An Outdoor Sound Hunt is exactly what it sounds like: you walk, hike or sit with your kiddos outside, stay (relatively) quiet and try to “hunt” or notice all the different sounds you hear. This mindfulness activity encourages children to tap into their sense of hearing, becoming present and attuned to their environment through their ears.
Materials
- Paper or small notebook
- Colored pencils, crayons or markers
How To Do It
- Walk, hike or sit, out in nature.
- It’s not always easy for kids to quiet down, so try taking a few breaths to settle everyone. Try a 3-5 or 4-2-6 breath or pretend to breathe like different animals.
- Stay quiet until each person hears three different things, raising a finger for each one. Once everyone has three fingers raised, share what you heard during the hunt.
- If you’d like, create a map of where you hear each sound. You can do this walking or sitting. This is a great way to teach kids the ways all our senses help locate us. Compare maps with each other and, later, from different outings along the same route. (You can also do this activity without creating a sound map.)
Reflection
- Did any of the sounds you heard surprise you?
- What did you notice by listening that you don’t usually notice?
- Did you notice anything about your body while you focused on listening?