For many people, summer equals camping. I confess to being a person who prefers the comforts (and fridge) of a cabin to sleeping in a tent, but the idea is essentially the same. Nature abounds and nature activities are the order of the day. This is one of the joys of learning in the summer. It’s so easy to get out and enjoy yourself outdoors.
If you are hanging out at the campsite making dinner or setting up camp, the kids will probably have fun moving into and out of the tent and arranging it endlessly. They can also traipse through the nearby forests and fields. However, when you need them to play nearby, why not use some of the natural materials around the campsite as playthings? Yes, I’m talking about rocks.
If you have a selection of large and small rocks, the children can make rock sculptures. Rock sculptures are an exercise in the physics of balance and engineering. The children place rocks on top of each other until those rocks stand up to their liking or fall down in a pile.
Rock sculptures are not just a science experiment: they have also served a social purpose. For the Inuit of northern North America, rock sculptures were a beacon to travelers in an otherwise flat land. Travelers’ cairns have been used by many cultures to show the path or flag landmarks.
If rock building isn’t your child’s style, you can also try rock painting. This summer we visited a campsite that features free rock painting as one of its activities for children. The process? Find a palm-sized rock, go to the camp office, get paint and brushes, and paint the rock. Nestle it into a corner of a tree or place it on a campsite path. The process was simple and a hit with the kids. Make rock animals to take home or make larger rocks that will stay at the campsite if you have permission from the campsite directors. To make your rock low impact, make sure that the rock is nowhere near a stream.
Do your children love to play with rocks?
Image courtesy of 15dayloan at Stock Exchange.