Welcome to the June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their stories and tips for playing outside with kids. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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I should give you some tips on outside activities for this month's carnival. You would think that I would be in a great place to do so, given that my child spends at least 75% of her time outdoors.
Yet I can do no such thing.
Where I find that in the house I must entertain my child to some extent or else she will be bored, outside, we follow her lead all the way.
Of course we do decide on the scenery, we make the choice to either go to the pool, or the beach or go for a walk (but only if she wants to - and believe it or not, sometimes she doesn't want to go to the beach), but from there on, it is complete free roam.
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| Image: D Sharon Pruitt |
Lately, she's very much into climbing every obstacle she encounters.
She loves to swim and horse around with water. Some days she spends about three hours in a tub outside, although lately she's on bath strike (she would rather gives baths to the dog now).
And of course she's got the dog. That alone means hours and hours of outdoorsy fun.
She loves to gather the passion fruit that have fallen (and eat them afterward).
Occasionally, we do pull out some chalk or paint and have very dirty fun with it outside, but the outdoors is so fun and exiting already, you hardly need games or activities to make a marvelous day.
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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
- Garden Treats — Asha at Mom Costume has once again been bitten by the gardening bug — and this time her baby's tagging along for some fresh air and dirt exploration. (@titbagsandsnoot)
- Outdoor Free Roam — Mamapoekie at Authentic Parenting follows her daughter's lead whenever they go outside. (@mamapoekie)
- Summer fun in Austin with a toddler — Jessica at This Is Worthwhile is brainstorming ways to beat the heat in Texas. (@tisworthwhile)
- summer fun… — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children is looking forward to spending the summer outside with her children the way she used to spend summers with her mother.
- Outdoor Fun for Pre-Walkers — Maman A Droit has figured out ways to let her pre-walker enjoy the outdoors. (@MamanADroit)
- Summer Homeschool Fun at Camp Review — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now discusses how Camp Review motivated and captivated her homeschooling family. (@DebChitwood)
- Digging, Tree Climbing and Puddle Jumping — Laura at Laura's Blog bemoans the loss of her girls' climbing tree but knows they'll find something else just as naturally tempting.
- The Sweet Smells of Summer — Erin at A Beatnik's Beat on Life is looking forward to the many smells of summer she and her daughters enjoy and identify. (@babybeatnik)
- June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor Fun — Sybil at Musings of a Milk Maker is a confirmed couch potato who can't help but be inspired by the outdoor opportunities Seattle offers her family. (@sybilryan)
- Take a Hike — Michelle at The Parent Vortex connects with her family and the Earth on frequent hikes in their Pacific wilderness. (@TheParentVortex)
- Following Paul — Julie at Simple Life gives her kids unstructured time to dig in the dirt and pick mulberries. (@homemakerjulie)
- Instilling a Love of the Outdoors in Your Baby/Toddler — Tessasdad at Stay At Home Dad in Lansing offers a photo book of tips for helping your little ones enjoy the outdoors. (@tessasdad)
- Camping, baby! — Jen at Grow With Graces has easy tips for tent camping with a little one. (@growwithgraces)
- Think Outside the Easel for Summertime Fun — Acacia at Be Present Mama finds several ways to bring art fun to the outdoors.
- Outdoor Learning in our Urban Environment — Andrea at Ella-Bean & Co. has found ways to get grass between her daughter's toes, even in the city.
