If you are as excited as I am for this beautiful spring weather so you can play outside for as long as possible each day, then you are reading the right article. 😉
There are so many options of things to do with your kids and whole family. These days as we don’t have to run inside to take a break from the cold weather we can just stay out and play, nap and eat; no real reason to go home or inside for that matter. This is the perfect time for picnics and all sorts of games. My sons are smiling more and I have to drag them home each day from the park. The past two weekends we have gone to a farm in the Italian countryside to say hello to the animals and play in wild nature. We collect sticks, look at many different shaped rocks and uniquely colored flowers. The list of clever and inspiring things to do with your children and the whole family is quite long these days. In case you need some ideas, I would like to share with you some of my favorite ways to enjoy beautiful days with family.
– Go for a walk in a park or countryside , followed by a picnic break for lunch with home packed foods and snacks. Great to pack some books to read by the trees while you digest. A ball to kick around and play some soccer. This way the family can relax together, no need to run home in the middle of fun to make lunch as you can all just eat in the grass. After that you can take a nap in the fresh air on your blanket, wake up and continue to play 🙂
– I think every child loves to blow bubbles, or the parent can blow them and the children will run through them and try to catch them. Singing a good song at the same time can make the dancing and running more fun.
– Decorating the neighborhood or little streets and stones in the park with many different colored chalk. My sons can sit at it for so long and they get lost in their thoughts while drawing with all different colors. Don’t mind the mess you can always wash up when you get home, it comes off easily.
– Simply observing nature. I know I may sound strange saying, ” look at stones” and ” look at all the different flowers” to those of you who have not done this before with your children. I do know many parents do this, I see it all the time in the park. Children love learning and my sons seems so interested and curious when I explain that the tree in the park is a life and it’s helping to clean our air or the flowers change and grow into flowers with many beautiful colors. They start to carefully look around their surroundings and ask questions about everything they spot. If we look closely there are so many toys and games just laying around in nature. My older son can sit still for so long just picking up small stones and running them through his fingers and to me it seems like some sort of meditation. He is in peace and in deep thought.
– Playing with water and getting wet or dirty is not a crime. Let children be free and who cares if their clothes get dirty? They NEED freedom every now and then, just as we do. A healthy child is a child who is allowed to explore and sit in the grass, get stains and then (thank God we are fortunate enough to have washing machines) we can just wash their clothes later. Not always but often times I do see people in Italy , more so than other places, not allowing their children to get dirty in the park or at the playground. I also sometimes see parents or grandparents become angry at the child who sits on the ground, lays down on a pile of leaves, gets wet while playing with water, or a bit muddy when playing with wet sand and touching it with their fingers. It is on all levels healthy for them to play and explore the earth’s different materials and textures. I see the children who are dirty from playing tend to be the ones with a huge smile on their face, and that says it all right there.
– If you are living the good life and live in the countryside I applaud you, but if you are like me living in a city or a town I highly recommend that you take a look online and search for a family and kid friendly farm near you. Often they offer day trips to the farm and children are allowed to interact with all the animals and learn something about how farms work. It is really interesting for the whole family , I almost enjoy it more than my sons. You may also find many places that offer you to spend the entire weekend with them, such as a bed and breakfast – you can then play and relax in nature during the day. A night or two in a place like this does a load of good for everyone now and then. We all had such an excellent visit that we might change our lives and move into the wilderness permanently.
– Take a bike ride. Here you can even also pack your lunch and explore somewhere new, even just to check out a new park or playground. Depending upon where you live, I am sure you might have a place you have not been able to see yet that isn’t too far from where you live. I have been doing this with my son and he loves to sit on my bike looking around and often times we sing his favorite songs together. I feel this is a great way to travel between places and a great break from strollers. Of course, always be safe and use helmets, go slowly and stay away from traffic as much as possible.
Hope you find this article useful. If you have more ideas of something you like doing with your family I would love to hear from you 🙂 I hope you will have a wonderful summer and spring. Vitamin D comes from the sun so stay outside with your children and they will fall asleep happy and tired at the end of the day.
Love JM
