All summer I tried to go camping with my family in our back yard. I thought that this would be an easy thing to achieve seeing as it was literally going to be in our back yard, but invariably something came up every weekend. It was too hot, or the kids had not slept well the night before, or my husband wasn’t going to be back in time to roast marshmallows, etc. We actually got the tent up one Friday afternoon and the three kids climbed inside (even the one year old was loving this), only to be eaten alive by mosquitoes that were trapped inside with us!
With a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 1 year old it seems we will have to wait until next year to pitch our tent. In the meantime, I have tried to engender a sense of wonder & appreciation for the outdoors without the logistics of camping. Although these are not earth-shattering projects or games, they have done the trick for us this fall in lieu of camping. Here are some of our tried and true favorites:
Chase Falling Leaves: Be careful to say chase and not catch because they are hard to catch and not being able to do so may result in a frustrated kid. We spread out in a field with trees across from our house on a windy day to just spin, twirl, fall, and laugh chasing the leaves.
Make Pinecone, Nut, Dirt, Rock, Soup: For some reason my kids love to “make” food for me, maybe all kids do this, but my kids have taken it to another level. We collect all kids of natural objects and they proceed to mix them in bowls, pails, or even used yogurt containers. They serve me what they have made and I like that they are comfortable touching the different textures and we definitely head for the bath after dessert (the mud pie).
Jump in Puddles After it Rains: Originally I had the kids start doing this in order to keep them from jumping in puddles unless they had the rain boots on. It has worked. Unless they have their rain boots on, they avoid puddles like the plague. When they do have their rainboots on, it is a splash-fest. We have identified where the best puddles in our neighborhood form and it is a given that right after it stops raining we get on their rainboots and head out to stomp in the puddles for a while. For this activity we also go straight in for a bath but it is usually an afternoon activity and the kids (plus some of our neighbors) think it is pretty cool.
Tags: earth-focused, environmental stewardship, kids activites, outdoor games
