Learning Through Play - Playing Outside

I love taking my kids to the playgrounds, encouraging them to climb and explore everything but there's something most playgrounds simply don't offer and that's unstructured play. When a toy/game is placed in front of a child that has a particular end purpose it's hard to bring in creativity and the same goes with large movement play.
So, today we stuck to the yard and explored all the items we had around the house. Maddie found a garden shovel and went to work on digging while Jacob continued to crawl up and down the front steps, something he doesn't typically get access to inside. We also checked out all the bugs {since the cold weather hasn't seem to hit yet there are plenty of bugs still out} and Maddie even did a bit of climbing herself on the swing. Her and her brother enjoy a good challenge. 
Overall, the kids were able to explore, laugh, and learn all through their own play. There was no right or wrong way of doing anything, simply moving or not moving was the way to be.
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Bubble Fun

With the weather warming up there is no better place to be than outside playing. On this day, I had actually made homemade bubbles with my class at school, to which they had a blast. I decided I'd bring the project home and let Maddie give it a try. We also used fly swatters as our bubble wand and got some great bubbles from it. Homemade Bubble Solution:1 cups water1/2 cup liquid soap (Dove)2 tsp sugar

First you dip...

then you swat...

the bubbles appear...

and then so do the neighbor kids. :)
This is a really fun and quick activity. It involves great measurement skills, letter recognition, and fine/gross motor development, as well as peer interaction. As a side note, though, we did use more liquid soap that what was called for and the sugar definitely makes things a bit sticky, especially when the bubbles start popping on you.
Enjoy the sun, fun and bubbles!!

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