Adventure Tykes

Nature can be a great learning tool and it is much better than sitting in a stuffy classroom or in a boring living room.

Help your tyke explore their 5 senses in nature with these fun activities.  Go for a hike or explore in your own backyard.

See: Give your tyke a few items to find.  It could be an ant, a bird, a leaf, a rock or whatever is in the area.  Make them search a bit to find them.  You can also ask them what they see around them or pick a color and ask them to find 5 things of the same color.

seeing the ducks in the lake

Smell: Have your tyke smell a flower, a bush, leaves, dirt or the air.  Ask them if it has a pleasant smell and what it smells like?

smelling the flowers

Feel: Give your tyke different textures to feel.  Maybe a pine needle, a rock, the grass, dirt, a branch or water.  Help them compare the different textures between each object.  For older tykes blind fold them and have them guess what objects they are touching.

feeling the sand for the first time

Taste: Bring along a snack that came from the earth, such as, fruits or vegetables. Explain to them that their snack came from the earth and grew either in the ground or a tree.

eating dried mango

Hear: Have your tyke sit quietly (that might be asking too much) and ask them what they hear.  Birds chirping? Wind blowing? Cars passing by? Kids playing? Silence?

hearing the water rush over the rocks

Obviously, these activities are for older tykes but even so, it is never too early to get your tyke outside.  The sun, the wind and the grass helps stimulate a young tykes senses.  So, get outside!