As of May 5, we are allowed to venture 5 kilometres from our homes. While it might not be the freedom we were hoping for, it’s still something to be grateful for. At times, it can seem as though you are trapped in a tiny bubble with no outlet or creative distraction. It can be hard to know what to do with your time. Here’s a cute little idea to spend memory-making quality time with your children.
Print off a list of the local flora in your region with photos and head out to a park, woods or forest. Try and find all the plants and flowers on your list. You could even add butterflies, insects and birds to make it more of a challenge.
To make it a special memory, bring along a tasty snack and drinks then off you go on an adventure trail. Get the children excited about discovering all the different wild plants and flowers. This time of year, we are graced with some gorgeous flowers so perhaps you could pick a few and tape them to pages in a little journal. Write a little bit about the adventure you went on, what you learned, the children’s ages, their favourite discoveries and maybe even some quotes of the day. It will be a wonderful keepsake for when your children are many moons older. Imagine yourself in twenty years’ time rooting around in your attic and stumbling upon this special journal reminding you of ‘that crazy time we all had to stay home’.
A few popular wild favourites with fun facts for the kids:
- Buttercups – according to folklore if you hold a buttercup under your chin and it reflects yellow on your skin, it is said that you like butter.
- Red clover – known for medicinal use.
- Bluebell – bees love bluebell nectar.
- Three-cornered garlic – the stem has three corners, hence the name.
- Fern – ferns can live to up 100 years.
