Exercise Outdoors

April 13, 2019Leave a comment

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Veronika was born just before the cold of winter set in, and all winter I couldn’t wait for fresh, spring weather. Not just so my baby girl could feel warm sun on her skin, but also because it means I get to exercise outdoors!

There’s no need to do anything fancy, but today, make a point of getting some exercise in the fresh air. You can find an easy walking or running trail near you – just make sure you have a true running stroller, if you’re going to be moving fast. Veronika loves the change of scenery when I do my power walks around the lake in our park, including a chance to see ducks and geese.

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For something a bit more organized, check out your local Stroller Strides. Veronika gets to check out the silly moves that mom does from nestled in her stroller, plus interact with the other babies! Our class has been indoors all winter, but I can’t wait for it to move out to the park once May rolls around.

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What’s your favorite way to exercise with baby outside? Please share in the comments.

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Go On a Nature Trail

March 30, 2019Leave a comment

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Spring has sprung!

For my baby girl, born just as autumn turned cold and gave way to winter, I have been waiting and waiting for this first spring day to show her that the world can be warm and wonderful. So today we took advantage and took her on a nature walk! You can do this activity in any park or wooded trail near you, or even in your own backyard. The goal is simply to engage all the senses and introduce baby to nature.

Strapped in the front carrier, I narrated everything we could see to Veronika, including trees and the first spring flowers. Hello purple!

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If you want, let your baby get up close and feel interesting finds, like the bark of a tree or a smooth stick or soft leaf.

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You can also stop to smell, whether the fresh grass of the meadow we walked through, or any plants you find.

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Don’t forget abut the sense of hearing. We were delighted to happen upon a pond full of chirping sounds! At first I assumed it was birds, but then realized it was more likely frogs.

In sum, the simplest of outdoor trails will be full of wonders for your little one.

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Unwind Outside

January 1, 2019January 1, 2019Leave a comment

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Happy New Year! We took advantage of an unseasonably warm January day to get outside… This simply activity felt magical with a baby who was born just before the weather turned cold, and hasn’t had many opportunities yet simply to be outside.

As long as it’s relatively warm and dry, head outside and let your baby nap in the fresh air. The air and sunshine will feel so wonderful, even as they doze!

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After a little while, Veronika woke up. I laid down a thick picnic blanket, and put her on her back under a tree.

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Even with no leaves, the pattern of the branches against the bright blue sky was just gorgeous. We took a great pause together, and I pointed out colors (blue sky, brown branches) and let her feel blades of grass.

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A beautiful pause in our afternoon.

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Easy Pinecone Wreath

October 8, 2018Leave a comment

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We’ve had a kindness wreath up on our door for over a year now – a project that we loved, but the time now feels right for a change. We used fall nature finds to craft this easy wreath on a store-bought twig frame.

As the title of this post suggests, you’ll need pinecones of course, but feel free to add other treasures that your children bring in from nature. We added some beautiful fall foliage!

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You can use ribbons to attach the pinecones, but I worried this wouldn’t be strong enough. Instead, we wrapped floral wire around each pinecone – Travis loved this new material (under adult supervision, of course).

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I did the wire wrapping, but he selected the perfect spot on the wreath for each pinecone.

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To attach the leaves, we simply tucked in their stems.

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Is there a homemade wreath hanging on your door for this autumn? Please share in the comments!

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Twig Stars

October 5, 2018Leave a comment

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There is a beautiful, yuletide feel to these stars, although here we are crafting them in October! Make them now, or set the idea aside for the upcoming Christmas season.

For each star, you’ll need 5 sticks that are roughly the same thickness and length; break any to the proper size if they are too long.

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I hot glued the stars together, then set Travis up with tidbits to decorate them – berries, pine needles, a bowl of glue, and a bowl of glitter. Little pinecones would look sweet, too.

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First dunk the berries in the glue, then immediately transfer to the glitter. He loved this part!

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If you like, dunk in the tips of your pine needles, too, or any other nature finds you have to add to your stars. Let dry completely.

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The next morning, we dabbed glue all over the stick stars, and added our berries and other treasures.

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Travis got a bit impish and loved smearing glue over the leftover glitter on our work surface, too. Good thing I had things covered with a layer of foil!

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Hang the resulting stars from twine, indoors or out.

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As mentioned, these would be beautiful at Christmas, but will light up a windowsill or other area of your home any time!

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Destination: Stamford Museum & Nature Center

February 26, 2018February 26, 2018Leave a comment

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I first read about this museum and nature center in Stamford, CT years ago. It’s a short-enough distance from our home to merit a day trip – as long as I timed things right around traffic – but the opportunity never seemed right to go. When I learned that the center would be hosting a special maple syrup workshop, I booked tickets and drove us the 90 minutes there.

We arrived early so we would have ample time to explore the rest of the nature center before the program began. First up was the museum, which features rotating exhibits.

