With the cold winter mornings starting to set in, it’s challenging to get motivated. But as all working parents know, these are the days we push harder, get into a hot shower, and wrap our hands around a cuppa before embarking on the day.
While we’re working away, our children are out and about at childcare, getting all the goodness of the crisp morning air, fascinated by the dew on the grass and stomping in muddy puddles. Our educators do amazing things with our children to support their development, build their immunity and keep them active in the colder months.
When it comes to our weekends or other down days with the kids throughout Winter, we should be doing everything we can to support their efforts.
Here are some great ways we can lean into Winter and have fun with our kids outdoors!
Make mud pies
No, you don’t need to let the kids in the kitchen with a bucket of mud, but if you don’t have sand toys, you should be prepared to donate a muffin tray or two.
Allow the kids to fill sand toys or muffin trays with mud and decorate them with things like flowers from the garden and sand as sprinkles or leaves.
Extension:
Discuss what happens when the water evaporates. Does the mud crumble?
For younger children, use this activity to extend vocabulary and understanding of opposites.
- Empty and full
- Wet and dry
- Dirty and clean
- Heavy and light
Get on the gumboots
Of course, there’s no better thing for a kid to do than to get out and get dirty! Donning the gumboots, heading to the nearest muddy path, and planting both feet into muddy puddles couldn’t be more fun! Let’s not have this happen by accident – let’s drive the kids deliberately to a place where this is possible!
Extension:
Children don’t just learn about strength and balance when jumping in puddles, playing with water also helps them to learn concepts of depth and width as well as floating and sinking. We can’t also forget that this is great for their physical development. It’s the ultimate toddler exercise!
Winter potion play
Plastic cups, water, the great outdoors, and a little imagination are all you need to make yourself the perfect winter potion. If you have an area in mind that you would like to explore and know what limitations you have as far as ingredients go, you might want to create a list. If you are heading on a local trail, let the kids go crazy!
Have the children add potion ingredients to their vessels. Chat about the colours, the scents, and the volume of their cups. Once they are done collecting ingredients, head to the nearest tap to add some water and stir.
Extension:
The children will have all kinds of ideas on what to call their potion, what it might help to solve, or if it’s just a yummy winter elixir. Who knows? You might even have just created the next superhero juice!
Don’t forget!
Heading outdoors is always going to be fun but you should remember to pack a change of clothes for the ride or walk home – wet pants and socks aren’t much fun to squelch in for a long time. If you don’t have waterproof gear, you really should invest in some, especially if there’s more rain on the way!
Have fun!
