Five reasons to get outside:
- There’s always something new to see, even if you go to the same place every time.
- Any projects done outside mean less mess in your house.
- It’s impossible to stay cranky for very long outside.
- Everyone sleeps better after running around.
- You homeschool, so your kids have time to be kids outdoors. Every day. Take advantage!
Ten things to do outdoors:
- Teach your kids to play marbles in the dirt like we did (or maybe that was just the seventies crowd?).
- Blow bubbles, in every kind of weather. Watch them freeeze in winter, fly across the yard in spring, reflect leaf colours in the fall, and hover in the summer.
- Jump in puddles. You too, parents!You’ll dry.
- Pour sugar (A tbsp, not a cup!) on the patio. Watch the ants find it. See how they send a scout first, then a whole pile of workers carries the sugar to the nest.
- Sandbox volcanos.
- Chalk. Soak it in water for half an hour first and the colours are much more vivid. Colour the driveway, the trees, the bricks.
- Lie in the grass on a blanket and watch clouds on a windy day.
- Fly a kite. Even the simplest paper-and-straw kites will fly on a windy day.
- Climb a tree.
- Stop somewhere safe. Close your eyes (hold onto small people!). Smell and listen. Try it in different places as you stroll along....sidewalk, garden, park, woods, pond........
