Raise explorers: Find Wild and Weird in a Weekend
Epic movies, games and TV shows foster the desire to explore. We learn more deeply about the world by being out in it. The good news, there is no right way to start.
Children dream big. My parents were explorers, we traveled extensively to live at many diverse locations and visited most of the United States. In some rural locations my schoolmates hadn’t traveled more than 200 miles from their homes and didn’t believe some of my stories about the world. At age 10, I decided I wanted to be an archaeologist. But during the summers, we hiked long distances. My parents favored reaching mountain peaks and especially loved the Presidential Range in New Hampshire.
“I could walk ten miles for a chocolate bar and then get on my bicycle and ride around the campground.”
By age 26, I had a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry as a building block that could help me understand and solve problems in the natural world.
When my daughter was young, I instituted Girls’ Day Out. We would start the day with $20.00 and take an oath.
“I promise to have fun, run amok and not come back until the money's gone.”
With that limited budget we had to find cheap activities and pack a lunch with the expectation we would be out adventuring for hours. We hiked up Dinosaur Ridge at first light to see fossils. Traveled to the Sonoran Desert to find petroglyphs and drew them in our notebooks. We biked long distances and were chased by a pack of wild dogs. We photographed graffiti and learned to distinguish artwork from gang tags. We built a snow labyrinth by digging pathways in a foot of snow and then walked along them while thinking about what to do next. We visited every museum in our area and traveled to some far away to see special exhibits or collections that interested us. Most of the time we didn’t even need our budget, so we used it to purchase books, art supplies, new socks or used it to buy groceries for a challenge of how many meals we could cook with $20.00.
Great Explorers start with a wild idea.
They research locations.
They set a budget.
Most importantly they gather information to share with the world.
And they reflect on what they’ve learned and possible innovations that could enhance the world.
In case you missed the efforts of these kids:
Bobbi discovered an invasive species in her neighborhood.
Samantha wrote a request for peace and was invited to visit the Soviet Union.
Emilia found an ancient fossil.
Preparation: Be informed and safe for your own adventures
Be inspired by history and science with virtual tours of museums.
Pergamom Museum - Berlin, Germany
Grow your own food to learn about sustainability
Terrarium: Grow in a Container *Hint for this one, I recycled a plastic container from the grocery store produce section that originally held fresh spinach.
Go outdoors and hike
Start in your neighborhood
Find a museum and make it fun - and collect information - see what they have on exhibit, observe how they present their collections, and find patterns. After your visit, create your own collection, design a miniature exhibit, draw a picture or tell a story. Create a map of where you’ve been. Use photos to create a social media post.
Here’s to many years of happy exploring. Click the button below to receive inspiration like this in your email every week.