Shawnee Lookout - Great Parks of Cincinnati

 

Shawnee Lookout, a Great Parks of Hamilton County, has a very informative and helpful map and information section on their website. We hiked the Miami Fort Trail and saw SO MANY THINGS! 

Right before we started on the trail, E turns around and says, "I wish we can see lots of animals." E's wish came true, boy did we see so many animals, insects, and more!

As a lifelong learner on of the things that I enjoy doing on a hike is learning something new. On this trail we learned about different types of "animals." One of the activities that we do on trails as we learn new animals or insects is we enjoy to tell a story, it's something you can do too. I've always done a version of this, as most parents end up doing at some point, but this website lays on the steps nicely and are easy to follow if you have never "led" a story before. The five simple steps to leading a story on your hike is to use whatever is around you to get the story started. For instance on this story...

E started through the woods as a leader, but he would be quick to find out that being a leader means that he has to be brave and there were a lot more things that he didn't know, but wanted to be brave and learn. The first thing he learned is to watch where you are going. SNAILS were e v e r y w h e r e. We couldn't move more than a foot and we would see another snail. This trail is in a decently marshy area so we shouldn't be surprised. We know that snails like - fungi and algae.

The boys packed their bags and started on their adventure once again, WATCH OUT there is a SNAIL! Each moment it seemed that E would exclaim as he walked down the path, "watch out there is a snail."

The next part of writing a story or an account of what happened is the details and don't stop! You do not need the story completed before you start telling others, you can start with just the beginning, don’t need to have the whole story thought out before you start telling it, try to get 3 or 4 sentences, and before you know it, you have made your own little story.

Snails weren't the only surprise we saw on the trails. E, Mommy, B, and Sherry were brave hikers and boldly walked past the GIANT spider in order to cross the bridge to find the beautiful wild daisies.

If you are really stuck and can’t think of anything to add to the story as you hike down the pathway here are a few different "brain freeze" ideas: share a memory from your childhood, talk about a pet or animal you enjoy seeing... again, don’t overthink it, it's just for fun! The story becomes more interesting to the boys if I slow down my pace of talking and maybe even raise change my voice. It gives you (the parent) time to think and the boys time to absorb the words and imagine the story in their own minds.

After you have started the story, you can invite your kids to continue the story with you. “I wonder what happens next…” is a good way to encourage them. Then you are on a storytelling adventure as well as an outdoor adventure. Let's finish our story!

Suddenly, the wild daisies started to move... but there wasn't any wind!! What was making the daisies shake and move like they were dancing? Then as fast as lightning Red the broad-headed skink runs out of the daisy patch and up the tree! Wow, what an adventure! What do you think happened next?

#guentheradventures