Nature Walk Within 100 Meters? Rachel Rabinowitz Proves It's Possible

Spring days are already here, and the warm sun invites us all to go for a walk and enjoy the beauty of creation. However, at this stage, it is not yet possible. It's true that the relaxations granted by the Ministry of Health are visible on the ground, but there is still no official approval to go far from home without an essential reason. Therefore, the aspiration to explore nature remains distant for now.

Rachel Rabinowitz, director of 'My Land Pathways' – Organization and Tour Guiding, argues that this is totally not a reason to give up on tours. "An enjoyable nature trip can be done even in the closest area to the home," she clarifies, and wholeheartedly recommends taking advantage of the days we spend with the children for so many hours and going out near home to enjoy nature and discover things we hadn't noticed before.

(Photo: Rachel Rabinowitz)

Ideas and Abundant Suggestions

Decided to go on a hike with the kids? Rachel includes several recommendations:

1. Try conducting observation exercises, focusing on a different aspect each time: trees, birds, flowers, butterflies, and so forth. For example, if you focus on trees, try to "explore" with the children and check: What is the average height of the trees? What is the texture of the tree trunk? What color are its leaves and fruits? It's time to teach the children that even barren trees have fruits, although not fit for human consumption.

2. Set various tasks, such as: "Collect leaves of four different shapes," or: "Measure the height of the trees and see which one is taller." If there's a guidebook at home, you can give it to the children afterward to find out the name of each tree.

3. Nature Crafts – If your children love to create, pinecones, stones, and leaves can serve as wonderful raw materials. You can also hold a competition among the kids: Who creates the most interesting piece, like small mice, turtles, picture frames, keychains, bookmarks, etc.

(Photo: Rachel Rabinowitz)

4. Mandalas - One of the beautiful things you can create effortlessly is mandalas from nature—arrange different leaves, stones, and barren fruits in circles on the floor. The result is stunning.

5. The Talented Photographer - An interesting exercise that will draw your children’s attention to nature: Take a wooden or cardboard frame and declare it as a "camera." Each pair of kids should walk together, one being the photographer and the other walking with closed eyes. When the leader discovers something interesting, they ask their partner to open their eyes and "capture" it. Such an exercise helps children develop an unusual attentiveness and to notice special natural phenomena that they previously ignored.

6. You can collect with the children leaves of different shapes and organize a "Leaf Lotto" game, where they have to match the lotto cards to the leaves. This is a nice activity both outside and inside.

7. Bird Feeders - If you're really creative, you can prepare bird feeders, hang them on a tree outside your home, and observe the birds that come to eat. The preparation is not complicated: Take a pinecone, cover it in a mixture of flour and water with various seeds (forming a paste), and hang it on the tree. The birds will quickly arrive to eat the seeds and drink the water.

8. Competitions - Try organizing competitions among the kids: Who finds four red flowers? Who discovers a fallen leaf first? Who finds the largest stone?

9. Another Observation Exercise: Each participant should observe during the trip and look for something interesting around them to show to everyone. Finally, choose the most creative and original item (for example, a plant growing out of a stone wall, cobwebs on a plant, etc.).

10. Last but not least, don't forget this exercise – tell the children that for the next five minutes, everyone maintains complete silence and only observes and listens. You won't believe how much you can discover in these magical moments of silence.

For contact with Rachel Rabinowitz: bishvil5@gmail.com