TGSG Note: There is nothing I like more when readers become part of the family, and that’s just what reader, blogger and great mom Stacy has become. I know you will be as delighted and inspired by her story as I was. Make sure to follow her on Twitter @STeet and check out her bio below.

Thanks for sharing, Stacy! See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru

When I heard Bethe had an opening for a guest post, I literally *jumped* at the chance. I first stumbled on to the #playoutdoors twitter stream sometime in 2009, and I have been hooked on her and everything she stands for ever since. As a mother of three, an Environmental Science major and a homeschooling mom I fully embrace any effort to connect a child with nature.

I planned to tell you all about the Park a Day challenge my kids and I are doing this summer with KaBoom, but when I saw Bethe’s post on International Mud Day last week it brought back a flood of memories so strong in my mind there was no way they could go unspoken.

The story begins in a crowded mini van on a hot summer day in Central Texas. My husband is away on business, again. Errands are done, kids are cranky and mommy could use a little break. We’re about 35 minutes from home, but there’s a favorite park of ours just minutes away … I turn the car around. I’m relishing the idea of getting them all outside, burning off some energy and maybe even relieving a bit of stress myself.

We were about 500 yards away when the heavens opened up and the sky fell down on top of us.

A torrential down pour, I cruised passed the kiddie park, still coming down in sheets. I slowed a bit near the slides, the rain was only getting harder. But, it was now or never I had to do something. I made my choice and pulled in to the playground parking lot.

Families were still scouraging to get their belongings and children in to the dry abyss that was their cars and looked at me more than a little strangely as I put the van in park. I looked back at the kiddos, their eyes wide wondering what was going on. I asked if they still wanted to play at the park and so began our day outdoors.

We huddled all together and sprinted for the play structure. We were soaking wet and laughing and enjoying every second of it! Soaked already, we made a split decision to take our shoes and socks off and get really good and dirty.

At first the kids were were cautious, not quite sure if they were going to get in trouble, but after a few twists of the arm from Mom -I convinced them it was all OK and we got right down to business.
It was a Texas thunderstorm, powerful but brief. It didn’t take long for the waterworks to stop and the real fun to begin.

We found a few empty containers on the grounds, relics of picnics gone by and turned the slide in to our very own mud kitchen. We were whipping out cakes and muffins with the greatest of ease.

We played for hours, till almost dark. Using all of our senses to explore the park in a whole new way and while this memory has been some time ago now, it is still every bit as vivid in my mind as it is in these photos.

Just me and my littles doing what we do best: laughing, be silly, getting dirty and playing together. Life is good. Oh Texas, how I wish it would rain! We could use another afternoon like this.

Guest Blogger Bio: Stacy is seeing the world in a whole new way – through the eyes of her children. She writes about the little things, the big things and all the “stuff” in between at Kids Stuff World.

Bethe always gets me thinking. That’s what I love about TGSG and the information she shares. She makes me go: “Hmmmm . . . “  As with most issues, it turns out nature play is not black and white. I am not an educator or policymaker. I’m just a mom who knows the value of offering play opportunities to her kids.  I like to think I represent the audience educators and policymakers are trying to reach. It’s kinda cool that I can see issues from both sides, since I also run a website where I often share our play ideas. (And, yes, I’m from California so I say things like “cool” and “awesome.”)

Let’s take a look at few blanket statements – just to get those wheels turning – maybe you can see where you come out on the wide spectrum of reaction to these issues.

Technology has no place outdoors.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, offers an alternate view in his post called “Techno-Naturalists.” He argues that “any gadget can distract from nature.” If you let it. He uses photography as an example. You can get caught up in all the settings and forget to enjoy what’s around you.

There is actually a photo of me floating around with iPhone in hand at a park. I’m showing a 3 year old what a Phoebe looks like and sharing its birdsong. It took maybe 1 minute and I think he will most likely remember the name of the bird now and keep an eye out for it. The gadget went immediately back in my pocket, forgotten for the rest of the playdate.

Helicopter parents are bad.

