OK, you home-bound humans! Time to challenge your skills paying attention and finding the myriad pieces and parts of nature all around you … and get out of the house in the process … all of you!!! Moms and Dads, you can mix this up any way you can and keep the challenge going as we wait for normal to return.
For older kids, a more traditional scavenger hunt can provide a challenge, especially if there is a sibling to show up! Have them collect as many of the following as possible in 30 minutes or less! Imagination is required. Find something in nature that is:
• Pointed
• White
• Blue
• Smooth
• Long
• Fluffy
• Dead
• Sticky
• Round
• Soft
Add as many more as you can come up with. The fun is having them explain each item to you after they have finished the search. Be a kind judge but do challenge them some – it is your right, after all. The winner gets an extra cookie. If you really want to mess with them, do it a second time, with new examples of each or do it elsewhere … on another day.
Another version – find examples of the following:
• A chewed leaf
• An un-chewed leaf
• A pine cone that has been chewed
• A stick with lichens on it
• A roly-poly
• An earthworm
• A rock
• Something in nature that reminds you of yourself 😊
Once collected, have them explain each item. What made that hole in the leaf? What does that earthworm do in life? What exactly is a lichen? For your part, you have some homework to do to know the answers, or better yet, you have a great opportunity to research the answers with your kids – bonding and learning time all in one.
I hope that for each of you, this becomes habit-forming – wandering around the yard, looking for and learning about the neat plants and critters that are always underfoot or hanging on a tree.
Repeat, adjust, create something new … but don’t forget to make it fun … especially the prizes … for everyone!
