Kids driving you crazy these holidays? Here is a really simple activity to keep them entertained, active and outdoors soaking up some of the beautiful spring weather - Simply pack a picnic and head to your fav outdoor space. We’re heading to the local botanical garden. As we started to get organised to go we chatted about what we might see and find; leaves, sticks, feather, flowers, rocks, dirt, spiders, bugs, duck poo … (yep, it always ends in poo talk in our house). The kids couldn’t wait to go. One of the wondrous things about children is the adventure and excitement they find in the smallest things. So I decided to harness this excitement and plan a treasure hunt of things to find and collect while we were at the gardens. Planning a treasure hunt Planning a treasure hunt was a great activity to encourage the kids to get outdoors and be active. It was also a perfect opportunity to learn, explore and discover together, plus it was fun and so simple. We just grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a list – Oh and grabbed a bag on the way out the door to carry all the things we collected. Exploring the natural environment While exploring the natural environment during our treasure hunt the kids were running, jumping, climbing, balancing and practicing all the fundamental movement skills that promote their development and learning. Being in the natural environment also helps develop their senses of connectedness and belonging within the world and promotes a strong sense of identity. Learning opportunity The opportunities to learn during our treasure hunt were endless. We practiced our reading and writing as we developed our list and our counting as we collected each item. We collected things of different shape, size, texture and colour and spent lots of time talking about these sensory elements; what did it feel like? What did it smell like? Was it rough or smooth? What shape was it? Did they like the colour? The Fun doesn’t end
Once our treasure hunt was complete we headed home but that was not the end of our fun. My daughter had the great idea of using some of the treasures we collected for collage later in the day. We also discovered that we had found a few unripe pomegranates so we spent some more time learning about pomegranates, how they grow and why they are good for us. The kids are optimistic that they can get the seeds to grow so keep an eye on my blog for news on this front, but if nothing else it’ll keep them busy for a little while longer.
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AuthorNikki is a PhD qualified Nutritionist and an expert in children's eating. Categories
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