It is a huge pleasure to introduce you all to one of my favorite Outdoor Mom Bloggers, Amelia Mayer! Her blog, Tales of a Mountain Mama was one of the first Outdoor Blogs I started reading and it is an honor to have her on Mommy Hiker planting her seeds of wisdom and knowledge!
One of the most influential benefits of raising children
outdoors is the simple fact that life-long challenges, lessons and explorations
are presented on such a deeper and higher level than anything indoors. I don’t mean bringing kids up in a primitive
setting necessarily, but instead raising them to just love the outdoors and the
opportunities they have to be free. This
means getting them outside on a regular, daily basis and, most importantly,
discovering it with them.
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| Moab Family Portrait |
As parents, we are often so tempted to shoo kids out the
door to “go play”. While unstructured
play is fantastic and certainly has its prominent place, kids learn by example
more than any other way. Being sent out
the door and out of their “parent’s hair” quickly becomes a punishment to some
kids for wild or hyped-up behavior.
Don’t get me wrong – that sort of play is best fostered outside and so
should be celebrated in the fresh air….but often with the accompaniment of
adults they love. As moms, as parents,
as educators, as caretakers, we all need breaks. Sometimes we just forget that outdoor time is
just as necessary for us adults as it is for kids.
Frankly, as adults we sometimes have a hard time imagining,
discovering and just BEING. Like
everyone else, we have a zillion things to do and not enough time to do
them. We run ourselves ragged for the
sake of our kids and so easily forget how to connect with them on the basic
level they crave. Lest you quickly
disregard yourself from this category, I don’t even mean “keeping up with the
Jones’” and making your child your puppet.
I am talking about forgoing a game of catch or hide and seek because the
kitchen floor needs mopped or someone took every book off the bookshelf.
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| Expert Explorers! |
Yes, the works needs done, but all those things can be taken
away from you. The clean floor you
painstakingly finished is taken away with the quick steps of a muddy
child. The dinner you cooked is consumed
by hungry tummies you love. The house
gets messy, the laundry is never done and there is always one more thing to
do. The only thing that can NOT be taken away
are the memories you make and connections you build with your children, with
your family.
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| A Happy Camper! |
I challenge you to take even just fifteen minutes a day
(that isn’t much, folks!) and concentrate completely on your children. Put your phone down, go outside where
distractions are fewer, look in their eyes and just play. It fills up those little love tanks like
nothing else can. Here are a few of our
favorite ways to connect as a family outdoors (because, no matter what anyone
says, THAT is where the magic happens in such a profound way):
1.
Play with a ball. Kick it, catch it, throw it, chase with it,
bounce it.
2.
Look for ants, cool rocks or 4-leaf clovers
3.
Have an evening campfire. Get crazy and roast S’mores. Bring a book of jokes out and tell them as a
family.
4.
Ride bikes (wagons, tricycles, Big Wheels, etc.)
5.
Draw with chalk on the driveway/sidewalk
6.
Go on a nature hunt. Fill a bag together with leaves, rocks,
recyclables, sticks, flowers and grass.
7.
Take silly pictures outdoors.
8.
Go on a walk, even if it is just around the
block
9.
Fly a kite
10. Play
with Rockets (Stomp Rockets are REALLY fun for kids of all ages)
11. Bring
out some music and dance
12. Play
house
13. Play
restaurant
14. Roll
down a hill
15. Jump
on a trampoline
Cherish the moments, the smiles, the bruises, the tears, the
dirty faces and the memories you make.
Everything else is passing….
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