Did our parents and Grandparents feel this rushed? I remember my childhood feeling slow, so I wonder if the adults were less hurried than we are now. I try to schedule in some downtime each day, but admittedly it’s hard. Harder still when we’re traveling. I like to ensure when we visit a new place we “get the most out of every minute”. This detailed itinerary building worked great when it was just Ben and me but now we have two babies, it ends in tears. Usually mine! I now pad the trip’s events with scheduled moments of calm. These are for the children, but I benefit from them too. I find the activities almost meditative and feel similar results- clarity of mind, more present and calmer. And isn’t this why we travel?
In this section of the blog, I call “Kids Corner” I will describe these types of activities. They will be easy things you can do in your rental suite with few materials easily collected in nature or local stores nearby. Here’s the first of many…
Activity: Natures Puzzle
Materials
- Flora (5 or so)
- Construction Paper (bought at Whoola Toys).
- Pen
Instructions
During your explorations, collect different types of flora. This “hunting” can be helpful to keep kids moving and engaged on a hike. Promote that they pick things that have already fallen naturally, so as not to disturb nature’s delicate balance. Place these on a piece of construction paper and trace them using a pen. Remove the flora and ask your littles to complete the “puzzle” but putting the pieces in the correct spots.
Till next post,
Sarah
