15 minutes outdoor play | TheBoyandMe

Days 48-54 of Project 365

February 23, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 74 Comments

48-54 of 365

48. 'Sandcastle' (It feels like too long since The Boy has played with his sandtable, so we uncovered it and he got stuck in making mini-sandcastles and driving his cars through the sand. A chillier day than it had been the previous week, turns out Spring wasn't on its way after all!)

49. 'Downfall' (I was sorting through one of the boxes in the Ikea unit in the living room when I found Downfall nestled at the bottom of it. I got it out for The Boy and we spent most of the morning playing the game; he picked it up quickly and was really good at developing a strategy. It has remained the most played with toy of the the week!)

50. 'Chilled Out' (Every day-off morning before Mr. TBaM goes to work, The Boy sits on our bed while I shower quickly and get dressed. This morning I climbed back into bed to warm up and The Boy leant against me chilling out playing on the iPad. I love how completely relaxed he is.)

51. 'Run, run as fast as you can!' (In lieu of the fact that we want an XBox Kinext but can't afford one, we've introduced The Boy to the Wii this week and he has become a fan of the bowling game. However, we introduced him to running on the Wii Fit and he is now obsessed with it and wants to play it all the time! He loves competing against us to see who can run the fastest and it's very cute to see his little legs flying around the place as he tried to run as fast as he possibly can.)

52. 'Eggy Words' (Yes I know it's another technology shot, but such is our life this week as it has been so damned cold! I've just downloaded Eggy Words by Reading Eggs for review, and The Boy has completely taken to spelling out simple CVC words on it, I'm very proud of him!)

53: 'Slumber' (Zonked out after a long morning at nursery, and a long afternoon playing with nana, The Boy slept soundly all night. Just before our bed I went to check on him and found this tousle-haired young man cuddling Oliver Monkey tight, I do love watching him sleep.)

54: 'Lazy Saturday' (We've been very lazy today and done hardly anything! I feel quite rotten this morning and Mr. TBaM very kindly let me have a lie-in which knocked out most of the morning, and they both went shopping to give me a bit more space. Upon their return I walked into the living room and found The Boy having a bit of a chill out session on the sofa with the iPad, again. I think it's the jeans which make him look like older, it's why I tend not to dress him in them.)

I'm actually a little ashamed of the fact that there are four technology photos in this lot and only one outdoor photo. We've failed a bit on our 15 minutes outdoor play this week (only managing it five times) because of how horribly cold it has been; next week will be better!

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Country Kids: Park Explorer

February 17, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 14 Comments

We're well into the pattern of getting our minimum of 15 minutes of outdoor play a day now, striding past week two and entering week three. It's been significantly helped by the fact that the past week has been half-term and so I didn't have the stumbling block of my work days getting in the way and effecting our fun and games.

The beach is a top, and easy, venue for us as there aren't enough hours in the day to explore every pebble there, but for a bit of variety we've been going to the parks as well. Turns out my council is a bit unimaginative when it comes to playgrounds in parks and we're bored of them already; there seems to be a set template of poxy climbing frame, baby and junior swing, one slide and a wobbly roundabout. A far cry from the treasures I see other people visiting!

However, we have enjoyed the one decent one in our town which is just around the corner from where I grew up and as such is one I frequented a lot as a child.

country kids park explorer 2

I used to climb that tree as a child, so proud of him for learning how to do it too! I'm sure it used to be bigger though?

We've also been to Victoria Park in Cardiff, which is a brilliant park with plenty of money thrown at it; different authorities have different priorities I guess? In the Summer, the paddling/swimming pool is packed with children splashing each other and shrieking with laughter. Winter turns the pool into a curiosity for young children. The Boy managed to find himself a friend in the shape of four year old Phoebe who took his hand and guided him around the playground.

country kids park explorer

Today we've been down the beach front (again) on The Boy's bike and I have had to tell Mr. TBaM to stop wrapping him up in cotton wool; he's more capable on his bike than his father gave him credit for! If we can just get him to keep his speed up then those stabilisers will be off in no time!

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Days 41-47 of Project 365

February 16, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 38 Comments

41-47 of 365

41: 'The Terrific Trio' (We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Mummy Mishaps and her boys today, and true to form we dragged them outside into the fresh air for their minimum of 15 minutes outdoor play a day. Hoods up, wellies on, find an old hoop and some puddles, and what more could you want? Really enjoyed our day, thank you Jenny!)

42: '3D' (Today I took The Boy to the cinema with Nana and his cousins, to see 'Sammy's Great Escape'. It's only the second time he's been to the cinema, the first time to see a 3D film. I'll confess that I wasn't sure how well he'd see it, I wasn't sure on the development of vision in tiddlers. However the moment he put them on, he reached out to touch the fish swimming towards him and he repeated this at least a dozen times throughout the film, before then lowering his glasses to try and understand why it looked like he could touch the images. It was really very magical and endearing.)

43: 'Zoomy paint' (Hugely productive day today: playdough, painting with cars and a themed waterplay – more on that another day, gymnastics, and outdoor play again. The Boy loved exploring the different way of mark-making with the paint.)

44: 'Solitary' (After nursery we went down the beach for a blast of fresh air to the system. 'Blast' and 'fresh' are both understatements here. It was freezing and windy. Oh and raining that irritating fine precipitation that gets everywhere! We managed a scoot to the end of the pier and back before collapsing into the warmth of the car. It is worth noting that we were the only people on the seafront!)

45: 'Shake and fizz' (A little science experiment today with some frozen vinegar blocks and coloured ice cubes, liquid vinegar, salt, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of inquisitiveness.)

46: 'Morning scoot' (I took him for his eye test only to discover he needs a more complex one involving dilating drops to check for a stigmatism, so we had to rebook. As it was 9.30 and we were dressed and out, we headed to Victoria Park in Cardiff which we last went to when he was too young to appreciate. He befriended a four year old little girl and they spent an hour happily racing around, holding hands, zooming down the zipwire, slipping on the ice, helping each other onto the equipment, and having a marvellous time.)

47: 'Hello up there!' (A bike ride through the foggy parks overlooking the beach and back along the seafront to the car, interspersed with some pebble 'plopping' down on the beach. 15 minutes? CHECK!)

I can't choose a favourite this week because I'm very pleased with all of them; they show a mummy and her son who have had a brilliant half-term together.

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