At 1379, we like to promote healthy, active family activities, so I have been trying to figure out how this grandmother can best contribute to the “active” part. While I am certainly willing to play soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball…I find that I am just too slow and crickety to really be more than a goalie or right field. I mostly play “retriever” when I play with my grandkids. It’s also challenging to play with a mixture of ages and keep everyone engaged. What I have discovered works for me is to initiate some form of a scavenger hunt for found items. My grandkids like to find acorns, pecans, pine cones, rocks, and can be persuaded to go on pretty long walks while searching for more of anything.
We went on a search for fungi one Sunday and found – and photographed -13 varieties that were all very colorful. There may be a special fungi season because I found very few varieties this past Sunday. We have each Spring gone looking for box turtles for a few weeks (there is a season for this). My grandchildren and I have also learned the names of a lot of trees. I have been in Texas for over 40 years and can still remember the names of the trees that I learned for my jr. high leaf collection…found on the Iowa State University campus. Now, I have had to learn the real names of trees and shrubs in Texas – that Cedar is really Juniper – so this activity keeps me learning as well as teaching.
