A Summer Stroll
by Priscilla Woyke

Instead of watching TV or putting the children in scheduled programs each day, try going for a walk with them. A parent/child walk provides quality time with your children. It is also good exercise, relaxing and fun.

Visit the Nature Center or another large area of land with woods, fields, rocks and ponds and embark upon a "curiosity walk" with your children. These walks encourage children to use all their senses to explore and discover the outdoors. While in the woods or at a park, take time to touch a rock, examine a tree, smell a plant or flower, or listen to the wind and birds.

Ask your children questions that encourage them to think. Ask them, "How does it smell?" "What does it sound like?" "Describe how it feels." "Does it look like something else you know about?" "What do you think might live under this log?" "If you close your eyes, what sounds do you hear, or what do you feel?" Questions like these allow adults to help children discover new descriptive words such as enormous, bumpy, prickly, squeaky, rough or squishy.

For more active types, outdoor walks can be turned into games. Create an obstacle course by suggesting to your children that they crawl over stonewalls, under branches or around a tree. Or if they prefer, they can skip, hop, jump or walk backwards from tree to tree.

When children move over, under, or around things, they become aware of what their bodies can do. They also gain an understanding of a sense of space in relation to their bodies. So encourage your children to stretch, wiggle, creep, twist, crawl or bend to their heart's content!

Another idea is to create a nature-color game. Collect a piece of fabric or paper of each color in the rainbow and place them in a zip-lock bag. Then ask your child to find something in nature for each of these colors. Remember to remind your child not to pick flowers, trees or other living things; he or she should collect them only if they have already fallen on the ground. This teaches your child that it is important to keep these things alive and as they are so that others may enjoy them.

When you get home, you may want to create a journal or log full of your favorite memories of your walks together. Children can draw pictures of things they especially liked and dictate words for you to write with their pictures. In later years these journals will likely become treasured memories.

So, go outside and play! You will have fun as you explore the outdoors. Your child will learn, not only how to use their bodies, but also their minds. More importantly, they will enjoy simply being with you. And you will certainly enjoy being with them!

For information about openings in the NCNC preschool and Nurturing Nature, contact Beth Skudder at 966-9577, ext 16.