Kids nature photography walk
We love going for walks, getting out in the fresh air, exploring and experiencing nature. We often go to woodlands or a local nature reserve, but this time I thought, why not check out what is on our doorstep? There is nature all around us wherever we live. We often bypass it totally unnoticed and I wanted to open my children’s eyes to the nature we take for granted every day.
This post is part of the Center Parcs May challenge and we were inspired by Rich Heath’s tip……”Squirrels, deer and swans are all residents at Center Parcs – why not see what nature is living right on your doorstep?”
So, cameras at the ready, bug hunting kits ready and backpacks on their back, we were off on our local adventure. We walked along the road to our local park. This is a route we take frequently, so I thought it would be interesting to see how much nature the children could spot.
We immediately stopped at next doors house to take photographs of the flowers. They are still trying to master their cameras and haven’t yet got the idea of looking through the lens. Next we spotted a snail’s shell, with no snail in it. We saw buttercups, daisies (many many many of these!!), flowers, a cat, trees and dandelions. This was all before we got to the end of our very short road.
Once we crossed over the road, Pinky and Boo were stopping every couple of steps to take photos of flowers etc. We spotted some bees which we stood and watched for a bit, while they went about their business of collecting nectar from the flowers. It was fascinating to actually stop and watch.
We listened to some birds in the trees, though couldn’t catch any on camera. The children got very excited every time we went past a house with lovely flowers and spent ages photographing them (goodness knows what the owners thought?). I had to persuade them to move on. 
At the park, of course we had to stop and play for a while (it would be rude not to, on such a lovely day). They even spotted some flying ants in the playground. Then the binoculars also came out to try to spot some birds.
After a nice play, we walked back along a footpath/alley, which took a very long time, as they wanted to get their magnifying glasses out too. We saw a very small snail on a leaf for them to inspect and a larger one on a fence. We picked up sycamore seeds as helicopters to fly them. That’s one of the best things about nature, there are toys all around us from trees to climb, helicopters to fly, muddy puddles to jump in and pinecones and acorns to craft with, the list is endless.
We eventually made it back home from our local photography nature walk to inspect our photos. Here is a small selection of the photographs Pinky and Boo took……
I think they did very well. I was pleasantly surprised at how well some of them came out. We talked about all the things we saw whilst looking through the photos and we were all amazed at how much ‘nature’ is on our doorstep. It just goes to show you don’t have to go far to teach children about the world we live in. Yes, there are some very beautiful places and creatures to hunt for elsewhere, but I think it is important to realise what is all around us on a day-to-day basis.
Why not have a walk through your neighbourhood and see what you can find? Make a list of all the things you spot, or grab your camera and go on a photography walk?
‘I’m a Center Parcs Family Blogger and will be visiting Longleat village with my family. If you want to enter to win a place as a wildcard winner just go to the challenge page to find out how‘
Lovely photos of kids taking photos! We need to get some of those magnifying glasses. Awesome x
Thanks, my kids love those magnifying glasses
Brilliant photos. I love the bug hunting kits and bags x
Thanks x
I love your photos here! We love getting out for walks as a family, in my opinion there’s no better way of spending the day.
Thanks, walks are definitely the best
First time I viewed my children’s photos, I remember being surprised. Their photos always give a different view on a walk. Boo and Pinky look like they found the walk inspiring. Plenty on enthusiasm. #CountryKids
Yes, it does make you look at a walk differently. They were very enthusiastic!
How cute are the pictures of your two taking the photos?! I love seeing things through the children’s eyes-so exciting and refreshing. Such a lovely idea x
Thank you, we did all have a great time x
What a fun adventure for them, exploring nature and finding all the wonderful little creatures that are right under our noses! Thanks for linking up and sharing their fun with Country Kids.
Thank you, it was great to look at what’s on our doorstep.
They did really well! I love how enthusiastic they were about taking the photos, and about discovering interesting things on their walk
#CountryKids
They did love it
Looks like an awesome explorers walk! Thanks for sharing lovely photos too! #countrykids
Thanks, they did lots of exploring
I love a good nature walk. I want to take the kids for one at night. I bet they loved taking photos – it’s one of my fondest childhood memories.
Ah an night nature walk, what a good idea, to introduce something different
I love how excited and happy they look to participate and take photos. That’s so cute and creative way to get kids outdoors, having fun, and being creative. I bet they had a blast. #magicmoments
They did love it.
Great post Karen, always great to be outdoors but even better with cameras and binoculars at the ready! Superb photos too. Sounds like you had the best time Thanks for sharing with #whatsthestory
Thank you, we all had a really good time
Great ideas! I need to get my son his own camera! This post would be great for our Learn Through Play hop! Consider linking it up at http://suchamama.com/2014/05/01/learn-through-play-hop-10/
Ann @ suchamama.com
Thank you, I will have a look x
Looks fun. And their magnifying glass, cameras and binoculars are sooo cute! #whatsthestory
Thanks
Looks like you had loads of fun
love the pictures. The bee picture is great. I am too chicken to sit and watch them even though I know they will leave me alone if I leave them. I think I may try to set up a bug bag and go explore the woods with my kids this weekend 
#whatsthestory
Thanks, the bee was so occupied with what it was doing, it was not interested in us at all. Hope you have fun exploring
I wish there had been cameras for children when I was young – I had to wait to my teens to get a camera and then it certainly wasn’t digital! Great photos by the way!
Yeah, so did I
And then all that waiting for the prints to come back! Somehow that did make photography a bit more special I think albeit not as accessible to everyone.
Ah yes, very true. I remember how exciting it was to go and pick up your photo prints to see how they turned out.:)
Hi there, lovely to get to know you and your blog, linking up from #Whatsthestory and looking forward to getting to know about you and your blog x
My two love exploring whenever we walk anywhere and we’re quite lucky that our walk to Pre-School takes us through some rather interesting places. I’d never thought of a photography walk though…I think my two would love that!!
You’re very lucky to have a nice walk to preschool. Enjoy the exploration
Looks like you had a lot of fun – and you got some great pictures too, especially that bumble bee!
Thank you, we did have a lovely time