(Goblin is 39 months)
Goblin has been obsessing over remote control toys for a while. I quite like the way they teach fine motor hand and eye coordination but most of the cars are too fast for a three year old. So for Christmas we bought him a nice slow boat. Not only will this help with learning coordination of movement, and cause and effect, it also gives us a great excuse to go to the duck pond.
The duck pond is a good place for the boat because Goblin likes to try and get the boat to chase the ducks. Before any of you get on to the RSPB, its OK, the boat goes so slow that the ducks just paddle out the way. But it does give Goblin a direction to follow so he isn't just mindlessly twiddling the controls.
As well as chasing ducks and piloting boats the duck pond holds good tree climbing opportunities for our intrepid explorer. An opportunity to practice balance and gross motor skills like stretching and pulling. If you think about it tree climbing also contains a lot of problem solving as you need to figure out where to put your feet and hands so you don't fall off.
And when we need to encourage Goblin homeward we start an epic game fo hide and seek - another problem solving game. The problems being where to hide or where to seek.
The main rule of our homeward hide and seek is that we always move in the direction of home. Goblin has got better at hiding but his patience still isn't great. So even when he is out of sight he will pop up if you take too long to find him. Something I am currently quite grateful for.
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I LOVE your photos! I would do just about anything to live near a cool tree like the one Goblin is climbing on in the third picture! I wish I could come meander in your forest with my littles!
ReplyDeleteI am envious of your duck pond, that place looks like tons of fun!
ReplyDeleteI love that beautiful climbing tree...amazing! Thanks so much for linking up to the Outdoor Play Party.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! Love the beautiful pictures and how you illustrate that kids are learning by just playing outside.
ReplyDeleteThis summer vacation has a lot of outdoors activities we can do and those activities posted here are all amazing. I also think that kids will enjoy to do those things. Thanks for sharing it.
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