Outdoor play | TheBoyandMe

Days 104-110 of Project 365

April 20, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 32 Comments

104-110 of 365

104. Two Years On (I'm a little bit of an Instagram addict and follow the actual Instagram's feed with interest. Every weekend they have a challenge called the Weekend Hashtag Project and last weekend's emulated the photography style of the blog Dear Photograph. As we were heading to Porthcawl anyway for the Chris & Pui Show, I dug out a photo of The Boy on the beach there from Father's Day 2010. A very windy day made it tricky to get an exact line up but I'm really chuffed with this photograph.)

105. Bubble Monster (Monday was absolutely beautiful and we played out in the garden for nearly three hours, most of that without a coat on. The Boy filled the garden with bubbles from his bubble blower that we'd bought him in Butlin's.)

106. Plopping (After dropping my car off to the garage to work out where a slightly alarming oil leak was coming from, we walked up to town for our second breakfast, then through the park and down to the beach. A quick scoot along the pier and the beach front, then down the lifeboat ramp to plop some pebbles into the sea, before walking home through the tree-lined Victorian avenues where The Boy promptly fell asleep. I collapsed on the sofa for half an hour having just completed a six mile round walk, before having to walk two miles back to the garage to pick my car up.)

107. Snuggle Down, Sleepyhead (It's a Wednesday – work day – and therefore it's a bed photo!)

108. Masterchef 2013 (On Thursdays I get home earlier from work and so we have time to play. I gave The Boy various ingredients and he decided to 'bake' us a ginger cake with his 'cooker'.)

109. Through The Kitchen Window (When we bought this house and did all the work on it, we had the kitchen window made bigger. I dreamed about the day that I'd see my child/ren playing in the garden while I cooked their dinner, etc. Today that came true, and I just stood and watched him for ten minutes as he repeatedly rolled his hoops down the slide, retrieved them, climbed up the side of the slide and started again. I love him.)

110. Reflections (We met up with my brother and his family in Roath Park today on a very sunny afternoon. One of his favourite places is the hothouse and so we spent a pleasantly sticky forty-five minutes watching the koi carp and terrapins in the pool before sauntering around the lake and feeding the swans. Life doesn't get much better!)

—

Days 97-103 of Project 365

April 13, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 77 Comments

97-103 of 365

97. Through the Semi-Circle Window! (The sun valiantly tried to shine for most of the afternoon and so we headed out to St. Fagan's Museum in north-west Cardiff. Back in November I bought an annual pass for the car park (museums in Wales are free) but we haven't been there since to get our money's worth. Now the weather is brightening up, we'll be there a lot more often. This time we explored the castle, but it's fair to say that once we've done that it will be a long time before we need to go back. Bit bland!)

98. By Torch-Light (We made a spectacular den in the living room (actually I did, Mr. TBaM is rubbish at them) and The Boy spent quite some time underneath reading his books by torchlight.)

99. Adoring Listener (We visited his cousins who we'd missed for several weeks due to us both being on holiday. He adores his cousins, and they are so good with him. Here he's watching and listening to his nine year old female cousin.)

100. Bath-time (Apologies for the bland photograph but today was back to work after three weeks off and I was shattered! A bathtime snap is all I could manage!)

101. Stretchy Squares (I bought The Boy a pegboard and eleastic bands and he's had great fun making shapes.)

102. Before The Big Day (Today we nipped into town to retrieve my much-missed Samsung Galaxy S3 which took a month to repair, as a result he missed his nap and was shattered at bedtime. Busy day tomorrow!)

103. Justin's House (We've just come in from an amazing day with Jenny from Mummy Mishaps and her lovely family. It was a great surprise for The Boy as I didn't tell him any of the plans until he saw Jenny pull onto the drive in her car. They came up for lunch, the three boys had a great play together and then we headed into Cardiff to see Justin's House. He's been to a few shows before, mainly CBeebies, but this was his first larger production and he loved every second (apart from when Robert sucked up all the lights into his hoover). Afterwards we all went for a yummy dinner in Pizza Express!)

—

Hotham Park, Bognor Regis (Country Kids)

April 13, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 27 Comments

On the road leading to the Butlin's Resort in Bognor Regis, there is a high Victorian wall with a rather attractive looking zipwire poking out from behind it. Teasing us while we waited in the traffic to get into Butlin's, my husband did a quick Google and discovered it to be called Hotham Park.

Mid-week we decided to take a little break from the constant fun on site and nip down to check out the zipwire. We soon discovered that the zipwire is not the only thing in the adventure play areas (two for different ages and abilities), there's also a beautiful walkway through the woodland, a miniature boating lake for remote-controlled boats, crazy golf and from April to October there's a miniature steam railway.

