Exploring nature with children
Wayfinding sticks
Finding your way in the city or bush is a skill.
When bushwalking with my children, I realised that they often seemed to have no sense of where we were. Automatically paying attention and identifying waypoints can be a tricky skill to pick up so we started making wayfinding sticks on our walks through the bush or the park.
We select a nice stick at the start of our walk and at different waypoints we pick up something from the leaf litter and tie it onto the stick with wool. We try to remember where we found it on our walk, discuss where we picked it up and how it got there, and it becomes a story stick for the walk we took.
On our way back, we return the items to the places we got them from or, if it’s not too destructive, we keep the sticks as a memory of where we have been and the fun we had on the journey.
You can make seasonal memory sticks from items found in your outdoor area.
You could even create a photo gallery of your memory sticks and observe how the items you find change throughout the year.
Article author: Hayley Bates
National Certifications Coordinator
Hayley has an insatiable thirst for learning – about everything! Her sheer joy of discovery and passion for professional development makes her the perfect person to run the Little Scientist’s House Certification program.
