Even though there are days when we can’t recreate the magic of hours spent outdoors, the good news is that nature is all around us (even inside!)—we can weave in nature’s sensory elements and still get some of the real benefits. In this activity, inspired by the book Outside In by Deborah Underwood, kids search for signs of nature inside their home spaces. Then, they collect outdoor treasures and create an indoor nature treasure museum that can inspire play all winter long, even when play needs to happen indoors.
The Guide
Get inspiration from literature: Read or watch and listen to the read-aloud of Outside In by Deborah Underwood. Notice together all of the ways in which nature finds its way inside.
Find nature inside: Wonder, can we find signs of nature inside our home? Go on an indoor nature hunt, looking for signs of life. What small critters can be found along windowsills, window screens or floorboards (most homes have at least a few tiny friends who have found their way inside)? Where are the spots in your home where the sun shines light or creates shadows? What objects can you find in the kitchen and other areas of the home that come from nature?
Outside in: Wonder, can we bring more nature inside our home? Head outside with a bucket or bag and invite kids to collect nature treasures they would like to add to their indoor space. As kids collect, invite them to share what they notice about each treasure and what they like most about it.
Nature treasure museum: Select a spot in your home and invite kids to arrange their found treasures in a display. Suggest that kids can continue to add to their museum as they discover new special treasures.
Inspire play all season long! When the weather is not conducive to outdoor play, suggest that kids turn to their nature treasure museum for inspiration. Kids can arrange their treasures into shapes and designs or create sculptures. Or, kids can bring nature treasures into their art space to use as stamps or collage materials.
Read here for more ideas on how to make the most of indoor play when you can’t go outside.
Why is this activity great for kids?
As kids search for signs of nature in places they might not typically think of, they develop their focus and observation skills. Kids use and develop multiple senses as they collect, arrange and enjoy the objects in their display. The designing of a nature display also gives kids the chance to sort and categorize found objects, helping to build their ability to make connections, a gateway skill needed for higher level thinking. If you describe the objects to one another or talk about your decisions as you build your display, kids strengthen both vocabulary and communication skills. Finally, helping kids notice the ways in which nature is all around them helps them develop a deeper connection to the natural world and their place within it.
By creativity, we mean the ability to both imagine original ideas or solutions to problems and actually do what needs to be done to make them happen. So, to help kids develop creativity, we parents need to nurture kids' imaginations and give them lots of chances to design, test, redesign and implement their ideas.
"Creativity is as important now in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”
Why, you ask? For one, it is through being creative that a person is able to get senses, sensibility and spirit working together. Simply put, without creativity, we don't think our kids will live a full life.
On a more practical level, it's also the means by which humans of all ages make an impact on the world and other people around them. A lot of heavy stuff is going to go down in our kids' lifetime, and their generation will need to imagine and implement solutions to big and very complicated problems. Although our kids are still far from public office or the boardroom, today's political and business leaders worldwide are already pointing to creativity as the most important leadership quality for the future.
Although years from the art studio or design lab, little kids can learn to think and act creatively if you give them time and the right practice.
Focus & Self Control
Category:
Thinking Skills
What is Focus and Self Control?
We think of self control as a child’s ability to focus on something in such a way that maximizes learning. In order to do that, they first need to direct their attention and focus on a single thing. They also need to discern which information around them is most important and deserving of their attention. Thirdly, they need something called “inhibition.” Think of inhibition as the ability to control impulses, block out distractions and continue attending to the same thing. Focus, discerning and inhibition all require rather fancy brain work and are thought to be part of the “executive functions” or the set of cognitive processes involving the prefrontal cortex that help us manage ourselves and the environment to achieve a goal.
Why does it matter?
Our world is full of distractions, more today than ever. Kids who are in any learning situation need the ability to control their impulses, block out noise and attend to the person, objects, events, or discussions that are central to learning. As classroom teachers, we saw that kids who did this ruled the classroom. As outdoor educators and parents, we know the same holds true outside of school.
But don’t take our word for it; the research is impressive. It turns out that these executive function skills are closely tied to success in the classroom, higher level education and life beyond school. Experts like Adele Diamond of the University of British Columbia have shown that, “If you look at what predicts how well children will do later in school, more and more evidence is showing that executive functions—working memory and inhibition—actually predict success better than IQ tests.” Although these skills are difficult for young children and don’t crystallize until adulthood, the more kids practice them, the better at them kids become.
Naturalist
Category:
Thinking Skills
What is a Naturalist?
The oldest and simplest definition, “student of plants and animals,” dates back to 1600. The term has evolved over time, it's importance changing as the values of dominant culture have changed. 400 years after that old definition, Howard Gardner, the paradigm-shifting education theorist, added “naturalist” to his list of “multiple intelligences.” Gardner challenged the notion that intelligence is a single entity that results from a single capability. Instead, he recognizes eight types of intelligence, all of which enable individuals to think, solve problems or to create things of value. To Gardner, the Naturalist intelligence enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment.
A true naturalist has not simply Googled and learned the names of plants, animals, rocks, etc. Rather, he or she has had direct experience with them, coming to know about them and using all senses to develop this intelligence. A naturalist also has a reverence for nature, valuing and caring for living things from the smallest mite to the tallest tree. A naturalist comes to not only knowing the creatures and features of his or her environment, but treasuring them in thought and action.
Why does it matter?
In the process of becoming a naturalist, children become stewards of nature, a connection that is associated with a range of benefits, including greater emotional well-being, physical health and sensory development (not to mention the benefits to nature itself!). In a world in which primary experience of nature is being replaced by the limited, directed stimulation of electronic media, kids senses are being dulled and many believe their depth of both their interest in and capacity to understand complicated phenomena are being eroded. To contrast, the naturalist learns about the key features of their natural environment by using all of his senses and be interpreting open-ended and ever-changing stimuli.
Age: 0 to 8+
Time: 1 hour+
Materials: objects from nature
