Isn’t nature great? Look and learn how one thing can lead to another

What you need 

• Time in nature with animals and birds 

What to do 

1. Take a walk and sit and watch nature all around you. If you can, find a park where there’s a mix of animals. Seeing dogs, squirrels, ducks and birds is ready-made entertainment on a trip out. 
2. Look around for nature in action. If you see that a dog spots a duck, and the dog runs towards it, narrate what is happening and say, “Oh look, the duck has come out of the water. Here comes a dog, it looks excited by the duck! I wonder what the duck will do? The dog is getting closer, the duck went back into the pond.” 
3. Use these moments to wonder why. Why was the dog interested in the duck? Did it think it was a toy? A game? Or was it just running for fun, and the duck wasn’t even in the dog’s sight?  

Good to know 

Nature is a wonderful thing, and it can help toddlers to understand cause and effect.  

Having conversations about what you can see might feel very broad, but they can help your toddler understand that things happen as a result of something else occurring and that some actions are planned while others are not.