Play Library » Outdoor Fun

Seeing Through The Eyes Of Children

Linette Gerlach — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:25:42 +0000

I love seeing things through the eyes of children. They have such a different view on the world than most adults do. I went on a field trip with my son today to a nature preserve. I love that my schedule lets me do things like that.

It’s fun to be able to join my son with his classmates, and to see the world through their eyes. They find beauty in the simplest things. One of the little girls in our group had some rocks in her hand and she asked me if I’d like to take a look at them.

When she first showed the stones to me, I just saw four rocks. Then she told me why the rocks were special. After she told me about them I saw them in a competely different way. One had a unique texture, another was shaped like a pyramid, and a third one “sparkled like diamonds.”

Whenever I’m around kids I come up with tons of writing topics, just seeing things through their eyes inspires me to look at things differently. Have you looked at things through your child’s eyes lately?

Image sxc.hu

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End Of Summer Getaway Fun at the Lake

Linette Gerlach — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:32:24 +0000

We decided to take an end of summer trip to the lake last week. It was the last week before my son returns to school, so we decided we needed to have a little end of summer family fun. The weather didn’t always cooperate, but we still had a good time.

My husband and my son did a little fishing between the rain showers.

We also got to have a couple campfires, by storing some wood inside so it stayed dry. We had a blast making s’mores, and pizza pies over the open fire.

On the last day the sun decided to peek through so we went to race go carts.

Then played a little putt putt golf, and played a few games in the arcade. Overall it was a fun week to end the summer with. I’m sure we’ll head back to the lake again at least one more time this fall, but it will probably be a quick weekend trip. I always enjoy the family time we have while we’re there.

Images (c) L Gerlach

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Visiting an Amusement Park This Summer?

Linette Gerlach — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:48:54 +0000

Amusement parks can be great family fun, especially during the summer. With the tighter economy an amusement park visit can be part of a shorter vacation, or a family staycation. You usually don’t have to go far to find family fun at an amusement park.

We have several parks here in Ohio, including a couple giants, King’s Island, and Cedar Point. Most amusement parks offer discounted tickets if you look around. You can find even better deals toward the end of the summer.

Here are a few more tips for saving money at an amusement park:

You can pack your lunch or breakfast and have a picnic before you enter the park. Have a little tailgate party at your car, or find some parks even have a family picnic area you can use.
Bring a refillable water bottle you can strap to a belt or belt loop. Load it with ice a the beginning of the day.
Stay away from the high cost souvenirs, you can probably find the same thing for less outside the park, or online.

Amusement parks can be fun without breaking the bank. Have a good time and enjoy your family. Go with the flow, even if the day doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned you can still have fun, quality family time.

Image (c) L Gerlach

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Summer Camp~ Reptiles and Amphibians Oh My!

Linette Gerlach — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:36:24 +0000

My son went to his last summer nature camp this week, it was on lizards and amphibians. Today was parents day so I got to go with him to see what he learned about. This camp was in a new nature preserve that he hasn’t been to before, so it was fun to explore and check out all the cool things Mother Nature had to offer.

We had to find lizards and amphibians, both real ones, and some characters dressed up to be amphibians and lizards. We had a good time asking questions and learning more about these fascinating creatures.

Image (c) L Gerlach

Here’s a salamander one of the kids found under a rock.

We also saw a box turtle that the naturalist had on hand for the kids to see and ask questions about.

Look close and you can see a black snake a couple of the kids spotted in the pond.

Oh, and the part my son liked best, having the parents eat fried worms and crickets. The kids tested them out earlier in the week, so they knew what was coming. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be when my son came home earlier in the week and sang out, “you have to eat fried worms on Friday! We tried them today, Mexican flavor, and they were yummy!” Yikes!

The fried worms and crickets came from Trader Joe’s, and were prepackaged, so it wasn’t like they were frying up night crawlers or something.

Image (c) L Gerlach

I wasn’t brave enough to try a cricket, but I did try a barbecue flavor fried worm, all I can say is it was crunchy. You should have seen the smile on my son’s face. I don’t think he thought I would eat one.

They have one more camp next week, but our schedule is a little crazy, so this was the last one he gets to attend. The summer camps were great because they gave me a few hours to get work done, and my son had a blast while he was learning about nature. This was his second year for the camps, hopefully he can go again next year.

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Kid’s Summer Survival Camp

Linette Gerlach — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:38:41 +0000

My son went to a kids survival camp this week, it ended today with a parents day, where the parents were able to come see what the kids accomplished this week. It was a rainy week, and one day was a complete rain out. Many of the groups still managed to build a impressive shelters.

This was the most impressive shelter.

My son and his friend had to rebuild theirs a couple times when the rain washed it away.

