Greening Sam and Avery

our everyday outdoor play = watering the gardens

So far so good people! It has been 5 1/2 months since I set the goal to play outside everyday, even if it was only for a few minutes. 

Lately our outdoor play seems to be totally wrapped up in our garden. The girls are just obsessed with watering and helping me out with all of the different gardens and projects we have going on. 

The flower pots (15 pots in all!) they helped me plant weeks ago are exploding in color and life. 

And then there is the tree that we trans-planted on Mother's Day. It lots all of its leaves but with lots of watering and some additional compost added to the soil it seems to be coming back! Do you see all those new green leaves?! 

Then there is the pumpkin patch. 

With lots of new pumpkin plants popping up all the time from the pumpkins from last year that we buried and a few additional seeds that we planted this spring. 

And our strawberry patch! We aren't really harvesting many berries this year. I was told from many people to try and pick off as many flowers this year as we could to really make sure the plants take root and spread successfully so that we can have a big crop next year! 

We also did not realize just how important putting a net over the berries would be! Any berries that we thought we might get to eat the birds have beaten us to them. Bummer. 

Then there are, what I am calling, the compost tomatoes! These tomato plants sprang up all on their own out of our compost pile. Why plant annual flowers there when nature clearly wants me to grow more tomatoes? 

And finally we have the actual vegetable garden! 

With lettuce, basil, cilantro, broccoli, ground cherries, tomatoes, two kinds of beans, garlic, onions and carrots this is my favorite spot. And the girls love to help me water. With the fence to keep out the neighbor's dogs they can't really help me weed here but we will take down the fence or lift them up to get in when it is time to harvest. For now the watering is enough to keep them pretty busy! 

So, all those spaces and small kid-friendly watering cans means hours of watering fun. They have learned to work the rain barrel spigots themselves and just have a blast running around making sure everything gets a good drink!

How much do your kids help out in the garden?  

camping/backpacking with little ones

We are planning our first ever BIG camping trip with the girls this summer. Actually, we are taking them backpacking for the first time. 

During July we will head to Denver to hit up the foothill areas and then some higher elevation areas for two seperate backpacking trips; a two day trip and then a three day trip. 

We are super excited for this because Uncle Craig, Aunt Lori, Uncle Carl and cousin Chester will all be joining us! Family, hiking, camping and the great outdoors what could be better. 

But today while I was just starting to look at our gear and what we might need to pick up for the trip I realized that besides the books I have been reading it would be great to read up on what other bloggers have done with their little ones. I would really appreciate any advice, tips, tricks, games, supply must-haves, things to not bring, etc. about camping and backpacking with little kids. 

SO please link up any backpacking or camping related posts that you have to share! Or leave your advice in the comments section!

Thanks everyone. 

outdoor play link up - preparing to teach on the trail

How can it be Friday already? This week has gone by so fast and I haven't posted nearly at all. Okay, that probably has to do with me reading The Help and the first book in the Hunger Games series. Instead of being on the computer in the evenings and during nap time I was reading!  It felt great to sit in the sun or outside in the evenings and just lose myself in a book. Sorry my poor blog had to suffer. 

Anyway, next week I am taking our church camp kids out to Governor Nelson State Park to hike, learn about the habitats that are there and just have some fun in the sun.  Before I can effectively teach on the trail next week I needed to hike the trail and plan out my stops, think about actvities and really get an idea of what I was going to do. So the girls and I headed out to do just that. 

Hiking may not seem like outdoor play to a lot of people. I have heard people call it boring, tedious, work, pointless and many other adjectives that make me sad. But the girls and I love it! 

We spot things like wild turkeys, 

(You totally can't see it in the picture, it is that gray/brown blob in the middle!) 

dragonfly wings,

snakes, birds, chipmunks, thirteen-lined ground squirrels and tons of other fun things. We sing songs, race along the trail, stop for snacks and water breaks. 

