The Listening Walk

Wake up.  Shower.  Get the kids ready for school/daycare.  Run out the door.  Drive to work.  Worry about meetings.  Sit through said meetings.  Drive though rush hour.  Get stuck in rush hour.  Pick up kids.  Make supper.  Clean house.  Get kids ready for bed.  Bedtime.  Story.  Story.  Story.  Maybe one more story.  Collapse on couch.  We are busy.  Every day.  Every. Single. Day.
That is why it is more important now than ever before to stop, calm down and listen.  Take in your surroundings and enjoy each and every minute.  And yes, this needs to be taught.  We need to teach our children to slow down and enjoy what is around them.  This was the first of three activities related to listening to our surroundings.  Because summer is almost over, I wanted to start with the outdoor part first.
First, I made a checklist of some different noises that the children would have to stop, be quiet and listen for.  You can download and print my checklist here.  This website (where I originally got the idea) has a printable checklist as well.  Or you can make your own!  It's really easy!  I took the kids camping with my parents a week ago and this was one activity that I took with us so that we could maybe go for a walk through the campground and the kids would be kept busy and take in their surroundings at the same time!  What a great success and I can't wait for the next activity in this series!