With the forecast of a Winter storm warning in effect for the next 24 hours with snow estimated to be 18+ inches to the North West of us. I thought these winter play pictures would be appropriate for May in Colorado! ( Just a hint of sarcasm there!)
It may take 30minutes to get on all the gear and the same to drag it all off and put it somewhere other than in a steaming heap on the floor afterwards…..but boy do they love to go outside in the snow!
I think the biggest surprise for the MO was falling backwards to make a snow angel and not realising the snow was so wet and the sides caving in on him. That was the last picture I took. Shortly after this shot I had to wade over and recover a very wet surprised MO.
Unexpected snow fall + ample playtime outside = unstructured play and deliriously happy children.
Hot chocolates all round today!
Thanks for stopping by.
This post is part of Childhood 101 ” We Play” Please visit the others and find out what they were playing this week.
A lot of the time it is hard to know how to start things. Like changing a habit or how we can get more outdoor time. Finding an outdoor program or occasional family trip to nature is a good start, but let’s make a point to discover the everyday nature first; that local park or ravine in your community. Little explorers are not born to skiing on Whistler or hiking the Rocky Mountains. Exploring starts in your neighborhood, in your backyard and in the many natural space you can find around you.
Organizing outdoor playgroups
Debra, Mari, Kristen and Cinza are all organizing outdoor playgroups in their communities in Toronto. Free and open to anyone who wants join. Why do they do it? Debra organizes so she makes sure that she has one set day that she gets out of the house. Mari is an active woman and loves to spend time outside. Her passion in life is skiing and wants to meet like minded parents and kids. Designer Kristen has a quite connection to nature that she wishes to foster in her children. She is a walker and loves to discover bugs and create nature art Cinza is a new mom and a runner who looks forward to connecting with other moms for a high energy stroller tour around her neighborhood.
Grassroots without any rules
Outdoor playgroups get organized differently for individual reasons. Some have one activity when they meet while others are constantly changing. An outdoor playgroup is not meant to be a program or service to any particular parent, it is suppose to be a place where parents discover nature, play together and build connections between parents, their kids and nature. It is not any different than a indoor playgroup, other than it is just The beauty of an outdoor playgroup is that it is inherently grassroots. There are no rules how you are to do it.
At Activekidsclub.com we like to believe we are living dangerously when we live our motto no bad weather, only bad clothing. Basically we see ourselves as a part of nature and bad weather is… well it is natural.
Making sure that you get your outdoor time
Whether you love to be outside or maybe just want to live healthier and give your kids some much needed green time, being part of an outdoor playgroup is an excellent way to make sure that you get your daily nature time. It is more fun in groups. As an added bonus, it can create friendships among both the kids and the parents.
Wanna start an outdoor playgroup where you live?
Join Debra, Mari,Cinza and Kristen here at Activekidsclub.com and start your own outdoor playgroup. Collectively we know a thing or two about organizing a group and what to do outside so we have created some useful tools for you. We bet you have lots of other ideas that we would of never though of without your input. Together we can move mountains.
Kari Svenneby is the founder of Activekidsclub.com .–Discovering the wonder of nature with kids and adults .Get inspired with simple solutions.Let’s play
With three boys roughly equally spaced I often get the impression that I’ve been here done this before. Not just with clothes, which is inevitable. But with behaviours and play activities.
The first time my oldest threw himself on the floor and let us know how he felt I was stunned, embarrassed and lost. Fast forward the middle one, we could smile and had a few options up our sleeve and now the youngest tried for a week then gave up ( Well right now he’d rather climb than tantrum). We still get thrown a loop don’t get me wrong. Each child is unique and brings a little something the other one didn’t so there is still the challenge but I feel my confidence has grown with each child.
I think play activities can catch you like this too.
We can get a bit like a deer in the headlights. So many options and that crippling tiredness.
Apart from the obvious reach fors. Here are some activities we’ve loved over the years.
5 ways to overcome the play activity blues
If it’s not working, it’s not working try something else
You child may not be ready for crafts, playing by themselves, not creating a mess, always dumpsthe Legos, sit for anything like you expected. Not everyday needs to be a fight. Try something else and come back. Development may happen in steps. I see my children skip steps and fall down the steps all the time. Keep heading toward the goal but don’t get discouraged along the way. My child won’t do craft activities- what now? Childhood games
Repeat. If it worked before it is likely to work again
We all have those moments when the play activity goes well for them, you and the universe. Then we forget what we did or what happened exactly and it’s like a moment of loss. Keep a record of successful activities so when we have, “one of those days” we can try something we know worked well before. That’s not to say it will work well again but we know it did….once.
Getting stuck in a rut is easy. We love routines. Buy the same cereal and coffee. Unless something jumps out at us like a Sale or Advert we’re pretty much creatures of habit. All good except sometimes even we get bored. Trying something new requires more work but the rewards are usually right behind.
If you love reading but 2 hours of reading to your little one is getting old even though you had decided it was what you wanted to do. Try using an Audio story. Love reading yourself but too tired to read at night try a non fiction audio book or parenting podcast.
Change the way you think about play activities. They maybe learning experiences but they need to be fun. Remind yourself of what learning is happening when the button won’t stick with the glue stick ( problem solving). Is our reaction to go and get the white glue or rescue the child? Once you’re retrieved the thrown button and everyone is calmer. What happens next? That lovely activity cut lovingly from the magazine is now a big old mess of high emotions and high expectations but the opportunity to grow socially and emotionally should not be forgotten. Could you change the activity to a science one of investigation, think on your feet? An essential adult skill is the ability to work through problems logically, the knowledge to know when to walk away from situations that are frustrating or dangerous and knowing how to check our feelings. Tell our boss they are a dumb idiot maybe what we want to say, at times but we learn that doesn’t keep us our job and saying something else would have got the same point across.
I guess I’m saying that many times it will be the things you learn as you go along over the end product especially in the Early years. We can help our little guys and appreciate without belittling their efforts.
There will be three interviews this week all short ones because we’re all so busy.
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We are coming up to the end of the year. So do you think we managed more outdoor play?
I have mentioned here before during this year about my struggle with getting enough outdoor play in with all the children. It was on our must improve list this year. Anyone I saw who was doing this I was always asking, ‘How do you get them ( the kids) outside and staying outside?”.
I looked for blogs to follow and connected with a lot of people via #playoutdoors on Twitter. They inspire me and never once judged me for my failings as a mum. Maybe they are commonsense notions for many but previously it just didn’t happen on anything like a regular basis.
Over the year slowly we have been going out more and if you compare my posts this year to last year you’ll have seen a big increase in the outdoor activities we have tried.I have enjoyed the focus on this area. It has been hard for me too to get the right frame of mind to be outside. We have a small garden that slopes, a dog and no space to do much. I have had to adjust my thinking and use what we have more effectively. It’s not been easy but the children really love it.
Connecting with all those talented people and surrounding myself with their ideas rubs off.
When you write about play activities you can give the impression that you know everything but I don’t. I’m a mum who likes to try a variety of play activities with her children that are fun, engaging and have many outcomes. I make mistakes, pick myself up and try again in a different way.
As we close out this year, I know that 2010 will bring some unique challenges with three children and being a married military spouse. I don’t claim to know or do it all. But what I do do I share freely with you all, warts and all.
I know we all have our hang ups about play somewhere, something we don’t do or find hard to do with or for our kids.
How do you overcome? Where did/do you go for support?
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