Nature Walks for Kids 101

Photo by J Boles

I thought I would share a comment that I received from Craig at The Green Tenant.  He asks some great questions and I have a large enough answer to warrant its own posting:

I just got into teaching and leading walking tours this year. We did a successful one on the Don River last weekend. Not exactly a beautiful stretch of it, but the focus was on brownfield redevelopment, so a bit of ugly is to be expected.

Perhaps more relevant, I also put together some suggestions for people who want to start leading their own walking tours.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I haven’t done one for kids yet. We’ll probably do one on a more scenic section later this summer, and it might be nice to make it more family friendly. Any tips for making it fun for kids? I’ve got some ideas, but would welcome yours.

That job sounds absolutely wonderful!

Craig Saunders

I think Craig is already on the ‘right path’ by choosing a more scenic stretch for the walk with the kids. Our jobs as parents or educators is to motivate children to have a relationship with the natural world. Think of your walk as an introduction to a new friendship that the children will hopefully follow through with. The goal is to make them fall in love. Make this introduction as beautiful as possible.

I have been so surprised at how many kids I have led through the woods who have said they have never been in a forest before. And these are rural children who live in towns of less than 5,000 people! Now there may be some selective memory or exaggeration occuring, but there are kids as old as Grade 6 who feel complete indifference or even disdain for the natural world. The good news is that usually by the end of a walk they have a new sense of wonder and an eagerness to discover more (even the ones who start out rolling their eyes).

Here are some tips to make your next walking tour successful with kids:

1. Do your homework. Walk the path ahead of time and make note of places to stop and talk about something of interest; whether it is a specific animal or habitat. These stops should be short and sweet (5-10 minutes).

2. Have some visual aids to help with your talk. Pull out a picture of a beaver if you have a beaver dam or lodge at your stop. Younger kids can talk about beaver teeth and wood chewing. Older kids can discuss what makes a mammal different from a fish or bird. They can discuss adapations that help animals survive.

3. Stops don’t have to be as exciting as beaver lodges. Pausing at a point in the woods where a variety of birds can be heard is the perfect place to talk about where different birds live and what they eat. Some of the favourites are herons, woodpeckers, kingfishers or canada geese).

4. Keep the species local. Kids are bombarded at school with information about polar bears, whales or elephants. They think their local animals are boring in comparison. Help show them what is exciting in their own backyards.

5. Make the walk interactive. Almost to a kid, the favourite part of a 2-hour hike for second-graders is the time we spend with small yogourt cups and magnifying glasses.  Pick a stopping point that is shady and has fallen logs. Give the kids 10-15 minutes to see what they can find. Have a insect book handy for identifying but only if that is of interest. Kids care about the bugs themselves, and not as much about the label. Spend a couple of minutes talking about where they found their critters (under fallen logs or beneath rotting bark). Talk about why you wouldn’t pull bark from a living tree (it protects the tree like skin and protects the tree from bugs and disease).

6. A similar activity can be done with dip nets and shallow water. Make sure you have a couple of containers along that can be filled with water and viewing as a viewing spot. Crayfish, dragonfly naiads, leeches and frogs are often caught. Kids (and parents) that start out squeamish are usually enthralled by the end of this 20 - 30 minute activity. A good insect book from the library will help you identify the benthic species that are being caught.

7. Remind everyone (including parents!) that they are visiting animals’ homes when they are in the woods. The best analogy I have come up with is to ask kids how irritated they get when their rooms and toys get ‘messed with’ by siblings or friends. Why do they get mad??  Because it is disrespectful to have their personal space invaded. Remind them that when they are out in nature, animals and their habitats deserve the same respect.

8. Throw in a fun game for good measure. Nothing fancy. Just give them some running space and let them play a game of tag as ‘frogs’ and ‘great-blue herons’. Or give them a small patch of woods and allow them to camoflauge themselves like a small animal. The person who is ‘it’ stays in the same spot and the player who is the closest to them without being seen wins. Afterwards, talk about camoflauge strategies that animals use.

Like I said, keep your stops short and sweet and don’t hesistate to move along if you find attention flagging. The goal isn’t to bombard them with facts. Focus on the cool ‘nature nuggets’ and keep it light and fun. Even the youngest can handle a 2-hour walk if you break it up. Parents enjoy the enthusiam that their kids will show and will probably learn something new themselves. I guarantee the children will be asking their parents to bring them back the following weekend. They may even ask for their own dip net for their next birthday!

Filed under Life in General, Nature / Gardening |