With all of the talk about giving kids leverage and freedom from a very early age, you start to feel guilty when you help your kids. In the range from helicopter to neglect — I probably fall a bit more toward helicopter. In fact, I call myself a hummingbird parent. I tend to stay physically distant to let them explore and problem solve, but zoom in at moments when safety is an issue (which isn’t very often).

However, I ask myself “why?” all the time. Why do I still need to have them in sight? Why don’t I let them go to the park on their own? Why don’t I truly allow them to be 100%  Free Range Kids, even though I was allowed to run wild as a kid?

• I hate to admit it, but fear and anxiety are definitely factors. But not in the bad-people- will-get-them sense. It’s more like the something-will-happen-I-could-have-prevented-if-I were-there sense.
• In my neighborhood, kids play without close supervision. However, sending them to the park on their own is socially unacceptable at their age. You can bet other moms would call me on it. When a lone kid shows up at the playground, everyone pokes up their head to spot the parent. Keeping my distance is my sneaky way of battling the social norm while still conforming.

Common sense needs to rule on this issue. Are these bad parents for caring so deeply about their kids? Certainly not. Will their children be scarred for life? No. Should parents back off and let their kids take reasonable risks? Yes!

I’m always conscious of the physical distance between me and my kids . . . and I just keep taking steps back as they get older. I think the speed of the retreat is really up to the particular parent and their own comfort level.

Playgrounds are not nature.

I agree. Playgrounds are not nature. But . . . playgrounds get kids outdoors. Kids move on playgrounds. I would argue playgrounds are a bridge to nature. They still see birds and bugs. They feel the sunshine on their faces.

Any parent who’s taken their kid to a playground KNOWS their child gravitates toward the pile of rocks, the uneven logs, the tiny forest, or throwing rocks in the stream. The playground is merely a prop for imaginary games.

Playgrounds COULD be nature. I wish we didn’t have such a traditional view of playgrounds. I wish safety concerns and lawsuits didn’t dictate their design. My friend, Alex, explores the many whimsical shapes as humans design them on his Playgroundology blog. Others, like Arcady on Playscapes take a look at less commercial and more natural designs.

Alfred, geocaching master

TGSG Note: I am tickled to have Alfred stop by TGSG to sing the praises of geocaching! See ya outside ~ The Grass Stain Guru

Hi, my name is Alfred and I want to tell you about geocaching.  Geocaching is like a scavenger hunt. You use the geocaching website to find out the nearest geocaches to you.  The website gives you a map, directions to the geocache, a description of the geocache – like if it is a container or a special place, what is in it or what to look for, and a few extra hints.

Then you have to find where it is hidden by using a special map that tells you how close you are to the geocache.  If you have an iPhone, you can get something that tells you where you can go geocaching.  We also use a GPS to go geocaching.  But be careful you may not be able to go straight to the geocache!  The other day when we were camping we were looking for an earthcache, but if we had walked straight like the GPS told us to, we would have fallen off a cliff!!!  We had to be careful and walk slowly on the path around the lake to find a big white wall.  It was a special kind of geocache called an earthcache.  That means that there was no container, but the white wall was huge and made up of chalk called dimeatshes [diatomaceous] earth.  Dimeatshes earth is made up of skeletons of little bugs.

That same day we went to discover another earthcache called Burney Falls waterfall.  The water was cold and Burney Falls had tons of water coming out of cracks from lava.  When the waterfall hit the ground the mist had a lot of colors like green and blue.  I learned a lot about Burney Falls because of geocaching.

Geocaching is like a gift. I think other families should go geocaching so that they kind find a gift like Burney Falls!

Guest blogger bio: Alfred is Head Adventurist for Kid Adventures and really loves geocaching.  He is 8 years old and going on to 4^th grade.

Sharing nature with children is a wonderful way to get them excited about the wonders of wildlife, but is also one of the biggest blessings you can have in your own life.

