Getting outside each day in nature is relaxing and fun! And it's where you will use all your senses and see beautiful trees, awesome plants starting to grow, and there are animals out there that you will see or at least, see signs of! I enjoy getting outside and being in the beautiful countryside of Vermont, walking right out my door in my backyard to the many paths and dirt roads nearby and being surrounded by nature.  As a volunteer at the Audubon center in Huntington I always enjoy being in there in the woods. Here is a guided practice to using your senses and recording what you notice in a notebook.

Materials:
​For this one you should bring a notebook or nature journal to record your observations,
A snack,
And a place to go outside near your home.

Use All your Senses when you go outside.
Stand or sit in your backyard or on your porch or balcony and look up at the sky.

See- What color is the sky today? How many clouds do you see?

Feel- Try facing different directions to feel the wind. Can you face the direction that the wind is the strongest?

Hear- Listen to the sounds around you. Listen for sounds from nature, and the birds and trees and wind around you.

Smell- What can you smell? Can you smell the aroma of the trees or mud? Are there smells that are special to your neighborhood?

Taste- Bring an orange or an apple with you and enjoy the taste of it while you are eating outside. Are any squirrels or birds eating that you can see? What are they having?

NOW think about where the animals are that also live here. What are they doing right now and how are they using their 5 Senses? If you sit quietly for 5 minutes that might give any wildlife or other animals enough time to come out and you can watch what they are doing. This is called a Sit Spot. You can come to this place every day and sit and record your observations of all the things you see, feel, hear, smell, and maybe taste, although we never want to eat anything out in nature that we are not 100% sure of what it is. So you can bring a snack and record that in your journal!