3 Fun & Hopeful Winter Activities that Your Family Can Do Together Now!
Life is a Wild Black Raspberry bush: full of color, pretty leaves, delicious fruit... and thorns. If you focus mostly on the thorns, it's prickly, harmful, and bad. If you focus mostly on the fruit, it's generous, exciting, and sweet! Right now in the cold of winter, and with everything you may see in the news... the thorns might seem pretty huge. BUT I promise... there are a bunch of berries just waiting to be found! Here's 3 such "berries" for you and yours to lift your spirits this Winter:
Metro Parks Winter Hikes & Programming
We are super-blessed in Central Ohio to enjoy so many wonderful parks! Two park systems I'll focus on here are our Metro Parks system, and the Preservation Parks system a few minutes North in Delaware.
Metro Parks host Winter Hikes at various locations where you can join others to enjoy the calm, peaceful woods and meadows as they lay sleeping under the snow. Put away your phone and enjoy the refreshing feeling of cold air, crunchy snow, and sunshine through sleeping trees! I saw a great quote: "If you want to be convinced the world is terrible, watch the news. If you want to be convinced the world is magical, go outside". Winter hikes are a great way to do that! Find the schedule and locations here (and of course, you can hike any Metro Park without the official event!).
In addition to the Winter Hikes, each park in both systems has a number of fun Winter activities for you and the kiddos... and they're all FREE! Bird Feeder Making, Owl Prowls, Tracking Adventures, Winter Birding... there is so much to do! Find Metroparks programming here. Find Preservation Parks programs here.
(Side note: Have you heard of the new nature/science magazine for Central Ohio? Ribbit Magazine just came out and it’s amazing! The current FREE issue issue has a great list of local winter activities too!)
2. Be a Tracking Nature Detective
All Winter we learn about clues- a squirrels nest in a tree, woodpecker holes, fox footprints, bunny poop... signs that let you know an animal brother or sister was there! With all the busyness and chaos that can happen in our lives, it can be a comfort to go out and see what "the locals" are up to in their habitats. It's nice to know that regardless of politics etc, there's a Red Squirrel taking care of his daily business. Regardless of deadlines and reports, Blue Jays are patrolling the woods looking for food and foes. Regardless of traffic and gas prices, a Fox is sneaking through Winter woods, looking for mice and a mate.
Where should you go? Well, you can always check your backyard (especially with snow!), but otherwise, checkout the park systems I mentioned above! You'll want to focus on Lacks & Larders: "Lacks" are places an animal can escape something they don't like. For example: A cold bird can escape the wind by roosting in a dense evergreen tree. "Larders" are places an animal can find something they need. For example: a pond for a drink, a berry bush for a snack, moss to line their nest etc.
Look around areas like those for tracks. Can you find two tracks in a row? Three? Ten? Where are they going? Try to create a story with your kiddos of what the animal brother/sister was doing and why. Need help with identifying who made the track? Print my free tracking guide here! If you find some cool stories, let me know! Email me at jaredthenatureguy@gmail.com!
3. Sow Seeds of Hope!
"No one makes a greater mistake than they who do nothing because they can do only a little" ~Edmund Burke
I see this thought-provoking quote every time we go to the Columbus Zoo. It's easy to be overwhelmed by world events... and honestly, I believe we aren't supposed to bear the burden of all the things happening in the world all the time! But you're not powerless: you CAN do things that help our section of the world in measurable ways! One such way starts with an empty, clear milkjug. Yep.
Every Winter I cut milkjugs in half, add some drainage holes in the bottom, and plop about 4 inches of potting soil in there. Then, I scatter native seeds in there, tape it up with the cap off, and set it outside in the cold and the rain. Why? Flowers and Butterflies of course!
Winter Sowing is a great way to grow Ohio-native plants easily and economically. Why would you want to do that? Well, they're pretty AND they bring beautiful, magical animals to your yard! Want more info on how to do this fun and easy garden project with your kiddos? Message me on instagram @jaredthenatureguy or email me at Jaredthenatureguy@gmail.com. I can give you tips, free seeds and more!
Want me to show you step-by-step? Come to my Winter Sowing class at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center! Signup here.
Winter may seem bleak.. the news may be overwhelming... but a walk, a footprint, and a seed... can change all of that! Try out some or all of these activities... and just like Elphaba you'll be singing: "...I have been changed for good!".