My friend Karyl at Native Plant Wildlife Gardening describes it this way:

Today I watched a neighbor’s kids. We made toad houses and planted sunflowers and it was a treat for me. My garden does not look like much – it is too young yet but to see a habitat garden through the eyes of a child makes it amazing. There is a lot of life going on in my backyard, I’m just too used to it. Everything was WOOOOOOWWWW! to them. You know what, it is pretty WOW.

Yesterday I had a very important date–with my 4 year old neighbor Libby and her 2 year old sister Penny (and their mom, too).

They knew that I had seen the Eagles who for the first time ever, are nesting at John Heinz NWR, which is located in the shadow of the Philadelphia Airport. Their Pappy had also seen these Eagles, and they wanted very much to see them, too.

I packed up a pair of Bushnell 8 x 25 binoculars (perfect size for Libby’s little hands), an 8 x 25 monocular for Penny, and my spare binoculars for Mom and off we went on our grand adventure.

I was hoping that some Great Blue Herons would be wading near the bridge because large birds that stand relatively still are excellent for young children. We scoped out the bridge, but…..no Herons.

But Libby and Penny were unconcerned. We heard a big fish splash in the water, and it was so much fun to keep saying “SPLASH!”

We found a life size carving of a Bald Eagle and we spread our arms out to try to reach the tips of its wings, but we couldn’t because Eagles have verrrry biiig wings.

We made wishes on Dandelion seed heads, and got so silly laughing at the seeds flying everywhere.

We went down the “secret passageways” in the woods and amused ourselves by stomping across the little bridge to scare away the trolls.

It made us very happy to see the Mommy and Daddy Tree Swallows sitting together on top of their houses.

We giggled every time the Canada Geese said “honkhonkhonkhonkhonk” and we practiced saying that, too.

And we got to run, REALLY fast along the pathways.

We never did see the Eagle, but we sure did have fun!

How do you share nature with the kids in your life?

Guest blogger bio: My friend Carole Brown is a great writer, educator and photographer. Her site, Ecosystem Gardening is dedicated to teaching you to garden sustainably, conserve natural resources, and create welcoming wildlife habitat in your garden so that you will attract more birds, butterflies, pollinators, and other wildlife. You can follow Carole on Twitter @CB4Wildlife.

Last week I gave my four year old neighbor a small hand-held magnifying glass which was an immediate hit with her. We walked around the garden looking at EVERYTHING.

We found empty locust shells, butterfly chrysali, bees, and all manner of other bugs and every find spurred a flood of questions:

“Why did it lose its shell?”

“How does the butterfly get out of that chrysalis?”

“What do bees eat?”

These kinds of questions engage your children in the wonders of nature, and your Ecosystem Garden is a great place to spark their curiosity.

The best part about teaching children about nature and wildlife in your garden is that it’s right outside your door. When children learn to respect and care about the wildlife that is so close to home, they can learn that we can do good things to help them, but sometimes the things that we do are not helpful to wildlife and can really hurt them.

It’s a very sad fact that most children know more about lions and elephants in Africa, or polar bears in the Arctic than they do about the wildlife in their own backyards.

But we can help to change this by bringing children into our gardens, as Michelle Clay has done by designing her Ecosystem Garden with her son Gabe in mind.

Do you share your wildlife garden with the children in your life? Please tell us all about it by leaving a comment.

Guest blogger bio: My friend Carole Brown is a great writer, educator and photographer. Her site, Ecosystem Gardening is dedicated to teaching you to garden sustainably, conserve natural resources, and create welcoming wildlife habitat in your garden so that you will attract more birds, butterflies, pollinators, and other wildlife. You can follow Carole on Twitter @CB4Wildlife.

photo credit: OakleyOriginals

Much has been written about the reasons kids need to get outdoors to play, to get involved in nature, and away from the couch and big, bad, evils of TV and video screens. But what actually gets kids playing outdoors? Do kids need to go to nature camp, or plant an elaborate garden to be nature kids? Or is there something simpler for getting kids outside in nature, running, walking, climbing, learning and exploring?

Here are 10 tricks which got me playing outdoors when I was a kid, and maybe even still do. Shhhh… don’t tell. I’m a nature kid at heart.

