Wednesday, 3 April 2019

5 Ways To Make Exploring Outdoors More Fun

Paid Post in collaboration with Arla Big Milk

All big adventures start with planning.  Wellies are a must, magnifying glasses are always useful and hot chocolate makes the perfect mid-adventure drink.  When we pack the bag for going out, the children always like to insist on something completely impractical to bring (one piece of a train track, the biggest cuddly toy they own or their favourite wooden spoon) and they love helping to make the hot chocolate, Finn being in charge of spooning it into the jug and Cora getting to do the stirring.  We take out our insulated cup and we are ready for anything



Woodland areas are our favourite for exploring and I wanted to share 5 ways that I encourage the children to explore outdoors.

Relate it to a book

It isn’t hard to find a book based in an area similar to where you want to explore and the Gruffalo is always a favourite.  We go hunting for Gruffalos, snakes, fox, owls and mice and talk about the things the Gruffalo has been doing. The Stick-Man is also great for forests and The Singing Mermaid is our favourite for the beach (a bit of a Julia Donaldson theme going on here!



Take props

Binoculars and magnifying glasses are our favourite but we love a little basket to collect pine cones or a little bug pot so we can examine the insects we find too.  Take things they can do to help encourage them to try something different



Take snacks and drinks to break it up

When everyone gets a bit tired or needs a change of direction, offer snacks and drinks (just make sure you take all rubbish away with you).  We made some hot chocolate with Arla Big Milk which is perfect for little adventurers as it is packed with essential nutrients for under fives.  It helped perk these two up when they got tired and they wanted to ‘make their own’ afterwards with mud and water! (check out their amazing competition to win a big gruffalo adventure!)



Don’t be afraid to get messy

Don’t dress them in their best clothes, encourage them to get stuck in and be messy.  If you find trees, ask them how high they can climb, if you find puddles ask them how hard they can splash, if you find hills, ask they how quickly they can roll down them.  Let them explore their environment not just with their hands but with their whole bodies.



Set an example.

Also, don’t let the kids have all the fun! I always bring my wellies and wear old jeans so I can join in! I look for snakes in the grass, I splish splash splosh through the puddles and I join in with hide and seek and tag when they want to play.  Try to enjoy the quality time, the fresh air and the chance to have a child like adventure with them.


Wherever your adventures take you, have fun!





1 comment:

  1. Hi Bex,
    Great guide to explore outdoor with fun. And babies looks awesome.

    ReplyDelete

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