The weather is improving and it is the perfect time to fling open the doors and spend as much time outdoors as possible. This June, the fantastic 30 Days Wild challenge is back again, seeing if we can all indulge our wild sides on a daily basis.
Last year we took on the 30 Days Wild challenge, organised by the Wildlife Trusts, in the Baby Routes household and had a fantastic time opening our eyes to nature. At first I had lots of activities planned – things that took some time to think up, get materials for or took up chunks of time out of our day. The girls loved them (so did the grown ups) – it was a time to reconnect not just with nature but also to spend time together as a family.
Roo taking the ‘5 minutes of quiet’ challenge whilst watching and listening for nature in the garden during the 30 Days Wild challenge last year. This was when we started taking ‘nature naps’.
On busier days though our schedule slipped and I’m glad it did. The 30 Days Wild challenge is not about swapping our daily lives for completely wild ones (though personally I think that would be wonderful). Instead it is about incorporating something of nature or the natural landscape into our current busy schedules, about including just a little something to remind us that there is more to this world than man-made networks and the daily grind. We just need to remember it is there.
We started doing things like cloud watching, looking for nature treasures, counting trees on the way to the shop, spotting ‘wild’ things whilst in the park, looking out for birds in town, finally looking up that wild-flower Roo’s been asking me about for the last few weeks, watching where the ant on the pavement goes after scuttling past our feet, paying attention to the animal tracks in the mud, the nibbled holes in leaves or making a daisy chain. Tiny, seemingly insignificant things that secretly enriched our days.
Roo with ‘hedgehog hands’ from last year’s 30 Days Wild challenge!
These little things are the things we have continued to do in our daily lives, alongside the bigger nature adventures that need a bit more time or planning. Just last week I noticed another mum giving me a quizzical look as hunkered down on the path into the park to explain to Roo the difference between the celandine she had just spotted and the buttercup she thought it was. I realised happily then that these little random acts of wildness have become ingrained since the 30 Days Wild challenge last year. Hopefully a second year running will make them even more of a habit. Being more connected with nature has not been the only benefit for us either.
Roo and Beth out foraging in the fields (I think for elderflower) as part of last year’s 30 Days Wild challenge.
We will be covering our 30 Days Wild challenge on the blog and daily with pics on Instagram and ‘wild’ ideas on Twitter so come and join in too with your 30 Days Wild news and photos. Don’t forget to use the #30DaysWild hashtag to join the conversation online and link up with @30DaysWild on Twitter – I have a feeling it is going to be even bigger this year and I found some great and inspiring new ‘wild’ bloggers out there to follow through the 30 Days Wild challenge last year.
Everything you need to know to take part can be found on the 30 Days Wild website, including a link to sign-up and receive a goody pack to help get you started. What are you waiting for? Ready, steady, go wild again!
