We Play: For Fresh, Fun, Family Play Ideas

Some time ago I was inspired by Tricia at Little Eco Footprints’ Urban Outdoors Adventures. Tricia and her daughter are taking the time to explore ALL of the parks and green spaces in their extended neighborhood, one by one. I don’t know about you, but I often get into the habit of going to the same park or playground, because it is convenient or I know that it is age appropriate. Well yesterday I decided it is time to start challenging our neighborhood adventures and we headed to a different playground…

one with a delicious hill, perfect for running up and running (or rolling) down…

…we saw birds up close and chased butterflies, and found all manner of interesting things which Immy asked to collect and take home to “make something” (I am sure that our ‘making’ will be shared very soon).

My next step is to photocopy a map of our local area and highlight the other parks and nature reserves nearby to earmark them for exploration. What about you? Do you have a range of parks or one or two old faithfuls which you regularly visit?

As for my favourite post from last week, I instead would like to say a huge thank you to two We Play bloggers who take the time every week to visit and comment on most (if not all) of the blogs linked up. Thank you to Amanda B of Homeage and Marita/Leechbabe of Stuff with Thing. Please take a moment to visit their blogs and repay their comment kindness 🙂

And now, what have you been playing this week?

If you haven’t played before, please read this before linking up 🙂

15 Comments

  1. Aaaw, schucks! Thank Christie! But you know, I'm just looking for activities to hel me through the day! 😀

    I love being part of We Play. I think it is a wonderful idea, and it has been a great way to meet new Mummy Bloggers, so thank YOU for hosting it!

  2. Juliet Robertson says:

    Hi! I'm going to add to Amanda's comments and state that I feel that yourself and Squiggle Mum bridge the gap beautifully between home and school based play and learning.

    Wherever play takes place, whatever the age of the child we should celebrate this child-centred way of learning about the world in which we live.

    Best wishes from a (kind of) teacher blogger

  3. The Sunshine Crew says:

    Very cool finds! What are those pod things on the tray? I have never seen those before and was curious.
    We are doing some nature activities everyday…am going to post about them tomorrow. Just love all of your We Play posts, as well as all of the We Play links. Am going to link up my tomorrow's post to this…
    Have a happy week:)
    Colleen

  4. Thank you for hosting the fabulous We Play each week. I find so many inspiring ideas it takes the hard work out of planning activities to do with my girls.

    I love visiting new parks, we have a circuit of about 10 local(ish) parks that we visit regularly – the ones for children with special needs are our fav's just because they are usually bigger and offer a wider range of activities.

  5. life in a pink fibro says:

    We are big park fans. We have a couple close to home but do make the effort to get out and see what else is out there. With two boys, you can never have too many parks.

  6. That is a great idea. I fall into the habit of going to the same parks because I know the kids like them or they are fenced or are handy. once this rain clears I should really go further. Though we are taking them to a massive park soon. The Canadian Rockies.

  7. jeannine: waddlee-ah-chaa says:

    We live 5 minutes from our wonderful small town park. For a small town it really is amazing. It has playgrounds for all ages, ponds, natural spring fed waters, hiking trails, ducks, geese, a train, a naturally spring fed swimming pool . . . It really is the best! 🙂 When the children are a little older we'll actually be able to hike to the park through the canyon. Have I mentioned that it is really the best small town park ever! We love it. 🙂

  8. I wholeheartedly agree that families should explore "new-to-them" places whenever they can. Not only are there new opportunities & discoveries to be made, but it makes your community feel a little bit more connected with your daily life.

  9. I love all the stuff you collected! I've been searching for big gumnuts for ages but I don't think we have any around here 🙁

  10. Busy Brissy Mum says:

    Christie, you're doing parks the Busy Brissy Mum way. He he!!! I cannot stick to one park as there are too many great ones to enjoy in Brisbane. I'm happy to drive right across the other side of town if I hear of a fantastic one. The idea of marking on a map is great. Might have to look into doing that myself. Can't leave any parks out!

    Love Immy's nature collection and I can't wait to see what is created from it all.

  11. Chapter Forty says:

    We also love to explore new to us parks. Its a great way to look around other neighbourhoods. Sorry I've linked up twice, The first link is not to my blog – my mistake, derrr, and I cant delete it. I am having one of those vague days…

  12. Mom and Kiddo says:

    Living in the city there are hundreds (literally) of different playgrounds and we love to try new ones!

  13. What a great idea Christie to make a map of all the local parks!
    I usually stick to the same park when going for a walk with the kids, but this park has 2 playgrounds (one at each end) plus a football oval, so if we take a footy or soccer ball it is like going to 3 parks at once, as both playgrounds offer different activities and the oval offers endless running space.
    Sometimes we also play at the local high school (on weekends), as it offers a huge bitumen area for bike riding practise!!
    Thanks for hosting the WePlay meme – I love it!

  14. Anne@LittleSproutBooks says:

    I usually rely on word of mouth or a playdate invitation to try out new parks, but I like your idea of a map/checklist to inspire more exploring.

  15. I'm glad I inspired you to go exploring. It's fun isn't it 🙂

    I've been amazed at some of the parks we have found. We still havn't made it to all – and some weeks we stick to our 'regulars' – but each time we take the time to visit a new park we are rewarded.

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