There will be three interviews this week all short ones because we’re all so busy.
**********************************
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?
Recent Twitter finds………. Twitter is my virtual water cooler. A chance to connect with friends and learn a thing or two. What I love about Twitter is how people share good practice, work and articles. I’ve found some new playmates.
Here are some of the recent tweets from my timeline that I found interesting about how everyone is playing.
Last year we looked at a side by side activity during the holiday period. There is so much more going on at this time of year everything gets squeezed. I want to encourage you to remember to plan in regular play.
Regular play is a routine your child already knows and loves. In the excitement of the holidays having a predictable routine can be the best thing for a frazzled you and a hyper child.
3 holiday play activities
Going for a walk in the cold air of winter. Find a quiet place and with reduced lighting. ( Keep safe and be seen)
Sit outside on a blanket and stargaze with a flask of hot chocolate one winter’s evening.
Teach your children the words to your favourite carol. Sing it everywhere all day and enjoy hearing the variations of the carol your children can’t help but reproduce.
During our Nature walk the boys were running and jumping partly because they needed to let off steam and partly because it was COLD. After the Deer encounter everyone was pretty excited. I don’t think the boys had been so close before. We were talking about all the trees being naked and whether they are cold. After some funny conversations about getting leaves and sticking them back onto the trees ourselves the boys were throwing leaves all over the place and having far too much fun .:)
We took home a collection of leaves, partly because I wanted to remember our naked trees conversation and partly because the MO always is a collector. In our stroller by the handle we have a little container for snacks with a lid and two holders for drinks. Wherever we go it’s not until I’m folding the stroller down do I check and see what the MO has put inside. Now I check because we used to loose things all the time.
We took at little time to gather some leaves with no idea what we would do with it.
The boys had many ideas and decided by themselves to do this. I just supplied the materials and asked questions. ( If you’re going to use the glitter where are you going to catch all the extra glitter ? etc)
Glue + Glitter = Fun fun fun!
Leaf prints
After the fun of glueing we were left with gluey leaves and lots of excess glitter…………
Now pick up gluey leave and
They wanted to make Christmas cards so they used Mod Podge over the top so it would dry clear.
Unfortunately little brother got hold of them as they were drying. When you keep taking them down to look to see if they are dry you invariably forget to put them back up high and your little brother wants to see what all the fuss is about. Yep Glitter + Glue = fun fun fun! for him too.
Sign up to our play-activities email and you will receive a new, fun, educational activity to try at home with your child each week. Best of all, it's completely FREE!
Subscribe by RSS
