Encourage elementary students to reflect on their experiences in nature! Through mindfulness, students deepen their connection with the natural world. The provided Nature Reflection Cards guide discussions on how time outdoors positively impacts mood and well-being. Journaling allows for personal reflection and strengthens students’ connection with nature.
What We’re Learning
| Mindfulness: Explore mindfulness techniques to feel more present in nature |
| Self-reflection: Reflect on personal experiences and emotions through nature |
| Language: Express thoughts and feelings through writing and discussion |
| Communication: Share ideas and connect with peers through meaningful conversations |
Recommended Materials
Nature Reflection Cards
Nature Journal
Pens/pencils
Literacy Connection
The Hike by Alison Farrell
Grade Levels
1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade
Details
Part 1: Group Gathering
Gather students together in your whole group space. Take some time to prepare students to experience a mindful nature walk by sharing a story and/or playing calming music.
Sharing a Story
Read The Hike by Alison Farrell and discuss the text as a group. Some questions to ask include:
- What did the girls experience on their hike?
- Which senses were they using on their hike? (sight, hearing, smell, touch)
- What things did they find to be most important? (i.e., What did they draw/make notes on in their sketchbooks?)
Listening to Music
Ask students to take a moment to close their eyes. Play calming music that helps them strengthen their listening skills and sensory experience before going outside and experiencing nature. The music could be classical or ambient music that includes sounds from nature.
Sharing Feelings Before the Walk in Nature
Look over the nature cards together and consider some of the experiences they might have in nature. Have students discuss in pairs or small groups how nature could make them feel strong, curious, calm, excited, etc.
Ask students to think about how they are feeling at the start of their nature walk. Model expressing these feelings, i.e., “This morning I am feeling anxious/happy/tired.”
Pass around a small nature item, like a stone, acorn, or leaf, and have students take turns sharing how they are feeling. Students should not be forced to share if they are uncomfortable–let everyone know that it is okay to “pass.”
Part 2: The Wonder Walk – Exploring Nature with Senses
Take a nature walk in whatever space you have access to. This can be as simple as spending twenty minutes in the school garden, to a longer trip to visit a nature preserve. Bring along journals/sketchbooks to make notes and drawings, like the girls in The Hike, as you explore in nature.
As they walk, encourage students to use their senses to explore the things they encounter.
Are the animals making noises around them?
Can they hear the wind or rushing water?
What do the moss and trees feel like under their fingertips?
Do any plants have sweet-smelling blossoms?
Periodically stop and give students some time to make notes in their journals. Remind them of the notes in the story and encourage them to draw or write about what they’ve noticed. Encourage students to find one item already on the ground (a fallen leaf, a special stone, a seed pod, etc.) to bring back with them for a later journaling activity.
Part 3: Independent Reflection and Journaling
Print out copies of the Nature Reflection Cards. Gather students back together and go through the statements on each card. As they listen to them, encourage students to think about the one that most resonates with their experiences on your nature walk. Prompt them to consider how their original feelings were changed or amplified by their time in nature.
Give each student a copy of the My Nature Reflection worksheet to complete and add to their journals, as well as a copy of the card they most identify with. You can also provide them blank cards to write their reflections in their own words. Provide students with art supplies, and encourage them to write and draw as they reflect on their time in nature. They can glue the nature card and the nature items they collected to their journal entry.
Students can share their entries with classmates at the end of independent journaling.
Extension
Nature Yoga
Further connect nature and mindful practices by trying some nature-inspired yoga poses as a group. Some poses include mountain, tree, lotus, eagle, and cat/cow poses. Better yet, practice your nature yoga outside!
Acrostic Nature Reflection Poem
Students may work on an Acrostic poem and include it in their Nature Reflection Journal. The topic of the poem may be, “How does nature make me feel?” Students write down their feelings vertically and begin each line with the first letter of their word. Example:
Forget all your worries in nature.
Rest and take it all in.
Earth’s magic is here.
Everlasting and encompassing.
Free Resource: School Signals My Acrostic Nature poem worksheet (PDF)
Grounding Exercises
Practicing grounding exercises while on a nature walk is another way to experience nature mindfully. Encourage children to access their senses, then name one thing they see, one thing they smell, one thing they feel, and one thing they hear periodically on the walk.
Repetition
Nature walks should not be a one-and-done experience. Repeat your Wonder Walks periodically, and encourage students to notice how their experiences are the same or different from prior experiences.
