Never bored outdoors? How to Extend outdoor play time

Newsletter 4: Outdoor Play Masterclass

In this email, I want to zero in on another parenting ‘bone of contention’ when it comes to outdoor play: your child complaining that they are bored after 5 minutes!

In the colder months especially, it often feels like there is nothing worse that bundling your child up in millions of layers to go and play outside, only for them to whinge about being bored or hungry almost as soon as you’ve walked out of the door.

When I first moved to Vienna in January of 2019, I had to start preparing to leave for school pick-up an entire hour before because I had to get a baby and toddler into snowsuits and boots to collect my son. It was a mission for sure! (for reference, it usually takes 30 minutes all in these days).

When all is said and done, it’s all too easy to want to forgo going outside at all when it takes so much effort for what seems like little reward.

Despite all of this, going outside has always been a key part of our day and we’ve now got our rhythm keyed in. With an energetic youngest son who would quickly resort to running around the apartment and jumping off the couch (which the neighbours did not appreciate!), I had to ensure that we spent plenty of time outside so I wouldn’t have to constantly tell him to stop what he was doing.

In this masterclass, we are going to be exploring boredom and ways to extend outdoor play time.

What You’ll Learn in this article:

• How to make outdoor play a key part of your daily rhythm

• The benefits of a child led walk

• Why boredom is a good thing

• Key items that help extend outdoor play

• How to make a DIY mud kitchen

• Essential resources for outdoor play

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