Wellbeing Walkabout

Spending time in nature is beneficial to our wellbeing, and we can build mindfulness by taking notice of our surroundings and how they make us feel.

This activity is also is an opportunity to explore kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of special outdoor places. Doing so fosters connection with and responsibility for the world we live in. This extension – from admiring our natural environments to caring for them – can greatly deepen the wellbeing benefits of this activity.

If needed, revisit our Favourite spaces kōrero, to remind tamariki of the connection between your emotions and spaces that make us feel good.

You may also like to work through the discussion from our Sense of the day activity, to help tamariki understand and tune-into their senses.

Then, to plan your wellbeing walkabout:

• kōrero with tamariki about their favourite outside spaces - at school, in their garden or local community
• allow tamariki to make a plan about they will share their favourite or special space and present why it's such a great place to be
• create or print a map of your local community ask tamariki to plot where their favourite outside space is so you can plan your trip around (either virtually or as a community hikoi)
• plan a special day for your wellbeing walkabout or use your map to plot tamariki presentations of their favourite spaces. They might choose to do this through drawing, writing, photographing, a video tour

Regroup and discuss your findings. What were the best features of each other's favourite space? Why was these things great features? Did you feel the similarly to what had been described?

If you're keen to spend more time focussing on being outdoors, we love Department of Conservations Outdoor Classroom ideas - they are super!

Connect more to whenua with Fill My Whare Tapa Whā and Fill My Whare Tapa Whā... more!

For more mindfulness and connecting with 'senses' head to the Sparklers at home activity: Sense of the Day so that tamariki to begin to introduce this mahi to whānau.