Greening Sam and Avery

she doesn't have to love every kind of outdoor adventure

Deep sea fishing is not for Sam. She was sick pretty much the whole boat ride! We were all very impressed because she never cried, whined or spoke even one word of complaint. She just kept throwing up, everywhere, and on everyone!  Disgusting! 

We had a few minutes at the beginning where she was not sick and then a little time at the very end where she was feeling okay, but other than that her trip was pretty rough. It didn't help that the fishing was horrible and we only caught one fish.

Way to go Uncle Craig.

But Sam got to see some sights and when she wasn't sick she had a great time on the boat.

Sam sat up for a few minutes when she really wasn't feeling well and was able to see a group of humpback whales that were not too far from our boat. It was amazing! Even though she was SO sick I still think she was pretty impressed.

Sam got a chance at the end of the trip when she was feeling better to reel in the bait fish. She was thrilled and thought she had caught a fish! We didn't argue with her.

At the end of the trip the captain was emptying out the bait bins and feeding the birds and sea lions. He got one sea lion to come all the way up on the boat and we pet it!

So cool to see a sea lion that close!

As we headed back to the house Sam told me that she never wanted to go on a boat again. I talked with her about all the great things that we saw but she still insisted that she didn't like it and didn't want to do it again. I don't blame her. If I had gotten that sick I wouldn't want to either. BUT I think I am going to make her take another boat ride while we are down here! I know, I am a mean, bad mom, but hear me out. They have these little tourist boat rides that you can take where you get to see the sea lions in their natural habitat, visit some secluded beautiful beaches and some awesome rock bluffs. The boat stays close to shore the whole time, is a short ride and there are stops to get out along the way. I think this type of trip might be a great way to show her that not all boat rides will make you sick and miserable. There is a risk that even this short and calm ride will make her seasick, but it is a risk I am willing to take so that she goes away with good memories and a willingness to try it again. Do you think I am crazy?

Okay, gotta get ready for the beach later!

horse birthday party

My niece loves horses. Stuffed horses, horse figurines, horses her dolls can ride and of course real horses. We recently got to be at her 5th birthday party and Jodie, my sister, pulled out all the stops at making this a great horse party and a super fun outdoor play birthday party!

The kids had several different swings to play on.

And Jodie handmade these adorable sock riding horses for each kid to play with and take home. I loved that instead of filling a little goodie bag with candy, trinkets or other things that would most likely get lost or end up in the trash Jodie made something super unique and fun that each kid can play with for a long time. And she didn't spend much more than what she would have on the bag of junk!

But the best part of the party was the LIVE horses! They were these two adorable little miniature horses.

The kids got to take the ropes and lead the horses around the yard. This was a HUGE hit.

Even Avery got a turn to try!

And the kids got to brush the horses, learn how to pet them and where to stand around a horse.

Parker was one happy little birthday girl!

The trampoline was a big hit too. I even got in on the action with some "Ring-Around-the-Rosie".

The whole two hour party was outside! They played outside the whole time. Ate lunch as a picnic on blankets in the backyard and even did cake and presents outside. It was great to see so many kids totally happy and content to be outside on a cooler day.

This is how to do a birthday party! 

animal movement as a game

I recently found Wildlife Fun 4 Kids and am loving all the fun stuff over there.

The girls and I tried out the wildlife movement dice today. It was a big hit. I printed it out on cardstock and followed the directions on the site but then I switched up the pictures a bit. Using the internet I just printed some small sized photos of animals that my kiddos are familiar with. The original animals are great but I wanted to use more local animals instead.

Once the dice was set I simply explained to the girls what to do (roll the dice and then act out the movements and sounds of the animal that showed up on top) and we got busy being animals!

It was a lot of fun! Wish we would have made multiple dice so that we could do more animals.

Thanks Wildlife Fun 4 Kids!

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The Nitty Gritty!
To extend this activity you could add some reading.

• Can You Growl Like a Bear by John Butler
• Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder
• Swing, Slither or Swim by Patricia M. Stockland
• Do Goldfish Gallop? by Michael Dahl

You could also extend this game for older kids by asking them to tell you one fact they know about the animal that they roll before they act out the movement. This could lead to great discussions and learning about the animals on the dice.

 

camouflage crafting

Saw this activity in Growing Up Wild   and thought it looked like a fun one. We have learned about camouflage before with an outdoor activity. I wish I would have known about this craft back then because they would be great to do together (we ran out of time today so we didn't get the outdoor activity done again either).

I started with some animal pictures and let Sam pick out the one she wanted to use. She then got to cut it out of the page.

Then we talked about what colors she saw in the animal and what colors would need to be around the animal if it wanted to hide.

After that we simply got crafting!

She just ripped the paper into pieces and glued them down around the bird to camouflage the bird!

Super simple craft and if we had more animal pictures (who knew it was so hard to find animals pictures in magazines?) she would have had fun making more of these.

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The Nitty Gritty!

Check the Must See Children's Books page on the sidebar for a few good books on camouflage.

