Written by Monica Rojas and Allison Jurek, Upstream Care for Place Fellows

As Upstream Care for Place Fellows, we have been able to stop and reflect about our loves of Minnesota’s natural spaces. In this final reflection, we have compiled a collection of activities you can do with little fuss or cost. We hope they inspire and excite you to get outside, alone or with your family.

Meet Allison and Monica

I am Allison Jurek, a Minnesota native raised in the rural farmlands of central Minnesota and residing now just a short drive from my childhood home. My great-grandparents were farmers, machinists, seamstresses, and homemakers across Minnesota. I cannot fathom calling any place but Minnesota home. On a recent road trip across several state borders, I felt an overwhelming sense of welcoming upon returning ‘home’ as we drove into Minnesota. The drive across that state line felt no different than stepping across the threshold of my front door. It is difficult to put words to the connection I feel to this state. Nostalgic childhood memories and stories passed down from generations past are certainly part of it. Mostly, I feel a simple pride in being a Minnesotan from the day-to-day pleasures I am able to experience. A sunset over a lake, fireflies on a July night, wildflowers in the breeze, a glittering snowfall. Finding beauty and peace in the gifts of each day and the ability to share these with others builds upon my connection. My passion for sharing these simple pleasures with others led me to become a certified forest bathing guide. I consider myself to have innate caregiver qualities as a mother and registered nurse. Forest bathing (forest therapy) creates a space to care for place and care for self, which drew me to the practice. Experiencing the interconnectedness of these ways of caring has only deepened my connection to the landscapes and natural beings of Minnesota. I hope you can find connection, experience care for place and maybe even a little self-love in experiencing the day-to-day beauty of Minnesota through some of my simple activities below!

Monica Rojas and I was born and raised in Saint Paul, to a Minnesota mother and a Chilean father. I grew up traveling the world but not really Minnesota. As an adult I began to discover Minnesota’s beautiful landscapes by visiting all the MN State Parks with my own family. I currently live in Minneapolis with my wife and two kiddos, where we are constantly exploring together. My favorite way to spend time in natural places is by walking or hiking, though I really love to eat outside too! As a family we love to hike, camp, and make art outside which we do in the metro area using the amazing park systems and across the state, seeing places we have never been before.

Outside Snack by Monica

I grab the tray down, piling it up with apple slices, a jar of peanut butter, and some cheese sticks to take to the porch. There we munch, chatting about our observations. We like to notice the clouds gliding between the houses. We wait patiently to see if a brave bird will sneak a snack as we sit so close to the feeder. We make plans for the rest of the afternoon, to draw with chalk, harvest berries, or read on the porch. Having a snack on the porch is such a simple and lovely way to get outside as a family and usually inspires even more time outside. 

Little Free Library Walks by Monica 

Often when I propose taking a walk through our urban neighborhood I am met with a cacophony of moans. In response to this disinterest I have perfected the art of a Little Free Library (LFL) walk. The family grabs a sturdy canvas bag and fills it with books we have already read and/or outgrown. Then we head outside, to the fun part. We start walking to LFLs we already know, exchanging books from our bag for new finds. Sometimes we will continue our walk searching for undiscovered LFL, but other times we head home, ready to read our newest acquisitions. 

Backyard Kitchens by Monica 

We have access to many lovely public green spaces in Minneapolis, but sometimes you just need to kick the kids outside so nature can calm them down while you make dinner. Having a backyard ‘kitchen’ has been so much fun in these moments. It’s nothing fancy, we didn’t buy anything new, in fact the ‘kitchen’ is a couple of cinder blocks left to us by the previous dwellers and a bag of thrifted kitchen utensils. This simple set of things has gifted us hours of play, time in nature, and some skills that actually translate into our indoor kitchen. 

