Reuniting Kids w/ Nature - Leaf & Flower Collection

MATERIALS: 
Comfortable shoes, appropriate clothing for the weather, two bags or a journal and one bag to collect your findings in (a journal will help keep them safe and flat), gloves. If you have a field guide that can help you identify plant species, bring that, too.

TIME FRAME: 
15 - 60 minutes



PROCEDURE:
Simply go for a walk. Walk slowly and observe all of the nature you are surrounded by. Whether you are on a country path or a city street, there is nature. Listen for birds, watch chipmunks, smell the air, touch the bark on a tree (or 10). As you’re walking, notice natural items that have fallen off of their original plant...a flower petal, a leaf from a tree, a small stick. Pick them up, hold them, decide whether or not to keep them. The items that you do keep can be placed gently in your bag or your journal. 

REFLECTION:
Where did you go on your walk? Did you go somewhere new or somewhere familiar? What animals and birds did you see or hear? What did you find on your nature walk? Did you collect item that could be used

CONNECTIONS:
If you choose to collect still living items (fresh flowers, bladed of grass, etc.) please remember to tread lightly by collecting only a few of each type of flower or leaf so as not to damage the plant and to leave enough for our wild friends.  If each of us collects only a few items, the impact will be felt less by the area we have taken it from. The plant and the animals who depend on that plant for food or shelter will thank you!

TIPS & IMAGININGS:

• Once your collection is dry, use pieces of it to add into your Recycled Paper later. Think about what you’d like to add to your paper while you’re collecting item. 
• Use your second bag and your gloves to collect any trash you find along the way.  Then throw it all away (or recycle it, if you can) when you get home.

This activity is part of a series of low cost, hands on activities that can be used by anyone who has a passion for nature and who believes that a child's time spent in nature is not only important, but necessary.  Each activity was either created by me or gathered from a variety of sources.  You can find the complete list of all of the activities on my Nature Activities tab.

xoxo,

M

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