To continue with sharing our toddler activities, I'll tell you what we do outside the home. By outside I mean places that actually require getting in the car and traveling to. For the most part these are activities that are more social and involve other children or adults. Though being home with a parent is very social as well if you continually communicate with your child. Ultimately, most children learn most of their social skills from parents and imitate them.
Visiting family and friends: Of all the things we do outside the home, this one is most prevalent. Between my sister and brother-in-law I have six nephews all six and under. Baby E loves playing with them! We usually see each family once every two weeks, so every week we have someone to visit. Then there are our parents who are always happy to see us and we sometimes struggle balancing seeing all of them and still having time for other relatives and our own family. We have a few friends as well and I'm on the hunt for more girlfriends for my daughter since all her cousins are boys. I am really fortunate to have so much family near us, even though it doesn't leave much time for other friends!
The local library: We go to the library at least once in three weeks to exchange books for new ones. The library has been seeing us a lot more lately since the temperatures are dipping and we can't be outdoors as much. More often than not, there are other kids for baby E to play with. We get our share of wide eyed moms that baby E surprises by sharing toys. "How do you get her to do that?" they ask. She loves the toy trains and puzzles. I keep wanting to join the story times, perhaps sometime this winter.
Museums and Theater: I'm attempting to continue my mother's legacy. When I was a child she would take me to museums and galleries nearly every week. There was no such thing as a 'children's museum' back then in Soviet Russia, but I've seen my share of masterpiece art work both by internationally renowned artists and local ones, sculpture, photography, and castles and palaces. These were unforgettable experiences that have certainly shaped my creative side and my decision to major in Interior Design. We haven't been actively pursuing going to museums, but now that she is older I am looking forward to visiting some this winter. Library museum passes are great!
Farms, orchards, petting zoos: What baby doesn't love animals? Not only do we love exploring the creatures of the earth, we also enjoy the relaxed, back to nature feel of local farms. Might even get some local produce at the same time if the price is not too insane.
Biking and hiking: When the weather permits, we love to venture out on short, easy day hikes in local parks and biking on local bike routes. These two activities of course require some way to carry the baby, for this we've enlisted our trusted Ergo Baby Carrier 
and the iBert Safe-T Seat
.
and the iBert Safe-T Seat.Exploring local playgrounds: Another fun thing to do when it isn't below freezing, at least in our area. In these Boston suburbs, each town has at least four playgrounds. We like to explore all of them and have found a few favorites we keep coming back to. This requires little preparation and we sometimes just go spontaneously.
Sledding: On Monday it finally snowed here for the first time this season. We don't yet have a sled but our neighbor was kind to let us borrow hers. Baby E woke up from her nap at five and though it was already dark, she insisted we go to take a walk in the snow. She did not remember last years snow, so it was all new to her. We went on a little hill a short walk from our home and she loves sledding with me! It was worth the half an hour it took to bundle up and another ten minutes to take off all the wet clothes!
Sand & Water: Most babies love water, at least ours does. In the summer we try to make it out to the beach tot the lake as much as possible. Combined with our Green Toys Sand Play Set
, sand can keep our toddler occupied for hours.
, sand can keep our toddler occupied for hours.
Events: Though we enjoy special events, we do not crowd our schedule with them. There is always so much going on and so many people to see that we don't feel like we miss out if we don't go to some show. Not to mention they're not free. We prefer simplicity and spending time with a few close people rather than a crowd of strangers (ha, same applies to homeschooling!).
Errands: Though not the most fun, this is still a practical way for kids to learn and socialize. Baby E goes food shopping with us, to the post office, and to the bank. All the service people love her and sometimes she strikes up a conversation with them.
If you haven't yet, check out numbers 1 through 17 of our Glimpse into Eco-Babyz:
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Great post! How do you find playgrounds in your area? Some of them are so well hidden....
ReplyDeleteGood question! Here is a link to all the North Shore playgrounds :) http://playgrounds.eagletribune.com/
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