Our Saturday, May 6, Next Generation of Parks™ speaker on “Celebrating Play” is renowned child-development expert Janet Lansbury, who will talk about embracing kids’ self-directed exploration of the outdoors. We invited Lansbury to share with us some stories of spontaneous play. She sent us the four stories below, telling us, “Trusting our child’s choices brings wonderful surprises!”
Side note: Lansbury’s talk at Brackett Park is sold-out. If you weren’t able to secure a seat, please know that we’ve made plans to record the event and release it on video soon after the presentation.
Click on any image to view them larger. What wonderful surprises have you experienced with children outdoors?
Nikola shared: “Here is our strong, capable 5 y/o rock climber…he trusts his body and his ability and is actually much more nimble than us. Thanks for all of your advice on taking risks and trusting our children!”
Sarah shared: “At the park where there are lots of kids, the toys that they have bought with them, and the play equipment. My kid chooses to explore picking up a stick, inserting it through the gaps in the bench & then climbing underneath to retrieve it & start over”
Tina shared: “At the park today and it is very busy! Other kids are playing with the equipment. Mine is running around collecting different coloured leaves and arranging them on the grass. She has been doing this for about 20mins now! Love it!”
Maria shared: “My three-year-old is in the midst of a family-filled weekend at Grandma’s house. Lots of distractions and busyness. Yesterday we took a walk in the woods. We took the carrier, thinking we’d just carry him when he got tired. But he said he wanted to walk. He found a stick and pretended to drill a hole in the ground. The rest of the group walked on and my husband and I hung back to wait for him. He was busy drilling that hole for 25 minutes, just humming happily to himself. I’m so glad he had that quiet time outdoors to do just what he wanted to do!”