#10 – Let’s Eat Outside

I simply can’t resist a picnic, even if it’s just a hunk of unsliced bread and a bottle of water. Mmmm… it just tastes better outside. Grab some food, ask me to come, I’m there!

#9 – There’s Treasure There

What could be more fun than finding something? I don’t care if it’s a new flower in bloom, a worm on the sidewalk, a sparkly rock, or a yellow or red, fall leaf. Let’s go find it!

#8 – Let’s Chuck It

Carrying and throwing suitably weighty items seems like fun to me. Invite me to toss rocks into a pond and watch the ripples, chuck logs around, or throw leaves in a stream/creek and watch them float away. Snowballs and a tree target are good too. My arm is ready!

#7 – Cooking in the Dirt

I have my matches and I’m ready to strike. As an adult I prefer a campfire to a mud pie, barbecue to leaf stew, but all were good when I was a kid. Nothing beats real, live flames. Show me how to build a campfire which starts first time, or let me mess around and learn for myself (with you nearby). We could build a rocket stove. Fire is so primitive, satisfying, and even safe (if proper precautions are taken). I have the matchbox here!

#6 – Something to Climb On

Here’s your shoes, let’s climb that rock. How do I get up there? How do I balance? I don’t want smooth plastic or metal. Give me something from nature, with nooks and crannies, texture, lichen even. I love rock walls, stream banks, tree trunks, grassy hills. I’m behind you.

#5 – I’ll Hide Behind

Critters like shelter, wood piles, bushy shrubs, giant prairie grasses, secret places. I do to. Hide and Seek is a favorite game. Clearings between shrubs make a den, or hide-out – much nicer than a custom-built playhouse. You might hear me, but I won’t see you.

#4 – See Water Sparkle

Sunshine and water are a winning combination. A watering can, a hose, a bucket, a bowl, an old basin or pan, cups, ladles, feet, hands, creeks, rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, boats, floats, fountains, waterfalls, I touch and watch them all.

#3 – Watch that Critter

What kind of critter is that? What does he eat? Where does he live? How fast can he climb, walk, crawl or run?

#2 – You Can’t Catch Me

Maybe I can run like the wind through that park, field or prairie, fly a kite, watch a bird soaring, find shapes in the clouds and wish I could touch them.

#1 – I Want to Be With You

Open the door and go outside. I want to be with you – I’ll follow. Who’s that special person I want to be with? Or am I the person others want to be with? Give me a choice – chores or outdoors. Suddenly I found my shoes!

What gets you outdoors? Do you potter in your garden, walk to school, watch the birds, hike, swim, forage, take care of the chickens, rake the leaves, or sit out on the deck for lunch?

What got you outdoors when you were a kid?

10 Tricks to Get Kids Outdoors is by Alison Kerr and originally appeared at Loving Nature’s Garden.

Guest Blogger Bio: Alison Kerr is a writer who is passionate about the Earth, nature, gardening, good food, and her family. You can read Alison’s work on Loving Nature’s Garden and follow her on Twitter @AlisonKerr.

It should come as no surprise that kids love dirt. And given the chance — WORMS! Wiggly, squiggly wonderful worms. So, I was thrilled when author Chris McLaughlin wanted to stop by TGSG on her #gotcompost book tour.

You can do this Composting in a Bucket activity with a class, an after-school group or your own family! No rules — just worms!

To keep the fun and learning going, read the charming book,  Diary of a Worm with your kids.

See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru

Depending on the age of the child, composting has many lessons to teach.

Older children can learn about such things as the life cycle, death and decomposition, resource management, and the state of our garbage and landfills. They also learn about biodegradable and non-biodegradable items and how this affects recycling and renewal for the earth.

Younger children can work on fine motor skills, observation skills and making the connection between the earth and food, versus food and the grocery store! They can also work on turn-taking, sequencing, and counting and color recognition.

Not to mention the dirt. The dirt, of course, is the best part of composting. The kids get to put their hands in dirt, make compost piles, play with worms, and analyze what they eat and throw away.

