Church yards can be like a mini countryside setting whether they are in town or country. They are like a little green oasis and great places to spend time with children! Whether its looking for nature or reading the gravestones there is so much to do.
The church next to my children's school is a good place to fill 15 minutes when waiting to pick up the children. This week big girl was off sick so she and I spent time wandering around until little brother came out:
Some of the gravestones made us sad when you work out that the child buried there was only weeks if not months old. It may seem a bit morbid wandering around graves but my daughter and I found it very interesting and some stones had lots of fascinating information on them:
With it being a cold spring there were flowers to see but not much wildlife. In summer I've seen slow worms basking in the sun! Don't think we'd find much today as its coated in snow:
So why don't you take your children down to the churchyard? You can hunt for wildlife or flowers with any aged child. Get early readers to try out reading the gravestones. For older ones you can create a grave scavenger hunt:
- earliest/most recent date for burial
- youngest/oldest person buried in grave yard
- how many different occupations
- most common surname
- anyone born somewhere overseas
I'm sure you can think of more to add!
