5 Outdoor Activities to Spark the Elementary Imagination I Hill Country Homestead

In our new era of e-learning, it is more important than ever to get creative with the ways our children engage with the outdoor world. It is recommended by the CDC that kids get at least one hour of outdoor time daily. More is better when it comes to getting elementary-age children outside for fresh air and sunshine. Using a laptop to get outside for core classes can help to break up the monotony of learning inside for required courses. It is still important to have unstructured playtime in the great outdoors to help the child's mind unwind, de-stress and ignite in the grand creation of nature. Here are a few ideas to help spark the imaginations and make the outdoors a highly sought destination throughout your elementary child’s day.

Daily Nature Journal

A nature journal may seem like a simple idea but incorporating it into a daily curriculum automatically lures the child outside on a regular schedule. With a little guidance, the child can learn to self-direct to their nature journal to document the wonders of reflection in nature. Based on your child’s level of ability, the nature journal can be simple pictures of observations outside or extensive leaf tracings with scientific names and classifications. Identifying bird sounds and species is another fine listening and looking activity that is great for any elementary level. Filling a nature journal full of illustrations, reflections, and scientific observations can bring a child peace and also prompt love and appreciation of the outside world.

Small Raised Garden

Gardening is a great way to teach children to be truly self-reliant. Growing your own food is a skill and an art that should be re-introduced into schools. Taking advantage of even a small space outdoors to grow even a little bit of produce is enough to spark the imagination of a primary school-aged child. Also, a small raised garden can be an excellent lesson in botany, economics, and sustainability. A perfect addition to any science curriculum!

Grown-up Sandbox or Zen Garden

A sandbox turned into a mature zen garden can be a beautiful place for even the most distressed and troubled child to find peace through sensory exploration. Using sensory experiences to ignite a child's imagination goes beyond the preschool years. Many times a frustrated elementary-aged child will find a deep peace when presented with a sensory activity. Sometimes the academic pressures on our young children can become overwhelming. Calmly raking patterns and pictures in a sand space or creating pathways for marbles or balls can be soothing in such a way it can change the outlook of frustration for a young mind.

All-Weather Outdoor Exploration

The importance of children playing in puddles and rain cannot be left out. As adults, we are quick to discourage our children from going outdoors during inclement weather. It’s important to train our minds to use the word ‘no’ less with children unless the situation will create injury or danger. Puddles and rain do not create either of those things. Children find a world of wonder on rainy days, the feeling of the raindrops, the splash of puddles, and the extra nitrogen in the air are all health benefits to the child. The only danger is dragging mud into the house when the exploring is over, as adults we have to overlook this inconvenience for the good of the child.

Life-Size Lincoln Logs

Having curated sensory and exploratory activities available outside for the child to take a break with can give the child a sense of peace and ownership of their inner need to take a break before becoming overwhelmed with a task or lesson. Child size logs outdoors provide a space to place the logs in patterns or build. This activity caters to physical activity and gross motor practice which is still very important at this age.

In Conclusion + Get Outside!

If you notice, most of these activities are open-ended and mostly led by the child's inner desire and need to find peace through the exploration of the outside world. At the elementary level, regimented lessons are a requirement no matter if the child is in homeschool or public school setting. Focusing and mastering the core subjects at this level is very important. As the adult guide, it’ important to make sure the child isn’t getting too overwhelmed by the workload. This is especially important in our modern age of online school options that lead to zoom fatigue. When a child has access to the outdoor environment at their own discretion it creates within them the ability to find solutions to the inner issues before it escalates. Have you ever needed to just step outside to catch your breath in a stressful situation? Multiply that feeling by 10 for an adolescent comparison and set up your child's learning environment so that access to the outdoors becomes a self-prompted peace-seeking activity.

“Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and when the grass of the meadows is wet with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath its shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning.”