Thank you to Dharini, Liz, and Meredith for these ideas to engage children and inspire creativity, zen, and kindness!
EN PLEN AIR
Grab your paint and head outside. This is not only a great way to get creative juices flowing for your children, but an excellent way for you to explore as an adult and get your dose of the outdoors. Don't have paint? "Adjust & improvise." Pastels, colored pencils, markers, crayons...you can even sketch with a regular pencil to get a dose of creativity and nature. You don't think you are artistic? Release your inhibitions and your world will increase all around you (along with your neural connections:). Just think of the memories you will create both in mind & in art. So set yourself up in a backyard or on a porch or veranda (if you don't have a backyard), breathe some fresh air, and find your inner O'Keeffe. Thank you for the inspiration, Dharini!
BRING THE NATURE INDOORS
This next idea came from a parent who is also a preschool teacher. She described it to me as nature meets mandala. As you go on your next walk, collect pine cones, rocks, twigs, etc. If you have children, what a fun way to keep them engaged on a hike with a mission. Maybe you can even decorate some rocks outdoors before you bring them inside? Keep jars of your outdoor material on a tray on the counter so anyone of any age that comes into the kitchen can create. It gives you an internal moment of nature, a moment of creativity, and most importantly right now...a moment of zen.
Thank you for the inspiration, Liz!
KINDNESS ROCKS
This was sent in by a mom who is distributing kindness rocks with her daughters. Her children are double digits, but it can be done with younger ages as well. They drop off kindness rocks on nature trails because they think the rocks will be fun for others to find and will provide encouragement also. She sent in the nature safety guidelines they use to avoid making any critters sick:
1. Use non-toxic paint.
2. After painting, seal the rock with an all purpose sealant or glaze so that no animals eat flaked paint. Mod Podge sealant is good!
3. Don't put them near a nest or anything that could look like a critter burrow.
4. Other than that, leave them in the open where people can see & enjoy them without having to wander too far off the trail and potentially disturb saplings or habitats.
5. Don't leave any in national parks or forests please.
Thank you for the inspiration, Meredith!
Get your creative juices flowing, find your moment of zen, and remember kindness....rocks!
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