While this activity is written for a class or group of children, you can easily do this as a family activity. From one child to 40 — composting rocks!

Bucket Compost in the Classroom

If you don’t have the opportunity to build a compost pile outside with your students, bring the compost pile into the classroom in a bucket.

Materials needed:

• Compostable materials — a mix of both browns and greens
• 5-gallon bucket with a lid
• 1 gallon of finished compost
• Water
• Garden trowel for mixing
• Small tarp for under bucket

Info:

Browns =  carbons like dried leaves, straw, newspaper, sawdust, toilet paper rolls, shredded documents.

Greens = Nitrogen like grass clippings, vegetable trimmings, animal manure (herbivores), coffee grounds, alfalfa meal, green leaves.

If you’re worried that the food will get smelly in a small classroom, just start from scratch and begin with non-food ingredients such as yard clippings, paper, and the like.

Directions:

1.  To begin this project, have students write down a random list of greens or browns they can bring from home.

To keep odors down, it’ll work in your favor if you add more browns than greens. It’ll compost slower, but because you’ll be composting indoors, it’s better to err on the side of carbon than too much nitrogen.

2.  Have the students add browns and greens (remember: more browns than greens) until the bucket is about half full.

3.  Now add a gallon of finished compost to act as an activator. If you don’t have access to finished compost, add sawdust or potting soil.

4.  Keep the materials inside moist, but not truly wet. Have the students write down some predictions such as how long it will take to decompose, what they think it’ll smell like while it’s decomposing, and if they think they’ll find things growing in it.

5.  Every few days, open up the bucket and mix the ingredients. Don’t do it more often than this because the microbial decomposers need to settle a bit to break things down.

6.  Every two weeks have the students look and observe what’s happening inside the compost bucket. Have them record their observations.

7. As a class, take the compost to a planter box or landscape area on the school grounds and place it underneath the plants.

Author Bio: Chris McLaughlin is a life-long lover of nature and avid gardener. She received her Master Gardener certification in 2000, and writes for a variety of publications and websites. In addition to The Complete Idiots Guide to Composting, she recently completed The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables (Penguin/December 2010). You can follow this fabulous green thumb on Twitter @Suburban_Farmer.

TSGS Note: I saw this post & fell in love. You know how I feel about messy childhoods!

BIG thanks to Jenny for letting me post it here.

See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru

Ways to incorporate mud play into the preschool program

Mud play is not only fun, it has as much potential for learning as sand play and water play.  Nowadays I embrace the mud.

I even let the kids wallow in it!

Not everyone has a ready supply of mud on their doorstep.  So how do we bring mud play into our early childhood programs?  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Mud patches

This one is for the truly committed amongst us.  If you have the room and the resources creating a permanent digging patch works well (12 square metres is a good size).  You can buy the dirt from a nursery, your local council or a building supplier.  Mix in approximately 1/3 sand to 2/3 soil to provide a more friable and diggable mix.  Props for the mud patch are limited only by your imagination.  Here are a few ideas:

• Cooking appliance—old range or box made into an oven
• Tree stumps or tree cookies to use as table surfaces
• Pots, pans, cooking tins
• Large metal or plastic bowls
• Cooking utensils
• Recycled containers
• squeeze bottles
• funnels
• trucks
• animals / dinosaurs
• natural materials
• sifters / colanders
• molds
• gardening tools

2.  Mud Puddles

I’d recommend assembling a mud bucket or tub with materials such as :

• Old containers
• Large wooden or metal spoons
• Old measuring cups
• Plastic scoops, like those found in coffee cans
• old pots, pans, or cake pans
• moulds
• Natural materials such as pebbles, sticks and seeds

This way you are always prepared for mud play and when the puddles appear you are good to go!

