The Dirtbag’s Guide to Outdoor Educational Activities with Children During COVID19 Quarantine & Isolation: Part 3 Explore More

This is part three of a 5-part series, "The Dirtbag’s Guide to Outdoor Educational Activities with Children During COVID19 Quarantine & Isolation" co-authored by expert teacher, Jessica Levine.

Read Part 1: Series Intro
Read Part 2: Bloom Where You are Planted here.

As a brief recap, there are 3 ways we're recommending to go adventuring during this quarantine: 
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1. Bloom where you're planted: Start at your feet, in a 1 meter square of space. These activities require very little movement, but lots of focused observations. 
2. In this post, we'll be covering how to "Explore More:" These activities are designed for more movement, and may have you going about your yard and neighborhood. This is what we're focusing on in today's post!
3. Further Afield: These activities are designed for even more movement, and may require more people, as you explore your relationship to the varied ecosystems of the natural world. ​

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Explore More

Activities in the "explore more category" are designed for more movement, and may have you going about your yard and neighborhood. 

• Listen and record nature sounds. Consider creating a sound map. Sound Map is an excellent activity for instilling greater awareness of one’s surroundings.
• Make a sound wall by suspending items from a rope or wire that make fun sounds when you strike them. Ex) old keys in a bunch, old tins, spoons, cups. 
• Microhike: “a microhike is a very short expedition guided by a string three to five feet long. The “hikers” comver the trail inch by inch on their bellies viewing such natural wonders such as a blade of grass bent by dewdrops. Because young children are particularly fond of tiny objects, their interest in the world of the miniature will amaze you.” You could use a magnifying glass, as you keep your eyes no higher than one foot above the ground. 
• Meet a tree with this excellent simple activity. In fact, Iceland recommends hugging trees when you can’t hug others right now.
• Try a science scavenger hunt. Find one you like by searching the term in google then going to imaging and printing off your favorite for the day. Join a Goosechase, an online scavenger hunt game. 

• Pick a color of the day, and as you explore #nearbynature, collect photos or samples of the range of hues for that color selection. 
• Harvest dandelions to make dandelion honey. 
• Identify plants -- look for edibles (come on, not that kind) and 4 leaf clover. Use iNaturalist to help you identify all sorts of flora. 
• Identify animal prints. Try casting or drawing them.
• Create field art. Consider using biodegradable paint and materials or natural materials. ​​
• ​Look for fish, tadpoles, and crawdads in the creek--bring along a light colored empty ice cube tray so that as you scoop critters you can further investigate them, and separate them in order to better observe and maybe ID these critters.
• Use binoculars to look in the mountains, out to the water, to see birds, and to teach about why spying on the neighbors is creepy. Use eBird, iNaturalist, or PeakFinder apps to help you learn more about what you see. 
• Shoot a bow
• Make plant presses out of cardboard. Use almost any sort of paper between layers and weigh down with books. Then create herbarium sheets with information about the specimen, date of collection and name of collector.

• Create nature mandalas or Andy Goldsworthy inspired nature assemblages/sculptures with found items collected respectfully. 
• Make a giant bird nest out of sticks and pretend to be birds. Or use the bird blind to better observe wildlife. Practice and teach leave no trace principles.
• Grab a handful of crayons out of a box and go on a hunt to find the colors in nature. What color are new leaves? How do they compare to other leaves nearby? 
• Freeze natural items in a cup with a string, unmold it and hang near a window where you can watch it melt and change shape.
• Make a map of your neighborhood by walking or biking. Identify the plants, the neighbors, and the businesses around your blocks. This great book, Map Making with Children--A Sense of Place, has some excellent ideas, including hiding a special coin or object, and then making a treasure map for someone else to find it which can be done even in the house! ​

In the next article, Part 4, of the series, we talk about exploring further away from your home location and incorporating more people and children into the educational experiences you're having with your children.


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What else would you add? What kinds of activities do you and your family or students get up to that are near to you and low social interaction? Drop them in the comments! ​​


Follow Jessica Levine:
Website: www.greenlevine.wordpress.com 
Twitter: @msgreenlevine
Instagram: @msgreenlevine  and @112Collaboratory

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