Let’s Take it Outside!
Welcome to the June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their stories and tips for playing outside with kids. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
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I’m an indoor kind of girl.
I can go days without going outdoors. It’s not that I hate being outdoors. It’s more like I don’t have a persistent need to be outdoors. I don’t get depressed by bad weather because I don’t usually get that “cooped up” feeling. Therefore it is not a surprise that Baby E and I don’t play outside very often. In fact, as a child I would pass up the chance to play outside in favor of laying on the couch to read a good book.
Baby E is too young to complain about not playing outdoors more often. In fact, he might prefer being indoors because that’s where he’s allowed the most freedom to explore. When we’re outdoors he’s usually confined to our arms or a baby carrier since he’s not walking unassisted yet. I know this will not last long. He will become more mobile and possibly bored with indoor play.
So, I’ve thought of some preliminary ideas for how to get us playing outside more often this summer.
- Take a walk around our neighborhood and point out new objects
- Go to the park and let Baby E crawl on the grass
- Get Baby E a toy with wheels and let him roll it around outside
- Play with a ball
- Get a bowl of water and splash around on the back patio
What else do you think we can do?
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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
- Garden Treats — Asha at Mom Costume has once again been bitten by the gardening bug — and this time her baby’s tagging along for some fresh air and dirt exploration. (@titbagsandsnoot)
- Outdoor Free Roam — Mamapoekie at Authentic Parenting follows her daughter’s lead whenever they go outside. (@mamapoekie)
- Summer fun in Austin with a toddler — Jessica at This Is Worthwhile is brainstorming ways to beat the heat in Texas. (@tisworthwhile)
- summer fun… — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children is looking forward to spending the summer outside with her children the way she used to spend summers with her mother.
- Outdoor Fun for Pre-Walkers — Maman A Droit has figured out ways to let her pre-walker enjoy the outdoors. (@MamanADroit)
- Summer Homeschool Fun at Camp Review — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now discusses how Camp Review motivated and captivated her homeschooling family. (@DebChitwood)
- Digging, Tree Climbing and Puddle Jumping — Laura at Laura’s Blog bemoans the loss of her girls’ climbing tree but knows they’ll find something else just as naturally tempting.
- The Sweet Smells of Summer — Erin at A Beatnik’s Beat on Life is looking forward to the many smells of summer she and her daughters enjoy and identify. (@babybeatnik)
- June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor Fun — Sybil at Musings of a Milk Maker is a confirmed couch potato who can’t help but be inspired by the outdoor opportunities Seattle offers her family. (@sybilryan)
- Take a Hike — Michelle at The Parent Vortex connects with her family and the Earth on frequent hikes in their Pacific wilderness. (@TheParentVortex)
- Following Paul — Julie at Simple Life gives her kids unstructured time to dig in the dirt and pick mulberries. (@homemakerjulie)
- Instilling a Love of the Outdoors in Your Baby/Toddler — Tessasdad at Stay At Home Dad in Lansing offers a photo book of tips for helping your little ones enjoy the outdoors. (@tessasdad)
- Camping, baby! — Jen at Grow With Graces has easy tips for tent camping with a little one. (@growwithgraces)
- Think Outside the Easel for Summertime Fun — Acacia at Be Present Mama finds several ways to bring art fun to the outdoors.
- Outdoor Learning in our Urban Environment — Andrea at Ella-Bean & Co. has found ways to get grass between her daughter’s toes, even in the city.
- Outdoor Education — Alison at BluebirdMama offers parents tips and resources for making each outdoor excursion a learning experience. (@childbearing)
- Turning Inside Out — Christie of Childhood 101 finds kids get a kick out of taking indoor toys outside. (@Childhood101)
- Watching Peas Sprout — Deb at Science@home combines fun with purpose in this educational outdoor activity. (@ScienceMum)
- How To Create a Pirate Treasure Hunt & Other Easy Outdoor Pirate Activities (June Carnival of Natural Parenting) — Dionna at Code Name: Mama has pirate-themed play ideas for ye scurvy landlubbers. (@CodeNameMama)
- What We Do — Luschka at Diary of a First Child has managed to expose her 8-month-old to a wide variety of outdoor fun, even with the notoriously dreary UK weather. (@diaryfirstchild)
- Summer Fun — Darcel at The Mahogany Way finds her family’s visits to the beach refreshing in so many ways. (@MahoganyWayMama)
- Playing outside without a backyard — Sheryl at Little Snowflakes doesn’t let the lack of a backyard stop her family from enjoying the outdoors. There are plenty of things to do outside of your yard! (@sheryljesin)
- Having Fun Outdoors, Playset Free — Guavalicious at They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping has resisted a backyard playset in favor of the regular backyard. (@guavalicious)
- Moon Gazing with your Toddler — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries is keeping her toddler up at night, but it’s for a good reason: to share the wonders of the night sky! (@babydust)
- the great outdoors — The grumbles at grumbles and grunts wonders whether her urban child can experience the same free-range childhood she enjoyed. (@thegrumbles)
- Let’s Take It Outside! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing is looking for ideas: how can she spend time with her pre-walker outside this summer? (@BlkWmnDoBF)
- A home by the sea: June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun — Lauren at Hobo Mama is living her dream of a home near the beach, and taking full advantage of it. (@Hobo_Mama)
- An Outside Girl — Zoey at Good Goog moved her family to (almost) the middle of nowhere so that her outdoor-loving girl could have more grass and less concrete. (@zoeyspeak)
- Neighborhood Nature — Kelly at Kelly Naturally has learned to connect with the nature she has instead of mourning the nature she misses. (@kellynaturally)
- Building Lovely Memories of Swimming, Spiders and Gravestones — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch and her family are simply outdoorsy people. (@kitchenwitch)
- “Buh-Bye” Season — Danielle at born.in.japan must leave laundry behind and follow her son’s call to the outdoors. (@borninjp)
- Backyard Camping — Becoming Mamas took her family camping very close to home! (@becomingmamas)
- The Color of Dreams — Seeking Mother at Woman Seeking Mother makes gardening magical by teaching her son that each flower is a faery. (@seekingmother)
Posted on June 8, 2010, in Blog Carnival, Natural parenting. Bookmark the permalink. 25 Comments.