Hiking may be our most favorite form of outdoor play!  And Avery is now hiking all on her own. This is super exciting for both of us. 

If you aren't that into hiking as a family I would strongly encourage you to give it another try. Sam always tells me the best part about hiking is that "we just never know what we will see"! 

This Week's Feature

Here is another hiking post that I just love! These little ones got to use a simple tool to help them really explore "every nook and cranny". Any way that you can get little ones examining the little things around them is wonderful. We so often miss the small parts of nature. So head over to Small Potatoes to see how her little photo journalists explored the trail! 

Now on to the Party! 

A few guidelines for the party...

- Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!

- If you'd like us to further share your post (e.g., on Facebook/ Twitter/ Pinterest), please just include a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play!

- Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back.

- Each time we will feature an activity from the previous party. 

- By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished. 

Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1

 

strawberry picking

If you have not taken your child out to pick their own food of some kind (apples, raspberries, black berries, strawberries, etc.)  you absolutely have to! Seeing your child find food that they can pick right off of the plant and eat in that moment is an amazing thing. Sure they can do that if you grow veggies or fruit at home but there is something about walking through a HUGE field hunting for lots of the same thing that is so interesting and exciting, at least to a little kid. 

For a grown up picking your own strawberries involves a lot of sweat, a sore back, sore knees and well pretty much sore all over! But we did it, two giant flats of strawberries, two happy little girls and four bellies full of freshly picked strawberries. 

We even had some friends come out this morning to join us!

Having the girls pick with us may seem like more work than it is worth but they really can learn at a very early age how to pick strawberries. 

Here are a few simple rules that even two year olds can understand:

1. Always look at all sides of the strawberry before you pick it off the plant. 
2. The strawberry should be bright red all over. 
3. Make sure there are no holes or bad spots on the strawberry. 
4. Never pick a green strawberry! 

Happy picking!!  Jam making and pie making will take over my life for the next few days. And the girls cannot wait to help me mash up all those berries. 

a walk my soul required

Since I started this blog (almost two years ago!) we have been getting outside almost daily to play, ride bikes, visit a park, draw with sidewalk chalk, etc. And on a fairly regular basis we have gotten outside for bigger hiking adventures. But for the past few weeks our schedule has just not made room for a hike or any kind of real time away from everything. Time just to be outside, surrounded by nature, and with no noise from traffic or people. I NEEDED to get away, even if just for a little while. 

So we headed to the dog park. Polly needed some time to run too. Or apparently she needed a swim!

And we were not prepared for her to be muddy and wet. To deal with the muddy we sent her into the lake! 

Then we really started our walk to give Polly lots of time to dry off. 

We played spot the bird, picked flowers, chased butterflies, dragonflies and listened to the red winged black birds. 

And I took the opportunity to get some cute pics of the girls.

And then the excitement of throwing rocks in the creek sent the girls running. Sam is just a little bit faster than Avery!

This was a much needed moment in a semi-wild place for our family to just relax and take in some fresh air! 

Hope you got a break this weekend and got away from ...well whatever you needed to get away from. 

our first backyard fire

Happy Friday! Happy June!

Smoke in the eyes is not so fun!

Smores with great friends!

Just a little moment from our outdoor play today!  

possibly the best track and scat preschool book

Is it really Wednesday already? Where have the days gone?  I cannot believe that I haven't posted since Friday! The long weekend was amazing. We partied with friends, had great family adventures, got garden work done, spent half a day at the outdoor pool and just had a ton of fun! Three days with Chris home is always a treat. 

Sam is still in school which seems much later than most other people but that is okay with me! She loves school so much and I know she will miss her teachers and friends when the year ends. Plus I will my structure hungry child at home with me everyday just begging for projects, learning and a schedule (all things that just sound like work to me right now!). 

Anyway, I have an awesome book to share with you all tonight. If you ever do any lessons with animal tracks or scat (animal poop) I would STRONGLY encourage you to check out this book. 

