Ready to gamify your next nature walk? You’ll become obsessed

Engaging with the natural world is, of course, its own reward. But still: Can’t practically anything, even the great outdoors, be made a little more fun? Sure, it can — for example, by adding simple attention-building games to your flora appreciation, from wilderness hikes to suburban or even urban wandering.

In that spirit, here are a few ideas for gamifying nature walks that can certainly work solo but also lend themselves to group explorations, from family nature outing to a simple stroll with a pal.

Here’s an easy place to start, one that works for the lone explorer or a pair. But it’s also good for, say, a family that can use all the structure that might be available to keep a group walk manageable and relatively free of complaints about boredom. From the outset, determine that you will identify superlatives: the tallest tree, the biggest leaf, the tiniest flower, the most vibrant garden. Add to your targets as you go: “I bet we won’t see a thicker trunk than that!” The game is essentially collaborative, but even alone, it keeps you alert to your surroundings and open to discovery.

You can also use the gaming frame to get beyond just seeing the natural environment. On your next walk, try to identify the noisiest plant or tree. Perhaps wind is pushing gently (or aggressively) through a neighbor’s bamboo, or maybe it’s quiet enough outside that a single acorn fallen from an elderly oak is enough to win the contest. While you’re at it, is that oak’s trunk the roughest you’ll encounter today? What’s the smoothest bark you can touch on this walk? And of course, there’s scent: Stopping and smelling the roses is admittedly not a new idea, but nature gives us some of our most persistent olfactory experiences. Don’t neglect that, but maybe try to get more adventurous than the usual “best” or “worst” scent pronouncements: Identify the biggest smell on your journey.

We think of a nature walk as way to immerse in the green world, and we seek green as we journey in suburbs and cities. But what do we mean by “green”? Foliage is hardly monochromatic — and if you don’t believe it, look harder, closer, longer. How many shades of green can you spot on one walk, on one block, in one yard? Maybe you can even use your phone’s camera to start a collection of greens. As a bonus, you’ll find this exercise will make non-green flowers and plants pop even more than usual in your vision.

What else do you notice when you pay attention to plants and trees and grass? Maybe it’s a colorful bird or an antsy squirrel. Maybe it’s bugs. Maybe it’s animal evidence: chewed leaves, a slug trail. Maybe a neighbor has added notable decorations to their yard — on my most recent trek, I noticed someone had added little disco balls to one tree. Or maybe it’s something less natural, like litter. Even that can be worth noticing, if only as a call to clean it up.

The Australian street artist Michael Pederson, known for his clever urban interventions (see  his Instagram @miguelmarquezoutside), once created a series of  “Urban Weed Awards”: Mounting teensy plaques next to various examples of invasive or at least unloved city flora, he recognized the tallest weed, the most delicate, and so on. I like to borrow his spirit and mentally give out absurd awards: Most Exciting Color Contrast, Best Defended Flower, and (for those disco balls) Outstanding Non-Seasonal Yard Decor. Try it on your next ramble. But rather than mount a plaque by the Most Charismatic Shrub in your neighborhood, take a picture and share it, without explaining the rules of your private criteria.

It’s true that nature doesn’t need to be gamified. But maybe that’s exactly why making a game of nature appreciation is fun: You really can’t lose.

Try it, and show us your most vibrant garden, greenest lawn, or the source of the biggest smell you noticed this spring. Tag us at @miraclegro