I think a great environmental education lesson in a preschool classroom would consist of a storytime on camouflage, the craft and then the outdoor camouflage activity that I linked to up above. Sounds like fun to me!! 

we are back

But not quite settled in yet. I have been running around like crazy taking care of the yard, garden (it is amazing the amount of green beans and tomatos we came home to; thank you Jenna for watering for us!), laundry, unpacking, grocery store, playing at home and a great run for me.

It is fun to watch the girls play with toys they haven't seen in a week. They are settling back in too.

While we were on vacation I started reading Omnivore's Delimma by michael Pollan. I will share more about the book and the great stuff I am learning later but one thing that even just a few chapters in this book has made me realize is that I need to work harder to share with Sam where her food comes from and the food of other animals. 

We have brought flashcards to life before in this house (here). Not a huge fan of flashcards but for some things they do work well. And kids seem to really like having sets of things. Anyway, I decided to try and see if I could use flashcards to help show Sam who-eats-who.

I had Sam pull out flashcards of animals she thought were big in size. Then I asked her what she thought they all ate. We talked about which ones ate grass (cow, horse, deer) and which ones ate meat (frog, coyote, badger). Then we started looking to see if we could find smaller animals that the bigger ones might eat. I let her flip over flashcards, take guesses and place cards next to each other. I didn't tell her she was wrong right away, I just asked questions. I asked her if those animals lived in the same place.  If an animal could eat an animal that was bigger. She only got a couple of the animals matched up correctly but it was a great conversation starter.

Today's activity wasn't earth shattering and certainly not one of my most creative but it did let me know that I have a long way to go with Sam and her understanding of what other animals eat.I need to start looking into how you teach that to preschoolers!

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The Nitty Gritty!

Avery sat on my lap while Sam and I were doing this. She had no interest in what we were talking about but loved holding the cards, trying to say the animals names and practicing her animal noises. She is hilarious right now with how much she is trying to say and do. It makes me really excited to work with her one on one when Sam starts back to school in a few weeks.

 

serious hands on

 
We all like hands-on fun. I am even a big fan of feet-in fun! But today was even a bit much for me.

I am all for a good petting zoo. But this guy is not my idea of a cute and cuddly thing that I would want to go and put my hand on!

 
Or this guy.

Or these!

 

I mean even this little guy could take off a hand if he really wanted to!

 
It is all of those thoughts that made me know we had to get to this exhibit while we were in town visiting my family. I am a firm believer in not passing on my fears to my children. They will NOT think the second a toe enters the ocean that every animal in there wants to eat them for dinner! Crazy, yes, but that is the actual thought that enters my mind when I get in the ocean.

So we went and "pet" stingrays and sharks today.

 
This is a horrible picture but we spent almost an hour with our hands in this big tank trying to pet the sharks and stingrays. Everyone there, including Avery, got a hand on those sting rays.

I freaked out once when the shark got too close and then had to really go into recovery mode to convince Sam it was okay to put her hand back in the water (oops!). But overall the kids all loved it and I came home with all my fingers.

If you are in the St. Louis, MO area the St. Louis Zoo is a great place to check out!

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The Nitty Gritty!

I talked about my fear a while back, here. I have been reassured by hundreds of people that it is irrational but it doesn't matter; a fear is a fear. I panic and freak out if something gets too close to me in the water or even if my imagination makes me think that something might be getting too close to me. I hate that I can't fully enjoy some of the things that my husband loves to do because of a fear. I will probably never scuba dive and my husband has logged well over 100 hours under water. 

But what is even more important to me is that my girls do not have this same fear. I try to treat this the same way I do spiders, snakes, darkness or anything else that kids tend to have a fear of. Get them educated, experienced and comfortable with it so they can't be afraid.

When I first saw a billboard advertising the stingray/shark exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo I knew it was something I had to take the girls to see. I didn't even know there would be petting involved, I just thought we would be able to see sharks and other marine life up close. That alone would be terrifying for me! Because I have a fear of these things I work extra hard to appear to my girls that I am not afraid.

Sam was a bit hesitant at first and gradually worked up the courage to really put her hand in and feel the stingrays. When I got startled by one of the sharks and screamed she got really scared. I focused on her after that, trying my best to set aside my own fear for her sake. I asked her to show me how we were suppose to put our hand in. Asked her to demonstrate. Asked her if she could be brave and do it first so I could watch. Asked her to be the leader. I appealed to her need to be the "big girl". I used every trick up my mommy/educator sleeve to encourage and support her to be brave. It worked and she was able to pet them again. I truly hope that they can enjoy and love the ocean in a way that I have never been able to.

 

packing in the adventures

My two nieces and nephew are in town with us and little enough that missing mommy and daddy is still a serious problem when they aren't around. But remodeling a house, moving and working meant that aunt abbie needed to kidnap (not literally, please don't call social services!) the kids for a few days.

So what do you do when three little ones are missing their parents? Keep them so busy they don't have time or energy to think about what they are missing!

This morning we packed in the park, zoo and a picnic. Luckily friends came along to keep me company and help out with the flock of kids!

