 Today was our 8th and final event of the spring program and study. I selected a few closing activities; a drumming "sound and seek" game and a "Hoot" rock ceremony. Of course, water was a big part of our morning too!
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  At our 7th Urban Wild event we had a special guest from City Parks to come chat with us about starting a family nature journal! We then gave it a try! Top Tips: - Journal while in nature together - Find a quiet spot together or let it emerge - Encourage drawing; do a leaf, cone or bark rubbing; trace a shadow! - Collect a nature object to reflect on,or simply add to journal - Discuss/write or draw: "What I see; What I feel; What I think; What I wonder...." -Go over journal as a family, each member can contribute! -Nature journalling doesn't have to take place in a journal! Create/build something in nature - nature art, family portrait, fairy home! - The more you practise the more comfortable it becomes...and fun!! - You can make a "sit matt" so family members can sit on the ground comfortably. To create a simple "sit- matt" take a section of a newspaper and place in a large zip lock bag. A sit-matt can also become a signal for the activity to come - nature journalling or just quiet observation. Some children may even take pride in taking their "sit- matt" to a special spot - a "sit spot". Create/build your own journal! String different pieces or paper together and attach with yarn. ** Cardboard is essential so there is something firm to write and draw on.** - Have fun, play and experiment! When it's over it's over! For this event my son was sick so he was not present. It gave me an opportunity to observe and participate more with the other families. For my reflection I drew a map of our explorations and activities. But I felt that this didn't reflect the full experience...I still needed words. So I started to write words to describe the general feeling of the parent-child-nature experience at each activity site. I recognized a total of five activity sites during this event; playground, pond dipping, snack, dock and stream. After some experimentation I decided to come up with a bank of words that could describe the various roles that the Parent (P), Child (C) and Nature (N) played in the experience. Word Bank (to describe PCN roles in a specific experience):
Assigning these roles turned out to be a difficult task! What I realized was that these roles are not always stationary and evolve with the experience as well as often being fluid between parent, child and nature. I recognize that the meaning of these words in the context of the PCN relationship will vary for each parent and that the outcomes for another parent experimenting with this activity would likely be quite different. However I stuck with the plan to assign one word to each partner to see what would happen. I learned something quite important about my understanding of the PCN relationship - which adds to my appreciation of it! I will share my discovery after showing a six pics from this exercise. What I realized during this exercise is that nature as a partner in the PCN relationship can often take on the role of "provider" and "facilitator" in the experience. For me this is so important because I often feel that these roles fall into my domain as the parent. Which can be exhausting and can add stress or create tension between the parent-child relationship. What a relief it is to realize I can lean on nature as a partner to provide these roles, in certain contexts, in an experience for my son! It allows me to step out of this role I take on and provide me with some space to: relieve tension; become present; have some autonomy; or just engage in the stillness or playfulness of it all.
Some other words I wanted to add to the word bank were: Invitor (this word doesn't exist!), Inventor, Demonstrator, Player, Leader... However I wanted to keep the list short and I felt that some of the words were starting to overlap! If you have other words to describe partner roles you have observed or experienced as part of the PCN relationship- I would love to hear them! Alex |
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Alex O'Rourke Archives
January 2019
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