8 Dec 2008
I've been trying to ingrain into my children's brains that everything in our home has a specific spot where it belongs. It seems I spend my days saying things like, "your coat doesn't belong on the floor," and "why is your underwear on the dinner table?"
But this lesson goes beyond just our home. While we were out for a walk, my 3-year-old son threw his sucker stick on the ground, stepped on it and kept on walking. Bright lights, bells, and whistles went off in my head and I realized it was a teaching moment.
"Corbin, garbage doesn't belong on the ground. It belongs in the garbage can," I said. He shrugged his shoulders and picked it up without a fight. Lesson learned, right? Well I decided to take it a bit further. The next day gloves and a garbage sack accompanied us on our walk. We picked up garbage as we went. I think this drove the idea in a little further. As we walked we talked about the idea of "leave no trace" and the responsibilities that come along with playing outside. (I condensed it to the 6- and 3-year-old version, mind you.)
Here are some main points we hit on:
- Stay on marked trails
- Pack out what you pack in
- Leave what you find
- Be careful with fire
- Don't bother the wildlife
The kids ended up really enjoying themselves. In fact I had to insist that they didn't carry the old rusty car bumper they found all the way home to our dumpster.
Overall, "leave no trace" means to have a minimal impact on your surroundings. It's just a matter of leaving things the way you found them. By not picking that dark purple leopard lily by the trail, someone else can witness its popping color -- and point it out to their travel companion.
Fun Learning Activity: Last Spring, I took my Cub Scout group and my kids up a trail just above our little town. We took plaster of paris and poured it into animal footprints we found. Then we hiked up the trail. By the time we returned, the plaster was dry and we took the molds of the footprints out. The kids loved it, and seemed to enjoy taking a bit of nature home with them -- without actually taking something.
| Shawna Andreasen, an aspiring desert rat and ski bum, resides in southeast Utah. She has a degree in Recreation Management from BYU and is the creator of Nature For Kids, a blog of encouragement and ideas concerning wholesome outdoor recreation for kids and their parents. Her greatest joy is being a stay-at-home mom and sharing her love of the outdoors with her husband and three kids. |
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