Kids go wild for nature in a variety of ways. How about picking berries with kids for some outside fun and connecting to nature time? We had a sunny day to do just that. Picking berries is a double treat; not only do kids get to be outside, but they get to enjoy eating the berries too. While picking berries, kids learn some important lessons about nature and about life.
One of these is that nature has both good and bad, or easy and hard. Berry bushes often have some form of protection, like prickles. Blackberries are particularly tricky with long, sharp thorns that catch at clothing and skin. Other berries might be easier to pick but they might be harder to see. Kids have to figure out how to cope with the challenges to get the treats.
Nature provides us with food. Most food comes from stores, these days. But where does it come from before? Unless families have a garden, kids are not part of planting, tending, and harvesting. They are isolated from the growing of food. Berry picking is one way kids can be involved in the process of meeting our need for food.
There are you-pick outlets for berries in most areas. Where we live, blackberries grow along roadsides and on vacant spaces. The kids have helped pick them for a few years and watch the bushes all year to see the development. They know the spring blossoms mean a new crop in a few months. Once the little green berries appear, they check often.
Last month, while looking at the blackberry bushes, we found a few wild strawberries. Barely big enough to see, these were like a hidden treasure. Eating the blackberries was another. Nature has other treasures for us to find, different ones depending on where we live. How about kids go wild for nature with a treasure hunt for picking berries?
(Besides connecting to nature, we can connect on Facebook. Check out the posts and Like 123Kindergarten‘s page. )