Have Fun Getting to know Nature

Balancing on tree trunks, jumping over roots, or observing insects – being outdoors enhances your children's emotional and creative development while simultaneously fostering an awareness of the environment and conservation. MOGLi's motto, "Sunday is Forest Day," reminds us to incorporate more nature into our family routine.

Here are MOGLi's 5 great ideas to spark your children's interest in nature. Whether it's fun games to play during a visit to the woods or park, intriguing animal facts, or forest-themed DIYs – awaken the Mowgli in your kids!

5 Fun Outdoor Games

1. Who am I?

Get to know the forest dwellers in a playful way with a game of: Which forest/woodland animal am I? Whether it's a hedgehog, deer, woodpecker, snail, or fox, children adore animals and often remember animal facts better than adults. This should be encouraged, because contact and interaction with animals has a positive effect on child development. They learn to take responsibility and treat the environment and living creatures, no matter how small, with respect.

Here's how to do it:

• Prepare sticky notes before your visit. Label them with the names of animals, draw or paint the animals on, or cut out pictures from magazines and glue them on.
• When ready to play, stick the notes on your children's backs or foreheads.
• The guessing begins: Your children can only ask yes or no questions. For example, "Is my fur brown?", "Can I fly?", or "Am I perhaps a fox?"
• Once they have guessed their animal, they can stick the note on their chest.
• Tip: You can also play this with leaves, trees or flowers.

2. Animal Facts about the Fox Family

Tell your children about the fox family on your next visit to the countryside. Their family life has some similarities to ours.

This is how the Fox family live: Once a year, in March / April, the vixen gives birth to their young. Then the fox parents come together and raise the cubs (sometimes called kits or pups) together for about 4 months. After that, their paths usually separate again, and the foxes live in flexible social systems.
By May / June, the little fox cubs are around kindergarten / nursery age: the little ones prefer to play, catch and scuffle together. In this way, they learn important behaviours for hunting, enemy avoidance and social interaction.
Sometimes foxes and badgers live in the same burrow. However, they do not share the living room. They each have their own caves and live in a kind of "purpose-built flat".

3. Role-Playing: Fox Family

Now it's your turn! Children love pretending and learn to understand animals better through it. Will you join in the role of a fox? Whether it's searching for food, grooming each other, eating or relaxing – get creative. It becomes especially fun when roles are reversed. How about your children play mummy and daddy fox and you play the pups?

4. Search Game: Treasure Hunt in the Forest

Turn the forest visit into an exciting exploration! Children love to collect. You'll need an empty egg carton and MOGLi's template. You can easily download and stick the template to the carton – or craft it yourself. The goal is to fill the egg carton with all the items shown: beautiful leaves, seeds, acorns and a pinecone: While searching for these treasures, your children will closely observe nature. In the evening, the treasure box becomes a lovely memory of the trip.

5. DIY: Dreamcatcher Crafting

Crafting with natural materials is not only fun but also boosts your children's creativity. So, keep an eye out during your next forest visit for some natural treasures for your dreamcatcher.

Here's how to make it:

• Look for a twig that is flexible and bendable.
• Shape the twig into a circle and tie the ends together with string so that you have a round frame.
• Fasten a small loop to the top so that you can hang up the dream catcher later.
• Tie one end of the string to the hoop and then start to wrap and weave the string around the frame in a criss-cross pattern, tying off the end when finished.
• Now, let your children get creative: Tie some longish threads onto the bottom of the hoop and decorate by attaching your natural treasures such as leaves, feathers, flowers or whatever you find!
  
  Full details on how to make it can be found here

Remember: Everyone needs a break! After all, (forest) adventures are known to make one hungry. MOGLi Snacks are the perfect on-the-go provision. Made to the highest organic quality and with ingredients from biodynamic farming, these snacks are a natural boost in-between meals, when out and about.