Nature Books at the Library by Monica 

Our family loves books. We visit the library weekly, checking out armloads of books to take home. Field guides have been a wonderful way to connect our love of reading with our love of the outside. It has been so fun to take a bird guide to the backyard and put all our heads together working to identify a visiting bird. Once we’ve checked a guide out multiple times, we start thinking about purchasing a copy for the family. When we own a guide, it comes with us on all sorts of adventures and we enjoy marking species we’ve found in the wild and identified using the guide! 

Raising Butterflies by Monica 

There is a joke in our family that we have discovered the easiest pets, butterflies! In the spring we start looking for the tiny black monarch eggs on the undersides of the milkweed leaves growing in our yard. After we find them we bring them inside and wait for them to hatch. We feed them as they grow. Guard them as they pupate. Finally releasing them as they emerge as monarch butterflies.

Inner Child by Allison 

One of my favorite ways to experience the outdoors is through the eyes and hearts of my children. They explore with an uninhibited freedom often resulting in bare feet, dirt and joy. I have discovered that kids have a way of seeing and feeling nature wholy differently than I do as an adult. I encourage you to explore the great outdoors with a child and see it through their eyes. Invite a niece, nephew, grandchild, a friend with children or simply revisit your own childhood. Upstream Care for Place Fellow Tip: Explore with a “yes, and” attitude. 

Take a Back Road by Allison 

I’m a different sort of distracted driver, I am continuously taking in the landscape around me as I scan the periphery beyond the pavement, watching clouds, and catching birds in flight. I have found that reveling in the beauty of nature from behind the wheel can be quite therapeutic. Sharing the discovery of back roads and getting off the beaten path with my kids becomes an adventure. There’s one particular winding dirt road that runs along a Wildlife Management Area we detour to frequently. We drive slowly and with the windows all the way down whenever possible. Our most treasured discoveries have been spotting nesting snapping and blanding turtles. Upstream Care for Place Fellow Tip: Check out Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge’s seven mile wildlife drive. 

Found-Object Art by Allison 

Nature is so full of color, texture, and pattern if you stop to look. Creating found-object art inspires you to look at the natural world with a different lens. Using twigs, leaves, petals, stems, and seeds, you can create art inspired by nature. When I suggest this activity to my family sometimes we work together, other times we keep our work private for a grand reveal. In our own yard we might be more adventurous and pick plants. In parks we are careful to gather only what nature has discarded. We leave our masterpieces behind as a sort of offering, a way of giving thanks to the land. Upstream Care For Place Fellow Tip: take a photo of what you created rather than removing objects to bring home. Look back on your photos to remember and share stories of your exploration. 

Stargazer by Allison 

I think at least once, everyone should experience darkness and the night sky. Find a group or a friend, drive to a safe place away from the city lights and simply experience the darkness, stargaze, and listen to the night creatures. It is otherworldly to be immersed in darkness surrounded by only the natural world. Night, whether in the wilderness or on a city street, can feel unsafe or scary but there are some great opportunities to safely explore close to home! Upstream Care for Place Fellow Tip: visit the Cedar Creek Ecosystem for one of their Public Star Party events. 

Branch Out! by Allison 

Not only are there endless opportunities to explore, there are endless opportunities to learn. Be open to considering ways others experience nature, join a club, or take a class. In recent years, I made learning for pleasure a priority. I’ve completed the Minnesota Master Naturalist certification, dabbled in foraging wild edibles, became a deer hunter and earned the title of Certified Forest Bathing Guide. With each new experience I gain knowledge and perspective that I otherwise would have missed out on. I pass on what I learn to my children and show them that learning and exploring are lifelong journeys. Upstream Care for Place Fellow Tip: Try something new!

We might step out our front doors and have a different view, our family trees may be rooted in different cultures, the structure our families are built of might look different. But across all these differences we both call Minnesota home, we both share a passion for imparting the joys that come with exploring Minnesota’s great outdoors with our children and an understanding that the greatest joys are often brought from uncomplicated and simple adventures.