I’m trying to think about what Kieran and I did outside before he walked. A lot of times I’d just bring out a blanket, some books, bubbles, and a camera. He could scoot around to his heart’s content on or off the blanket and I relaxed. I liked to show him things – trees, flowers, bugs. We also did a lot of outdoor concerts last summer. He loves music and there were always people to watch. Have fun!!
we’re pre-walking over here too so i’m interested to see what tips you get. we’ve done the blanket in the park thing and we go for lots of walks with him in the sling. i’ve also busted out the kiddie pool and with close supervision it was pretty fun, jude liked splashing around to his heart’s content in the water. he goes outside pretty much every day and just chills out on a blanket while the little girls blow bubbles.
it seems like activities will get a little easier (but more complicated) once they can walk, this scooting/standing stage is hard to plan for.
I like to joke that I like the outdoors, from the porch of a cabin with a drink. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when my husband told me the one thing he wishes I did more with the girls was take them outside. It just seemed like such a pain at the baby stage.
What I did was make a deal with myself to keep it simple but get outside each day. Sometimes it was just having storytime outside on a quilt. Sometimes it was sitting on the deck and eating lunch instead of doing it at the table.
My whole post was about this! One idea I just thought of that I didn’t include in my post is that my son totally loves walking around in the baby carrier places where there are lots of people to look at and wave at like a farmer’s market.
Another non-mobile/almost crawling kiddo over here too! Ella likes bubbles, and we also go for a lot of walks, but nearly every day (weather permitting) we go to the park and hang out on a blanket – Ella can practice her moves and I can lounge. We usually bring some toys too to cut down on the grass eating!!
Balloons which haven’t been blown up all the way are fun too. You can also hang a few in a tree or from an awning and watch them blow in the wind.
I love to take my crawlers/sitters to the park or yard, or any grassy place… I let them explore the grass, chew on sticks, watch fluttering butterflies and follow marching ants. Its a blast- and makes lovely photographs too!
When Mikko was pre-walking, carrying him around on my back seemed to amuse him pretty well, as long as we kept moving. We took him on boat rides, hiking in the mountains, downtown to sightsee – wherever we were going anyway.
Going to the pool has always been a big favorite. If it’s hot, you could find an outdoor regular or wading pool. If not, indoor ones are still fun.
Baby swings are a hit. Some babies will swing for hours! Sandboxes are good for littler ones as well, if you don’t mind the inevitable sand tasting.
Can you get a membership at a zoo or aquarium or similar? If it’s really expensive, you could hold off till your baby would be more interested in the animals, but at this point it might give you something to look at while you walk!
Maybe you could organize an outdoor playdate or picnic with some other parents. Then you could enjoy some conversation while the kids amuse each other.
We found that as Mikko entered toddlerhood, he demanded to go outdoors more. He just was much happier if given time outside to stretch his legs, breathe fresh air, and let loose some energy. Sam and I are pretty much the indoorsiest people we know, so it has surprised us that we get outside pretty much every day now. Before having a baby, we could go weeks without seeing the sun, due to a combination of our bizarre sleep schedules, the Seattle winters, and our lack of interest in fresh air. But now — we just have to get out there every day, or Mikko pays for it. So we do, and it’s good. You find things to do as they get older that they like.
Here are some comments & suggestions I got when I posted your link on my FB page. I thought they were really good ones!
Michael Dawn Thies: To be honest, we haven’t spent much time outside. I tried taking her for a walk a couple of weeks ago and she was screaming bloody murder before we’d gone two blocks! She didn’t calm down till we were back in the air conditioning– at 8:30 in the morning!! (My baby is 10 months)
Roxanne DeBord: We go to the park since we have a 3 year old, too. My 9 mo old loves to look around and watch the other kids playing while my 3 year old runs off some steam. I either carry him in a wrap or he rides in his stroller.
Susan Betke: With all of my little ones we have to be outside as much as possible. With water play we get paint brushes and “paint” with water on walls, sidewalks, just about everything. Nothing to clean up afterwards!
Sara Hughes: We go for walks around the neighborhood with her in the Maya or Mei Tai. Or we checkout my neighbor’s garden and pick strawberries, talk about what plants are what, etc. She planted some hostas with me (on my back with a big ‘ole hat to protect her pale skin). Last weekend we went to a local petting zoo and this weekend we’re going to a friend’s house to play in the pool. Next Saturday I hope to bring her to the beach to sit in the sand and have the waves come up under her so she can feel the sand and water. Oh! And we’re going to be having a multi-family rummage sale at my friend’s farm this weekend so we’re going to go visit all the farm animals
I hope to find a nice botanical garden to visit shortly, also. I love showing her the natural beauty of the outdoors whenever I can 
Thanks for the heads up! Unfortunately it’s been extremely hot here lately so staying inside has been best option for everyone.
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