Play Time

Outdoor Fun with Young Children

With summer just around the corner
(June 20), there are more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors with young children. Little ones, as well as their parents, benefit from playing and learning in the fresh air and natural scenery.  Here are three ideas to start everyone’s imaginations soaring into the blue skies of spring.

• Go for a walk. Stroll in a relaxed way and listen carefully to what attracts your child’s interest. Children often tune in to sounds and sights that we as adults miss. Permit her to pause and drink in the new spring sights, sounds, and smells. Perhaps you will remember a little bit of your own childhood wonder at the stirrings of nature after the winter rest period.
• Plan an outdoor activity that you and your child can enjoy together.  How about creating a sand pile within an old tire in your back yard? It is an easy and inexpensive way to have hours of fun together.  Ask a gas station manager for a worn-out tire, the bigger the better. Then purchase a bag or two of clean sand from your local garden or hardware store. Find a level spot near your house to place the tire and empty the bag of sand into the center of it. You may want to also locate a sheet of heavy plastic to cover the sand when your child is not using it to keep out rain, wind, dogs, or other critters. Look around your house for items that can be used as sand toys, such as scoopers and spoons, funnels,  small

...............ì

• buckets and tired out refrigerator containers, measuring cups, plastic trucks, etc. As you sit on the edge of the tire, you and your child can fill and empty containers with the sand, measure how much sand each container holds, mold the sand into shapes, make “roads” for the toy trucks and cars to run on, and talk together about things that matter to your child. The most important thing to remember is to follow your child’s lead on play suggestions and conversation topics. You will be helping to build his language development; learning through touch, hearing, seeing, and smelling; and feeling of closeness with you. What could be a better use of a beautiful spring day?
• A third idea is to involve your child in an outdoor activity that you need to do anyway. A prime example is gardening. There is nothing more attractive to children than digging in the soil, unless it is combining water and soil to make mud—what fun (to children, that is!).
• First-hand learning through outdoor play is a precious gift to youngsters. Though they may not consciously remember it in later years, those rich experiences with nature may guide them toward studies and careers in biology, ecology, zoology, or agriculture. At the very least, children will gain a respect and appreciation of the natural world, modeling your example.

References:  DeBord, K., Moore, R., Hestenes, L., Cosco, N., and McGinnis, J. (2003). Making the most of outdoor time with preschool children. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, bulletin FCS-507.
Jalongo, M. R. (2008). Learning to listen, listening to learn: Building essential skills in young children. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Source: Carole Gnatuk, Extension Specialist for Child Development, University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture.

Why not take a picture of your child with a “milk mustache” like Miley Cyrus or Superman?  To create a “milk mustache,” let  ice cream soften.  Combine 2 cups of softened ice cream and 1 cup milk in a blender slowly until you get the consistency of melted ice cream.  TIP:  Plain yogurt can also be added to the mixture for more thickness.  The thick consistency is what makes the “mustache” clean.    

A little more healthy recipe, but still fun, is "Purple Cow".

¼ cup unsweetened grape juice
1 cup milk
1 banana-sliced

Mix all ingredients together in a blender.  Makes 4-6 small servings. 

Each year, about 260 children under 5 drown in swimming pools.  To help protect your family, be sure to take the following steps.  To prevent swimming pool drownings, layers of protection are essential. Place barriers completely around the pool, closely supervise young children, and be prepared in case of emergency.

In addition:

• If a child is missing, always look first in the pool. Seconds count!

• Knowing how to swim doesn't make a child drown-proof.  Never use flotation devices as a substitute for supervision.

• Keep rescue equipment and a phone next to the pool.

• Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

• Install physical barriers around the pool to limit access.

• Fences and walls should be at least 4 feet high and installed completely around the pool.

• Gates should be self-closing and self-latching.  The latch should be out of reach of small children.

•  If your house forms one side of the barrier for the pool, doors leading from the house to the pool should be protected with alarms that sound when the doors are unexpectedly opened. Or, use a power safety cover, a motor-powered barrier placed over the water area, to prevent access by young children.

• For above-ground pools, steps and ladders to the pool should be secured or removed when the pool is not in use.

For more information, please visit CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov, or call the CPSC Hotline at
 (800) 638-2772.

Laura W. Wilson
Lyon County Extension Agent

for Family & Consumer Sciences