Your Child Will Learn
How to observe living things in nature
Here’s What to Do
- Head outside to a park, backyard, or anywhere in your neighborhood or community there are trees or plants.
- Direct your child’s attention to animals and plants as you see them.
- Talk about how you experience nature with your senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, touching) and guide your child to do the same .
Put PEER Into Action
PAUSE
- Get down at your child’s level and see where they are focusing their attention. Join them by focusing your attention in the same place.
ENGAGE
- “This flower petal feels smooth and soft. Can you feel the flower petal? This bark feels hard and scratchy. Do you want to feel it?”
- “I hear a bird chirping, where is that bird? Oh, there it is! That bird over there says “cheep cheep cheep.”
ENCOURAGE
- Your child will likely be very enthusiastic about touching (and probably trying to eat!) things you see on your nature walk. Can you also help them pay attention to how things hear and smell, which may be harder for them to recognize on their own?
- Put your baby’s reactions to words. For example, if they make a face when touching a pine needle say, “Oh, yes that pine tree sure is spiky feeling!”
REFLECT
- Was there anything in particular that seemed to capture your baby’s attention?
Not Quite Ready
Even if it doesn’t seem like your baby understands yet, you are helping build their vocabulary of words they can use to describe things. This is a foundational skill for making scientific observations when they’re older.
Ready for More
If your child is talking, you can prompt them to name or describe the animals and plants you find.
As Your Child Masters This Skill
They will begin to explore living things using several different senses.
Time to Complete
15 minutes
Materials Needed
None