Nature Walk

Whether you live in an urban or rural area, a nature walk is a perfect activity for families to teach children about directional language such as forwards, backwards, clockwise, anticlockwise, right turn, left turn, quarter turn etc.

A drawing of a landscape. In the middle is a river, one one side of the river is a house and some trees, on the other side of the river is a castle ruin, a hill and more trees. There is a bridge across the river. A red dotted lines shows a route leading from the house, across the bridge and up the hill.

Discuss the route you will take before heading out, and while you are on your walk ask children to describe where you are going. Here are some more directional words to help you:

forwards
backwards
clockwise
anticlockwise
before
after
across
left
right
turn around
half turn
quarter turn
north
east
south
west

If you can, take along a map to practice reading grid co-ordinates, e.g. “What’s the name of the street at C5 on the map?” or “What are the co-ordinates of our school?” Or why not try creating your own map of your neighbourhood and mark out all your favourite places. You could either create the map beforehand and then test it out on your walk, or take a clipboard and pencil with you to draw the map on the go.