Back To Nature

Children just don't seem to play like they use to! We feel like we have to plan every minute of their day with activities that are going to make them smarter. In the process we are totally over working ourselves and overstimulating our children!

A couple of weeks ago I did an article review in the Polkadots Blog about children returning to nature. After reading this article I got this obsession with wanting to take Ashton out for a bush walk. . . Since then we have been on three!!! And they have been the best play dates ever!

Here are some pointers for having a successful NATURE ADVENTURE!

* Dress appropriately! Wear clothes that can get muddy, or grass stains!

* Take a change of clothes. . . just in case! You're more likely to explore more deeply and be more lenient to your child going exploring into that puddle if you don't care about the clothes.

* Don't be in a rush. . . The more time you have to just relax and go with the flow, the more likely you and your child are to make new discoveries.

* Don't take toys! . . . Your child will be heaps more creative with their play and their surroundings then they don't have toys to distract them.

* Explore and enjoy alongside your child. . . follow your "inner child" instincts! If you want to roll down that big hill . . . ROLL DOWN THE HILL THEN!

If you see or hear something that fascinates you, share it with your child. The more you share with them, the more the will share with you!

* Celebrate even the most simple discoveries. . . Ashton loved the feeling of the gravel as he swished his hands over it, and also discovered that it made a pretty cool sounds when he slid his feet over it too! So we all took a minute to make music with the gravel!

* Don't be scared of yucky stuff. . . it all washes off! Just keep some wet wipes handy!

* Take time to just sit and watch, listen, smell, touch. . . You will be surprised at what you'll discover when you activate all your senses.

* Have FUN! . . . Make up stories about the animals, insects or trees. Ask the children what they think they will see before you go in to the bush walk. Sing songs while you're walking. Take photos while you go!

Some people may think its a lot of work to try and organise a bush walk. But ITS NOT! Just find a walk and go! Your child will guide you and dictate the rest of the walk. Its just up to you to facilitate and extend their discoveries as they happen. Ask them questions, share your knowledge with them, celebrate discoveries and get excited with them about all the wonderful things nature has to offer!

Our Big City Adventure

One 6 year old, one 3 year old, one 2 year old, two 1 year olds, two adults, 2 push chairs, and 3 bags. . . CHECK!

We were all ready for our big adventure into the city, via bus, to go to the Aotea Centre Pick and Mix Broadway Theatre event/workshop for children. These events are put on weekly throughout the winter and are free to the public. Each weekend a different organisation would put on a different kind of workshop for children to learn about.

I must say the actual show and workshop wasn't that fabulous. It could have been done so much better. But that didn't stop Ashton and the girls from getting up and having a boogie. They really wanted to enjoy it, so they made the effort and had a good time anyways.

The children really loved being able to run around and explore the big bustling city. I think this would have been a good enough adventure in itself! (maybe another day.) They loved watching all of the people, some were even interesting enough to make them stop and stare! ha ha. They loved pressing the pedestrian crossing buttons and then crossing the big busy streets as quickly as they could. We played Eye Spy a few times and this made them even more aware of everything around them.

It was a handful at times, trying to keep all 5 children going in the same direction, and we did get quite a few good stares ourselves!!!

One our way home the kids all opened up in their own theatrical rendition of "The Wheels on the bus" keeping everyone on the bus well entertained. When we asked them all what their favourite part of the adventure was they all agreed the bus ride was the best! We were all pretty tired by the end of our big city adventure, but it was lots of fun!

Our bus ride into town on the jam packed bus!

Waiting to cross the street.

Ashton just chilling and enjoying the music!

Cheeky Monkeys waiting for the bus.

A day at the movies: Cars 2

As you may have picked up from previous blogs, Ashton LOVES cars at the moment! In fact this morning he woke up at 5:45am (I say its because he was so excited about going to the movies today.) Anyway, he was lying in bed with me and because it was all dark still and I hadn't spoken he was being very quiet. I finally said at 6:00am "Do you want some breakfast?" and the first thing he said to me was, "No, cars! vrrrooom, beep beep!" he wanted to watch the Cars DVD. So, needless to say I was excited to see how he would react when he got to see the Cars 2 movie on the big screen.

Right from the minute we walked in the door to the theatre he spotted the Cars 2 set in the foyer. He ran up to them and just stared and said "Cars" over and over. He was also very excited to see Ellie, Anika and Darcy there to hang out with.

Once we got into the movie Ashton was taken with everything on the screen from the minute it started! He gave us a running commentary on everything "Animals!" "Oh Wow!" "oh oh!" "CARS!" he made all the sounds and was doing actions with his hands and his eyes were almost bugging out of his head! Mine were too, so excited to sit and watch him having such a good time! And I love that is was only $9 because of the Mum's and Bubs session at Hoyts! Great morning out!

Got our tickets and we're ready to go!

