Nature Play - Outdoors & Adventure Play Tips
Kids are bouncing off the walls? Take away the walls and watch them THRIVE!
The modern world we live in moves at such a fast pace it can be overwhelming at times.
When we slow down to the speed of nature we often find a calmness and focus that comes with it. This calmness gives us as adults and our children the time and head space to engage with the world around us.
Lets get outside to play!
Climb the TREES, Squelch in the MUD, lay down and watch the CLOUDS move by or the STARS at night, run through the RAIN and swim in the WATERFALLS, resetting our energy and bringing peace to our minds.
The Pace of Media
The media we consume, especially children's digital media, moves at a very unnatural pace.
Often changing stimuli every 3 seconds on average. Nothing in nature moves at this pace.
When we are being entertained, we are consuming, not expressing, which leads to a build-up of physical and emotional energy but with a depletion of mental and creative energy.
When children watch too much media they can often have low attention spans, become bored easily and be more hyperactive.
Be Mindful about the Media we choose.
Sometimes it's nice to cozy in doors in front of a 'screen', on these times i love finding interesting shows, documentaries and YouTube tutorials that inspire our children to think creatively, learn about animals, people, cultures, food and the diverse range of plants and lands around the world.
When we put ourselves in front of screens, we are (at that point) only the observer, Children and ADULTS learn so much everyday by DOING! Exploring, Problem Solving, Challenging ourselves, finding Peace within our natural surroundings and having FUN through play.
CONNECT AS A FAMILY with the help of Nature
The calm focus brought by Outdoor Play has integrative qualities.
Without the distractions of our everyday busy lives, we have the time and space to engage and connect with each other on a more genuine level.
Open-Ended Play in an Open-Ended World
Natures gifts make fantastic props for creative and imaginative play!
Seeds, nuts, wood, bark, water, sand, leaves, flowers can all be used in endless ways.
- Weaving with Palm Fronds
- Whittling with wood
- Use broken twigs to create a birds eye view dolls house plan layout
- Play tic tac toe with rocks and leaves
- Use seeds for counting math
- Learning to tie knots
- Make all sorts of amazing crafts with leaves and flowers.
- Build outdoor cubbies with fallen branches
- Stack rocks into art pieces, mandalas and mosaics with creativity, amazing balance and focus!
- Make decorations with Clay
Check out our range of NATURE CRAFT BOOKS HERE
- Hitting different natural objects together to explore different noises. Hitting leaves, versus rocks, logs water or sand all make different sound.
- A branch can transform into a dragon to ride
- A stick can be a magic wand
- Or a bit of driftwood can become a fairies boat.
At Earth Toys we love promoting Nature Play and supplying quality tools that can enhance, facilitate and inspire those lovely experiences.
Our Children LOVE to Swing on their Ninja Line out in the garden, Challenging themselves and stretching their bodies!
Our bodies are designed to MOVE!
Running, Jumping, Climbing, Crawling and Rolling.
Apart from conditioning your muscles, joints and bones,
- kids gain a lot of confidence and autonomy from being physical and engaging with the world around them.
- Improving their balance, strength and flexibility.
- Learning and pushing the limits of their bodies allows kids to gain more of an understanding and appreciation for their body and its capacity.
- It is very important to learn how to fall over from a young age! Pain from pushing themselves too far allows kids to learn to regulate themselves better, minimizing harm and damage done going forward.
Earth Toys has a range of outdoor adventure tools available for exploring and learning from the world around us!
- Binoculars, Compass, Whittling knives, Utility tools, Microscopes, Field Magnifiers, Bug Boxes, Pulley Systems and Bird Houses and more!
Get into the Garden with our range of tools, seeds and inspirations!
Gardening with kids teaches them about their natural world, how REAL food grows, how the insects in your garden pollinate the flowers and the importance of the Eco-system!
There is amazing health and immune boosting benefits with getting the kids get outside with bare feet on the earth, sun on their back, the wind in their hair and listening and observing the birds in the trees!
Teach them young! Get the Kids growing their own food!
We have found that when we grow our own food from scratch with the kids, taking them through the entire process from seed through to plant to real FOOD that our 3 children have such pride in that journey and appreciation for GOOD food that they love to eat anything that comes out of their home veggie garden.
If you live in the city and can't get outside as often as you would like then you can still immerse and educate your children about the JOYS of Nature through our collection of books.
At EARTH TOYS we love to promote books about our natural world.
There is an endless amount of lessons to be learnt from nature!
I often find myself telling parents
"Go to the Park or Beach, its Free!"
"But if while you're there, you want something to enhance that experience then we will happily set you up with a Flying Disc or a Kite that will fly well and set you up for a positive experience as a family!".
It's your experience that matters in the end. Outdoor activities tend to promote mindfulness and calm and a connection to your family and the world around you.
It's time to disconnect, so we can reconnect with nature and ourselves.
- Check out our INSTAGRAM REEL about the PACE of NATURE PLAY
Have fun and get outdoors to PLAY today!
- Bree & Brad Russell
Earth Toys Family