A Note to Kids, Families, and Caregivers: 

Learning outdoors is active and benefits physical, mental, and emotional health, including decreasing stress and supporting wellness. As regular schedules and community connections are interrupted by the COVID-19 public health emergency, it is more important than ever to get outside and connect with and make sense of one’s feelings, emotions, and the world outside the door.

We invite learners of all ages to get outside and explore, learn, and play. Spend as little or as much time as you like with these activities. Do one or all of the activities, in any order. Use them as they are written or get creative and add your own twist. Each activity has three parts: Connect, Explore, Engage.

Connect focuses on quiet mindfulness and breath. A simple definition of “mindfulness” is being aware of and present in your body, thoughts and emotions. Taking time each day to bring awareness to these areas allows you to “get to know” yourself as well as become connected in meaningful ways. This practice will begin to create space to connect to feelings, senses and emotions and how to express them, or maybe just create space for silence.  

Children tend to be much better at being mindful and aware of the present than adults, who often find these activities challenging. One thing to keep in mind when practicing mindfulness is that everyone’s experience will be different. There is no right or wrong way, no set times, no expectations. Just present the opportunity to practice mindfulness and allow for all paths to be explored.  

Breathing activities can be done anywhere and anytime, however doing them outdoors with the earth beneath your feet and the sky above invites a greater sense of grounding and centering.  It is almost inevitable that your mind will wander or get sidetracked. Notice this, but gently bring your mind back to your breath and body in this present moment.

Explore gets learners up and active in the outdoors or learning about the world outside the window. Think of our environment like a living textbook, just waiting to be read. You can “read” this textbook through inquiry and exploration. Adults can engage a sense of discovery by allowing children to lead nature walks and decide where to explore whenever possible. Guide deeper exploration using the questions below. Questions come from the BEETLES Project Instructor Support for Guiding Explorations (PDF).

Questions to Develop Observation and Reasoning Skills

• What did you notice about your time outdoors today? How was it different than the last time you were out there? How was it similar?
• What do you notice? What observations can you make? Can you describe it? 
• What does that make you wonder about? Can you think of any questions you can ask that we can answer through observations?
• How is this the same or different from...? Can you compare this to something else? What have you heard about this before?
• What do you think is the explanation for...? What do you think caused it to be like that? What type of animal do you think it was? And why?
• What is your evidence for that? What makes you think that? Show me what you mean. 

Engage provides an opportunity for sharing learning, taking action, or learning more. By developing personal connections and deep understanding, learners are often moved to create positive change within their communities. We encourage learners to find their passions and participate in additional opportunities such as community science or stewardship projects. A gardening project may lead to service learning relating to local and sustainable community food systems. Learners may find that access to natural areas are limited to those with cars and may choose to use their voice to contact local officials to link residential areas and natural areas with sidewalks, paths, or trails. Interests in songbirds may lead youth to develop community educational resources highlighting ways to help create backyard sanctuaries for wildlife.