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With the current Corona Virus pandemic lock-down, many parents are in dilemma about what to do with their children's education. Although we're limited on where we can go, there's still a way to enjoy nature.
Before the lack-down, I used to take my children to various activities throughout the week. My daughter especially had lots of fun meeting friends and staying active. Now she misses her friends and looks forward to life getting back to normal. So, I decided to take advantage of these moments and make use of our garden.
We hadn't used our garden for a long time for a reason I won't go in detail about. However, I thought it would be a waste not to make use of it right now. So every morning or afternoon, my husband and I and our children go to the garden to enjoy the fresh air and do various activities.
This is a great family bonding time and it makes our children not feel like they are missing out. Here are some of the things we do.
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Getting fresh air is important, it make us feel good, and it's an opportunity to talk about nature. We talk about us needing oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. We also talk about how plants produce oxygen and everything else that comes with it. I mention everything being the creation of Allah and how Allah provides many things in nature for us to enjoy.
It's also an opportunity to practice staying quiet, observing and breathing in and out. Practicing silence is a great way to reflect on life and staying present. It's never too early to start doing it.
Exercising
No more excuses not to exercise!
We take advantage of the garden to move a little more, run around, kick a ball, and just have fun while enjoying the sun.
It's an opportunity to talk about staying healthy and remembering that our body has rights upon us.
Listing
The garden is an amazing place to hear all kinds of sounds.
We stop and listen to try to identify what's making sound. This helps children develop their listening skills and learn new things.
Observing and finding new creatures
This one is our favorite!
We look around us, pay attention and try to spot different creatures. This helps children develop their observation skills and makes them appreciate and notice their surroundings.
Sometimes, when we find interesting or beautiful creatures, we take a picture to add it to a collection of our nature findings.
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Doing these outdoor activities is a perfect opportunity to use the Animals Unit Studies Journal that I recently published. After finding animals, we write it down in our journal and do more research to find out more. What to research is all laid out in the journal. After finding facts, we draw or write about what we've learned. Here's a sample.
We also love reading books about nature. One that we enjoyed reading is titled Get Outdoors: A Mindfulness Guide to Noticing Nature. This book is amazing and comes with fun activities such as making compose, creating a garden and more. We borrowed it from our local library. If you don't find one at your local library or aren't able to go out right now, you can also find it on Amazon at a reasonable price.
Free play
You don't always have to think of something to do in your garden. Let your children use their imaginations to find things, jump around and just do what they want to do. It's also okay to let them be bored for a while, if that happens.
My daughter loves playing in the dirt, dinging, finding flowers, collecting rocks and doing animal role-play. Getting dirty in the garden builds the immune system and allows children to simply have fun without thinking about not making a mess like in the house.
After everything, we go back inside and take a warm shower:)
Wrapping up
Playing outdoors is fun, keeps children active and it's healthy! It's a great moment to bond with your family and for children to be creative.
How do you use your garden (if you have one)?
How do you study nature with your children?
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