There is no need to go deep into the woods late at night. You can take a stroll in a nearby park. Take all the family outdoors to sit on a bench and gaze up at the sky and look for constellations. This is fun for those who have a taste for life. Younger children will enjoy looking at the moon while you are elaborating on galaxies and shooting stars to the older children.
Admiring the sunset and sunrise
Dawn and sunset is a real celebration that we, as residents of towns or cities, take part in so rarely. Nevertheless, the sky shares with us colourful and bright pictures that we can enjoy endlessly! Teach your child to develop this purely aesthetic satisfaction.
Enjoying any weather
Despite bad weather, go for a walk, but in appropriate apparel. Real explorers and lovers of nature are not afraid of any weather – be it rain or sleet! Psychologists have established direct links between changes in mood of a child and the amount of time spent outdoors. The more time a child spends outdoors, the fewer sudden changes in mood he/she has. The more a child runs, leaps and crawls around, the more tired he/she gets, with less energy left for noise making.
Blending in with the surrounding world
Teach your child to receive knowledge through all of his/her senses – eyes, ears, nose and fingers. To this end, take a magnifying glass to explore plants and flowers; look for bugs under stones; breath in the aroma of a pine tree; touch the rough, resinous bark of a tree trunk; listen to a trickling stream. Remember that the greatest joy is to escape routine and immerse yourself into the wonders of the unknown world where there is no rush, noise or stress – a city child needs to experience nature. Do not break your exploring expeditions either in a sleety autumn or cold winter, as there are museums, observatories and aquariums around. In the coming spring you will prove to be real naturalists.
Before going for a walk
Dressing your child in light coloured and snug clothes protects them against ticks. Do not go into the woods at dawn or dusk, as midges fly in swarms then.
Warn your child of particular plants by explaining to him that they can be poisonous and burn the skin, and deter him from putting berries, plants and flowers into his mouth before he has shown them to his parents.
Think about having a rest in advance, especially if a child is very young.
Prepare a snack of sandwiches, yogurt and juice. A meal outside is a real feast for a child, where you can share the impressions of the day spent in the nature.
Source of information: Delfi.lt