Learning Through Nature
Edition 32: Develop the senses, enhance vocabulary, deepen curiosity, and build skills
Beautiful. Peaceful. Calming. These are all common characteristics used to describe nature. In this newsletter, I want to dwell on a less talked about aspect of nature, especially as it relates to young kids: the endless learning opportunities it provides.
This bodes well for little ones: they’re learning machines, especially when given the right environment. Nature is that kind of environment, be it your backyard or a nearby forest. It provides endless opportunities for kids to learn and figure out their world by developing their senses, enhancing their vocabulary, deepening their curiosity, and building skills
Developing Senses
The importance of sensory development has been well established. Look no further than nature. It offers such a variety of ways to engage and develop the senses starting at an early age.
When Hayden was a newborn, I sat on our lanai so he could hear the birds and see the trees while avoiding the direct Florida sun. We also took short car rides to forested areas and parks, where he could see a variety of vegetation. As he got a bit older, I took a small bag of toys and a playmat to our backyard where we’d sit outside and play each day. We took frequent breaks to watch the birds flock between the trees or feel the grass on our hands and feet.
Bringing nature inside our home was useful during the early months. I made a nature corner, which was a magnet for Hayden. I took a piece of foam board and glued down some items from nature, such as rocks, shells, sticks, and leaves. He loved touching them.
Hayden was around seven or eight months old when he became fascinated with trees. At several points on our daily walks, I’d stop by a tree and hold Hayden so he could reach out and touch the tree’s bark. He loved this! Trees are a useful sensory object because each tree offers a different tactile experience.
Once Hayden could walk, sensory development through nature took on a whole new meaning. He has immediate access to so much more, such as sticks, branches, moss, pinecones, and leaves that have fallen to the ground—not to mention puddles to splash in and mud to dig his fingers into. He’s also far more alert to birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, and small animals moving about.
There’s an added bonus to this sensory development: it’s a great way to enhance your child’s vocabulary.
Enhancing Vocabulary
Ever since Hayden began exploring, I’ve been right there with him to describe what he’s seeing, touching, feeling, and hearing.
As Hayden and I sat at his nature corner at home, for example, I’d describe the color, size, and textures of rocks, sticks, pinecones, and the like. Outside, I’d describe the trees and the type of bark.
It’s my hope that Hayden starts to share his own nature impressions. Until then, nature continues to be a fantastic medium to expand his vocabulary. In addition to basic descriptions, I now talk about:
Size (“this rock is small, this one is big, and this one is the biggest”)
Length (“this stick is longer than that one”)
Quantities (“there are many leaves here and no leaves here”)
We’re currently working on tree names and leaf types.
Needless to say, both of us are learning a lot. And both want to know more. That brings me to another benefit of repeated time in nature: it’ll help develop your curiosity.
Deepening Curiosity
Hayden is noticeably curious. And I’m convinced in large part that’s due to the time we spend in nature. In fact, I’ve noticed my own curiosity increase.
Spending time in nature has gotten us both to slow down in order to see, appreciate, and discover the many layers that make up our natural world. In the process, I’ve noticed that one interest bleeds into another.
At first, Hayden was fascinated by trees. Then, rocks and pinecones. Then, sticks and branches. Then, insects. Now, he’s interested in leaves. In fact, leaves take center stage wherever we are; Hayden will bypass the playground to pick up leaves.
To his credit, leaves really are fascinating—if you take time to explore them. And we do. First, we explore leaves outside when we find them. Hayden will pick up a leaf and hold it up to the sky (to get a good view). I’ll talk about it: describing its shape, color, or texture. This can easily go on for 30 to 60 minutes.
Second, we explore his “treasures”—his collection of leaves, as well as other things like sticks and pinecones—at home. This is another favorite activity of his. I rinse off the leaves and put them on a tray. Then, we explore.
Sometimes we organize the leaves, sorting them by color or shape. Most of the time we just dive in and examine each one. The process looks like this: Hayden picks up one leaf from a tray of leaves: he looks at it and puts it down on the table. Once the tray is empty, the process begins again. This time, he transfers the leaves from the table back to the tray—after close inspection.
He likes me to narrate along the way. Each time he picks up a leaf, he turns to me and says: “Mama?” That’s my cue to share my observations. This has gotten me to hone in on the details: the size, shape, color, texture, and design of each leaf. (Eventually, I hope that he takes the lead on narrating.)
This “at home” exploration is not only another great way to boost vocabulary. But it’s also a way to initiate questions that get us both thinking beyond surface level. Sometimes I answer a posed question. But that’s not really the point.
Rather, my goal by asking questions is to demonstrate my own curiosity. I’m just putting into words the things I’m thinking about as I stop, look, and observe. I find myself wanting to know more—just like Hayden.
Building Skills
Once Hayden began to walk, his involvement in nature increased. He began building important skills in the process:
Pincer grasp: Picking up an endless number of leaves and pine needles has certainly helped refine Hayden’s pincer grasp.
Counting: Sometimes we count the items Hayden finds outside. I’ll line up several sticks, for example. Then, he’ll point to each one as I count.
Sorting: After we collect a bunch of nature “treasures,” I rinse everything off and we explore at home either later that day or the next. This is a great opportunity to practice sorting.
Nature provides endless sorting games to play: sort by weight (heavy things, like rocks, go here and light things, like leaves, go there); sort a collection of leaves by color, shape, or length; sort items by type (sticks here, rocks there, and leaves over there).Discriminating between objects: Being in nature is a fantastic way to learn to discriminate between objects. Leaves may look the same at first glance and you may think: “yep, there are a bunch of brown leaves on the ground.” But if you pick a few up and look at them you realize how different they really are.
So that’s what I do, either while we’re outside or later while inside exploring his collection. In the process, describe what I see, even if it's as simple as: “this leaf has smooth edges, but this one has an intricate design around its edges.” I’m trying to help Hayden to notice the details that make each leaf or stick unique. This is a great way to also build vocabulary.Develop color awareness: There are different shades of colors. We know this as adults, but being in nature can help a young person see and understand this idea. It’s also interesting to see how colors change in different situations. For example, Hayden loves to pick up a leaf that’s red or yellow and hold it up to the sunlight, which changes the vibrancy of its color.
As much as nature can teach your child, it’s also taught me a lot as a parent. First, you can take one interest and use it to teach many other skills and topics.
Trying to teach color awareness or sorting for the sake of learning these things would be downright frustrating for everyone involved. But—and this is the important point—teaching and learning is effortless when it’s tied to something meaningful. As a result, a lot of learning takes place, and it’s a lot more fun.
Second, there’s immense value in supporting your child once they’ve found an interest. This seems obvious, but it’s a rare quality to find even as an adult. Just think of when you’ve shared an interest, project, or hobby with someone and it falls flat. In other words, it’s hard to find people who are genuinely interested in your pursuit.
So as a parent, show your interest. And the best way to show your interest is to roll your sleeves up and dive in, too. Learn right alongside your child. The more I learn about the great outdoors, the more I love it. Plus, I can see the great pleasure Hayden gets as we set out and learn together. This support seems to give a child a sense of security and confidence to dig deeper.
Nature is a lot of things: calming, beautiful, mysterious. It’s also a fantastic teacher. Yes, you can learn a lot about trees, leaves, and the like. That’s certainly been the case for me and Hayden. But it goes far deeper than that, if you take the time to uncover its many lessons.
"Not all classrooms have four walls."
-Cynthia Martinez
Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reply to this email and let me know what you think.
-Amy