Nature. Stories. Telling Stories through Nature.

The Importance of Exploring in Nature.

Whether you live in a suburb, an urban city, or a small town; nature is all around you. Exploring nature itself is important for young children as it strengthens their gross motor, fine motor, and their senses. When exploring nature it gives children the opportunity to walk, run, jump, spin, pick items up, touch new objects, and see, hear, smell and even taste new things as well.

The Importance of Storytelling in Nature.

Storytelling in nature allows children to use their imaginations to use objects as props, come up with stories, poems, or songs for the objects, animals, and plant life they come into contact with. Not only that but it helps children make connections between themselves and nature, and life cycles, and build an understanding of how nature works. Storytelling also builds oral skills for children as they imagine and share their stories of the nature around them. 

Ways to use Nature for Storytelling:

- Use objects as props.

- Tell a story about the objects found such as a tree.

- Sing songs about animals or plants.

- Tell poems about animals or plants.

- Personify the nature around you.

- Tell a story using the water cycle and a puddle.

Other ways to use nature.

Beyond storytelling, there are so many ways to integrate nature with learning for your young children. You can task your child with finding objects that start with a letter, or even finding a certain number of an object. You can use the dirt and a stick to draw pictures, letters, or words into the ground. You can ask your child with describing the sounds they hear when out in nature, the things they feel, what they see, and even what they taste because let's face it, young children will put everything into their mouths when given the opportunity. 

Nature is all around us, so I encourage you and your children to go explore and make up some stories. 

Photo credit: https://martinmaudsley.co.uk/environmental-storytelling/