Take a hike

OK.......don't take offense at the title of this post.  (In the US---I don't know about other English-speaking countries---if you tell someone to "take a hike" it means you want them to "get lost" or "leave you alone".  That is certainly not what I want for my blog readers!! )  I am merely suggesting that in this beautiful fall season you should seriously consider taking a hike.  As in, take a walk somewhere in nature and enjoy the beauty of creation.  This Sunday, I decided to take the boys on a nature hike.  We live on two acres and have a great backyard, so they do get a lot of good outdoor play time.  I have to admit, however, that DH is the one who usually takes them out to play.  He is very good about doing this, and he enjoys it as much as they do.  I enjoy being outside once I get there.  Sometimes I have to admit that I can find many things indoors to do instead.  However, every time I make time to explore or just "be" in nature, I am so glad I did.

I also came across a blog recently that provided me with further inspiration to make nature exploration a regular habit.  The blog is called Handbook of Nature Study.  It is one family's journey in nature exploration as they follow the book Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock.  This book is used by many homeschoolers.  I checked it out a few summers ago through inter-library loan thinking I might use some of the activities with my boys.  However, I was intimidated by its length and format.  I am reconsidering it now after looking at the Nature Study blog.  Anyway, what I like about this blog is that it has weekly challenges which help you focus your outdoor time with your children.  When we hiked on Sunday, we just went for the pure joy of it with no focus other than that.  However, on future hikes, I think I'd like to try some of the challenges.  I really want my boys to know nature firsthand.  I have really great memories of hiking with my dad as a little girl and him teaching me about different plants, etc.  I'd like to instill the same knowledge and appreciation of nature in my children so that as they grow up, they can personally know their natural surroundings and be able to call trees and flowers by name and recognize their individual characteristics.  So........my goal is to try to do a little nature "activity" with the boys each week.  At this point it's really informal.  If I get it more organized, I'll write about it here.

One thought I had while we were hiking is that nature walks provide great opportunities to develop vocabulary in children.  On our hike we were able to discuss the concepts of "narrow" and "steep" as we literally experienced those adjectives on our path. 

I'll end this post with a few photos taken during our hike on Sunday.  We just hiked on the cross country trails at the park in our small town.  I did not realize until we were well into the hike that some of the trails are closed.  We got to a point where there essentially was no trail to hike on.  We were just plowing through tall weeds and literally climbing over and under large trees which had fallen across the "path".  It was a true adventure.  However, it had an exquisite peacefulness to it as well.  My oldest son, who can be uptight and anxious at times, was walking along with complete joy, humming to himself and carrying his "specimen" bag (I gave each boy a Ziploc bag to bring home a few leaves, nuts, seeds, etc.).  He loved telling me each time he put something into the "specimen" bag.  I think he got a kick out of calling it that.  It was a windy day and at one point as we were walking the wind was whistling through the pines making gentle background music for our tromping.  It really was a great time and I can't wait to do it again.  We collected a few leaves which we are pressing in the phone book as I write this.  I would like to wax them.  There was recently a post about that on Crafty Crow.  So..........I may try it, though I've never done it before.  Anyway, I'm rambling now.........on with the photos.

We found an open milkweed pod and so I was able to explain to the boys about seed migration.  BTW.......I ordered a great book about seeds on Amazon on Saturday night and will post about it when it arrives.

Little tromping feet

Beautiful, untainted nature

Comments

[Tina]

Oh, and thanks for the milkweed picture. I've been seeing those things floating around my neighborhood, but didn't know what they were!

[Tina]

Laura, I'm participating in a monthly crafting challenge type of thing, and this month, the craft project are small felt bags for kids to take-along on their "walk-abouts" to collect things. When I read about your Ziploc bags on your hike, I thought about these bags and how perfect they would be!

http://weefolkart.com

We really enjoy hiking with the boys, but are guilty of not doing it as much as we would like. I will have to check out the nature blog. Some direction in our hikes would be enjoyable sometimes. Sometimes though, it's nice to just hike and enjoy!

[maya]

i've been reading that blog for a little while and i really like it. i believe that she's the one i read recently who said that we spend so much time learning about things out there in the world, but we don't know what kinds of trees we have in our back yard. i'm guilty of that! and i want to change it. i'm planning to get that book sometime soon and get to work...

[RM]

Sorry I of course meant to say THEIR campaign..

[RM]

Hello, I am spreading the word about PETA just know and there crazy anti milk campaign, which targets autism. They have upset and angered a lot of people, here is the address for an on line petition which you can sign if you agree, and if you strongly agree a blog would be great!! Thanks.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/autismPETA/index.html