Track that Scat, by Lisa Morlock

A rhyming book about scat, what is not to love? This little girl has a new pair of boots and head out to explore the woods near her house. As she explores she keeps finding and somehow managing to step in all different kinds of scat. The story, in a fun and entertaining way, gives information about animal tracks, what animals eat, what the scat looks like and where the animals live. The information is incredible but presented in such a fun way that the kids don't even realize how much they are learning. Plus there are big sections of additional information for each animal that adults could read to grow their knowledge or older kids could have read to them. 

This could be my new favorite book. And it has proven to be a new favorite of the girls too. They even asked their dad to read it the other night (which lead to all kinds of mocking and questioning of my abilities to pick out books for our children! "a book about poop? seriously?" HA!) and had a great time watching his face as he read about all the different animal poop. 

This would be a great book to read before you go for a hike. You could also bring it along with you on the hike and make a stop at some point to read it along the way. 

It just really makes looking for signs of animal life sound way more exciting and interesting to little minds! 

Hope everyone else is having a great week! 

outdoor play link - fishing at the pond

Continuing the pond theme week with a trip to a different pond to do some fishing!

And then we caught our first fish!

After the excitement of our first fish we needed a break from fishing. So we went exploring around the pond. 

Have you ever stood that close to a muscrat before? It kind of made me nervous that Avery got so close but the muscrat did not seem to care!

Then back to fishing...

Woohoo! We caught a second fish. [Again please ignore the fact that my child desperately needs a haircut!] Avery did not want to touch the fishing pole but she did help me throw back the second fish. 

So, I have to admit that we showed up to fish with a bucket of worms that we dug out of our yard and a pole with one small hook on it. I was not very prepared as far as fishing goes. Luckily a very nice woman was next to me and she gave us a bobber, a different hook and several minnows to try. She also let the girls look at the dozens of fish she was catching (in the time we caught one she probably caught 10!). Next time we go fishing we will stop by the bait shop and grab some options. 

We ended the adventure with a great picnic, some more exploring and a little time to play at the playground. 

I can't wait to take them fishing again!

 

This Week's Feature:

Have a little one that is interested in the sky? Check out this great educational and creative idea from Growing a Jeweled Rose - Painting The Sky. Her little one really had a blast with this activity and I think my kiddos would too. Thanks so much Growing a Jeweled Rose for sharing this one with us!

Now on to the Party! 

A few guidelines for the party...

- Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!

- If you'd like us to further share your post (e.g., on Facebook/ Twitter/ Pinterest), please just include a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play!

- Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back.

- Each time we will feature an activity from the previous party. 

- By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished. 

Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1

theme week - ponds - pretend pond play

Today we decided to play pretend pond. 

We grabbed a blue blanket and laid it on the floor. Then I told the girls they had to search the house for anything and everything that they think would live in the pond. 

They found lily pads, frogs, a turtle, a crocodile (okay, not a WI pond but it does live in water somewhere!), ducks, snake, lizard (not sure about this one but they refused to let me take it out of the pond. It is a bath toy for us so I think that may have been Avery's confusion) and lots of fish. 

Then I gave the girl's their fishing pole and let them go to town!

Pause for a personal complaint...do you think my daughter needs a haircut? Why am I SO lazy when it comes to haircuts for my kids?!

Okay, back on track. 

This activity was super fun because the girls went through their rooms, their farm sets, puppets, stuffed animals and everything else. They discussed where things lived and what they could add to the pond. It was a great activity for both girls to work together on. And of course they begged me to leave it up so they could play in the pond tomorrow too!

Now how can I build a forest in my living room...

theme week - pond crafting

We kept working on our pond craft today. Sam decided that the pond needed some plants next.

First we had to look at our pond books to see what the plants that live in ponds look like. We saw grasses, small leaves (duck weed), other tall plants and fallen logs.

The girls are both very excited to start adding all the animals that live in a pond. Now I just have to figure out how I am going to pull that off!

More pretend play and pond visits later this week.