You know those moments you get sometimes as a parent, when your child does something that makes you feel so proud your heart could burst? Well, I must tell you that when my 2 year old spontaneously went out recently and lay down by herself on the grass, just laid there, simply enjoying the feel of it, I had one of those moments! My daughter was just purely enjoying nature - the feel of it, the sound of it, the smell of it - enjoying it with all her senses! I can't tell you how happy it made me to see that - my little girl appreciating the natural world, without any prompting or toys or activities to entice her. Just the soft, green grass calling to her made her run out there and lay her whole body down on it to experience it.
Pinky Cat got to go out and enjoy it, too.
Otherwise, she was all alone, just peacefully taking in the world around her.
What else can you do while lying in the grass?
See what kinds of bugs or other life you can find hidden in the grass.
Mark off a small patch no bigger than the size of your palm and use a magnifying glass to try to count the blades of grass in that patch. Can you count them?
See if you can find other types of plants hidden among the grass - can you find daisies? Dandelions? Clovers?
Search for 4-leafed clover leaves.
Feel the grass on your skin and try to describe it - is it soft? Spiky? Dry? Damp?
Lay on the grass and watch the clouds go by - can you see any shapes in them?
The last Outdoor Play Party included 41 ideas for playing outdoors. Many of them also involved exploring the natural world. Below are a few of my favourite nature exploration posts that were linked up. If you were one of them, go ahead and grab yourself a 'featured' button from the sidebar.
Rainy Day Mum shared her post about going on a bug hunt in their garden.
Play, Create, Explore explained how to capture and preserve a spider web perfectly on paper.
At Pre-School Play, the children used mud and found nature items to create some International Mud Day artwork.
And the Children's Art Group used items from nature to create these nature prints in clay.
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