by Winding Pathways | Mar 22, 2016 | Children/Play, Wonderment
Children learn by exploring.
Walking to and from school in the 1950s and ‘60s yielded exercise, adventure, learning and fond memories.
Rich walked or bicycled about a mile to and from school down one road, along a woodsy path, across the Rockaway River, and around a wetland to school. Along the way were frogs to catch, stones to toss in the river, and little melted snow streams to dam with rocks and watch the water flow. The trek to school may have been as educational as the classroom topics and lots more fun.
On her way to a friend’s house in Florida, Marion balanced along logs and stopped to talk with the friendly horse in a pasture. In New Hampshire she and friend, Pete Martell, opted for the hypotenuse route to school. They had just learned that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line! Instead of following the road through the village and down School Street, they crossed the Piscataquog River on a large pipe above the dam and jagged rocks connecting two factories. Half way across the pipe, the consequences of a fall dawned on her. This one-time “adventure” became a lifelong lesson in thinking through actions.
At a recent conference Blue Zones Director of Innovation and Inspiration, Dan Burden, told us the odds of a child being abducted by strangers has been dropping for years and is lower today than in the 50’s. Ironically, modern parents fear abduction and drive their kids to school, robbing them of exercise, fun, and learning.
Cedar Rapids Community School administrator, Steve Graham, told us that most school districts built schools in residential neighborhoods so children could walk. Nearby streets were never designed for the heavy traffic that now occurs each morning and afternoon when parents drop off or pick up kids, even when they live just a block or two away.
We were free range kids. Mom and Dad expected us to get to and from destinations and to exercise good judgment. We made mistakes, got skinned knees and mosquito bites, but we learned. In those delicious walks after school and on weekend rambles we invented games played in vacant lots with other kids, chased butterflies, stomped in the snow, climbed trees and experienced the world first hand. We learned.
We’re thankful our parents raised us as free range kids. Mom and Dad set some limits, but we were free to explore our world. We raised our two children the same way and were delighted when they returned from the woods tired and dirty but full of tales of their afternoon adventure shared around the dinner table.
We’re concerned that few of today’s kids have the freedom to explore that we had. Too many of today’s yards are boring, sprayed monocultures that don’t inspire kids to go outside and play. Keep visiting our Winding Pathways Website and we’ll share tips on how to make your yard a magical place for kids…..and their parents…….to play.
by Winding Pathways | Feb 5, 2016 | Children/Play, Geology/Weather, Nature, Wonderment
Kids enthusiasm about playing in the snow is evident with snowmen around town, tracks across yards, piles of wet boots and mittens and gay laughter ringing through the town. Two children share their reasons they love to “Go Outside and Play!”
-Savannah. “I like to play outside when it’s snowing because we can do several different things. We can throw snowballs at each other. We can make big snow forts and hide in them. We also slide down our icy slide so we can go extra fast. So all together, we play in the snow whenever we get the chance.”
-Breanna. “When it’s snowing I like to go outside. The reason I like to go outside is because I like to go
sledding really fast down a hill. I also like to build
snowmen while my brother and sister go find accessories. I like to find cool
foot prints in the snow. And I think it is fun to throw snowballs at my brother and sisters. And that is why I like to go outside.”
by Winding Pathways | Jan 2, 2016 | Nature, Reflections/Profiles, Wonderment
This great book is colorful, factual and encourages folks to “Go Outside!”
As kids growing up, we read books our classmates would have considered weird. They were field guides to birds, mammals, fish, wildflowers, rocks and the weather. Color plates of animals, trees and all sorts of other living things fascinated us. Range maps taught geography, and the text good writing.
With the rapid growth of apps to help identify many objects of nature, field guides may be slipping from winter reading lists, but there is one new book that any nature lover should have handy.
The Secret Lives of Animals includes 1001 tidbits, oddities and facts about North America’s wild animals. It’s not a book to read cover to cover. It is one to pick up when there are a few spare minutes for learning and enjoyment. There’s learning on every page. We see two audiences who will enjoy having this book close by.
Kids and adolescents: With colorful illustrations and loads of facts presented in succinct form it’s a fascinating book for youngsters. We would have loved to have had this book by our bedside when we were young to glean wildlife snippets in moments before sleep.
Adults: The book is studded with interesting facts and makes a good one minute or three hour read. Any trivia lover will enjoy it as well as people who delight in wildlife.
Our favorite part of the book appears frequently and is called GO OUTSIDE. Going outside and enjoying nature is what we advocate at Winding Pathways and The Secret Lives of Animals gives readers something new to look for outdoors and then encourages them to put the book down, pull on the boots and go explore outside.
THE SECRET LIVES OF ANIMALS-1001 Tidbits, Oddities, & Amazing Facts About America’s Coolest Animals, by Stacy Torino and Ken Keffer with illustrations by Rachel Riordan. FalconGuides. ISBN 978-1-4930-1191-9. http://amzn.to/1PMc5EJ
by Winding Pathways | Dec 19, 2015 | Reflections/Profiles, Wonderment
A couple of times each week I walk the nearly two mile circumference trail around Cedar Rapids’ Cedar Lake. It’s a great way to get exercise and watch a diversity of wildlife in the downtown area.
On Sunday, December 13, 2015 a near magical encounter occurred. Heavy rain was predicted for the afternoon so I planned my walk for late morning. Light drizzle was falling as I approached a parking lot surprisingly full on such a gloomy day. A woman was putting snacks and beverages on a picnic table. When I asked her if she was planning a winter picnic she replied, “Nope, you’ll see a bunch of runners on the trail. We’re raising money for a friend who has leukemia. He has limited health insurance and is having trouble paying medical bills. He’s not able to work and has two young children.”
Although she didn’t ask for a contribution, I handed her ten bucks and began a counter clockwise walk around the lake, just as a knot of runners was just finishing their first clockwise circuit and were enjoying snacks. They again set off running and soon I began meeting them on the trail.
The word was out. All had heard that a stranger in a blue raincoat had given $10. Every runner I passed smiled and said, “Thanks.” One woman stopped me and said, “Thanks for helping my brother.” Then, an older man stopped and said, “I want to shake your hand. You helped my son!”
Later in the day I thought how fortunate I was to have been able to give a tiny gift to help a man I didn’t know and be thanked by so many dedicated people. What a wonderful Christmas gift they were giving a dear friend of theirs and me, a stranger. Rich
