On Tuesday, the kids and I met with another couple of homeschooling families at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre for a nature walk. It was a low key time, without a specific set of guidelines on this occasion. This allowed our kids to have time to spend getting to know some new friends and just noticing whatever stood out them. We took a good LONG walk which took us over a large hill that used to be a garbage dump before being reclaimed as a nature area, then past a stand of trees and through a bit of a grassy meadow, before taking us on a path between a corn field and the creek for a good long ways. All of us were surprised to see how tall this variety of corn crop grew, it TOWERED above us! Too bad I didn't get you a reference picture!
The kids really loved the observation tower by the pond area and spent a good chunk of time climbing and playing on it with their friends!
Sometimes I wonder how much my kids pay attention and learn on these types of walks (am I just observing for myself or talking to myself?)...and then I occasionally get a surprise! Carson had gone ahead scouting on his own with a couple of other kids, so I didn't know much of what he was seeing and such. But as I sat down to blog just now, he showed me a picture he had snapped during the walk of a mushroom he had noticed that I was unaware of! He asked if I knew what kind it was, so I guess we now have a rabbit hole we can peer into to see if we can find out what kind it is! Here is the picture (he did a pretty good job at the photography of it as well!)...
The really great thing about nature walks is how much they contribute to learning and family life. My love of nature is rubbing off a little on the kids, we are spending time together, getting some exercise and learning to observe and pay attention to the natural world. If you homeschool and have never tried nature walks, I recommend giving it a go, even without specific instructions for your children, you may be surprised at how much your kids will learn! And with the colors changing in the foliage, it is a beautiful time to get out and explore!
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