There's also the tamest squirrels I've ever seen. I spotted them from a distance and opened up a packet of Hula Hoops to tempt them, within five seconds one was ensconsed on the picnic bench nibbling away.

Hotham Park, Bognor Regis

Hotham Park is definitely worth a visit when staying in the Butlin's neighbouring; it's literally across the road from the Wave Hotel and a little haven in the centre of the town.

—

Winkworth Arboretum (Country Kids)

April 6, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 19 Comments

About a month ago, we had the pleasure of attending an event organised by the National Trust to promote the 50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾ and the Project Wild Thing campaign. We were already well on our way to reclaiming a childhood spent playing outdoors through Coombe Mill's weekly linky of Country Kids, but the videos that we were shown by David Bond (marketing director for Nature) really helped cement the importance of outdoor play for children. And for adults as well. Reconnecting with the natural world soothes the soul and helps emotional wellbeing.

We were very fortunate to have received a media pass for the National Trust following the blogging event, and it means that we can explore many of the National Trust sites around Britain when we're out and about. On our way back from Butlin's (in Bognor Regis) last weekend, we called into Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey. It's not a part of the country that we'd normally explore, being so far from Cardiff, however we relished the opportunity to stretch our legs, break up the journey and do some nature exploring!

It was a beautifully sunny, Good Friday afternoon when we arrived (if not a little nippy) and the arboretum held some wonderful signs of Spring for us with the daffodils in full bloom and pussy willows on the trees, not to mention the many play opportunities.

What three year old can resist climbing a tree with a trunk as wide as a living room? Or sliding down a pile of wood shavings? Or kicking leaves all over their daddy?

Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey

—

We've received a media pass for the National Trust for 2013 which grants us free access to National Trust sites. We haven't been asked to blog about any of our trips, I choose to do so without bias.

Through The Hole (Flashback)

April 2, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 13 Comments

I love bringing my son up in the town which I grew up in. Every experience he has is imprinted with the memories of my siblings, friends and I doing exactly the same thing, echoing the past, mirroring my actions, with a twenty or thirty year gap.

Our town has many parks, indeed it's known for it, and one of those parks has a plethora of play opportunities. Huge sweeping fir trees with gargantuan hiding spaces close to the tree trunk, woodland dells, Victorian pathways, aviaries with tweeting canaries, and overrun hedges.

In the small playground area, there is a hedge. It's an ancient hedge riddled with pathways which have been explored by children for generations.

And, as these photos of The Boy show from this Spring and the past two, it's a favourite with the next generation as well.

Through The Hole

—

Days 83-89 of Project 365

March 30, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 38 Comments

83-89 of 365

30th march 2013

83. Look Mummy! (We left for our Butlin's Ambassadors' holidays a day early to break up the journey, and called into Westonbirt Arboretum on the way – more on that in another post. It's an amazing Forestry Commission site, but dear God it was cold. We braved -3°C to explore the play area and some of the old arboretum, and The Boy really showed his growing ability and confidence at tree climbing!)

84. View (Checking into our hotel room in The Ocean Hotel, we discovered that we had a gorgeous view from the fourth floor over the resort. The Boy has been out on the balcony at any and every opportunity this week to catch a glimpse of his beloved helter-skelter.)

85. Plopping (A day trip to Brighton, which was an opportunity that I couldn't let pass when down this way. I've wanted to visit the West Pier for a long time and I find the condition of it so very sad. How it's been allowed to lapse into such a terrible state of disrepair over the past thirty years, is beyond me. Our seaside heritage is one of the things that makes Britain special, to see such a beautiful example of Victorian architecture destroyed is shocking. The remaining pier was a let-down, and so we spent a good amount of time 'plopping' on the beach, having already enjoyed the wonders of the Royal Pavilion.)

86. Round and round (We had passed a walled park several times this week, peeking over the top was a zip-wire and wooden climbing frame. A quick Google showed it to be Hotham Park, which we visited on Wednesday afternoon. The park was amazing, and for most of the hour or so we were there, we had it to ourselves. I even had a go on the zip-wire myself; a first! The Boy found a very different swing to those we are used to, and really enjoyed spinning around watching the sky swirling.)

87. I Can Cook! (This is one of the shows that we've been looking forward to all week. The Boy is completely captivated by Katy's antics on CBeebies and, even though this show wasn't presented by her, he couldn't wait to see today's show. I had to sit him at the front with all the other children, and then join the adults at the back. That was until I heard a frantic 'mummy!' being screamed from the front when the character 'Naughty Salt' was being chased by 'Lucy' around the audience. The Boy hates naughtiness of any description, and it really upset him. Another frantic 'MUMMY!!!' and I'd managed to scoop up his little sobbing body. Apologies to the three parents whose fingers I stood on en route.)

