Looking for some fun you can have with your kiddo this summer that won’t cost you much money? So much of our lives are wrapped up in the dollars and sense that we forget once upon a time we could have a good time and not spend a nickel or a dime! Becoming a backyard explorer is a great way to achieve this – you and your kids get to have a good time and you don’t have to spend a lot of dimes, nickels, quarters or dollars!
Stop & Smell the Roses
What is a backyard explorer? That’s the unique category your child falls into when they take the time to explore the world right outside their window. They stop to smell the flowers. They touch the rocks. They listen to the wind. They study the pattern of the shade created by the sun shining down through the leaves on the tree.
How do you start?
Use some bug spray and make sure you’ve hosed them down. Grab a blanket or a sheet and toss it out on the grass. Have them lie down and look up. What do they see? What do they hear? Ask them what they think about the trees, the clouds, the sky and even the birds that flit through?
In our backyard, we have a beautiful red cardinal that comes by to serenade us each morning. Luckily, my daughter is an early riser like me and before dawn this morning, we got up and stepped out onto the back porch. It was dark with just a hint of light low on the horizon on the east. Quietly, she curled up in my lap and together we sat there and listened to our morning serenade. Cassidy whispered because you should never interrupt the morning song and chirping. We sat there for about thirty minutes before the cardinal was finished and took to wing. He’ll be back for his morning appearance tomorrow morning and singing the sun up into the sky.
What Else Can Our Intrepid Explorers Do?
Take them out for a walk through the yard, do you have a garden? No? Try a walk through the neighborhood. Sniff the flowers, touch the petals gently. Rub the blades of grass together and touch the leaves on the trees. Keep a wary eye out for the bees. Ask them to touch the bark on the trees and ask them what they think of it.
After a journey of exploring, go home and have them take crayons, markers, pencils and paper and let them get to work on detailing what they’ve learned. They can make up their stories and tales – see what they’ve learned and retained. Besides what better way is there to see the world than through the eyes of a child?
What do your backyard explorers like to discover?