School holidays? Kids under your feet? Pulling your hair out?
Not like it was when you were a kid is it? Modern kids don’t seem to have the outdoor sense that the kids of twenty years ago had. Modern kids seem more than happy to stay indoors playing computer games. Which are great by the way, but looking at pictures of the outdoors is never going to be the same as experiencing it.
It’s not just a case of kicking your kids out of the house and telling them to get on with it. That’s why kids complain that being “out” is boring. You need to show them. And if you can’t show them – because you’re not an all knowing child of the forest – then you need to find someone who can.
Local councils are, unsurprisingly, fully aware that the schools are closed for the summer. They make a lot of provision for this and it won’t take much looking to find a variety of activities you and your kids can get involved in. You should probably start by looking for your local parks and nature reserves who are bound to be offering Nature Days.
Nature walks are great fun and a good one will be much more than just some bloke pointing at various trees and birds. You want your kids to get involved. Get them pond dipping, making forts and shelters or maybe even making things like bee boxes and you’ll have a child who’s had fun and has been learning stuff without even realising it.
And don’t forget, the most important thing you can do is, get yourself involved. Go on; get muddy.
