This has been another unhealthy week for us. This time a nasty stomach bug took out the 4yo, 7yo and me… Thankfully hubby and the wee girl have escaped so far, keep your fingers crossed for us!
As a result it wouldn’t have mattered if the sun was blazing down and and we’d been in the midst of a mini heatwave (I can dream!); none of us were up to going anywhere!
The 4yo only made it school on Monday and the 7yo was off Thursday and Friday. It was like the school holidays, without the fun, or the preparation… By today we were all going a little nuts. Recovered enough to be getting antsy, but still not up to much.
In an effort to get everyone outside, even if it was just for half an hour, I went off in search of inspiration. I figured at this point in the boredom and irritation a simple walk would have been met with sighs and eye rolling. I popped urban nature walk into Google and found a great list for an urban scavenger hunt here on the Scavenger Hunt Guru. I’m definitely going to take a look at some of the other ideas on this website (when I have more time and energy!).
So, I printed out a copy of the list and off we set; the 7yo clutching his pencil and clipboard, happy to be in charge! The 4yo was just thrilled to be set free :)
Three different leaves was easy, and in fact we ended up with rather more than three! We found lots of tall trees, and the boys couldn’t quite decide which was the tallest :)
The 7yo was fairly convinced he’d found a seed (me, not so convinced!). And, the 4yo was very pleased with his red pebble (more a stone really…). The 7yo decided that the smallest natural thing he could find was a speck of dirt :)
On we went, in search of all our items…
Boys being boys, the evidence of an animal was bird poo… And looking up to see what we could see in the clouds, the 7yo declared ‘a blanket’ (it was quite overcast!) and we couldn’t see any tall buildings. Closing our eyes, the natural sound we could hear was the wind. The loudest sound we could hear was a car.
When the 7yo counted 20 steps, they were all on concrete, but the grass was only a foot away.
We still hadn’t managed to find a puddle (not a bad thing in my view), something yellow that was natural or a flower growing in a sidewalk crack. Seriously, nothing is growing yet! Then, we came across some very yellow lichen!
We also needed to find evidence of erosion. The state of the roads after the snow and ice seemed a reasonable example of this…
As we finished our walk, and were nearing home we finally spotted some birds, although only managed two out of the three we were looking for (and don’t ask me what they were, one was a robin I think!). Still no puddles!
The only ‘puddle’ we found was water caught in one of the sledges in the back garden when we got home…
We never did find a flower in a sidewalk crack :) But apparently, if the 7yo were a rabbit, he would go to sleep in a flowerpot tonight…
I’m linking up with the wonderful Country Kids at Coombe Mill again this week. Click on the badge to see what everyone else has been up to and be inspired to get outside!
Very fun activity! Good evening =) #countrykids
It was good, a great way to get them out of the house :)
Sounds like a good list. Nice to be challenged. And nice way to get outside, when you might not feel quite like going. Hope you are all well again. #CountryKids
We needed a reason to go out, the suggestion of just a walk didn’t go down well :)
This is a really super idea!! i like how they really got stuck in with it too! x
After the initial reaction to my suggestion of a walk I was pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoyed it!
We’ve both been on scavenger hunts this week! What a great idea though for exploring an urban area – you can see from your lovely pix that they were really getting into it!
They really did, which was great as they’d been feeling pretty sorry for themselves :)
I love this idea, love it! Gives a stroll much more purpose and excitement. Glad you felt up to this, too, and hoping you’re all still bug-free now x
Thank you! I was glad I added an element of purpose, none of us were really in the mood for aimless wandering; but we needed to get outside! Everyone seems to be much better today, thank you x
Looks like great fun, but sorry to hear you were all poorly. Glad you are on the mend now.
The boys did enjoy it, and thankfully we’re all starting to feel a bit better x
Looks to me from the photos like your poorly ones are on the mend, a bit of fresh air and a challenge is a great way to heal and remove the bordom of being stuck indoors. Lovely to see your landscape snow and frost free at last and I love your urban challenge. I’m sure those side walk flowers will be along soon. Thank you for sharing on Country Kids and hope everyone is now fighting fit,
I think the walk made all the difference to how we were all feeling! It’s great that the snow has gone, now we just need some flowers…!
Can’t beat a good scavenger hunt no matter what you are hunting down. I love that your boys are true boys being boys. Remind me of all my brothers. #countrykids
Thanks, they did enjoy it, and yes they were really being boys! Dirt and poo :)
Great idea, is that just a US site? Mind you, I guess it could easily be transposed to here anyway. I really like the idea. And I do hope you’re all sickness free now x
It is a US website, but I think most of the ideas are pretty transferrable; there are some other good ones on there!
Wow this looks like a fab idea! Especially when you’re all going mad from being indoors, we’ve been like that a bit this week too with illness. Hope you’re on the mend and the other 2 don’t get it x
Our outing definitely needed purpose, the kids were still pretty grumpy! This really cheered them up :) Hope you’re all feeling better too x
Brilliant idea Sara! I may try this when EJ gets a bit older. It really is one of those great free activities that capture kids imaginations isn’t it? #CountryKids
It was great actually, I was just desperate to get everyone outside, and my previous suggestions had been met with grumpy no’s! So, I thought a little challenge might work :)
Oh dear, sorry to hear about the nasty bug and glad everyone is a-okay now :) That scavenger hunt looks so much fun to do. Used to love it as a kid… I’m thinking whether I should try it with T. If only she had another sibling to enjoy this with though!
The boys certainly enjoyed working together, but I think that they would have been just as happy doing it with me, it was the challenge of finding things that excited them x
That’s a fab idea and some lovely photos. We often look out for things on walks but I’ve never thought of doing a Scavenger hunt! I’m writing out an indoor one for us to do today since it is very wet and windy outside right now.
It worked really well, they loved ticking things off :)
Sorry to hear you’ve been ill, I hope you’re all okay now and the bugs leave you alone for a while. This is such a great idea and it looks like they are having lots of fun :) x
It was just what we needed! I’ll definitely be doing it again :)
This sounds like a great idea and just what you needed after a week of illness.
It was exactly what we needed :)
I just stumbled upon your post. So glad you enjoyed the Urban Nature Walk!