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Time Out for Tea

Age: 0 to 5 Time: 1 hour+
Materials: Thermos, warm tea, mugs, some kind of yummy treat, snack blankets (1 per hiker)
Skills: Naturalist, Gross Motor, Sensory, Persistence & Grit

Featured in our #OutdoorsAll4 challenge, ‘Time Out for Tea’, add a warm tea break into a walk or hike. The ritual helps to create a moment of quiet and warmth that you can share alongside the active exploration.

The Guide

Set up

  • Pack up your materials and bundle up for a winter hike.

Invitation: Making Sense

  • Plan a walk/hike that makes sense for your group, given weather, distance and the personalities involved.
  • Activate different senses along the way. Take deep sniffs to feel and smell the winter air. Feel the winter on your cheeks. Look with your eyes what is there and what is missing in winter. Stop and listen to what movement (and stillness!) you can hear.
  • When your hike is almost done, stop to enjoy something special about winter—outdoor tea breaks! Pour tea, nibble treats and feel how good they taste outdoors after a good, winter walk!

Why is this activity great for kids?

We all get more information when we use more senses. There is more benefit to using multiple senses at once than simply getting more information. Each sensory system utilizes different parts of the body and a different set of parts of the brain. So, to put it simply, kids harness more brain power when they use more than one sensory system at once. With the addition of warm tea into a hike on chilly day, we're activating our sense of touch, taste and temperature—a huge sensory system win! Additionally, introducing something new and unique into an activity you do somewhat regularly heightens the investment and excitement for everyone involved.

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