Outside our house we have a lot of trees and A LOT of chipper chattering birds. When it’s not windy they’re out playing, swooping through the sky, and hopping about. With Christmas coming the kids and I decided to make them a little gift, pinecone bird feeders. Here’s the How To’s…
Our house is littered with popcorn kernels. We’ve been stringing popcorn and cranberries for the past couple of days, and have finally gotten our Christmas tree decorated! Although between the dog and the two-year-old not many ornaments are remaining on the tree.
I Luurrrvvvv making popcorn and cranberry garlands. They are so naturally beautiful and a fun nature craft for the kids. We’ll be putting ours outside for the birdies to eat when it’s time to take the tree down. We made ours while watching our favorite Christmas movie.
Here’s a quick video of our popcorn stringing adventures. P.S. keep an eye out for the little naked popcorn thief! Poor child…who is his mother?
Here’s something I learned about myself a long time ago…I don’t have the desire to exercise until I’m halfway through a workout. That’s when I finally get aggressive and imagine I’m an Athleta Model. (I can daydream right!) Then I wake up the next day and my brain resets itself…forcing me to come up with some scrap of motivation I had earlier to get me out of bed.
Sometimes on cold November days I feel the same way about going outside. I don’t really want to get the kids bundled up and head out because it’s easier to settle for a comforting warm house. But the sensible mama kicks in and I realize a healthy dose of brisk air and nature are the best thing for us all. And once we’re into it…amazing memories are made.
We headed out for a fun adventure the other day even though the temp wasn’t ideal, the car said 39 degrees. We went and gathered some fall leaves and pinecones to make a leaf lantern at home. And guess what, halfway into it the kids didn’t even realize it was cold outside, in fact it seemed like it warmed up because of all the running around we were doing! I actually had to force them back inside for lunch. Take a look…
video
I first saw the idea for a leaf lantern over at 5 Orange Potatoes. It’s such a fun way to bring those gorgeous colors inside. We pressed the leaves, then glued them inside the big jar. Then we put a yummy hazelnut cream candle in it to burn.
It’s so pretty. I light it at night in the family room. It’s a great way to bring nature inside for the holidays.
So here’s my recommendation:
Dust off a memory in your mind when you and your kids had a blast playing outside on a cold day and keep it handy for those days when you just don’t feel like bundling up and heading outside. Maybe it will give you that extra nudge out the front door.
:
During the week of November 14th Polarn O. Pyret will be having some major conversations about getting your kids outside over at their Facebook page. They have declared that week Every Day a Playday week. They are challenging care givers to get their kids out every day that week. How cool is that! So go share your adventures with them and maybe you’ll pick up some ideas from others.
If you liked this post you may also like these posts:
I’ve been trying to ingrain into my children’s brains that everything in our home has a specific spot it belongs. It seems I spend my days saying things like, “your coat doesn’t belong on the floor,” and “get these legos off the dinner table.” But this lesson they are continually learning goes beyond just our house. While we were out for a walk the other day my 3-year-old son threw his sucker stick on the ground, stepped on it and kept on walking. Bright lights, bells and whistles went off in my head and I realized it was a teaching moment.
“Hey little man garbage doesn’t belong on the ground. It belongs in the garbage can,” I said. He shrugged his shoulders and picked it up without a fight. Lesson learned, right? Well today I decided to take it a bit further. My kids and I went for a walk with our gloves on and garbage sack in hand. We picked up garbage as we went. I think this drove the idea in a little further. As we walked we talked about the idea of leave no trace and the responsibilities that come along with playing outside. (I condensed it to the 6 and 3-year-old version)
Here are some subjects we hit on:
Stay on marked trails
Pack out what you pack in
Leave what you find
Be careful with fire
Don’t bother the wildlife
Overall it’s just a matter of leaving things how you find them, by trying to have a minimal impact on your surroundings. That way others that come along the trail later can find it in the exact beautiful state that you did. By not picking that dark purple leopard lily just off the trail someone else can witness it’s popping color and point it out to their travel companion.
Fun Activity:
Last Spring I took my Cub Scout group and my kids up a trail just above our little town. We took plaster of paris and poured it into animal footprints we found. Then we hiked up the trail. By the time we returned the plaster was dry and we took the molds of the footprints out. The kids loved it, and seemed to enjoy taking a bit of nature home with them without actually taking something.
