Going on a trip?
How healthy it is to break a routine, enjoy together and find some peace in the midst of all the hustle and bustle... It is possible and desirable to upgrade any outing to nature called: a trip through activities for a trip that will leave a significant memory until the next time.
In the following article I share my thoughts and invite you to read what I have accumulated during my years as a trail instructor and nature tour guide in Israel.
have fun
We reached the end, we did a trip summary activity with the whole family walking around the campfire, and then the magic happened
Why do I choose to start the article at the end of the trip? With a trip summary activity?
Because I think that out of all the activities
that can be put on them
the attention and invest in them,
The summary is very important and meaningful!
Think about the fact that as soon as the trip is over, in a few moments we are already outside the space of nature...
We get into the car or the shuttle and in a few minutes we are on the road (which is not said in the traffic...).
This transition between nature
The company, the people we met
And the whole experience is normal
Our seller is very fast.
Every trip has certain stages of getting to know each other, getting to know each other in a different environment.
Even members of the same family know sides that they did not know before, precisely because they change their routine and are in nature.
I want to share a short story
From a bar mitzvah trip
where I went out as a guide
With a family who chose to celebrate in nature -
We went for two days in the desert.
On the first day we walked a beautiful route with local stories that can only be told there (details about the route here)
Everything was perfect:
The weather, the terrain route, the guys who came to travel...
Everything except the bar mitzvah boy.
He was not amused
And he complained a lot about almost everything...
We arrived at the camp after the trip tired but satisfied (well, most of us :)), we set up tents and arranged the campfire corner.
I invited everyone to come
to the fire and sit around it.
I started an activity during the trip and returned to it again now - in summary around the campfire.
A type of trip summary activity that I started during the trip...
The activity was divided into several stages:
first step:
I asked everyone to pick a white limestone from the desert that they thought was the most beautiful.
second level:
I gave each participant a note, with the name of another participant from the group.
third phase:
The task was to pay attention
To the participant I got in the note
and look at him with "kind eyes".
What does "pay attention" mean?
For good things he or she does along the way. It can be a good word, a good deed, something funny, etc...
Another rule is that it is not allowed
Reveal who I got in the note.
Everyone waited patiently…
Now we will return to the same campfire
which we reached at the conclusion of a trip.
We sat down around the fire, the whole family, I guided the activity and asked them to bring the same stone
And clockwise each in turn revealed the stone and gave it to whoever was watching him or her.
My request was to say
One thing the "good eyes" saw.
The circle has begun very much
Exciting because one of the children
Said good things about mom
his (which he received in a note).
The highlight was that we reached the mitzvah boy.
Remember that during the trip he was unhappy and angry?
So in his spare time
He started something good,
And just couldn't stop!
He said another good thing and another good thing...
Everyone got so excited and started crying.
With the end of this exciting circle we went to sleep. The next day on the trip you realize that he was completely different...
Something opened.
The magic happened.
An opportunity has opened to share something unusual and special.
This is just one exciting example from a selection of activities for a trip that can be done and used in nature.
Here I gave an example of a trip summary activity that was relevant to a Gil Mitzvah trip in the desert, around a campfire, together - the whole family.
פעילות פתיחת טיול יוצרת את הרושם הראשוני והיא המפתח לטיול מוצלח!
After all the preparations and efforts we arrived at the trip - what now? What opening trip activity awaits us?
Before every trip there is definitely excitement
What are we coming towards?
What will happen there?
Who will we meet?
Even if we know the participants, there is the excitement of a beginning, of something fun and experiential that is going to happen... let's go out into nature!
know what?
I'm excited too!
Because I know how much activity starting a trip is
Makes me open up too
For the flow of a trip, for meeting the tourers.
"They say that the first sentence of every speech is the hardest. Here it is behind me"
This is a quote from the late Wislawa Szymborska
Polish poet laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996
who opened the speech of thanks
Hers in honor of her win
with this sentence.
I gave this example because I think it similarly expresses the excitement about starting the trip.
We want the trip to be successful right?
It is important to us that everyone is satisfied
Therefore, as far as the "first sentence"
will be successful, connected and relevant
We will manage to build a tight and clear trip opening activity that will affect the entire trip.
היי, שמי בן זלצמן (מורה דרך מוסמך) ואני אראה לך איך עושים פעולת פתיחה או סיכום טיול שישאירו טעם של עוד…
The act of opening or summarizing a trip requires planning on the one hand and flow on the other.
What does that mean?
You can plan what we will do in the beginning
and build an invested activity
This is of course very important!
And finally getting to the trip and all in all, the guys aren't really into it..
