Monday, March 13, 2017

Rx: Vitamin N

Directions: Use daily, outdoors in nature. Go on a nature walk, watch birds, and observe trees. Practice respectful outdoor behavior in solitude or take friends and family.
REFILLS: Unlimited. Expires: Never.


Do it, Build it, Paint it, Play it:

  • Make your own potpourri - gather and dry petals and herbs and combine on wax paper. Fold over the paper and crush the ingredients. Put the ingredients in a container with water and let sit for a few hours, then simmer in a pan.  
  • Build an owl box - Google Audubon magazine for instructions on how to build and clean the box. Bonus: owls keep rodents away.
  • Paint with mud - mix water and dirt in a bucket; offer a paintbrush to paint on pavement or cardboard or paper plates.

  • REDE, Tanzania
    • To play rede, players sit in a circle around a mound of sand. An upright stick is plunged in the center of the dirt mound. Then children take turns removing a handful or sand from around the stick. When the stick falls over, that player must run to touch a home base ( a rock or log of bare patch of grass) before the others can tag her.
  • MARBLES SLIDING GAME, Cree (Native American)
    • A snow bank (or dirt slope) is converted into a ramp for marbles. The ramp should be about five feet long. Players dig twelve holes at the bottom of the ramp and give them each a different point value. Players take turns trying to accumulate points by rolling a marble down the slope and trying to get it into one of the holes.
  • TEN STICKS, Finland
    • A hide-and-seek variation. A board is placed on a rock or log, and ten small sticks are placed on one side of the board. Someone stomps the board, sending the sticks flying, and a “seeker” has to collect them and put them back on the board before setting out to seek the other players.
  • Go on a BELLY HIKE in your backyard
    • Kids inch along on their bellies, covering just a few feet, and view natural wonders such as grass blades bent by rainbow dewdrops, colorful beetles sprinkled with flower pollen, and powerful jawed eight eyed spiders.
  • FIREKEEPER
    • Kids stand in a circle, one person is the firekeeper and sits in the center blindfolded. In front of him is a hat with some jangling keys. The grown up points to one to two children at a time who then try to sneak into the circle to steal the keys from the hat without being heard.  If the firekeeper hears the sneaker and points to him, that child goes to the outside of the circle and is effectively “out”. To up the ante, move from a grassy area to a place with sticks or leaves.
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