Rope Swing

Today the boys were able to go to their grandpa’s home where he has a wonderful rope swing.  It didn’t take long for the boys to figure out how to hold on tight and how to balance their weight.  At first S asked, "why doesn’t it have two strings?"   He wanted it to be like the swings at the park.  But, as he rode on it I could tell that he was having much more fun on this swing.  He said, “let the wind push me," feeling the element of movement and wind combined.

I can’t help but think about how I once read that we have often made playgrounds too safe & that they no longer give children a full  rush of joy or even the motion that the inner ear requires.  Today on grandpa's swing the boys experienced, joy, challenge, and relationship- since they were assisted by the loving arms of family members.  It makes me think we need a few more rope swings and slower time so that families can truly stop and play together.  Thank you grandpa for allowing us such an experience. 

Can you see the smile?

This was actually taken last month at the farmers market, but it captures a bit of the spirit of it. Kids playing on the hillside. Chalk drawings.

Market Day

Farmers Market Bliss

Our community is blessed to have a great Farmers' Market and for it to be located next to a community green space.  This "Green" was once a slough, then it was a dump, and finally it was covered and turned into a green urban corridor/park that borders the, street held, once a week, Farmers Market. 

On Market day the street is alive: a swarm of people moving this way and that way. Flags blowing in the wind to greet neighbors who have gathered to shop at the market, find a bite to eat for dinner, or to just enjoy the festive feeling of seeing neighbors, hearing buskers, doing community art, and just being.  In a society filled with planned activities and rushing around, families that make time for market day carve out a unique "unstructured" time for themselves and their children.

Our family often meets at the market.  The boys and I travel by wagon the few blocks from our home & head into the fray.  We never get further than the entrance before we meet at least one neighbor or friend. Then a bit later with calls of "Daddy!" we are reunited.   This allows both mother and father to have a few moments of time shopping, grabbing hot quesadillas for dinner, or chatting with other adults while the kids play.  JUST PLAY!  Although we usually bring a ball or chalk or frisbee along with us, there is also plenty of just rolling around on the hill and running with big smiles across their faces. Smile invitations to one another to play together:  It is beautiful.  

Urban Nature Families September

On Friday we had our Urban Nature Families Play and Learn . Our group ended up including seven children and their caregivers.

It was a slightly grey day, with a very slight drizzle, however we set up for outside activities. One of our goals for this play and learn is to encourage families and caregivers to just be outside with their children whatever the weather. It is a great lesson for children to learn that they can go out almost every day. It is also a great way for children to learn about their world, gain vocabulary, and have fun.

Our activities were mostly stations which allowed children to ramble from one area to another as they desired. We had a bubble station with both pre-made bubble mixtures & homemade bubble mixtures. The latter being a bit more finicky- but it allowed kids to make their own pipe cleaner bubble forms & slightly larger bubbles.

There was also a station with pre-cut leaves which kids painted on with liquid watercolor paints using eye droppers. I had paint brushes on hand in case we had very young children. This was helpful.

There was the parachute which this time the kids mostly wanted to sit on while the adults "made" waves. There were many smile & a few tears (when someone got bumped by a ball). It reminded me that I need to do a refresher on parachute games and songs.

Finally we also had two stories: Leaf Man by Louis Ehrlet and a book with kids yoga called "You are a lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses" by Taeeun Yoo in which the children got to act out animals. It was a nice continuation from a poem we acted out... "Gray Squirrel, Gray Squirrel." In which the kids act out a squirrel shaking their bushy tales. Some of the kids wanted to add their own animals so we were also all were bunnies hopping around.

Another goal of the group is to get families hiking in Urban Greenspaces; however this has not yet happened since our site does not back onto a forested greenbelt or natural area and the walk to the woods is about three blocks. Perhaps we will add an alternative site for hiking every first week of the month. That would bring us to two meet-ups a month.

Urban nature families are Wonderful!

I will record the whole lesson plan from today with specific reflections, but mostly it was just great to see kids and their caregivers enjoying an overcast day- making eyedropper painted leaves, bubbles, and stories. Thanks Jen for your encouragement and help making this happen!

Slow Play. Big Imaginations.

Every once and a while I think that maybe the boys have run out of things to do in the yard.  Then I take a breath and realize that it is only me.  I get tired of the same dirt pit and water play. My inkling is to try to get the boys to do something else; which they will but it isn't their need just mine. 

So,  sometimes I  do a wee bit to encourage them to explore something new by turning off the water,  or rediscovering some props (like sticks) or sometimes I just start to putter in a different part of the yard; harvesting, planting, or weeding.  Then it won't be long and the boys will gravitate to a new area (unless they are totally engulfed in what they are doing--which is the best thing ever!).   Then I try to follow their lead. 

