Outdoor Play

[*~goldie~*]

Hi there,
The weather's finally perked up a little - could this be summer !!!?? 
Anyway, Im eager to get my little one outdoors to breath the fresh air, watch the wildlife and generally take in the sights and sounds.
My gorgeous DD is not yet walking, she walks holding my hands, and Id like to know if any of you wonderful BWs have some ideas for garden/outdoor play.
So far I have come up with reading to her outdoors,
                                    feeding her outdoors
                                     walks
                                     feeding the ducks
                                     taking her to the zoo / petting farm
                                     doing painting outdoors (with lots of supervision )
                                     play park (swings and slide)
                                     taking her upto trees and plants and letting her touch them (not eat them)
                                     Hopefully when its warmer outdoor water play - paddle pool,watergun etc
                                     Bubble blowing

Im still yet to find the will to let her sit on the grass in our back garden as I personally hate creepy crawlies (as you'll know if you've seen my "spiders" thread)..... although the time will have to come.

Anyway,  there's a thread for indoor/when its dark activities so would love to make a place for outdoor/when its bright activities, open to all age LOs to share ideas for outoor safe play   

Looking forward to seeing your suggestions (and encouragement for letting her on  the grass LOL)

XXX                               

[15milner]

Do you have space in your garden for a little sandpit?

[*~goldie~*]

yes we do, think she'd eat the sand though... ha ha

[speechie]

OOOHHHHH-- let her sit in the grass, I have this lovely memory of my son sitting and gently touching each little blade of grass with keen fascination! It is so beautiful to watch them experience nature.

If you're really eeked out, just put a little blankie down under her bottom and let her hands trail into the grass- so soft and lush!

Beginning gardening- planting some sunflower seeds together would be fun- she could even help to gently water them.

[skatty]

My DD loved crawling round the garden (supervised as she was the type to taste everything  ) and the sandpit was fab, she ate loads but the doc reassured me it all comes out! Last summer my dd painted everywhere with a paintbrush and water and also washed all her plastic toys in a bowl of water

[aidliz]

You could get a sandbox, put some toys in there for her to play with.  When she gets older you could add the sand. (so she could sit and play and not be in the grass)  but i would let her play in the grass, give her a ball she could crawl after it...if she crawls.

Sidewalk chalk.

[MeAndVee]

My DS loves drawing with chalk and painting with water.  They also sell sidewalk paint that washes off with a hose.  My son has a ride on FisherPrice horse that was mine when I was small.  It has no pedals.  Bet you could find something similar.  Kiddie pools and sprinklers are fun too. 

[Shdef]

There was this thing Scotty simply adored outside (besides feeding the ducks, his fav activity of all times). It was simple, we took a bucket, went to a lake and filled the bucket with stones and he threw them in. He LOVED that at that age...


Still does 

[linfran]

When ds was little we would give him a little tub filled with water and a paint brush and ask him to paint the fence (he had seen dh painting one day and wanted to "help") - it kept him amused for hours!  I told his daycare about it and the next day I went to pick up ds and all the kids were out "painting" like a chain gang!  It's great because the water changes the colour of the fence but doesn't make too much of a mess!