1. Food and Water:  Even if you think this hike will take only an hour or so and they just ate, kids can be as unpredictable as the weather.  You do not want to be stuck hunkered down waiting out a rainstorm or re-tracing the path toward the trail you missed and have a hungry or "so firsty" little guy or girl on your hands who is also exhausted from hiking, and consequently a bit more emotional than usual.

2. Plastic baggies:  Perfect for carrying new collections of pebbles from the ground or for carrying the wet clothes of a potty training oops (going potty on the toilet and going potty in a bush are two different things and sometimes that can make my own little one a bit nervous).

3. First Aid Kit:  This one is pretty self explanatory.  From blisters to splinters, all sorts of small boo-boos need regular attention on a hike with your kids.  Hurt feet from blisters or other maladies can quickly turn a fun day into a painful experience, which brings me to:

4. A Good Pair of Shoes: Because our grown-up feet are on our own body, we know the importance of good footwear, but it can be easy to forget that your little one's tootsies need pampering too. 

5. Baby Wipes:  Even with older kids there is always a job to be done for these handy little wipes.  Cleaning shoes or hands covered in mud, or simply wiping away sweat after a long day are just a couple of the uses of these little babies.

Stay tuned for other top 5 lists.  Did I forget anything on this one?

So, what season is it exactly now?  Here in MN if you went by the weather, you could guess spring during a week of mid-50s and even 60 degree weather where kids are biking when they would usually be able to throw rocks into the early morning ice that has formed on ponds. Chronologically it is fall, but an iced tea sounds better to drink than hot cocoa.

Officially winter starts on December 21 and the Winter Solstice,but for much of the US the season has already seemed winter for far longer than that.  Snow will blanket the ground and with plans of Christmas a few days later, most kids would have a hard time calling December 20th Autumn.

This change of season is a wonderful opportunity to speak to your kids about the concept of seasonal change and the process of the earth turning from summer to autumn to winter and what they can notice in the natural world around them.

If you are talking a walk with your children there are certain obvious changes that you can see-- the leaves changing color and dropping to the ground and the air feeling cooler.  If you are playing in the park you can look at the flower beds that were once full of colorful blooms, but now are empty or full of withered stems. Another interesting change is the absence of bugs that your little ones were earlier able to catch and study.  To where have they disappeared?  One of my favorite finds has been the wonderful "My Weather Station" freebie from Mr. Printables.  This wonderful little weather station allows kids to track the daily weather in their area and is free to download, as is the site's other digital freebies, like their collection of Earth flashcards, that feature some weather and climate elements.

With older children, or for those smaller ones that love to talk (this might be all little ones) this idea can be taken a bit farther.  As parents and caregivers we can guide our children into further looking around to notice other differences.  Are the birds and other animals in your area behaving the same, and are these even the same animals that were here in the warmer months? The concept of migration is just one of many ideas that these talks can prompt.

So, when does Winter begin to you?  Is it a date, an event like the first snowfall?  Or is it tied to some personal life event?

In communities like mine the housing trend of a larger home with a small back yard makes sense-- this is MN after all.  It doesn't make much sense to have a pool in every yard and sacrifice square footage, but I have sometimes found myself at a loss for yard ideas that incorporate natural, outside play into our fun in our tiny yard space. 

As in many townhome and condo communities, there are strict rules governing what may and may not be in the back yards, and things such as play sets and other kids toys are high on the list of prohibited items.  Also under scrutiny more than homes with high privacy fences are

One of the easiest ways to use natural materials in small backyard play is by integrating items that are already in use, such as landscape materials.  Some woodchips and wood products may have splinters, so it is best to stick with materials such as rocks and soft bedding materials. Rocks are great for counting, sorting, color differentiation, building and sharing. 

If your back yard is smaller, it may also be difficult to spare the space for a sandbox or other play storage.  One wonderful idea that I recently found was Prudent Baby's use of a holiday wreath plastic storage box as a small sandbox.  I love the thrifty price-- just $10, and the ability to move and store the box out of sight.  I have seen a similar thing done with an underbed storage box for the storage of toys and collections of natural materials on a deck or patio. The wheeled version can be easily slid under a table or even into a garage and taken out for quick natural play.

Even if you do not have trees aplenty or a large play structure in your yard, there are still ways that you can integrate balance and large muscle activities in free play.  In our back yard, the previous occupants had left several small boards, but this activity can be easily done using short sticks or even a line drawn on a patio with a soft chalky rock.  These small pieces of wood can be used for stacking, crossing a "moat," or simply practicing balancing.  Since these pieces are so much smaller and more mobile than a large playset, they offer more opportunities for creative play than playgrounds where play is scripted and less is left for your little ones fertile minds.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder I addressed the issue of finding ways to bring my son in contact with nature in a way that allows him to explore despite us currently living in a townhome community with a small backyard.  This week we visited a place that is a perfect illustration of the way that even for families who do not have a large backyard can enjoy time in the natural world with some freedom.

Inside the nature center with Noah.

Our community is known for its many parks and trails, and so we are lucky in this, and it seems that many families realize this because the number of townhome or single family homes with extremely small lots is amazing.  What is also soon apparent is the number of people who rely on the trails and parkland for their outdoor experiences, which can mean that there is a lack of privacy when you are enjoying them. 

However, the nearby 4,900 acre Elm Creek Park Reserve excels at providing plenty of outdoor room where there is no one in sight.  The land is parkland though, and the concept of "take only photos, leave only footprints" is in effect, and so the nature center has taken advantage of their available land to create a nature exploration area for kids, and kids at heart.

Just down the trail from the nature center, and near enough for potty breaks and a snack from the new snack bar, "Kids can dig, climb, make a fort or dam, and engage their imaginations, while adults play along or observe nearby." A relatively new trend in nature centers and exploration, many nature centers are offering areas where "Leave No Trace" is not in effect.  At our local spot, kids are encouraged to use sticks and leaves to build natural shelters, practice damming the nearby water runoff creek and to pretend through all sorts of nature play.


This area puts to use the concepts described by Louv, as well as Loose Parts Theory, as described here in one of my favorite child play blogs.  According to Jenny, the author, loose parts are "materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials."   Loose parts can include things like sticks, leaves or rocks, as well as any other number of natural and manufactured materials. In following posts I will describe a few ways in which we can put to use playing with loose parts in suburban communities like my own where freedom to fill up our yard with miscellaneous sticks and other natural play materials is lacking. 

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder ,Richard Louv's new classic is the perfect introduction to the many reasons why children need to be exposed to nature on a regular basis, and why there is no substitute for hours spent in free play with natural materials. More and more of our playspaces in the United States are being paved over, fenced in, and overly organized, which while often done under the name of safety has eliminated many of the safe risks that we grew up with, and the chance to learn our own boundaries and abilities. Louv's book explores this issue, and does so without guilting parents and caregivers into action, rather he reminds them of their own childhood spent exploring and enjoying the world around them and the simple beauty of this, that for many of our children has been taken away in the name of safety.