By Creston Kids Outside
An enthusiastic bunch of eleven 3-5-year-olds have made it through their first week of Nature School, nervously saying goodbye to moms and dads, and bravely venturing off into the forest with their new leaders. For some, it’s their first time away from home on a regular basis. For all, the natural forest setting provides a treasure trove of opportunities for play, learning, and development. Here are some spring activities from our first week that families can try out at home:
Creating a bird’s nest: children can gain an understanding of the materials birds choose for their nests (mud, grass, twigs, man-made fibres). You can use a bowl or a tin pan for the base, and let children’s imaginations go wild. As a finishing touch, create bird’s eggs from plasticine or other material. You don’t have to be a bird expert to extend the learning from this activity—ask your child what kind of bird created the nest, and how they can protect it from predators. Children will have creative, original answers for both those questions!
Choosing children’s stories from home or the library that feature local animals. I’m always inspired by how many books feature animals native to British Columbia—bears, foxes, eagles, rabbits, deer, fish, caribou…Children will always gain exposure to wild animals from faraway countries but will be able to connect in a different way with the animals they can encounter in their home country/province.
Head outdoors together and when you hear a variety of natural sounds (birds, running water etc), stop and cup your hands behind your ears. You’ll be amazed how your ‘deer ears’ can amplify sound!
Kneel down and turn over logs and rocks to examine what you find underneath. You can model carefully placing everything back the way you found it.
Grab a second-hand wicker basket from the Gleaners and encourage your child to collect pinecones, rocks and interesting treasures while outdoors.
Bring a clipboard, pencil, and paper outdoors. You’ll be amazed how creative children can be with paper while outdoors: drawing treasure maps, tallying birds and pictures from their imaginations.
Create a pulley system with rope and bucket over a tree branch. Hint, hint—you don’t even need a pulley! If you tie a heavy stick to the end of a rope and throw it over a branch, and tie a bucket to the other end, kids can have a blast raising and lowering the bucket.
Create a mud kitchen bin, with old kitchen parts and second-hand odds and ends: pots, pans, spatulas, pouring jugs, old tins, etc. I have fond memories of creating mud pies under my deck as a child.
I hope you can take inspiration from the young Nature Schoolers who spent last week engaging in all of these fun activities. You can catch Creston Kids Outside out in the community this spring, facilitating activities for both the Creston and Crawford Bay Magic School Bus events, as well the Creston Valley Bird Festival.