SHELLEY HEAPHY for The Parents’ Voice
Time to get outside and enjoy the melting snow. Embrace the puddles and get down and dirty in the mud. The best thing about spring play – it’s super easy to plan some fun playtimes outside.
Most children will love nothing more than getting outside in the rain in their rain gear and splashing in puddles. Go walking through the neighborhood or down your street and count the number of . . .
puddles you can find, find the biggest puddle and the smallest puddle. Print out an outdoor nature scavenger hunt and take note of the changes in your neighbourhood since fall. You can throw rocks and see which puddles make them disappear and which puddles make the biggest splash. Which puddles hide their boots?
It’s also finally time to get the bikes out. Let them drive as fast as they can through huge puddles. The splashes that’ll come up around them will have them giggling and loving it so much. And the simplest, most fun thing to do in the puddles is running as fast as you can through them. The smiles will be contagious. You should probably join in on the fun. The key things needed for all that fun — good rain boots and waterproof rain gear.
Another super fun springtime activity is finding worms. We all know that the ground is always covered in worms after a rainstorm. We like to spot the worms and see how long they are and how fast or slow they slither. My kids haven’t wanted to touch worms, but if they’re willing I say go for it. You can start exploring where the worms hang out, are they in the bushes or do they just like pavement?
Bugs and creepy crawlers can be so much fun. You can make a little home for a bug in a jar with poked holes in the lid, add some leaves and sticks for their habitat. Don’t keep them hostage for long, and then bring them back out to the yard and let them free.
Another favourite spring activity is making mud pies. When summer gets here you have to work hard to get the mud with everything so hot and dry (we can hope right?), so right now it’s all there for them. Get some old cake pans and spoons and bring them out to the yard. Kids can make all kinds of delicious food for their friends and family.
When you can’t get them outside you can always make a super fun springtime sensory bin to play with inside. Cover a section of your floor with an old tablecloth or sheet. You can bring in some sand from the sand box, add a bit of water and some cooked linguine noodles (after you cook them pat them dry.) Your children will absolutely love playing with the worms and making mud. If that sounds too messy, you can always make puddles in the sensory bin. Fill your bin half full with water (you can add blue food coloring to make it exciting) and put some plastic bugs and worms in. The kids will love playing in the puddles.
