On Exploring with Others

Leaving a trail of leaves for the deer to find

I've been taking my daughter out to various nature exploration groups where she can meet with other kids, make friends, and I can hopefully have some time to engage in conversation with another adult. (I often wonder why I didn't think of forming a group like these!)

Maybe it's her age, but plenty of times she's perfectly happy observing the other kids from a distance, playing by herself, or playing with me. On this day's hike, she would have rather let the other kids go on the hike while she explored on her own.

I'm always torn - should I encourage her more to follow along with the group? Or should we just indulge her personal interests?

At any rate, hopefully we can go out today (weather permitting - it snowed yesterday!) and she can just wander as she likes.