This is where the flow comes in that you don't have to do any activity and you don't have to do everything "by the book" as planned... you know that every plan is a basis for changes...
And yet, it is very important to plan
And come with an intention.
The intention gives security and stability
don't wait
Take the reins in your hands :)
An opening action as its name is: opens
The thought, the time in nature, the acquaintance with the rest of the group (even if they are a family that everyone knows everyone. You will be surprised...:))
I really like to open
A trip with a question -
Questions connect really well with the opening of a process
with initial acquaintance
Even if it is a deep question
We have a good reason to present it
Because we probably won't meet her just like that on the street...
So here are some examples of questions that can be used when combining activities for a trip, and especially at the beginning of a trip:
1. When was the last time I was in nature?
2. What is the most amazing natural phenomenon I have seen in my life?
3. What is the biggest compliment I have received?
4. What is the best advice I received from my parents?
5. At what moment did your heart burst with joy? (recently or at all)
You can do an opening or a summary
of a trip with questions
Or also distribute them throughout the trip itself.
Here are some more options for how to submit the questions:
- Divide the participants into pairs or threes
- Share the questions in a circle
- Everyone writes the answer for themselves
– and then you can share.
One of the goals of a summary action is to soften the transition from the trip itself back to routine and to everyone's own affairs by creating one last shared space before everyone goes.
Here are two good ways of summarizing a trip that I recommend:
1. Go over everything we did today
From the moment we met until now (2-3 minutes)-
People won't remember everything
And that brings us back to them
Moments that we may have forgotten that are nice to remember (you can open the sharing of participants to mention one moment, which they especially remember...
2. Do the same as in the first section, with a small addition -
Offer to take home "moments" from the trip.
How do you do that?
Going back in thought and imagination
To that special moment on the trip,
Remember how we felt there? What was special? Did I rest? relax? to laugh? Did I have pleasant feelings? Was there a flow of water or just a beautiful view?
We can remember these moments
When we get back home to the usual pursuits,
for work, tasks and our routine.
Take moments from nature
that will remain with us in memory
Even if we are no longer physically there.
So in conclusion, an opening act or a conclusion to a trip can always upgrade and add, and in the bottom line, the main thing is that we go out into the generous nature that provides us with our needs.
"son,
Thank you very much for super interesting activities that we will take with us for life.
while delivering the trainings
Yours didn't feel like you were at work at all.. it felt like a trip with friends where you share and activate
from knowledge in a friendly and pleasant way."
Orna
An opening activity for a trip turns an unfamiliar place into a familiar and pleasant place. How do you make it?
The pair of questions (which may sound obvious): Who is coming for the trip? Where do you travel? They are the basis for preparing an opening activity for a trip.
The best example
that I can think of
One of the trips under my guidance is: the trips to the desert trips in the winter with teenagers
We drove to the desert all the way from the northern region
A trip of about 3 hours not including stops along the way.
The road was still long and tiring
It's not easy to be on the bus for 3 hours...
The teachers shared with me some activities for the trip that they had prepared
And when we got to the beginning of the trip, the teachers decided to do an opening activity -
They presented several cards with pictures and names, and the students had to match the pictures to the names...
I looked at the situation from the side and just by looking, I got tired!
After 3 hours guys
Need movement
move, release energy..
No wonder quite a few students
They did not cooperate
And all the great investment of the teachers did not bear fruit...
Or maybe it is?
I learned that after a long drive, no matter how much and what I want to move, the activity must be mixed with a movement game to just start walking.
Of course we don't start walking
without safety instructions,
Without the story of the trip!
May it be for travelers
No idea where they are going.
Going out into nature and spaces can be self-evident for me, mainly because I know the walking route - and at the same time it is very important for me to remember that the travelers are unfamiliar and for them going out into nature is a kind of going into the unknown.
I usually introduce a few important points at the beginning:
1. Who I am
2. Where did we end up?
3. Why did we go for a walk here?
4. Safety instructions
5. Opening activity for the trip
A good example of an opening activity is one of the night trips in the summer season -
Here it is very noticeable
that enter an area
The unknown because it is also a place
who do not know even in the dark!
Imagine that you are in the forest, in the dark, you can hardly see where to go...
In my opinion, one of the most appropriate questions to ask here is: "How do you feel now?"
The answers can be varied:
Serious, matter-of-fact, cynical, funny answers..
"Everything is good", "Scared to death!", "Great" etc...
And here in a moment, in one sentence of a question I summed up an excellent opening activity for a trip that gives a feeling of home.
My recommendation from experience: an evening activity for a trip is more meaningful if it is around a campfire
It doesn't matter if it's a day trip or an overnight trip, even an evening activity for a one-day trip upgrades and adds!
