As we went along our nature walks, we devised a 'telephone'-esque system for passing back safety information on the trail. I made sure each child pointed to the hazard as they told the message to the person directly behind them. This way they not only kept each other safe on the trail, they also learned what hazards look like. By the end of each hike, most of the kids could identify poison oak on their own. But they didn't really notice this exercise in respect, team building, and plant identification. They were busy having fun with it. It is so cute to listen to a whole line of 7-year-olds walking behind you chirping "poison oak, poison oak", and "look, it's right there!". Even better when within a few yards of each other we saw both the poisonous vine and some presents left behind by the horses in the camp stable. Then you could really see how akin to the game our system was. By the end of the line, my children were warning each other against the "poisonous horse scat"!
Poison what?!?!
Some of the kids were not super excited to have to exercise and deal with insects as we do on a hike, but this gave them a little something extra to put their minds to, they had less chance to get bogged down in complaints. And it made my job easier, rather than having to work to get attention to warn an entire group about every hazard along the way, I just had to point and listen to the ripples.
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