This is a fantastic video by The Children & Nature Network and well worth a watch. I wholeheartedly believe our kids need more nature and outdoor time to thrive in todays indoor world. We got that time outside when we were growing up – they deserve it too. Take a look.
Today was an awesome day on the trail.
We met up with my mom and my nephew and we started the hike talking about animal tracks.
They immediately started counting the toes of this track to try and figure out what animal had left it. It was just a dog track, but the boys weren’t happy with that, they decided it was a coyote, which if you didn’t know, is way more exciting.
They were so interested in where animals lived, they investigated every log, hole and potential nest they could find and had large discussions about what might live there. I couldn’t have been prouder.
It was great to see them so interested, normally they are racing each other or hiding on each other, but today it was all about wildlife and they got down and dirty about it, they wanted to know everything.
We were so lucky to find so many animal homes. If we didn’t have an answer for them about who lived there, they made up a story about it. It was adorable.
This teeny tiny ‘cave’ kept them occupied for a while. They think a bear lives in there.
I had surgery last week and with all this wet weather we’ve been having, we’ve been a little house bound. It was so great to finally get back out there and explore. We didn’t go far. There’s a park not far from our house where I like to go if we want a mini hike, it’s a small loop that doesn’t require a lot of time or effort. Plus at the far end of the property is a playground, which is awesome when the kids start getting tired. I remind them about the playground at the end, it always puts a little fire under their butts to get moving. They are pre-schoolers after all, promises of playground fun is almost always a good motivator. Anyone have any tips for motivating slow poke pre-schoolers when they start to get tired on the trail? Leave your tips in the comments below, I have the poke-y-ist of all kids, so I’d love some advice!
