Friday, February 2, 2018

Imagination and Getting Outside in Winter

Winter so far this year has been a sloppy, schizophrenic mess. We've had a mixture of snow and rain, freeze and thaw, and all the varied precipitation in between! We go from wonderland white one day, to soggy brown the next. It's not our ideal as far as winter goes (we like lots of snow that stays around!), but it hasn't stopped the kids from getting outside.



Yesterday they had a blast making a whole kingdom of castles and houses out of the wet snow. They spent a good 2 hours out there, and were quite thrilled to show me all they had done. I took a few pictures with my phone.

Since the colder weather began in the fall, we've managed to get a consistent habit of outdoor play in place - one slot in the morning, and one in the afternoon.

Jack's best castle, stocked with pinecones for small animals in need.




Every morning around 9:00, I send Arden and Jack outside to play. The goal is one hour. I've sent them out in pretty much everything. Blizzards, rain, snow, -20C, mud, wind, you name it. The key is the right outer clothes! We've kept full snowsuits and head-to-toe raingear handy. On the coldest and windiest days, I've shortened the time to 20 minutes. Lots of days they've come to the door asking to come in early, but if it didn't look like they were in danger of frostbite, I just sent them back out! They know where the sheltered parts of the yard are.

The great thing is this morning time has become a true habit now. They don't resist, they just expect it, and most days they are excited to go out. Sometimes I'll go out for a few minutes and take Ivy with me, but that might depend on her nap time and if there are chores I have to finish up.

Arden, the main castle, and the pinecone forest.


On afternoons that we are home (which is most days), I also send them outside for another hour or so. This doesn't necessarily happen at the same time each day, but the kids have also come to expect this, and know that if they don't head on their own accord, I'll send them at some point. If I haven't got out in the morning with Ivy, then I make an effort to go out in the afternoon. She loves going outside, which I love to see, and is quite put out if she doesn't get to put her snowsuit on when the big kids do.

I think this time is so important for their development, in many ways. Besides the obvious benefits of fresh air and exercise, they are making consistent, long term connections with nature. It doesn't always look like formal "nature study," but they are forming a relationship with nature nonetheless.



Charlotte Mason says in Home Education

"[T]here is no sort of knowledge to be got in these early years so valuable to children as that which they get for themselves of the world they live in. Let them once get touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." (pg. 61)


Time outside also gives them space, time and freedom for imaginative play. I don't think it was a coincidence that we read a few wonderfully rich bedtime stories the night before this snow kingdom creation.




Stoking their imaginations with great images and ideas through literature fuels both their desire and enjoyment to "go out and play." Outside they have the freedom to explore and enact the worlds in their heads. Its the science of relations at work. The snow halls they make might just house Urso Brunov and his little bears.


~lg






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