Last Week’s Strategy
Prior to my screen-free week, I was trying to pay closer attention to labels on food and cosmetic products. There are many toxic chemicals in the foods we eat and the beautifying products we use. I’ve been very conscientious of the foods we buy and I have been researching the ingredients in a variety of sunscreens so that I can purchase the safest sunscreen possible for my family to use over the summer months.
This Week’s Strategy
As an early childhood educator, I go outside with the children in my care at least twice a day. However, I find that I don’t do this as much with my own daughter. During my screen-free week I learned the importance of enjoying nature and the outdoors with children.
This week I would like to start the habit of daily outside play with my daughter. I am hoping that rain or shine, we will be outdoors for at least one hour daily. With the recent planting of the garden, I’m sure this task should be manageable. Also, my husband and I moved some furniture around on our patio to provide some sheltered space for my daughter to play in.
There are a variety of activities we can embark on while we are outside. Bike rides through the neighbourhood, play time at the park, walks through our neighbourhood, trips to our local zoo, and our day trips to the lake can provide some wonderful opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. It is my hope that I can provide even the most “routine” activities outside. Painting, drawing, gardening, snacking and reading are all wonderful activities that can be explored in our own back yard!
What do you do to ensure your children get outside? Do you have any special suggestions for activities?
Wishing you a wonderful week!
SHARE WITH OTHERS
My daughter has to collect the eggs and take care of her rabbit daily and this ensures she has to go outside. She can’t help but swing a few times on the rope and watch some critter while she’s out there. I grow stuff and keep bees in order to be outdoors regularly.
When my son was about two months old, I let him stay in his playpen in the carport. He could push up an look around. I would look out at him. He was much happier than in the house. He loved the outdoors and dirty play all his life.
Then, my daughter loved to just dig a hole and sit in it. When she was a baby and he was almost three, I put them on my bike, him on the seat behind and her stuck in the wire basket up front. We rod to the tennis courts in the morning and to the pool in the afternoon. Those children were in bed by 4:30 for the night. And, they had napped between bike rides.
When the son was 8 and daughter was 6, they had to watch the two-year-old each day for 30 minutes each after school. She was so good, just looking for bugs and looking at the bark on a tree. When she was two, she could get out a faulty lock on the back door. I found her outdoors shortly after dawn after searching the house for her, finally assuming she had been kidnapped.
They all climbed trees, rode bikes, and played on their swings everyday. I did limit their tv time to 30 minutes each day. All played baseball on teams in the summer. They played in our yard with the neighborhood kids. They were on the swim team.
I rode my bike almost daily until I was 35, so they saw a mother involved in tennis, swimming, and playing with them. They had a good role model where the ex lay on the sofa watching tv.