3.  Mud in the sensory tub

Don’t have a supply of dirt in your backyard?   Why not take a couple of buckets to your nursery and buy some clean fill, black dirt, and sand. The investment is very small, and the joy your kids will have are worth it!  You could add:

• child sized gardening tools
• an array of containers
• flower pots
• rocks, seed pods, sticks
• plastic insect or dinosaur models

This image is from the marvelous blog Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning.  Their post on mud play is full of inspiration for introducing mud into the preschool.

4.  Mud in baking trays

Create personal mud patches in baking trays or shallow containers.

5.  Mud and dramatic play

In the short article The Mud Centre: Recapturing Childhood one preschool tells how they made the decision to provide mud play every day through the creation of a mud center combining dramatic play and mud play.  

6.  Mud in the art/craft area

• Make mud prints. Place your mud-covered hands and feet on a clean sheet of paper to make an impression. Concrete floor or wooden pallets are good substitutes for paper.
• Take an old table outside.  Instead of paint, fill your paint tubs with mud and let the children explore with brushes or their fingers to make marvelous mud paintings.
• Add a small quantity of white glue to mud for a different finger painting experience.

Here are some of our favorite things to do in the mud:

• Make mud pies and cakes.  This is an oldie but a goodie.   Use old containers to “bake” in and decorate with small pebbles, flowers, or leaves.
• Make mud houses using sticks for supports. Include tunnels, secret rooms, and even a moat.
• Make mud balls by shaping mud into balls by rolling the “dough” in your hands. Decorate the balls with flowers, leaves, rocks, or small twigs. Stack the mud balls on top of each other to create a unique sculpture.
• Make rivers and dams. Dig a river in the dirt and add water. Build a dam to form a small puddle.
• Construction zone: bring in the trucks, the hard hats and the shovels.

I’d love to hear some of your own ideas!

Guest Blogger Bio: Jenny is an early childhood teacher, teaching and learning from children in a progressive preschool setting nestled in the beautiful Australian bush. Her blog, Let The Children Play, is filled with ideas and inspiration. You can follow her on Twitter @preeschoolplay.

TGSG Note: I am excited to have my friend, fellow blogger and cool mom, Leslie Quigley of Recycle Your Day pop over for a guest post.

Enjoy the wiggly squiggly learning adventure.

See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru

Over the past year, I’ve become a frequent visitor of the Grass Stain Guru for play outdoors inspiration. A couple weeks ago, we resurrected our worm bin so we could begin vermicomposting again.

Our first attempt was a fail so were very eager this time around to do it, right. Since the worm bin has been set up, my (almost) 3 year old son has been intrigued by worm (red wrigglers) behavior and asks to feed them or see them almost on a daily basis. He really enjoys lifting the lid of the bin and watching them all scram back into the soil.

After tweeting about our new worm and bin set up, the Grass Stain Guru herself replied and recommend a book called Diary of A Worm by Doreen Cronin. How perfect, I thought. So, the next time we were at the library we checked it out. The book is filled with lot’s of fun illustrations and has great humor for tots and adults! In the story, the worm keeps a diary of his daily life happenings.

Each day brings adventure for the worm as he tells his highs and lows of worm life. Diary of A Worm is a fun tale that kids can relate to and describes worm behavior in a silly fashion. The book is for ages 4-7 yrs. I think it’s a great read to have, especially, if you’re planning to vermicompost (and have kiddos). It allows your child to dream about the life of a worm and helps them understand their importance.

We like to involve our children in nature activities as much as possible and figured this ways an easy way for our 3 year old to get a bit more understanding of his favorite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. Since the adoption, we have not been able to take our eyes off of them. Upon adoption we were given a ”Caterpillar Observation” paper which allows your child to draw what he or she may be seeing.

TSGS Note: I was excited when my friend and fellow writer, Jane Kirkland picked one of my favorites birds to feature in her new nature challenge series.

Jane was nice enough to share, so enjoy this video challenge!

Be sure to check out Jane’s site — Take a Walk Books! You can also follow her on Twitter @JaneKirkland.

I took the above picture at my favorite local park, Huntley Meadows.  Learn more about the Red Winged Blackbird at eNature.

See ya outside! ~ The Grass Stain Guru