One of my goals for 2015 is to get my kids to spend at least an hour outside any day that the temperature is over 30°. So far this year, that hasn’t happened (because seriously THIS WEATHER), but generally, I think it’s a good goal.
They sleep better and are in better moods when they have a good bit of outside time. They love having “picnics.” One of their babysitters taught them to build little “fairy houses.” I can usually convince them to look for eggs and feed the chickens.
They love playing on our porch. Silas still hates the wind, and for a while, he didn’t realize that it’s totally fine to take most of his toys outside, which I think explains some of his unwillingness to go out. On good days, they’ll get excited about being outside, and stay out much longer.
I’m also trying to get them used to the idea that we can have fun outside without going to the playground. We live in a bucolic paradise, with a duck pond, a horse, chickens, a river, trees, flowers, cows, sometimes even rogue turkeys. They love the playground, and so do I, but that’s a place we have to drive to. I’m hoping that making outside time a regular and required part of our day, they’ll find more things to do.
We got a few books for Christmas about experiments to do outside, and I’m going to get Silas a special outside notebook to start learning to draw what he sees out there. That sounds like an unreasonable expectation for a four-year-old, but his art is really extraordinary.
We’ll see how it goes…if it ever gets above freezing.
Fantastic
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There is a marmalade stray cat that I am feeding on the porch. It was minus 18 the other day and has not risen above 12 degrees today. The wind has been especially fierce causing power outages. Fortunately, I have a generator which comes on automatically after a couple of minutes. Becca and Marta used to spend long hours outside playing. We hardly ever went to a playground. It is a good goal to have children find an “outside” space to think their own thoughts and listen to the great outdoors inhabitants. They grow up refreshed and healthy.
Love,
Grandma Betty