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Older children will enjoy the well-curated but manageable size of the exhibits, and the nature themes will appeal to younger children. We were just in time for the opening of an exhibit about birds in art!

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Next we headed across the white bridge and pond, both beautiful even in rainy weather!

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I decided then and there that we’ll have to come back in other seasons. This place would be beautiful in summer and autumn! There are nature trails to walk, but our day was a bit too cold and drizzly. There is also a “nature playground” for children to explore, including a kid-sized bird’s nest, but rainy weather preempted the play.

Instead we headed just up the hill to visit resident farm animals, including a shaggy cow Travis fell in love with…

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…guinea hogs…

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…and the biggest horse we’ve ever seen.

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At the top of the hill was the maple syrup house. We not only learned about how the center collects maple sap from the trees on its property…

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but also got to collect our own!

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Kids were fascinated by the maple syrup boiling apparatus.

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In sum, the nature center is a fantastic outing for the kids – you could easily spend several hours here. As mentioned, I would make it a priority in a season other than winter, when children can fully enjoy the outdoor spaces.

Trip Date: February 2018

Ages: All

Useful Links:

http://www.stamfordmuseum.org/

Button Tree

March 13, 2017March 13, 20171 Comment

We haven’t let the icy weather deter us from outdoors adventures, including collecting treasures like sticks and winter leaves. But that doesn’t mean we’re not excited to see blossoms on the trees! This adorable button tree is a nice harbinger of spring.

The first step of course is to collect your sticks – head some place beautiful in the summer sunshine for this part!

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Once home, Travis loved sorting through our collection. I quickly realized that he would be way more in to playing with the sticks than shaping them into a tree on poster board…

…so after he had fun for a while, I took care of gluing our sticks in place.

Once the glue dried, it was time to add the buttons! Travis was very proud to add big drops of glue and press a button “leaf” into place over each one.

We had fun choosing which color buttons to place where.

The final creation was so whimsical!

N Week!

November 25, 2016August 14, 2017Leave a comment

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Even with the Thanksgiving holiday, we squeezed in games and crafts with a letter N theme this week, as we continue on our Letter of the Week journey. Highlights included…

Nature/natural: This was really our key theme of the week, and we kicked things off with a gorgeous fall walk through a nature preserve before the weather turned very windy. With the collection of nature items we found, we came home and arranged them on contact paper. Simply fold the sticky paper in half when you’re finished and voila – a nature collage!

We also saved some of the leaves and flowers for a natural dye collage (and added a few store-bought berries because I knew their colors would be vibrant). We used cheesecloth, since I knew we wouldn’t be keeping this project, but make your dye collage on muslin or other cloth if you want to save it for doll’s clothing or another project. Once arranged, Travis loved pounding on the items with a mallet, and seeing the beautiful colors that (naturally) resulted.

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Finally, for all those events out in nature, we needed a trail walking stick.

Nest: This word was closely linked to the nature ideas above. We used our air-dry clay to shape a nest, and pressed in more great finds from our nature walk – pine needles, grasses, and leaves. The process was so fun I devoted a separate blog post to it.

Noise: Make some of course! Pull out whatever instruments you have in the house, or use items around the house to create instruments, or simply bang on pots and pans. However you make noise, Raffi’s “Let’s Make Some Noise” is the perfect song to do it to.

Net: To play with a random butterfly net we own, I fashioned “butterflies” from construction paper and we set them aflutter for Travis to chase around. It was so windy that we were able to do this right at our windowsill, though we briefly tried outside as well. Nets are also great for bathtub “fishing” or just for letting your toddler collect little items.

Newspaper: Old newspapers are the gift that keeps on giving. You can wad them up and use an old baby tub as target practice…

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…or roll into a “golf club” and aim golf balls at a target (such as an empty shoebox on its side). We also made newspaper hats, and Travis was so proud wearing his!

And our weekly extras:

Fine art: My intended project was a bit of a fail. I hoped to encourage Travis to make a necklace by threading o-shaped cereal (we used Freedom O’s) onto licorice (yes, Twizzlers are vegan) but he decided it would be much more fun just to eat the cereal and watch me work. Win some, lose some!

Food: We had noodles for dinner one evening. Travis has also gotten a kick out of belly buttons lately, so what better snack than a navel orange?

Books: Library picks this week included Jan Brett’s Noah’s Ark, The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and Dog’s Noisy Day by Emma Dodd.

Songs: Give a listen to “These are the People in the Neighborhood.” Then follow it up with a walk or drive around your neighborhood!

Math: Nickles are an obvious choice. Travis knows quarters and pennies, so this week I taught him to recognize nickles as well, tough because they are the “medium-sized” ones!

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I also simply left out all his toys and books that feature numbers, so he could return to them throughout the week.

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One neat way to visually depict how numbers increase is to build increasingly tall towers (Duplo blocks are perfect) on a corresponding number mat or puzzle.

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joyful parenting

Tag: Nature