First and easiest, just invite your child outdoors on a sunny day for a walk. Stroll in a relaxed way and listen carefully to what attracts your child’s interest. Children often tune in to sounds and sights that we as adults miss. Does she notice the swaying tree tops? Is she fascinated by ants busily building their hill of soil in a crack in the sidewalk? Does she hear the twitter of birds in a near-by bush? Permit her to pause and drink in the new spring sights, sounds, and smells. Perhaps you will remember a little bit of your own childhood wonder at the stirrings of nature after the winter rest period.
Next, plan an outdoor activity that you and your child can enjoy together. How about creating a sand pile within an old tire in your back yard? It is an easy and inexpensive way to have hours of fun together. Ask a gas station manager for a worn-out tire, the bigger the better. Then purchase a bag or two of clean sand from your local garden or hardware store. Find a level spot near your house to place the tire and empty the bag of sand into the center of it. You may want to also locate a sheet of heavy plastic to cover the sand when your child is not using it to keep out rain, wind, dogs, or other critters. Look around your house for items that can be used as sand toys, such as scoopers and spoons, funnels, small buckets and tired out refrigerator containers, measuring cups, plastic trucks, etc. As you sit on the edge of the tire, you and your child can fill and empty containers with the sand, measure how much sand each container holds, mold the sand into shapes, make “roads” for the toy trucks and cars to run on, and talk together about things that matter to your child. The most important thing to remember is to follow your child's lead on play suggestions and conversation topics. You will be helping to build his language development; learning through touch, hearing, seeing, and smelling; and feeling of closeness with you. What could be a better use of a beautiful spring day?
A third idea is to involve your child in an outdoor activity that you need to do anyway. A prime example is gardening. March and April are usually the months for preparing the garden and flower beds for planting. There is nothing more attractive to children than digging in the soil, unless it is combining water and soil to make mud– what fun (to children, that is!).
Dress your child in old clothes for getting dirty, put rubber boots on his feet, and give him a child size shovel, trowel, and bucket. While you are turning over the soil, show him how to find the earthworms. Explain how they are nature's helpers by tunneling through the garden and bringing oxygen for the soil and plants. He could gently hold a worm and feel it wriggle against his skin– ooh, what a delicious, creepy-crawly sensation! Perhaps you could assign him a small space where he can dig to his heart’s content while you actually get something done.
First-hand learning through outdoor play is a precious gift to youngsters. Though they may not consciously remember it in later years, those rich experiences with nature may guide them toward studies and careers in biology, ecology, zoology, or agriculture. At the very least, children will gain a respect and appreciation of the natural world, modeling your example.
References: DeBord, K., Moore, R., Hestenes, L., Cosco, N., and McGinnis, J. (2003). Making the most of outdoor time with preschool children. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, bulletin FCS-507.
Jalongo, M. R. (2008). Learning to listen, listening to learn: Building essential skills in young children. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Source: Carole Gnatuk, Extension Specialist for Child Development, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture.
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