Our nature themed week has been great. We have spent most of the week outside in the sunshine looking at what is actually around us in our everyday lives.
We went on our nature photography walk last week which really opened up my girls eyes to what is all around us and had a great time.
Nature art walk
We went on two other walks this week too. The first was just around our local area again with the children’s bug hunting kits. They love to stop and look closely at everything they see. They get their magnifying glasses out and inspect every tiny creature that moves. They were looking at flowers, the colours, the shapes, how pretty they were and their sizes. They looked at all the different leaves. They looked at snails, beetles and other creatures, that I’m afraid I am not very good with the names of.
On our rounds, we collected things we thought would be pretty or have interesting shapes, hence lots of daisies and buttercups got collected, with leaves and an acorn, just to name a few items. My children always love collecting things on a nature walk, they run and stop every few paces, squealing “Ooh, look at this!” I love seeing them so enthusiastic.
On our walk Pinky and Boo wanted to get their notepads and pens out. They wanted to try to draw what they were looking at. First they drew a snail, then they moved onto the flowers. They were absolutely loving this, I couldn’t get them to move on! In the end, they sat down on the middle of the footpath/alleyway drawing. It was so lovely, yet quite amusing, there we were sat on this footpath drawing very random things with people walking past giving us very strange looks!
However, the pictures they drew were not that amazing, but it really didn’t matter what their drawings looked like, they had a lot of fun, they really looked at and connected with nature and learnt about their world.
When we got home, we put everything we collected on the little table outside and they had a good exploration of them. They then tried to make a collage picture with the things. There was a tree, grass and flowers. It was very creative. The only problem was the wind. No sooner had they got their picture looking just right, the wind blew the leaves and flowers everywhere. I think we will have to try this again on a less windy day!
Nature walk
Next we went on an ordinary nature walk at our local lake. Once again Pinky and Boo wanted to take their bug hunting kits, so off we went with our backpacks on.
The lake is beautiful and quiet, we love it there. There are lots of birds to see and other creatures to discover. First we crossed the little bridge, where Pinky and Boo say there is a troll living underneath and we have to trip trap over it. They also looked at the water, they were fascinated that one side of the bridge the water was making pretty patterns and shapes, whilst the other side was completely calm with no ripples at all!
We saw lots of ducks and geese and other birds. They got their bird spotting notes out of their bag to see if they could identify them. I must admit I found it quite interesting too, as I have never really paid attention to what the birds are actually called. I learnt a few things.
We walked around the lake stopping for a bit at the beach area so they could get close to the geese. However, they spent most of the time writing in the mud! Oh well, I suppose that’s nature too.
They paused on a bench to do some more drawing, though they did find it a bit tricky trying to draw the ducks, but enjoyed it anyway.
Then of course, by the end, it was time for a snack and play in the playground. What a lovely, sunny, fun, beautiful morning it was together.
