I shared in a note awhile back that my grandchildren and I have been adding some intention into our walks. It’s delightful to see God’s world through their eyes and to share little stories about life and God’s love along the way. So I thought I would share some ideas to enhance your next walks.
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” ~John Muir
Sometimes doing the same thing a new way is entertaining!
So it is in the case of walking as well.
In this post, I hope to inspire you to change up the ‘ole walking routine once in a while and try doing something different on your next walk!
Engage the Senses:
When the grandkids are here we like to do a Listening Walk where we listen for sounds along the way. This book inspired the idea!
We might hear a woodpecker, a jet, or a dog barking. Other times we might hear geese flying overhead, a loud truck, or a lawn mower. I wonder what you will hear.
Other times we might take our magnifying glasses and look for “small things” like ants, worms, seeds, acorns or “roly poly” bugs!
Walking in the rain is a sensory experience with rain boots on and carrying umbrellas. Allowing the children and grandchildren to stomp in puddles and yes, I will join in now as the Mimi, life is too short not to! (Just be prepared beforehand, everyone will get wet and might need to change! Leave towels by the door before you go!)
Fall is the perfect time for crunching the leaves underfoot on your walks!
Take a photo walk. Let them use a disposable camera or a your phone to take pictures with your supervision. Turn it into a “movie” and watch it together when you get back home!
Walk and Learn:
A letter of the day walk or an ABC walk could even be educational when it’s age appropriate. You might say, “Find all the things that start with an M and they could look for mailboxes, mowers, maple tree, etc. Or maybe it’s A for ant, B for butterfly, C for car, D for dandelion… and well, you get the idea.
We’ve done a counting walk, where we count pumpkins we see along our path, you could count cars in driveways, count red cars on the road, count trucks, whatever your child is into or whatever number they need to be learning!
You could go on a birding walk and try to identify all the different birds you see in trees and flying by. Take a pair of binoculars like these kids friendly ones we use!
You could talk about the trees, some lose their leaves, some stay green all year, you could talk about the name of the trees and look for fallen leaves that match the tree and make it a game!
You might go for a “color” walk and have them choose the color of the day to look for. “Let’s look for all the green things we can see today!” Or let the kids each choose the color they want to look for to keep everyone entertained! Billy can look for blue things and Susie can look for yellow things, for example!
Make it Social:
Maybe you want to go on a walk when you see a neighbor or two out so that you can all say “hello” to them.
Maybe it’s looking for animals, looking for other kids, whatever it may be just enjoy being together and getting some fresh air!
Walk at the zoo or on a nature trail.
Maybe you walk to a child’s friend’s house or a store nearby instead of driving.
Holiday Theme Walk:
At Christmas, it would be fun to walk and take a little homemade gift in these or goodie to your neighbors to bless them.
Halloween is the perfect time to get out and walk your neighborhood all in costumes!
May Day walk - research the history of May Day together and leave flowers for your neighbor or grandparents or someone not feeling well.
Make it a Game:
You can jump over cracks in the sidewalk.
Play “Red Light/Green Light” on your walk.
Play “Mother May I” as you walk along utilizing walking backwards, scissor steps, hopping, duck waddle, froggie hops, and whatever else you can come up with to have fun with your children and grandchildren!
Time together enjoying nature is what a walk is all about!
“Walk to be healthy, walk to be happy.” ~Charles Dickens
And if you get a chance to go on a walk alone, you might enjoy listening to music, listening to a podcast, or simply listening to the birds and sounds of your environment.
You might want to practice deep breathing while you walk alone. After reading this intriguing book on breathing, I think more about breathing and practice better techniques!
You might want to carry weights or wear a weighted vest or ankle weights to up the calorie burn.
The kids might enjoy walking the dog so how about getting Fido a new one of these!
See how many steps you can get in on a 20, 30, 45 minute walk and challenge yourself to beat your numbers.
Maybe you just want to take a leisurely stroll with your spouse after dinner.
Perhaps you want to go hiking on a trail.
Just get outside, listen to birdsong and breathe deeply.
If you look at Bible scripture, Jesus walked everywhere he went.
I’ve heard it said that he walked about 3 miles per hour. ( I don’t have a source for this but thought it was interesting nonetheless!) He never ran, but he did walk with purpose.
I’m so thankful He walked the earth and now reigns in heaven!
I hope these ideas today give YOU a purpose for your walks as well!
Until next time sweet friends,
Brooke
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