88. By the seaside (Today's photo had to be one that summed up our Butlins Ambassadors break in Bognor Regis; sunshine, deckchairs, cheerful smiles but biting winds. Hats and gloves, long johns and rosy cheeks were the order of the week, but dear God we had fun!)

89. Which ride first? (I won a competition for us to visit Legoland for the launch of the Lego Hero Factory, Build and Test Area. We've never been there with The Boy before, the only other time was actually ten years ago, well before children were thought of, and we commented on the time that it was a pointless place without them. Today we got to try many of the rides that we'd seen then, and how they had expanded the park. Freezing conditions meant that we lasted from 9.30-4.00 but gave up early to head home after a tiring week. The Boy adored the park and the rides were a good length for him to enjoy them, he loved looking over the park map to see where he'd been or which he was going on.)

—

Days 69-75 of Project 365

March 16, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 40 Comments

69-75 of 365

69: Which will win? (We went to Techniquest in Cardiff Bay for Mother's Day and had great fun exploring scientific concepts. Here The Boy is racing the bubbles through the thick gloop)

70: Going up! (When we were at Techniquestwe discovered a lovely little park in Cardiff Bay which seemed to be hardly used. We popped back on Monday to explore all the equipment and I was really impressed to see The Boy climb across a cargo net from one eight foot high tower to the other with minimal interaction. No photos of that because I was too busy watching him!)

71: Bump! (After a foul morning we went down to the local country parks for some outdoor play and to tick a few more things of our 50 Things list. We discovered that The Boy's outdoor play suit makes him zoom down the slide really fast!)

72: Special Delivery Service! (The Jenny Craig boxes are excellent for making cars!)

73: Mountaineer (Another day, another park, what can I say? Last Summer he wouldn't try this climbing wall at all)

74: Doing something funny (All dressed up in odd clothes for nursery, not too odd though or mummy's OCD can't handle it!)

75: What's your name? (We had to go into Cardiff to take my dead Samsung Galaxy S3 into the T-Mobile shop to be sent away for repair. While we were in there we wandered over to the Museum and looked at the sculptures in the nearby gardens.)

—

50 Things: #1, #4 & #34 (Country Kids)

March 15, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 35 Comments

Children in the UK are the unhappiest kids in the western world.

Really?! Here in the UK?

Sadly, I'm not surprised. As a teacher I'm privy to a great deal of information about the interventions which have to be put into place for vulnerable or depressed children. Depression in children is on the increase, and I think as parent we need to ask ourselves why? Personally I believe that it's because they are more aware of the world around them, they're told of too many problems that exist before they're emotionally capable of dealing with them, and because society is too busy for their needs.

When was the last time you went screen-free for any substantial amount of time and simply played?

Tuesday of this week saw the day going pear-shaped before it had even really started. I was groggy and grumpy, the drone of the fridge, washing machine, dehumidifier and even the turned-off Sky box was getting to me. I stood on one side of the stairgate looking at my screaming and sobbing child stood on the other side, wondering where my rational brain had gone and why I was having an argument with him.

Fifty Things - Tree Climbing

Twenty minutes later.

We had pulled into the car park of the country park with my head still buzzing from the electricity. Having donned our wellies and grabbed our bag of bread for the swans and ducks, we set off in search of the important stuff; fun and happiness. Encircled by hungry swans trying to take bread directly from the bag, I shared the provisions out while The Boy fed the white ducks directly from his hand.

He was cycling around the edge of the lake and towards the park when we found some tracks in the mud.

fifty things - track an animal

This is how we ended up in the woods above, practising our tree climbing. We tracked the horse into the woods, where the ground turned harder and the leaves covered the tracks, however there was a magnificent sweeping bough begging to be straddled! And yes, I climbed the trees to, and it was liberating.

Despite not being able to find any spruce branches, we still managed to build a cracking den, putting into practise the wonderful advice from Rob Cowen of the Natural Childhood campaign. I'm not sure that The Boy understands the concept of twigs though.

Fifty Things - Building a Den

I can't have my child ending up as one of the unhappiest, I just can't. This is why we've signed the pledge to spend as much time outdoors as we do in front of the screen with Project Wild Thing.

