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‘
