I rarely take a camera on our nature walks. Today I intentionally took some photographs to add balance to our indoor activity type posts. We try to take a walk daily but recently it's been more like 2-3 times a week.
Today I put both children in the croozer (like a bike trailer) and took them to this location. It's nice to explore areas further from our home. It's also nice to get some exercise myself and once here Caspar and Otis can explore at their own pace. Lucky we took a blanket, they both got soaking wet. Otis got to see his first kangaroo!
When researching Montessori it's really easy to get caught up on materials, trays and preparing activities. We often don't make the connection between Montessori and the natural environment. Maria Montessori put a huge emphasis on walking, taking nature walks and allowing children to explore.
"Walking is an exercise complete in itself. Other muscular exertions need not be added to it. A man who walks, breathes and digests better, enjoys all the benefits to health that we pursue in sport. It is a form of exercise which brings beauty to the body, and if, by the wayside, we find something of interst to collect and classify, a ditch to jump, wood to gather for the fire, these movements-of extending the arms and bending the body-make it the perfect gymnastic. LIttle by little, as man's knowledge increases, his intellectual interests widen, and with these the activities of the body. The path to education should follow the path of evolution, to walk and to enjoy ever wider horizons. In this way, the child's life becomes increasingly rich." - Maria Montessori. The Absorbent Mind.
