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| Hiking at the park. Nicholas decided not to wear pants and ended up with scratches. Now I don't have to argue with him about wearing pants when we are going hiking. |
Exploring? At a park?
Yep.
Our park has a larger wild growth area next to it. The kids love to climb up the little dirt hill and then slide down it. Then climb back up it....you get the picture. Also, they love to go walking in it. They aren't the only ones - there are walking paths all through the wild weeds and stuff growing there.
In the rainy weather, there are large puddle and we can throw rocks into it our play in the mud. We can look in holes and find snakes, lizards, and rabbits. We even find the occasional squirrel.
My kids have learned to wear pants when they want to go exploring. It's something I thought experience would teach them better than me telling them. Now when we go hiking or outside into nature, they always want to wear pants. No more arguments. They learned because there are prickly bushes hiding in the tall weeds. And did you know they hurt when they get onto you? I did, but kids sometimes learn best with that lesson on their own. It also saves me by having one less fight.
The parks are where I can meet other moms; where the kids meet other kids. It's where social skills are practiced and developed. It's where kids can mingle across ages and grades and make up rules to their own games. Have you ever seen 10 kids trying to make up rules for a tag game or whatever game they want to play (somehow it ended up being pirates and Jedi's the last time)? It's a real exercise in negotiation. They are learning skills they will need later in life.
The park is where the kids get to challenge themselves. I don't have a 12 foot slide in the house, nor do I want one. But the park does. They can challenge themselves by climbing a rockwall or a rope. They can use the monkey bars, slide down slides, and jump down big things. These are all good skills for them to learn.
I really do love our parks.
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