It’s been a hot week, so I guess I should be thankful when nature exploration opportunities follow us indoors, right? I was craving flowers to grace our breakfast table earlier this week and went out front to collect some bougainvillea blooms that were spilling over onto the sidewalk. As I placed them in a vase, […]
daily outdoors
Crepuscular < Our word for the summer
The shadows lengthen and a light breeze is blowing. The temperature still hovers above 100 degrees, but with no sun beating down from overhead the dry heat is bearable. Dusk approaches and just as most desert animals come out of hiding now, so do we. The boys race ahead, thrilled to be free of […]
Not a Stick…
We love finding a fun book that inspires outdoor explorations. This last week we read, Not a Stick. The boys were laughing and enthralled with guessing what this cute character was making his stick into next using the magic of the imagination. When we were done, the boys were sad to see that it was […]
Nature Mapping and the Nursery
Last week, I mentioned that we are starting our Daily Outdoors challenge up again and that our family goal for this summer was to ‘nature map our neighborhood.’ We’ve been crazy busy this week with VBS and convention prep, so we haven’t started drawing our maps yet, but we did take stock of our yard and […]
10 Reasons Why You Should Go Outside EVERY Day!
A little bit of sunshine… …a breath of fresh air Rejuvenates the soul… …and awakens the mind! Summer is here! Today marks our last official day of the ‘school schedule’ as we know it. We plan to take June off from the basics and focus on two very important things – a better routine with chores and lots of […]
Active Play Boosts Brain Power
The sounds of giddy laughter ring out on this beautiful spring day! We applied ourselves to getting the house straightened up and finishing ‘seat-work’ so that we could head out to the park. Talk about sweet motivation! And I get to return to a peaceful home to boot! As I watch my children race around […]