You don't have to go on an official trail to enjoy the hidden wildlife on offer outside your front door. You can do your own nature trail either at a familiar spot or a new outdoor space you haven't yet explored:
- Encourage your children to take notice of their environment:
- Set some rules, so they don't go too far
- Reward your child for achieving something themselves
- Rescue - think ahead of potential risks and put in some safety nets in case all doesn’t go according to plan. If it goes wrong, modify for next time, but allow more adventures!
- Why not go on a scavenger hunt and give your children a 30 minute time limit to gather objects from the environment. Here are some ideas:
- A feather
- A red petal
- Rubber band
- Bottle top
- A stone
- A coin
- Give your child a notepad and pen so they can draw and write down the names of all the different things they see on their trail around the park - you can look up each animal, insect, plant or flower on the Internet when you get home to find out a little more about them
- Take a camera with you and let your child capture of the day's activities
- Print these out and make a poster or collage out of the images
Building a den is a great activity to encourage children's imagination. It is challenging both physically and mentally.
- Making a den allows children to experience a sense of danger in a secure environment and let's them use their imagination
- Encourage your children to build a den in your back garden or for even more adventure why not go to your local wood or park if there's one nearby
- Building a den helps to teach your children to be more aware of their natural environment and encourage independent and challenging play so they will be able to assess the safety of the den themselves. If it falls down they can build another!
- To get started you will need some large sticks, branches or dead-wood and strong string
- Help them to bind the tops of three long sticks to form a tripod, then fill in the sides by weaving in long strips of foliage or even fabric
- If you don’t have a garden or park nearby let your kids build a den in the house. You’ll be amazed what they can do with some chairs, old table cloths, cardboard boxes, string and clothes pegs!
This is a late-night activity, so younger kids may need an afternoon nap beforehand. But for many small children, the excitement of staying up past their bedtime is really exhilarating. Stargazing gives your children a sense of just how large the universe is and can be a good educational and social event for a group of children
- Why not let your children camp out in the back garden with friends and encourage them to pitch their own tents in teams
- If possible, borrow some binoculars or a telescope so you can see the stars and moon close-up
- Do some research on the internet and teach your children some basic things about the stars and moon above - like the phases of the moon and its orbit around the earth
- Let each child tell a story about flying into space around the stars and solar system!
- Summer is the perfect time to plan an adventure that children will remember well into the start of the next school year, so why not plan a stargazing sleepover party in your back garden for your children and their friends, and help them begin to unravel their place in the cosmos