After the parents checked out the shelters the kids had a blast destroying them, and scattering the twigs and brush around the woods where they found it.

(c)L Gerlach

Then we checked out their fire building skills. They didn’t get to make many fires this week, since one day was a constant steady rain, and the next day everything was still very wet. The twigs and sticks were a little dryer today, but they were still getting quite a bit of smoke, and not much fire to roast their marshmallows and hot dogs.

My son and his friend had a blast at survival camp learning how to build the shelter, make a fire and survive in the woods. He has one more camp next week, and it’s all about lizards, snakes, salamanders, and other creepy crawlers. Should be right up his alley!

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Anyone For a Friendly Game of Cornhole?

Linette Gerlach — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:40:16 +0000

I knew Cornhole was a popular game for adults, but I didn’t know the kids would like it until we went to a party recently, and watched the kids play. Most of the kids were even better at it than the adults! They knew the rules, and knew just how to throw the corn bags to make them land on top of the boxes.

If you’re not familiar with Cornhole, it’s a homemade game with a box with a hole in it, and bean bags (actually corn bags) that you toss and try to get into the hole, or get them to stay on top of the box.

The boxes have to be set a certain distance apart, you can play individually, or on teams of two. Check out the Cornhole Association website for all the rules and scoring information.

Even the little kids had a blast playing with the Cornhole sets, throwing the corn bags through the holes, then reaching their arms through the holes to get them.

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What Toys Should You Take To The Beach?

Linette Gerlach — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:58:08 +0000

We just got back from a week at the beach on Topsail Island in North Carolina. The house we rented for the week was right on the ocean, so we spent most of our days on the beach. We had plenty of the typical sand toys, and built our share of sand castles.

Some great toys and games to take to the beach include:

Baseballs and gloves to play catch.
A football or Frisbee to toss.
There’s a great breeze coming off the ocean for kites.
Horseshoes
A volleyball net and ball will entertain the grown ups and the kids.
The boys also had a blast with skim boards to slide along the sand as the water went out, and boogie boards to catch a wave.
Shovels to dig in the sand
Buckets and containers in different sizes and shapes to create a sand masterpiece.

Whatever you take to the beach, make sure the toys and items you take with you to the beach go back home with you at the end of the day.

Image sxc.hu

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Catch Any Bugs Lately?

Linette Gerlach — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:33:25 +0000

I’ve been writing about bugs lately, because summer, kids, and bugs go together. Getting out in the back yard, or going to the park to catch bugs can be a great learning experience for kids, and a ton of fun. So today I have the Bug Bottle.

The Bug Bottle is like a miniature bug observatory for kids. They can catch a bug, and watch it in the Bug Bottle then release it back to it’s natural habitat. While they have the bug they can look it up in a bug guide or the Bug Book included with the Bug Bottle to find out more information, check out the bugs body type, wings, and features.

You can use the Bug Bottle to help you with a bug scavenger hunt, or as part of a summer backyard bug party.

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Have An Insect Scavenger Hunt!

Linette Gerlach — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:39:45 +0000

If you’re looking for something fun and educational to do with your children this summer, why not head for your local park, or out to the back yard for a bug scavenger hunt.

Most kids love creepy crawlies, take along a bug guide to help you identify the bugs you find.

My son and I went on a bug hunt earlier today. It was the end of a week long “bug camp” for my son. We had a great time finding all the bugs on the list, so I thought I’d share so you can plan your own bug hunt.

Here’s the bug list:

Bug that flies
Bug larger than one inch
Bug that hops
Bug that jumps
Bug relative (spider)
Bug home
Bug babies (larvae or caterpillars)
A beetle bug
A colorful bug
Bug food
Water bug (if you’re around water)
crawling insect
beneficial insect
Nectar sipper

I think it’s easier to make a list like this than to have kids find specific bugs.

Have the children break into teams, with at least one adult to help each team. Have them mark off, or take a picture of each type of bug as they find it.

Have fun!

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Laser Tag!

Linette Gerlach — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:29:35 +0000

Did you know you can play laser tag in your own back yard? My nephews got a set of laser tag guns for Christmas and the kids (both big and small) have a blast with them. In fact my nephews had a birthday this weekend and they had a laser tag party.

Image L Gerlach

They have a couple friends with laser tag guns and invited them over to play on teams of three or four. The kids had a great time hiding behind trees, the house, and the barns to sneak up on each other.

The laser tag guns they used are made by Hasbro, they come two guns to a set and retail for around $70-90. The guns can be set to play as individual players, or as part of a team. The gun vibrates when you’re hit, and if you get hit too many times you’re out of the game and your gun won’t work anymore until you reset it.

When they were done with laser tag they had a water balloon fight, then jumped in the pool!

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