Our family has always loved being outside during the warm New Hampshire months and this year we were blessed to live on the property I grew up at which means we have a pond and a lot of wild life visits. We are able to find ways to enjoy the great outdoors with little to no toys, meaning we use our imagination heavily!
A simple walk around our pond turns into a magical journey into a far away land where dinosaur frogs can attack you at any moment and you have to watch your toes for those alligator snapping turtles that can jump out of no where at any moment. If you are lucky you may happen upon a baby dinosaur frog that is not completely transformed into evil and you can capture a baby dinosaur tadpole frog to turn it into one of the nice guys.
The outdoor adventures with or without a pond are easy to do; simply get your imagination cap on, become a child yourself and get in touch with that kid version of who you are. Utilize not only your children’s imaginations but their love of a certain subject. For us, its dinosaurs, so everything outside has now become something from our pretend land of dinosaurs. The adventures begin with looking for treasure; this can be a specific small outdoor toy like a neat baseball or a rock that shines in the sunlight. Bury that treasure somewhere and mark the spot with an X, combine the idea of pirate treasure with dinosaur land and you are sure to have a blast.
My daughter is nine years old and since she has two younger brothers our creative adventures always end up with a princess needing to be saved from the evil Koopa alligator turtle and the boys rush in with their pretend swords to save that princess from the evil character holding her hostage in the swingset tower. Counting all the way to the princess or singing a song as we walk along the great grass plains helps encourage the children to learn numbers and rhyming words. The princess is saved by using a special code that rhymes, each person has to have the right rhyming word and when said together they are able to run far away into the land of dinosaurs, back to the path way behind the pond, safe from all evil alligator turtles!
Each child enjoys this outdoor adventure game time for it’s filled with imagination and based on subjects all of the children love. We incorporate various outdoor toys and use education without the kids even realizing they are having fun while learning. Outdoor adventures make for fun summer family times together while continuing on with the education they receive during the school year!