Learning Outside
Getting outside does wonders. I love to take Piper on little adventures. We never have to go far and it’s so refreshing. And FREE. And kids love to be outdoors. It’s so so good for all of us. We can get caught up in activities and outings and it’s easy to forget how much is available close to home that doesn’t cost a thing.
If if you live in Santa Clarita you have probably been to Placerita Canyon Nature Center (and if you haven’t you are missing out!) We go there frequently- a lot of the time it’s because I’m there taking photos of people for my photography business, but we love it so much we just like to go explore other times.
This is particular outing was one of my favorites. Piper had this awesome little nature book that we look at often, but I wanted to get out with her and incorporate things from the book. It’s filled with activities and things to look for on the trail. There’s TONS to be learned and it comes with stickers to put on each page when you find something. If you have little kids you know what a big deal stickers are, haha!
I love using opportunities to teach Piper anything. Everything is a learning opportunity. It doesn’t take much or any effort, but they are little sponges and will soak up anything and everything we give them. And what a better place to learn new things than just playing outside! It doesn’t even feel like learning!
It can feel overwhelming at first, but after a while it’s just a natural part of your everyday life- to use every opportunity to teach. We are always explaining to Piper what we are doing. Doesn’t matter if we are cooking, on the computer, working in the garage- whatever we do we just talk about it out loud to Piper and it’s always surprising that later she will repeat something or just spout out some random knowledge. We let her help because hands on learning is the best.
So since the weather was so great last Thursday I picked Piper up from preschool and we headed to Placerita to explore and play. She was SO excited to finally have the chance to use the stickers from her book! We just wandered around and kept out eyes open. Within a minute she shouted, “I see a spiderweb! I want to use the spiderweb sticker!” So we turned to the spider page in the book and we read the little info it had and she got to put the sticker on that page.
And on and on it went. I let her lead the way and simply followed. I’m very much a planner and sometimes I struggle with letting Piper decide what to do, but I was really intentional going into it that there were no plans and we weren’t in a rush.
We found different kinds of leaves and compared them to pictures in the book. Watched bugs crawl around. We sat and listened to the different birds and pointed out the ones we knew, and on and on. We would just read the little bits of information out of her book and collect anything she wanted. It was so much fun. And she talked for days about the things she found and learned.
Learning through play is such a great way to learn. And doing it outside is even better. It’s hands on and such a great opportunity to spend time with your kids. Plus you get to enjoy the sun (or rain!) and the fresh air. You can make it as big or small of an adventure as you want. Go to the beach and learn, find a local trailhead or just go into your backyard or around your block. We go on backyard adventures ALL the time. We always find new things to pick up and learn about.
Try to take some time even once a week and get outside and learn together! It really doesn’t matter where you are, your kids will remember it and appreciate it.
Also- here is the link to the “On the Nature Trail” book we use all the time. I got it off Amazon and it has been such a hit! We look at it often and there’s so much in it to use again and again. Way more than you will ever get to in one day!
