Celebrating the Very Small

September 26, 2023September 23, 2023 Cottage Country 267 Views acorn, activity, an award-winning outdoor education centre and summer camp, ants, Author & Executive Director of Camp Kawartha, autumn, bark, beautiful, beetle, branch, Canada, CCC Publications, children, Communities in Cottage Country, Community, cottage, Cottage Country Connection, cottage country lifestyle, Cottage Country Lifestyle Magazine, Cottage Country Magazine, Cottage Life, daughter, day, eye, fall, family, gold, granite outcropping, green, ground, hawk, hills, home, Jacob Rodenburg, Kawartha Lakes, kawartha magazine, Kawarthas, Kawarthas Magazine, Kids, lake, lakefield, leaf, Lifestyle Magazine, line, log, magnifying glass, Micro Trail, mushroom, natural world, nature, Ontario, Popsicle stick, red, rock, sky, small, son, spot, stick, summer, Things to do, trail, tree, Your Lifestyle Magazine

It was a glorious autumn day. With my son on my back and my daughter on my shoulders, I hiked up to one of the most beautiful spots I know. There on the crest of a granite outcropping I could see sunlight dancing on the surface of a distant lake, the green, gold and red cloaked hills stretched out before me and a hawk wheeling high in a cloud flecked sky. It was breathtaking and I marveled at the beauty before me.

But when I looked over at my children, they were hunkered down. Intently watching a line of ants marching by. It turns out that children have a more contracted view of the world, and they tend to notice what is right there in front of them. They have an incredible eye for detail and often spot things that we adults miss. Here is a simple activity that helps you and your children celebrate the very small in the natural world.

Create a Micro Trail:

You’ll need some string, Popsicle sticks and a magnifying glass for this activity. Find a nearby natural spot. Using your Popsicle stick, poke these into the ground at points of interest. Each point of interest should be no more than a few steps away from the previous one. Think small. You might discover a chewed leaf, an acorn, a hole in the ground, a colourful autumn leaf, or an interesting looking mushroom. Perhaps you’ll find some bark beetle etchings. Press a popsicle stick next to each point of interest. Now wrap your string around each of the Popsicle sticks and join them together so that you have one continuous line of string connecting perhaps 10 points of interest. You can skip a popsicle stick by wrapping the string around a branch up in a tree or around a rock or log. You have just created a micro-trail. When you are finished, sit down and watch your trail quietly for ten minutes or so. Did anything of note happen? Then take a trip along the trail, keeping your head close to the ground. Don’t forget to use a magnifying glass. What did you discover? Take someone special along your micro-trail and give them a guided tour of your discoveries! Can they create their very own micro-trail?

Submitted by Jacob Rodenburg, Author & Executive Director of Camp Kawartha, an award-winning outdoor education centre and summer camp.

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