Ashton with all his friends Tilly, Zach, Darcy and Anika (Ellie was too shy to come in the photo)

They were just as excited to sit and watch the posters!

In our seats and ready for the action.

During the movie he just had to go and sit with Ellie! They're just soooo cute!

Beach Speed Way

I love getting new ideas from friends. . . and today Jane and Darcy shared a super idea with Ashton and I that I just had to share. . . A beach speed way!!!

Ashton and I love going to the beach to build sand castles and visit all of the dogs going for a walk, but never have we thought to take a few cars and make a speed way. Since Ashton is totally all about cars, trucks and anything that falls into the category of transport at the moment, this was right up Ashton's alley!

The speed way consisted of a tunnel, a ramp, roads sealed with shells, starting flags, and driftwood barriers! Totally awesome. I just can't wait to go back to the beach and make another one!

Thanks Jane and Darcy for another awesome play date and another fantastic activity idea! We're going to have to step up our creativity game! ha ha.

We LOVE Public Holidays!

We LOVE public holidays because we get an extra day to play with Daddy!!! With no set plans on the calendar, we had an open day to do whatever we wanted. So, despite the rather grey and damp weather, we decided to head to the bike park.

As you can see . . . Ashton was pretty excited!

Although this wasn't an outing to any special Auckland attraction, it was the first time we have been able to take Kris to the bike park and Ashton just loved playing on the playground with both of us. Plus it was nice to just simply spend time together.

Ashton just wanted to do everything that Daddy tried to do. . . so we had a family climb up the rope pyramid!

We managed to have our picnic just as the rain was starting to come down. It was a lovely morning out together as a family!

You Win Some... You Loose Some

Ashton and I were very excited for our play date with his friends Laela and Darcy at Snow Planet today. Although Ashton had no idea what I was talking about when I said "Snow" he could tell he should be excited about it because of the way I was talking. Well, a part from the fact that Ashton and Laela loved playing in the play corner in the restaurant there (all ways look at the positives first!) The whole playing in the snow part of the day was an epic FAIL! bahahaha! You've just got to laugh really!

From the second we walked through the door my two charges were not keen on the idea! They pretty much cried the whole time and just wanted out! Jane and I did try very hard to show them how much fun it was (Darcy was having a ball!) we couldn't convince them otherwise.

We did get a turn on the tabogen and I jumped off the snow pile a few times, but thats about it. So we headed for the doors and the second they could tell we were leaving, they were all smiles! Oh well, you got to try it to know! Come what may. . . and love it! . . . we had a great play in the kids corner and I got some funny photos!

We haven't even got into the snow area yet...

My cute little snow bunnies!

Mum... why am I so cold!

We found a little posie up on the wall where Laela was happy for a few seconds!

Our one and only toboggan run! Wahoo!!!

At least Jane and Darcy had a good time!

Love you guys!

Jane working her best to turn that frown into a smile!

Happy once again now that he's out of the snow!

At least they enjoyed the play area.

Let Loose on Chipmunks

Ashton and I have been very lucky lately to be able to have regular play dates with Laela and Gracie! So today for our play date we decided to hit the slides, cars and bouncy castle of CHIPMUNKS! Thank goodness I brought Allie with me to help, because taking 3 toddlers to an adventure playground is pretty intense! They all wanted to play on something different at ALL times! But it was A LOT of fun. . . especially going on the new zoom slide and playing in their new ball bit.

This was our second time down the slide and at the top Ashton pushed me away and said "No, I do it. My turn." Little Dare Devil! And as you can see I'm having just as much fun as the children here!

The new ball pit goes up 3 levels where the children can find these air guns to load the balls into and fire them across the pit. It was great to see how quickly Ashton mastered the whole technique of using them. He loved it!

LOVE THESE KIDS!

Its a hard life being a 1 year old!

I love going to Chipmunks with Ashton... well any playground at that! Its such great for his gross motor development as he has to crawl around everywhere, climb up and down ladders, balance, develop confidence to do things on his own! And he gets to watch other children do things that he may not know how to do yet! Plus we get out of the house!!!

A Morning With Laela

Ashton got to spend a morning his good buddy Laela today. All morning he walked around the house saying "Laela, Laela, Laela" until we finally left. We decided to make the most of the sun showing its beautiful face by heading to Milford beach and the two toddlers had a blast!

Going exploring from one thing to the next, it was as if I wasn't even there. I was basically a limb to help them up, or a hand to push them on the swing, or the person to give them some different tools for exploring with.

The park was their oyster... They sat on the swings next to each other and giggled and sang, or just watched the world pass them by. The kicked the ball all over the field, chasing each other and all the dogs backwards and forwards. They shared flowers with each other and climbed trees, compared sticks and rolled in the grass. They built sand castles together, and helped fill up each others buckets, they discovered buried shells and watched big kids run up and down the beach.

It was an absolute pleasure to sit back and watch them explore their world, while I got to do my little hobby and snap endless pictures of them as they went!