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Archive for the ‘Boys Activities’ Category

Learning from our kids

Posted in Boys Activities, hiking with toddlers, tagged , , on February 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Hiking with kids walking is different and far, far slower than hiking with adults.  They want to look at everything along the way.   This week we managed a relatively long hike–2 miles!–with both boys walking. It took two hours though as they both needed time to explore.

I’m gradually learning to see the blessings of this slow pace.  I notice many things that, were the boys not with me, I would hurry past without a glance. Had we not tarried so long by a dried up pond on saturday, I would not have heard the frogs calling in the bushes, and had we not spent 15 minutes listening in a woody clearing on sunday, I would have missed the pleasant experience of sitting with nothing but the wind in the branches and the creaking of the trees to disturb me (the boys were too busy really listening themselves to make any noise).

Quiet for once

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Science in Nature (or, how much fun you can have with a fallen log and a broken plank)

Posted in Boys Activities, hiking with toddlers, Unstructured Play, Wilderness Activities, tagged , on February 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

On our hike this morning we came across an old plank and fallen tree branches settled in the bottom of a dried-out old pond. The boys wanted to play and the possibilities were endless.

First we made a see-saw

Nature see-saw

Then we experimented moving the fulcrum so that Daddy and The Monkey would balance each other. See, I said there was science involved!

Give me a fulcrum and ...I'll move Daddy

Then we experimented to see how we could get all four members of the family balanced on the plank with both ends off the ground. (This is the view from my end).

A well-balanced family

Then we practiced our balance as we took turns to walk along the plank/see-saw.  So much fun!  The boys were sad to leave at lunchtime, but waved goodbye to their new toy and hoped that other children would be along to play with it soon.

Tipping Point

Me too!

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Driftwood Fort

Posted in Beaches, Boys Activities, Unstructured Play, Wilderness Activities, tagged , , , , on February 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

My boys love to build.  Beaches full of driftwood are a real favourite with our family and keep everyone occupied for hours.

First you have to select your materials:

Good sticks

Then it’s time to build

Focus

And then this bit goes there

Then relax and enjoy the view

There are many things I love about this activity: it’s outside, it engages the boys’ creative thinking, it’s pretty much self-directed and it pushes their imagination.  The fort doesn’t have to be entirely ‘finished’ for them to enjoy it.

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