 
 
Eight kids in all! You can't see Avery because she was on my back for a lot of the morning.

 
 
 
This is my sister's oldest and in this picture ALL I can see is my sister. They are starting to look so much a like.

 
 
Our attempt at a picture together!

They all crashed in the car on the way home after lunch which meant that naptime was not much of a success.

So, we packed in some sidewalk chalk, sprinkler time and soccer playing.

It was quite the outdoor playing, fun filled adventurous day!

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The Nitty Gritty!

I have a fair, park, picnic and the pool planned for tomorrow. Exhausted just thinking about it.

our new pet

We found this little guy on our tomato plant yesterday and I knew he had to go!

 
But Sam did not want to get rid of him or just put him on another plant. We had to bring him inside!

So, I found the biggest glass jar that we had on hand and drilled a few small holes in the top.

 
The caterpillar is called a Tobacco Hornworm and it will eventually turn into the Carolina Sphinx Moth. I am really hoping we will be able to keep him alive and see the whole transformation.

So far we have just been experimenting with what he likes to eat. The tomato plant branch that we broke off in order to bring him inside safely seems to be his favorite so far. Sam is really hoping the maple leaves will start being eaten too, she put those in there. She also really wants to try grass so we may have to add some of that tomorrow.

I see caterpillar crafts and books in my future!

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The Nitty Gritty!

While I don't think it is necessary to bring insects and animals into your house to learn about them and observe them it can be very useful for children as young as infants to have animals in their home.

I believe (and I don't have any real research to back this up just personal experiences) that having pets to play with, observe, care for and just be around helps small children learn gentleness and compassion for other things. My girls help me to brush our dog, play with her, feed her dinner some days and love chasing her around the house. But they have also learned not to play with her food, pull on her tail or poke her in the face. They know that there are limits to what you can do to animals.

We also have a frog in our home right how which Sam is responsible for feeding (with supervision from Chris!). Both girls love watching "Freddy" swim around and eat his food.

Having pets isn't necessary but I really think it goes a long way to helping kids learn how to interact with animals and appreciate the world around them!

tenney park and lock, madison

We took friends to Tenney Park and Lock today. It has become one of my favorite spots in Madison because of the combination of natural play areas, water and playgrounds (a favorite for my girls!). The girls love looking for all the wildlife that is around Lake Mendota, the creek and "pond" (may be a branch off of the river or the lake I am not actually sure). There are tons of big trees, wildflowers, a beach, rocks to climb and much more! Plus two different playgrounds within walking distance of each other that are great for little ones.

One of the things that is so great about this place is that it is in Madison, almost right downtown. Having places like this to go so close to the city means that even those families living in the most urban settings have a place nearby to play outdoors and see some natural areas.

Apparently today I was sick of taking pictures of my own kids and just wanted to take pictures of our friend's daughter! She is a cutie!!!!

Had a great weekend with friends and some fun outdoor play time. It was almost 100 degrees today so we didn't get to explore as much as I would have liked but the little girls (and all the grownups!) were just too darn hot!

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The Nitty Gritty!

If you are headed to Tenney anytime soon I have a plan of action that I would suggest! 

Start your adventure at the small playground right by Lake Mendota, there is a parking lot right there. Then use the distraction of the big lake to draw the kiddos away from the slides. If you brought beach stuff you can head to the beach right from there. A short walk from the playground and beach is the Tenney Lock with a nice wildflower path, fish to look for and a great pier out on the lake to explore. Cross the street from there and you can head to the creek. There are birds, muscrats, beavers and tons of fish to find around the creek. Head to one of the stone bridges to get to the island that has soccer fields and another big playground. Once your kids have had enough for the day the walk back and be a way to point out more of the natural sights (and wear them out just a little bit more!).

This may seem really specific but I have discovered that one of the most helpful things when you head out on an outdoor adventure is knowing the location really well and having a plan for what you will do when you get there. Hope this helps someone that might be in the Madison area enjoy this fun place just a little bit more!

outdoor play link up - water play with an animal twist

We had friends over today to play and eat dinner with us tonight. Four little ones can tear apart a house in no time so I was determined to have them play outside as much as possible. Water play is always a good way to do that. But I thought I would add a few other things to keep the play lasting a bit longer.

I set up this great animal/water play area.

 
 
It was a combination of toy animals, reycled carry out food trays, logs and tree cookies! Which all combined turned into over an hour worth of imaginary outdoor play. The big girls had animal races, took them to the pool and had them jumping from cliffs. The two little girls practiced animal noises and finding specific animals.

I have always been a supporter of bringing indoor toys outside and today reminded me just how much fun little ones can have with toys they see everyday just by putting those toys in a new setting.

 How did you spend your week outdoors? 

Share your outdoor play with us. Here’s just a few guidelines for sharing.

> Any kind of outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up

> Please do not share any competitions or promotions

> Please link back to this post

> Each week we will feature an activity from the previous week. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link from your post to be republished.

Thanks for sharing.

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