LET'S GO OUT IN THE OPEN AIR DEAR FAMILY!!!
Here the month of June has arrived and everything around invites us to go to nature in the open air. Furthermore, June is the month dedicated to the little ones, our children and, if we want, also the month that turns a special thought to the family which, between pandemic and current world situations, is put to the test … But let’s try to make a deep breath and let’s go out together!
So mum and dad take the little ones outdoors, in the garden, in the park, where they can discover, contemplate what is most beautiful we have: nature. The little ones will discover inside and out that there is a world full of creatures to take care of, just as you parents take care of them…
There would be an infinity of ideas and workshops to propose while you are outdoors… I suggest here some simple ideas as a starting point. They are the result of the experiences made with the children who are the inspiring source of the most beautiful discoveries I make. You, with ingenuity and creativity, can develop many others.
Ideas that enhance physical contact with nature:
- Try walking on the grass with bare feet, observe the children with what admiration they can react to this sensation, then ask them (but also yourself) what sensations this contact causes… you will see that it will be a small starting point to open a fascinating dialogue.
- Are there any trees? Try to get closer and observe: the bark, its inhabitants, from the ants, to the birds, to the leaves with which it is now covered… their shape… try, if possible, to give a hug to the tree, or to place your hands on the trunk, close your eyes and whisper a kind phrase such as: thank you! Your shadow gives me shelter… you make home to many creatures, I like you…
- Lie on the ground with your stomach up, try to contemplate the sky, the clouds, try to understand if the wind moves them and what sounds you hear while your ears are close to the ground.
- Then turn around and, resting your chin on your crossed arms, observe the small blades of grass and observe the insects that move on the ground…
- Collect with the children the objects that nature offers you, different leaves to recognize the tree, small stones or twigs that you can then classify at home by making an album or an artistic collage.
- Make a rudimentary tent built with a large sheet and a rope hanging from the tree to recreate the idea that Nature is our home…
- Try walking on the grass with bare feet, observe the children with what admiration they can react to this sensation, then ask them (but also yourself) what sensations this contact causes… you will see that it will be a small starting point to open a fascinating dialogue.
- Are there any trees? Try to get closer and observe: the bark, its inhabitants, from the ants, to the birds, to the leaves with which it is now covered… their shape… try, if possible, to give a hug to the tree, or to place your hands on the trunk, close your eyes and whisper a kind phrase such as: thank you! Your shadow gives me shelter… you make home to many creatures, I like you…
- Lie on the ground with your stomach up, try to contemplate the sky, the clouds, try to understand if the wind moves them and what sounds you hear while your ears are close to the ground.
- Then turn around and, resting your chin on your crossed arms, observe the small blades of grass and observe the insects that move on the ground…
- Collect with the children the objects that nature offers you, different leaves to recognize the tree, small stones or twigs that you can then classify at home by making an album or an artistic collage.
- Make a rudimentary tent built with a large sheet and a rope hanging from the tree to recreate the idea that Nature is our home…
I offer you a thought from Maria Montessori that was precious to me while I was doing my work as a teacher in an early childhood school, both in Ecuador and Colombia.
With my arrival in Italy then, I was able to get to know Maria Montessori more and discover her further by reading other texts by her in her mother tongue.
“… The child is not an empty being, who owes us everything he knows and with which we filled him or her. No, the child is man’s builder, and there is no man who has not been formed by the child he once was.” Maria Montessori From The Child’s Mind, 1952, p.14
We go out as a family and contemplate the little ones, we will also discover with great suprise the child within us.
Nanny JM