Take an Urban Hike

Age: any

Materials: notebook, camera, or simply observant eyes

Skills Learned: large motor, appreciation/awareness of surroundings, observation

This activity is so broad that you could do almost anything with it! It can be as planned or as spontaneous as you make it. We were recently without a car for a bit and spent some time wandering around our city on foot. I was amazed at all of the things that we learned and discovered.

Some ideas:
Do a scavenger hunt, with different things to check off (street signs, statues, buildings, people, etc.)
Look for unusual things and take pictures or write them down in a notebook. We recently noted leaf prints on the sidewalk, footprints made from paint, different colored buses, and decorative architecture on buildings.
Make a map and teach following directions. For older preschoolers, you can give them directions as have them lead the way (go two blocks and then turn right, etc.).