- Outdoor Education — Alison at BluebirdMama offers parents tips and resources for making each outdoor excursion a learning experience. (@childbearing)
- Turning Inside Out — Christie of Childhood 101 finds kids get a kick out of taking indoor toys outside. (@Childhood101)
- Watching Peas Sprout — Deb at Science@home combines fun with purpose in this educational outdoor activity. (@ScienceMum)
- How To Create a Pirate Treasure Hunt & Other Easy Outdoor Pirate Activities (June Carnival of Natural Parenting) — Dionna at Code Name: Mama has pirate-themed play ideas for ye scurvy landlubbers. (@CodeNameMama)
- What We Do — Luschka at Diary of a First Child has managed to expose her 8-month-old to a wide variety of outdoor fun, even with the notoriously dreary UK weather. (@diaryfirstchild)
- Summer Fun — Darcel at The Mahogany Way finds her family's visits to the beach refreshing in so many ways. (@MahoganyWayMama)
- Playing outside without a backyard — Sheryl at Little Snowflakes doesn't let the lack of a backyard stop her family from enjoying the outdoors. There are plenty of things to do outside of your yard! (@sheryljesin)
- Having Fun Outdoors, Playset Free — Guavalicious at They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping has resisted a backyard playset in favor of the regular backyard. (@guavalicious)
- Moon Gazing with your Toddler — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries is keeping her toddler up at night, but it's for a good reason: to share the wonders of the night sky! (@babydust)
- the great outdoors — The grumbles at grumbles and grunts wonders whether her urban child can experience the same free-range childhood she enjoyed. (@thegrumbles)
- Let's Take It Outside! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing is looking for ideas: how can she spend time with her pre-walker outside this summer? (@BlkWmnDoBF)
- A home by the sea: June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun — Lauren at Hobo Mama is living her dream of a home near the beach, and taking full advantage of it. (@Hobo_Mama)
- An Outside Girl — Zoey at Good Goog moved her family to (almost) the middle of nowhere so that her outdoor-loving girl could have more grass and less concrete. (@zoeyspeak)
- Neighborhood Nature — Kelly at Kelly Naturally has learned to connect with the nature she has instead of mourning the nature she misses. (@kellynaturally)
- Building Lovely Memories of Swimming, Spiders and Gravestones — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch and her family are simply outdoorsy people. (@kitchenwitch)
- "Buh-Bye" Season — Danielle at born.in.japan must leave laundry behind and follow her son's call to the outdoors. (@borninjp)
- Backyard Camping — Becoming Mamas took her family camping very close to home! (@becomingmamas)
- The Color of Dreams — Seeking Mother at Woman Seeking Mother makes gardening magical by teaching her son that each flower is a faery. (@seekingmother)
That is wonderful! I think parents spend too much time planning their kids' time indoors and out (see my post, ahem). Most kids do just fine taking the reins and deciding on their own activities. My son has always had some difficulties with independent play, but it's definitely improving as he gets older.
ReplyDeleteFollowing your child's lead in the outdoors not only gives them much needed time to just explore, it also allows us to reconnect with that very special time when we don't have to know what we are going to do. I think that children's time now seems to be so overly scheduled, it is perfect to let them have the opportunity to choose what to do or not to do.
ReplyDeleteAs a bath lover, I am intrigued by your outdoor tub. I would be over the moon to spend hours in an outdoor tub. Wonderful. Perhaps you could pick flowers together and bring them into the bath with her should she decide to return to that activity. Spiritual bathing with plants outside would be pure magic.
I love your site.
I love following my littles around. They are so much better at exploring and finding ways to amuse themselves than I ever could be.
ReplyDelete<3
it's interesting the contrast between indoor play and outdoor play, because i find myself doing the same thing. inside i'm always worried about entertaining my son but when we go outside it seems easier to just let him be free and explore and observe.
ReplyDeleteand the dog is a huge hit around here too. i feel like she could be my secret co-parent- she's my sneak attack tool to be able to run to the bathroom and back.
I am so loving these comments! (I think was expecting more of the 'you didn't even try to write an article'-type comments *blushes in shame*)
ReplyDelete@The Grumbles: aren't those dogs miracle workers? Mine is yet a little too young to leave alone with the little one, but she gets so much fun out of him, and I am sure in a little while he'l be an ideal babysitter, if need arises
@Seekingmother: Spiritual outdoor bathing with plants... that seems so very interesting, I want to hear more
@Dionna: Maybe we should swap some day then... I am so not organized. Writing a secret confession about that, but not sure when I'll be able to publish that
As to your comment, @mamapoekie, lol! I think this is a great perspective to add to the carnival, because it's SO TRUE. When we're outside, the play seems to just naturally happen. Even if there's just a dirt pile nearby, my son can be happy, and he loves it when I join in the play. I think that's part of it, too — indoors, I am frequently distracted by things to "do," but outdoors I have nothing important to do other than play as well. Maybe that's part of the magic.
ReplyDelete"the outdoors is so fun and exiting already, you hardly need games or activities to make a marvelous day."
ReplyDeleteAin't that the truth?? My son can spend ages just running in circles round the yard until he's completely out of breath.
I just discovered you through the carnival this month and I look forward to hearing more about your life on the Ivory Coast.
I'm the same way as you when it comes to inside stuff - I tend to set the stage. So when it comes to outside, I really just want to kick back and relax while my kids burn off their energy. Really, about the only thing we do together is scent identifying. Otherwise, I just hang out and make sure no one gets hurt.
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