Children are instinctively drawn to nature and patterns, making Centerpath a natural connection for them.

Get your kids outdoors and engaged with nature using the following fun Centerpath activities.

Please Contact Jin with any additional ideas.

Nature Walk

Take a walk around a familiar place like your neighborhood, a park, or a hiking trail. Discuss the surroundings with your children and encourage them to share what they see and feel. Prompt them to;

• Identify five different center-oriented patterns in their backyard.
• Locate the home (i.e. center) of at least three insect and/or animal species (e.g. an ant’s den, a bird’s nest, etc.)
• Show a child how the patterns of water erosion (cut into dirt) match the patterns of veins in a leaf.
• Discuss fractal patterns. Ask your child to identify 3-4 scales of fractals in the branches of trees.
• See if your child can use patterns to connect a tree with something seemingly unrelated, like a river or a road system.
• Identify and describe five symmetric organizations (e.g. your skeletal system, a flower, etc.).
• Identify three things that form dualistic pairs (e.g. males and females, pairs of hands, sun and moon, dog and cat, etc.).
• Pick 2-3 items and describe where they ultimately originated from (i.e. trace backward in time where trees, products, or a food item started from).
• Show children that all key things in their lives (i.e. our air, food chain, fuel, and plastics) all come from trees and plants.

Any other ideas?

Teach Your Children To Conserve

When we see how everything is connected, we begin to understand the importance of caring for our planet. Show your children how their actions affect the planet. Teach them more tangible ways to conserve by implementing the following practices at home.

• Turn off lights when you leave a room.
• Come up with creative ways to use your heater and air conditioner less frequently. Some suggestions;
  • Basements trap cool air so spend more time in the basement in the summer.
  • Dress more heavily during winter months (i.e. reduce the amount of heat you use).
• Walk or bike instead of driving at least once per week.
• Pick one thing a month you can reuse instead of buying something new.
• Start recycling.
• Start a garden or compost.
• Buy locally and eat more fresh foods.
• Hang clothes and towels to dry (instead of using an electric clothes dryer).
• Wear your shirt and pants more than once (especially clothing worn around the house).
• Reduce the set point on your water heater.
• Boycott food outlets that only use plastic and paper cups/plates/utensils.
• When eating out, save and reuse unspoiled paper napkins.
• Turn off the water tap frequently while brushing your teeth, doing dishes, and taking a shower.
• Incorporate meatless Mondays into your regular routine.

What else can you recommend we do?

More Advanced Studies

• Discuss the life cycle of a tree and how it reflects the Centerpath.
• Discuss an ecosystem and how its members are interconnected through food and resources.
• Choose an area in the woods and identify 5-10 members of its local ecosystem.
• With every passing natural object you see, try and classify it as one of the various center-oriented patterns listed here.
• Ask your child to find five different centers (the sun, an acorn, a bird’s nest, etc.).
• Does a tree mirror the shape of a river system? If so, which part is the river, which part is the mouth, and which part is the delta.
• Nature and life unfold in rise and fall patterns like waves crashing on the shore and concert finales. Name five other examples.