Listening walk or similar

[mumofone]

I want to make a basic walk into "something more" maybe take a clipboard and some things to tick off as we walk eye but am looking for some ideas and worksheets preferably to take with us. Anyone able to give me any pointers? Thanks!

[BallyH]

I don't follow any worksheets but mine love to have little clipboards and pens and they try to find shapes in the environment and tick them against my roughly drawn shapes on their paper on their clipboards. Square windows, triangle roof tops on side of houses, rectangle front doors etc. Plus I bought from ebay little bird whistles, like I had as a child. You put a small amount of water in them and when the child blows a 'bird song' comes out. Then we listen to the birds around us, try to copy them/talk to them with the whistles and extend the learning at home with looking at and listening to different bird songs on the ipad.

[Mouse]

Nature Detectives spotter sheets are good, but more for a woodland/countryside walk.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/nat...0016071&page=2

If you mean on an everyday, along the streets type walk, I would make my own. Do the walk yourself to see what sort of things the children could spot (lamp post, cat, tree etc) then use clip art to make your own. Or take photos and use those to make sheets.

[mumofone]

Nature Detectives spotter sheets are good, but more for a woodland/countryside walk. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/nat...0016071&page=2 If you mean on an everyday, along the streets type walk, I would make my own. Do the walk yourself to see what sort of things the children could spot (lamp post, cat, tree etc) then use clip art to make your own. Or take photos and use those to make sheets.

Love these sheets, thank you so much mouse :-)

[FloraDora]

Just had a flick through new Creative minds which reminded me about headbands/ crowns!

Go out with headband on and a double sided sticky tape then collect items as you go - could theme it to a colour or texture peel off top protective sticky tape and attach collection as you go .

I use similar on arms as bracelet which is easily accessible to them as we walk along.
Double sided sticky is a winner.

Our current favourite activity, now we are used to our Darwin daily walk is to think about what we might see, children suggest what they will see / want to see I/ they draw pictures down one side of paper and then we put a square of double sided tape - pop on clipboard and when we see it , if it is pick able we stick it on next to the picture we drew. Generates lots of talk and counting, how many have we find/ have seen, what are we still looking for , how many, where will we find it etc...
I love Nature detectives for ideas but in my local nature reserve we don't always have what's on their sheet , so we make our own, largely based on theirs.
Collecting baskets are good and the LO's collect what they want - we sort and talk and use for loose resources or art when we get back.
Another activity that works for us is our photo maps. I have taken a lot of photos of our usual walks both nature and urban environment. Plants, trees, buidings, street furniture, doors, signs, numbers and lettering, patterns on floor etc... We use them in lots of ways:
Sort before we go at what we think we will see/pass on the walk too....I accept after a talk photos I know we don't . see/pass as this instigates thinking talk after. We put them on to a key fob, I tend to attach in order of seeing it, then look out for what's on our photos. Sometimes a child takes one or two each just in their hand.
The lead up to this is I sort and give children fobs of where we go.
Number walks - photos of numbers in the environment.
Reading walks, looking for letters from their name or others, words that match the photo.
Shape and pattern - on the floor, buildings, walls etc
Secret photos of parts ( easy ones) of things we see.....the badge on the bin, bars of the poo bridge/ climbing frame, colourful sign edge or really close up , cross on church....the favourite is StGeorge on church entrance ..they never tire or lose excitement in anticipation of seeing him...that's why I love small children! His photo is well worn as it's been clutched tightly so much.
With an older child last year (4) we stuck the photos in order of seeing them and made a map of all the walks we do - he was map mad though so happily continued this activity every week for ages.
We have three dictaphones and use them in what can we hear walks, record and then play back. I have a couple of video cameras for children too - brings the activity back and extends our outdoor play in. I have made a lotto game from ️️sounds we heard matched to photos we took that is now in the corner with the headphones.
Once a half term I go out early and hide things in our nature area ...then we have to find them on our walk...not anything we don't mind losing of course but usually go out first thing , have only lost one thing so far,bizarrely a stripey sock!!

Collect sticks ...long..short..or I give them a ribbon and they have to find a stick the same length.......

Collect in a cup of water and mix as you go, grass in water stirred makes a great potion.
Books with pictures are good to use too -bear hunt...look for swishy swashy grass etc... Jack in the beanstalk - tall plants - any favourite book with a hill, or a river, etc...we can find 'settings' in the local environment. We have a school, three churches, a football pitch, a cemetery, shops, a garage, pelican crossing, playground, river, stream, lake, bridges, a very busy road, underpass.....I will manipulate reading a book before we go out and then I talk about what features we can see and whether we have one of them in our area ....lets go and find it! Always excites them!

There is always something to do as we walk along......but this is not as important as just walking and talking, running and laughing! I go out every day and lots of the time the LO's take nothing to guide their observations.....or they push the buggies, hold a wind ribbon, drag an umbrella in anticipation of rain and muddy puddles.
FREEDOM is a great thing too and children don't get enough of that these days....freedom to move how they like and look at what they want, talk only if they want too...it has to be a BALANCE.

[mumofone]

Nature Detectives spotter sheets are good, but more for a woodland/countryside walk. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/nat...0016071&page=2 If you mean on an everyday, along the streets type walk, I would make my own. Do the walk yourself to see what sort of things the children could spot (lamp post, cat, tree etc) then use clip art to make your own. Or take photos and use those to make sheets.

Just wanted to thank you again for these mouse, we did a couple today and they were a big hit (and such an easy, free thing to do!)

[TinyTinker]

sounds like a fun activity - picture bingo sheets kind of thing for the outdoor walking