This last month, over Spring break I decided that I wanted to stay local but still have an adventure. One of the moms of my patients told me about a local hidden gem: a park with some wildlife and a nice play area as well. So the girls and I decided to pack a lunch and head out to see the wild! First we made a list of the things we wanted for our lunch. Then we went shopping and bought them (having them visually scan the aisles for the products was great reading practice). When we got home I gave them a checklist of all the things I needed them to put in their backpacks. On a whim I put paper and pencil on their checklist. Then we were off!

Once we got there we found the play area and I let them play as much as they wanted. I also let them decide when they wanted to have lunch. After lunch and play we decided to go explore and it wasn’t long before we found an alligator (way down deep in a tiny river). We all thought it was so neat to see a gator so close. I asked the girls to take out their notebooks and draw a picture of the gator and write whatever they wanted: a few words or a few sentences.

To my surprise they both wrote for about five minutes.  At the end of that day I felt like we had fun but the girls also got a chance to practice making lists, visual scanning, drawing and writing.  But it didn’t FEEL like practice-it just felt like fun.  This activity can work anywhere at the zoo, playground, park or even the beach.  I was going to save this post for the summer but here in Florida it gets so hot that you may not want to trek outside in the hot sun for hours-this is a great activity to do on a weekend.  It’s easy to get into the routine of going to the same park, playground or beach. So go out and explore a park or beach that you have never been before and write about it.  You will be glad that you did.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]