The boys are full of a imagination and it isn't long until a plain stick has turned into:
a seed planter or a plum smoosher
a part of a campfire,
an oar
a stir stick for a large pot

The fluidity of young children's thinking amazes me.
The sound of snapping twigs could be a squirrel (real)
or one of their elephants moving through the brush (imaginary).

The play goes on and on as their worlds are created.   I try to let them extend it until the last moments of daylight,  remembering my own childhood - of getting to play outside until dark.  Their experience of play is something I treasure.  It takes practice: paying attention from the first rays of light until the til the last of the sun has disappeared and we all collapse exhausted.  It takes not signing up for single focus activities, still not exposing them to tv or movies, and choosing raising boys as my primary focus.

With imagination our yard is full of endless adventures for a three year old.  Now it is just a practice for myself to find such richness in a small space; it is surely there.  The boys smiles, joy, and discoveries show me the way.

Urban Mama: Biking Again!

It has been three years that we have had a bike trailer, but my road bike was not working and so I never could get it to go into the easy gears to help me pull the two boys up hills.  Three years of forgetting that I had an old mountain bike collecting dust in our basement cellar.  Only when we did a recent house project did I remember it.  “Pumpkin” as I called it almost twenty years ago when I bought it.  It is totally equipped for mountain trail & has always been slow on city roads –but  it does get me up big hills.

So the day before preschool was to begin- I got the tires pumped and the trailer hitched to it. Then on their first day the boys and I were able to ride in fresh city air to preschool & keep the car parked.  I was joyful to not yet be the "car driving mama" plus the boys enjoyed the trail banter that we had along the way; from singing songs to noticing landmarks.

Then after a moment of mama’s heart breaking just a bit as I  left my little ones in the hands of another  for the first time– in the children’s first “classroom” I rode off.  Freedom on bike.  Time my own…Blissful but worried: How will the classroom transform my little ones?  How will it build or break their confidence, their creativity, their love for nature for creativity?   (Just today we rescued a spider and then took him outside to see where he chose to go.  S noted that he found a crack & was probably headed for our basement.) 

We will see…but I am sure the riding will be  good for me.

No mud; just a bath

Dinner had just ended and S said, "I want to make mud."
It is already evening of a long day and both mom and dad are tired. We are ready for pajamas and not mud outside.
Dad suggests, "what about a bath?"
S replies, "but there is no dirt." Then he wonders,"Is it nighttime?"
"Yes, we reply- but it is summer so it is still quite light out. We can make mud tomorrow."
S decides that it is okay to take a bath, especially since his brother has said he will show him how to make bubbles.
A nearly two hour bath of bubbles, song and play entails. Then bed.

Carkeek Park

Saturday we went to Carkeek Park in the NW part of the city. It was a wonderful place for the boys to use their no pedal bikes as the main trail did not say "No Bikes" and was a gentle grade for a good long distance from the beach all the way to the orchard. T loved how the trail followed Piper's Creek. He was hoping to find where the water began, but he was content to see how it travelled as well as tributaries that joined it.

Learning about rivers in the city is a different experience than in the wild. Day-lit channels go into pipes under sidewalks and roads; so the boys observations were about both the natural aspects of the water as well as the human-made pipes and measuring posts.

Carkeek on a beautiful sunny Labor Day weekend was full of families enjoying picnics and play. People of all cultures and speaking a myriad of languages were in attendance. It truly is inspirational to see so many people out enjoying nature. It is also wonderful to reflect on what forward thinking it was to develop these parks. How do we make sure they are maintained in perpetuity? How do we engage families to explore the parks in new ways- especially as we realize that the people of our nation and nations around the world are facing the health issue of obesity? Is the key to health in these natural spaces?

Blueberry picking

Blueberry bushes dripping with berries, taller than children, taller than adults: making shade. Today we found our second blueberry u-pick patch. 40 miles from the city and under the looming jagged cliff of Mt. Si. We went with one other family and their two and a half year old. It was so much fun!

Everyone picked.
The adults conversed.
The children played.
Everyone had fun.

The total bill for five pounds of berries and a delightful time. $10.

Then we headed to the nearby Rattlesnake Lake where we picnicked by the the beach. Hundreds of cars and families and friends packed the beach, yet fun was had by all. No one runs out of rocks to toss, canals to build, water to splash. You just need to provide the opportunities. A park does that. A bench here. A portable toilet there.

Of course some people bring toys:

from buckets to bikes with trailers
from inflatable kayaks to stand up boards
bbq grills of all sizes
Peanut Butter and Jelly to Indian food

Finally my favorite game of the day- a game no one taught the kids but they just played.

The kids said "Ha ha! to one another
First one said, "ha!" The next one said "ha ha!" with even more expression and laughter.
The third one joined in and it went around and around.
Since it happened at the waterside splashes abounded.
Smiles were infectious to all the adults that watched.