There are trips that start
in the afternoon
and arrive at the evening and night hours
and in which the center of the trip is in the evening activity.
In the summer season, afternoon and evening trips
very popular
Because during the day it is very hot
And in the evening it is much more pleasant to go outside.
Is it true that it is more appropriate to go out on hot summer days in the evening? Want activities for a night out? You can also join one from my trips –
An evening activity for a two-day trip concludes the first day in anticipation of the second day of the trip and allows everyone to meet in one place, see each other and share and talk.
Why do I recommend doing the activity around a campfire?
The bonfire is mesmerizing
Warms and attracts attention.
The campfire creates an opportunity for listening
Like the "tribal bonfire" of ancient tribes
who would gather around her on special occasions
There is a feeling that something special is happening
The campfire invites us to hear a story, tell a story and share experiences from the previous day.
So what can be done in such an activity?
Option 1: Listening circuit
sitting in a circle around a fire,
And the request is to listen to whoever is speaking.
Not adding our own, but giving
A few minutes for those who want to share.
The request question that can be presented to the participants can be:
Why did I choose to go out into nature? One thing I remember from today?
Option 2: Tell a story!
Here are some examples:
1. A story with a twist: Tell a story that you make up, each time adding a sentence that begins with:
Fortunately/unfortunately.
2. Story in disorder: someone in the circle starts telling a story and someone else throws him words that should be used in the story,
Measure a minute and a half on the clock and replace the number.
3. A personal story: on the Sukkot holiday we deal with transience and wandering, you can tell stories about moving apartments and houses or countries and states.
4. Story in A and B: decide who says the letters A and B,
A story is told in a circle with each time the next in turn starts the sentence with the letter that was said.
From A to Z.
In conclusion,
It's always fun to end a day in nature together. And if we are already together then around the tribal campfire which will provide an opportunity for an evening activity for a winning trip!
I share here a number of activities for children on a trip that develop creativity, make children sail with their imagination without rules, without right or wrong... just play.
Here are some travel activities for kids that I use all the time:
1. Bingo - leaves, flowers, birds
Bingo requires a short preparation for the area where you are going to travel to know more or less what it will look like?
The northern region is different from the southern region in terms of flora and fauna.
2. Drawing
You can draw a very specific landscape, for example:
The Sea of Galilee, Mount Miron, the city walls of Jerusalem, etc...
You can draw an animal a plant a tree we saw.
Joint drawing activity:
sitting in pairs.
Each pair is back to back.
One with a blank sheet of paper
The second with a relatively simple drawing (for example a square and a triangle and a circle inside it).
The goal is to explain without seeing - how to draw the picture.
then change.
An example of some activities for children on a field trip:
3. Map
orientation in space -
Hand out maps of the trip area and start a game of "search for the treasure" using the map.
4. Creation from earth
the truth? This is one of several travel activities that I relate to the most. If only because of the fact that you can find soil almost everywhere we are!
Wonderful raw material for creation...
Very healthy for us humans
Because the soil is rich in minerals
And very fun to play.
so what are we doing?
1. Filter soil from any organic matter (stones, leaves, branches, etc.).
2. Mix the amount of soil with a third amount of water.
3. You can add "paper pulp" (absorbent paper, normal printer paper) that is added to the water.
This helps to produce a stable and strong material when the soil dries out.
5. What kind of rock is there in the area?
Take an egg mold and cut it into 2 parts.
So we have 6 cells.
You can divide into several groups of 3-4 participants in each group.
In groups, look for stones of different types and insert each type into a different cell in the pattern.
בנוסף לדוגמאות שנתתי כאן, אני זמין בכל עת לחשוב יחד אתכם על פעילויות לילדים בטיול הפרטי שלכם.
A content activity for a nature trip can be led by a guide or by one of the participants - the purpose of the activity will be determined according to the time during the trip.
Timing is the name of the game, here too! A content activity for a company trip will be different from a content activity for teenagers...
Many times I allow
for the participants to guide and convey
Activity during a trip (which I went through together with them)
Because it strengthens the bond a lot
and the self-confidence of the participants.
Of course it is my job to guide and deliver content, and at the same time I am very open to hearing new things and passing the baton on to the group participants.
On the contrary! That way the instructor can rest.. 🙂
One emphasis that I am careful not to give up:
Correct timing for the activity.
If a participant in the trip asks me to transfer a content activity to his company trip, I really won't object!
I'll just make sure what activity it is
And then I will choose the appropriate time
on a trip to carry out the activity
According to the trip plan I planned.
In summary: I recommend first of all building a plan for a trip with an orderly schedule, and only then, from a selection of activities for the trip, insert a content activity for the relevant trip.