Fifty Things To Do Before You're 11 & ¾

#1 – Climb a tree
#4 – Build a den
#34 – Track an animal

—

coombe mill

'Natural Childhood' With The National Trust (Country Kids)

March 11, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 18 Comments

USA
Australia
UK

Not winners of the Olympics. Nor are they the most wealthy in the world (although that might be true). The above ranking refers to the worst countries in the developed world for getting children outside and playing.

I'm a little shocked. More than a little shocked to be honest. I expected America to be pretty rubbish at encouraging outdoor play, but Australia? With all that open space and the wonderful environment? I am, ashamedly, not surprised to see that the UK is third though; the health and safety police combined with the fear factor of child abduction has fostered a generation of children who have an outdoor, roaming space which is 90% smaller than we did as children.

For the past sixteen months I've been a willing participant in the Country Kids weekly linky run over on the Coombe Mill blog. Country Kids is the brainchild of Fiona, who owns Coombe Mill (a family farm holiday location), and promotes outdoor play with your children. It doesn't have to be in the country (which is just as well as ours are at the beach) but it does have to be in the fresh air and encouraging a 'natural childhood'.

This 'Natural Childhood' I speak of is a movement to promote getting our children back into nature and helping them to rediscover the joys of outdoor play. On Saturday we were the guests of the National Trust at Nymans in Sussex, to find out about the 'Natural Childhood' campaign being led by many people including David Bond, Project Wild Thing, the National Trust, and many other agencies. All are united in their desire to see children climbing trees, getting mucky, and having old fashioned, outdoor fun.

Exactly what Country Kids stands for.

There'll be more about the campaign in another post, but for now I want to document a major change in my son.

This is The Boy who couldn't balance a year ago, who had minimal confidence in his physical ability, who wouldn't contemplate a cargo net or three step ladder. The concept of tree climbing? Never!

tree climbing

The middle photograph above shows The Boy arguing with Rob Cowen who was trying to tell him that he couldn't climb the pine tree as it had no lower branches. The Boy didn't believe him. He tried (and failed) but the point is that he tried determinately. Disgruntled, he went and climbed another tree.

And then, Rob showed us how to make a den. A den suitable for sleeping out in (if you are so inclined, I'm not) and one that was incredibly warm and dry.

den building

The Boy was in his element. That smile is not one which he puts on for the camera; it is pure joy.

Ticking off another items from their '50 Things To Do Before You're 11 & ¾', the bloggers' children then all sat around a campfire and toasted marshmallows. We had a minor incident when The Boy was daintily eating his in several bites and dropped it on the floor, but he soon made sure that didn't happen again by shoving his replacement in all in one!

We jumped up and down in muddy puddles, we raced up and down hills, we made friends. But above all else we had fun!

natural childhood

And if ever there was proof that the outdoors is good for a child, making him happy, raising his self-esteem, and giving him self-worth and confidence in his capabilities, surely this is it?

happy child

—

Days 62-68 of Project 365

March 9, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 56 Comments

62-68 of 365

62. Shoot! (These are the seeds we planted a week ago in our gardening play table. They've really shot up, which means that I now have to find somewhere to move them to so they can acclimatise to the outside temperature. However, look to the back, the middle seed label was written by The Boy.)

63. The Sands of Time (We went for a long walk and cycle along Cardiff Bay Barrage today and played in the pirate play park there. We were the only people in the park for quite some time, which meant that The Boy had free rein over the sandy, sunken, pirate ship.)

64. Lick! (The first ice-cream of the year down the beach! The Boy had an eye-test today and he was meant to have eyedrops to test for a stigmatism, however because he held so still and was compliant during the test, he didn't need the drops which I was very relieved about. As a result it meant we were able to nip down to the beach and enjoy an ice-cream on the pier with nana.)

65. Bed Fellows (The Boy looked so peaceful when I went to check on him at midnight, so calm and serene. Oliver Monkey is never far away, and the week wouldn't be complete without a sleeping photo!)

66. Bubbles at Bathtime! (We had an extra long bathtime tonight where we had the bubble machine out, a pot of bubbles and the underwater light – all to remember a special little girl who loved bubbles.)

67. Catch The Pigeon! (Remember the Wacky Races song? Our weekly cycle ride along the pier was just like a scene from that today. The pier was deserted aside from a few elderly couples having their 'daily constitutional' and one or two brave pigeons. I say brave because once The Boy saw them he was determined to scare them away, something that made the grannies and grandads chuckle at!)

68.Splat! (We've been to Nymans for a National Trust event today as we are helping to promote the 50 Things To Do Before You're 11 and ¾ campaign. More to follow on this, and I've had to add this photo in at the last minute so please forgive any editing errors in this post!)

—

«Previous Page
1
…
6
7
8
9
10
…
13
Next Page»