This week we ventured into the woods with our Classical Conversation's group. Tracking in lots of wet grass, mud and creatures, we had a blast.
When I ran across this post from Lorrie, I had to share her additional insight. Check out her other resources, they are wonderful.
Fall is my favorite time of the year to go on walks with the children. We love to look for signs of fall in His glorious creation and enjoy the fresh, cooler air. How is a nature walk different than walking for exercise? This is not an aerobic workout; we walk and talk and run and laugh, babies fit in perfectly because we go slow, stop often, and learn about birds, bugs, plants, tracks, scat, rocks, features of the landscape, the sky, etc.
On our nature walks we bring:
· water bottles
· a stick of cheese or some crackers in a pocket
· binoculars
· little magnifiers
· field guides to plants, or birds, or whatever your special interest is
· notebooks to draw or write about what you see
· a sack to tote home treasures in
· and most importantly, your curiosity!
How can you bring more home without making a mess? Have a pretty basket outside under the eaves that is just for these treasures. We put our treasures in it and return them to nature the next time we go out. For instance, if Haley found a huge leaf she couldn’t leave (pun intended), she brings it home and puts in our treasure basket along with Kiley’s rock, Dessa’s feather, and Luke and Jay’s inevitable sticks. The next day, or the next time we take a walk, we each take our treasures out and deposit them somewhere. You can add a rock to the driveway, throw the leaf away, and the boys can add the sticks to their pile up in the trees – where they carefully keep their 50 or so favorite sticks. I tell them these walks are “No Deposit No Return.” If you don’t empty the basket you can’t bring anything home. Do these treasures ever make it indoors? Only if we are making a display and bringing a taste of the outside in.
A nature walk is so much more than science. It is a joyful time, anxieties seem to fall by the wayside and I can focus on my children and delight in the simple things. We find so many things to praise Him for, not only in His creation but for the many blessings in our lives. When I walk outdoors I am not surprised that Jesus went to a mountain to pray. Of course, He was alone and He wasn’t a mother, but I can pray and walk with my children beside me. The reality is if I was only able to pray when I was alone, I wouldn’t pray very often.
Thoreau talked about sauntering. This is a nature walk! Walking with the sole intent being to discover whatever is in front of your eyes that you are usually too busy to see. The sauntering we do brings to our attention “new” wildflowers, a lovely butterfly, or an eagle flying overhead (one time we saw four of them over the lake). Sauntering results in finding beauty in beetles. They are kind of fun to watch but I don’t usually make time to watch. Sauntering results in seeing the things that are around me every day in a new way: the way the rain splashes on the water; the sweet way my seven-year-old says “actually,” the bits of older boy peeking through what my nine-year old does, and the lovely young ladies my girls are becoming. Sauntering is good for the soul: mine and my children’s.
What you see on a natural history walk changes with the seasons. There is always something new. Get outdoors and search out the wonders to be found in plain view!
“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Matthew 6:26
