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JamieCarin
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| Posted: June 08 2012 at 9:23am | IP Logged
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Anyone have any recommendations for encouraging my kids to GET OUTSIDE??!!
Just a little background: 1. they are young 4 and 3, but they are allowed in my fenced yard without a parent having to be outside (I can hear and see them from the kitchen) 2. our yard is tiny tiny tiny leaving little room to REALLY run around, and perhaps little scope for imagination? 3. they are not complaining of being bored. My 4yr old especially will play with his trains ALLLLL day independently and the 3yr old will do whatever the 4yr old tells her to LOL
But they need to get out, get their vitamin D, get the fresh air, use imagination, discover. So any ideas to encourage them to get out?? We do gardening as a family and we have a small kiddie slide (and a blow up pool when it is warm enough). I am sitting out in the yard about to do some knitting hoping they would follow me out...no luck LOL
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MaryM
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| Posted: June 08 2012 at 10:03am | IP Logged
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JamieCarin wrote:
Anyone have any recommendations for encouraging my kids to GET OUTSIDE??!!
My 4yr old especially will play with his trains ALLLLL day independently and the 3yr old will do whatever the 4yr old tells her to LOL |
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Can the trains go outside for a little countryside adventure? If it is Brio or other wooden take apart sets, I would totally do this. It would bring his object of play focus to a new area for different perspective, while getting him out. It could be a start to transitions to other outdoor adventures. And it sounds like little sister would follow along. Have them make nature accessories for the trains - like stick or rock fences, stacked rock or leaning stick "depots", etc. Lots of great materials outdoors to "haul" on the trains.
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JamieCarin
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| Posted: June 08 2012 at 10:09am | IP Logged
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Yes it is just the Brio...we also have the plastic Take and Play sets (he is SERIOUS about hsi Thomas!). This is a great idea and I will try it. I often tell him to bring out some construction trucks and dig and haul rocks etc, but he doesn't want to do this...so let me try the trains...and perhaps construction will folllow...and like you said building and hauling what is around in the yard.
Thanks
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Wife to Claudio for 9yrs, Mom to Ben (4), and Annabella (almost 3), and Beatrice (born 1/17/12)
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: June 08 2012 at 12:03pm | IP Logged
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What fun ages :) And challenging.
I agree they need to go out, as come winter there is minimal time to go out, at least here it's like that. When it's -20, it's a no go..lol.
Ideas for outside, it can take some of your time to accomplish. A simple scavenger hunt in the yard, create with pictures.
Marble Racing
Outdoor play kitchen
If you have a sand box, you can hide items in it for a 'treasure' hunt.
This pinterest board had cool ideas
Spread out some newsprint off a roll, and paper plates with paint, and let them paint with their feet.
Go for walks(walk the dog if you have one). Nature walks in the park. Geocaching can be neat if the kids are good hikers. Going to the parks, splash parks(or create your own), bird watching, star gazing, back yard campfire(I know night, but outdoors regardless). Puddle jumping in the rain, bug collecting, butterfly catch and release.
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ShannonJ
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How about little picnics that they set themselves? My kids love doing this. I keep a crib quilt or small blanket that is easy for them to lay out and provide a tea set with some water and a small snack (goldfish, pretzels, etc.).
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3ringcircus
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You can get a small fountain pump kit (Lowes), some tubing, and a couple of random different-sized vessels and make a fountain. It can get a little messy, and there is an electrical cord, but at their ages, they could probably be trusted to not do anything dangerous (under supervision though, still). It might be time for us to pull ours out. It was a big project for me to figure out, but a lot of fun. IIRC, we used the pump two different ways. The first was just to set it in their water table, w/ the plastic attachments making the fountain. The second was to attach the hose to the pump, then run the water down a wooden ramp and back into the table. We experimented w/ putting things at different heights and using random materials to elevate them.
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CrunchyMom
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ShannonJ wrote:
| How about little picnics that they set themselves? My kids love doing this. I keep a crib quilt or small blanket that is easy for them to lay out and provide a tea set with some water and a small snack (goldfish, pretzels, etc.). |
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Food is a siren song, imo 
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rftravis
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| Posted: June 11 2012 at 2:19pm | IP Logged
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good ideas already... just seconding the sandbox mentioned, even if its really small, even if its really a sand table. its good for trains, too!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: June 11 2012 at 2:48pm | IP Logged
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what about other toys? plastic dinosaurs for instance are a natural for outside play. Have the kids ever seen "Dinosaur Train" cartoons? a train outside and some plastic dinos and...
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ekbell
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| Posted: June 14 2012 at 12:13am | IP Logged
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Something I've done with my kids is to move read-alouds outside (mainly because *I* wanted outside after a long winter).
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: June 14 2012 at 6:36am | IP Logged
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Lots of great ideas! The one that works for me is to tell the kids they have to go out for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes they are welcome to come back in. Usually, by that time, they are engaged in some game or activity that they have come up with and they don't want to come in! You could do this when you go out to do your knitting. Just require them to come with you and set the timer for 15 minutes. Then, when the timer goes off, give them the option of staying to play longer or going inside.
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Becky
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: my home bodies
