Nature Walk after the Feast

Get out in nature after the feasting!

Are you and yours one of those families that take a walk after you finish stuffing yourselves? Isn't that a great way to make room for dessert!

And what kid doesn't like to explore and collect things in nature on that walk? Give the grands (and others too!) a sack for their treasured collection. It's fun to have something to collect your items in and a friendly competition can develop between cousins. Here are some beautiful items collected by my grandson years ago:

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I don't think he put this one in his bag.

Arranging on the camp table made us realize how pretty his collection was.

Nature Scavenger Hunt~

Another thing we've done is to have a nature scavenger hunt. This works well with the older kids. Last year we went camping over the Thanksgiving holiday. I prepared for this activity before we left. I ran off a list of things in nature that I was pretty sure the kids would be able to find in our area. Then I purchased some brown paper lunch bags (Remember those?) and got enough pencils for everyone. On one of our hikes, I gave everyone a paper bag for collections, a scavenger list and a pencil and we WERE OFF! I even awarded prizes. Fun day!

Four lists per page.

Use paper bags--plastic bags are not good for our friends in nature.

We can often find some pretty exotic things in our area. No, this did not go in the sack.

But wait! There's more!

Want to take that trip in nature BEFORE the big day? That works too. A couple of years ago, we had dinner with our son and daughter-in-law. She had taken the kids on a nature walk, and they collected natural items for table decorations. They were beautiful tables. Take a look:

Natural items in the centerpiece.

Rings of rosemary at each place setting. It smelled wonderful!

Adult table. . .

More of those natural items in the centerpiece. So pretty!

Lastly~

Collected items from walk can be used to make a nature collage. Or here's a pin from Pinterest where the kids cut the middle out of a paper plate to make a wreath and glued their collected items on there (especially works well with just dried leaves):

​eventstocelebrate.net/2013/11/thanksgiving-crafts-kids-round/

Links friends have shared for this holiday. This one is about T-giving games for families:

​www.thebalance.com/thanksgiving-games-for-kids-and-families-1356366

And this one for kids' tables at the dinner:

​meaningfulmama.com/thanksgiving-kids-table-covered-in-brown-paper-and-full-of-kid-activities.html

Bottom line~

Step out in nature sometime during the holidays and take those sweet grands with you. They will love it. And you'll be surprised what you can find in nature on a simple walk to the park. 

"Enjoy yourself--it's later than you think!" Chinese Proverb

By the way, if you need a list of items for the nature walk, you can write me using my contact page,  and I'll send you one. Or, like anything else these days, you can find one on Google or Pinterest! Have fun!