As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter, the energy levels of our 4 and 2 year olds stay the same 🙃I’m excited to share a few ways we like to enjoy the outdoors with our family as the seasons transition from warm to cold with Barbour, an all-weather brand we can rely on to keep our whole family comfortable.
One of our favorite ways to get outside and soak in the fresh air at this time of year is to go on hikes. There are SO many little parks and trails around us in Connecticut and we can take advantage of them almost all year long though we enjoy it most during these fall and winter months. The foliage is beautiful and there are endless ways to teach Brian and Grace about nature while we’re walking. We usually give them each a basket they can carry to collect rocks, interesting leaves, sticks, and pinecones they find. We take them home afterwards to inspect and learn about the different “treasures” they found.
These hikes also give us the opportunity to be alone with each other and unplugged from the the daily distractions of home. Life is so busy it seems these days, especially with the holidays around the corner, it’s amazing to be in the middle of the woods where no one can find you.
Something we recently introduced to Brian and Grace are scavenger hunts. I’ll print out a sheet with a certain type of leave, a certain color rock, a stick that’s 11 inches long, etc… Grace grabs whatever she wants but Brian takes it seriously and measures the sticks, looks for the various leaves, searches through the rocks. He LOVES it and feels so accomplished when he finds what he needs.
Playing in leaves!! This is such an easy one. We give Brian and Grace little shovels so they can make a pile, and then put a little plastic slide so they can slide right into the pile they made. Gets them happy and tired!
- I asked Brian to chip in about family time, here is what he said… “for me there’s nothing better than family time, especially when we get to go outside and play, run, laugh, it takes me back to being a kid again where my favorite memories were made, and now I get to do that with my own family…”
- Little Bran said his favorite part of being outside is playing on the playground.
- Grace said her favorite part of being outside is playing outside 🙂
These are just some of the ways we like to enjoy the outdoors at this time of year, what are some of your favorites??
*this post was sponsored by Barbour. All images and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support me*
