Our One and Only Art Teacher – Nature!

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Khalil Gibran

Nature can heal, nature can teach, nature can inspire and nature can help you connect with your peaceful, loving self.

We have been experiencing this abundantly over the last one month. And, the inspiration resulted in Forest Fiesta – which goes live tomorrow with 18 participating bloggers and some beautiful entries from my readers. 

In this post, I will share with you the different ways that we connected with nature, explored the forests and learnt more about our ecosystem.

During the recent two weeks days that we stayed in Coorg and Mysore, mostly what we did was take long nature walks, collect leaves, pine cones, twigs, seeds; spot birds and take pictures – lots of pictures.

Pari always went around with her bag to safely keep all her 'finds' from nature walks…

Pari and my mom! 
Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass. ~ Rupert Brooke

And yes, we marveled, wondered, gazed and bonded like three fun loving, fancy free kids would! So what if people might have thought what an odd group of people – a preschooler, a woman in her thirties and another in her sixties! After all, the spirit is all that matters. The daddy was missed too but we were happy internally knowing that we're taking another trip with him a few weeks down the line.

"Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” ~ George Washington Carver quotes

It was spell binding to see the greens fill not just the land but the sky as well! Pari spotted hives and nests…

One activity that enthused Pari was observing the bark, the rings and counting the rings to guess the age of the tree.

Learning about animals, their food and habitat and how secure they are on our earth…

In Mysore, we went to the famous Mysore zoo. This zoo is so lush green, it feels more like a forest with wildlife in their natural habitat rather than a zoo. 

Pari is a passionate reader and was delighted that there were so many information boards to read from. She also asked tons of questions about if a particular animal is safe or vulnerable (which she pronounces in a very cute way!) or endangered or extinct.

We have read and discussed this often and that makes her think about it a lot…

The Giraffe (along with the Elephant) is our favourite animal! Well, we love the tiger too. And, the zebra – for the art inspiration its beautiful striped body provides…! I can't say enough how much joy we derived in looking at nature and wildlife…

Some of the information boards were not just informative, they were interesting too – with lovely and funny quotes from famous nature lovers.

Watching the giraffe stretch its neck to tear the bark and nibble at it was quite a sight!

We could have gone on looking at the Zebra's artistic stripes for ever. Infact, it even acts as an optical illusion at times…!

More information boards to read from. We also talked about the difference between a Cheetah and a Leopard, a Crane and a Stork etc. 

And, the Coffee Plantations that lend Coorg its unique flavour – in nature, culture, food and people! 

We collected Coffee and Cardamom blooms with an idea to make a nature collage. 

We were intoxicated with the vibrant colours that the birds wear.
And we could not help discussing what a genius of an artist God is…

Pari and my mom – ever effervescent together – are relaxing after a LONG walk in the woods…

Friends, traveling to nature-rich places is surely one way of connecting with nature without a hurry in the world. But, it's very essential that on an everyday basis too, our kids get access to the natural world. And by natural world, I don't mean the manicured lawns in the parks and the fountains in the malls.

How do you ensure that your kid/s get access to the tress and the flora and fauna to be able to play unhindered and often? Please do share your thoughts and ideas…

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Tagged as: learning about animals and ecosystem, nature activities for kids, nature inspired art and craft