Happy Outdoor Families

Hello happy outdoor families! Welcome to happy outdoor playtime. This segment of the podcast is designed for kids from babies up through the elementary years, and their grown ups, to listen to together. Each week I will bring you a simple play invitation that I hope will be a jumpstart into some really fun play outside! Ideally, you will listen to this podcast outside, in your special nature space where you can play.

Today we are going to play like nesting birds! The supplies you will need for today’s playtime are simply nature debris. This can include twigs, fallen leaves, dry grass or other plants, moss, even mud.

During today's playtime, I suggest looking up the sounds of some of your local birds. Downloading the Merlin BirdID app is a great way to do this!

Enjoy your playtime!!

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Jenny Leibham is a nature play advocate, nature preschool teacher, coach, speaker, and creator. She works with educators to amplify their vision and expand their ideas of what their teaching practice can be.

Known to provoke curiosity and create space to listen deeply, Jenny has worked with the University of Washington, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Natural Start Alliance, and the Children and Nature Network.

Today we are going to be talking about how educators and parents can define what feels good to them outside, create a vision of outdoor learning, and then implement that with their class or their kids. I'm so excited to share this episode with you!

You can find Jenny on Instagram and YouTube, @natureplaylifestyle, and on her website, https://www.natureplaylifestyle.com/

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Welcome back to Playtime! This segment of the podcast is designed for kids from babies up through the elementary years, and their grown ups, to listen to together. Thanks for starting your play with me - today we will be making ice sensory bins, perfect for a hot summer day! Here is what you will need to set up: you will want a container to use as your sensory bin, a shallow plastic tub works great. Fill your tub with ice, and a little bit of cold water so that your ice can float and slosh around a bit. Some other great tools to have are a slotted spoon or other scoops, and a towel for when you’re ready to dry off. It would also be fun to have a second container for transporting ice back and forth.

Have fun out there friends!!

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Erika McLemore is a mom and teacher that loves to get outside and play! She holds a BS from the US Naval Academy and is a former naval officer. She currently leads Tinkergarten classes in Cedar Park, Texas, where she lives with her husband and three young children, and also works as the Community Manager for Tinkergarten, which is how I first became acquainted with Erika. Erika is a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion and helping families across the country learn and connect with the indigenous history of our land. I am so excited to have Erika here today to share some of her knowledge with us!

Some helpful links and resources:

Find out about your region's indigenous populations: native-land.ca

Warrior Kids Podcast: https://warriorkidspodcast.com/

Books Erika shared:

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell - https://amzn.to/37fvJXf

We Are Still here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell - https://amzn.to/2UMBusG

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Rob and Sarah Gardner are parents and outdoor enthusiasts who have a passion for our national parks. After many family trips exploring the parks, they wanted to find a way to support these national treasures. Through their baby gear company Joovy, they have partnered with the national park foundation to bring awareness to families about the importance of these spaces, and more specifically about the endangered animals that call the parks home. I’m excited today to talk more about our national parks and how we can help our children grow up to be environmental stewards, to cultivate a connection between them and the land, and the animals that live there.

Find a national park to visit: FindYourPark.com

Joovy’s National Parks Collection: https://joovy.com/national-park-collection/?orderby=date

More about the National Park Foundation: https://www.nationalparks.org/

Free National Park Pass for 4th graders: https://everykidoutdoors.gov/

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Welcome back to Playtime! This segment of the podcast is designed for kids from babies up through the elementary years, and their grown ups, to listen to together. Thanks for starting your play with me - today we are taking a play tool that we usually use inside, and taking it out into our nature spaces with us! Play dough is a fun tool for children to strengthen motor skills, get sensory stimulation, and use their imaginations to create something new. 

The supplies you will need for today's playtime are: some play dough (store bought or homemade!), a few nature objects to incorporate into your creations, and a surface to create on. 

For my very favorite way to make fast, EASY play dough at home, look here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRR1hUhBwlI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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Welcome to Happy Outdoor Families, the podcast that is designed to motivate and equip families to spend more time outside. In today's episode, I talk a little bit about my approach to technology, specifically phone use, when we are outside. Tech doesn't have to be all or nothing, and I hope this episode helps you to navigate what ways tech might add value to your time outside, and also what ways it is not. I also share five apps that I love, that I believe have added value to our outdoor adventures! They are all free, and can be found in your phone's app store. 

1. AllTrails - great for finding new hiking trails that are a good fit for your family! 

2. Seek by iNaturalist - this app allows you to identify all different types of plants and other wildlife while you are out exploring, simply by snapping a picture! We LOVE this app!

3. Merlin BirdID - The Cornell Lab of Ornithology developed this app to help people identify birds in their area. The Bird ID works really well and is simple to use, and they recently added sound ID, which is SO fun!

4. Twigs Outdoors - I have talked about this app in detail on the show before, check out episode 22 for an interview with the creator! We enjoy having this available on days that we need some play inspiration.

5. Plum's Photo Hunt - this would be a great one to hold onto for a day that you have a child who needs a little pick me up. They are able to complete "photo missions" outside, with basic picture prompts. 

I also mention the kids camera that we purchased for our daughter and LOVE! Linked here: https://amzn.to/2U0AQar

I would love to hear how you have used technology to enhance your time outdoors, or how you have eliminated it or created limits for yourself! Leave a review with your thoughts or come and find me over on instagram @happyoutdoorfamilies

Welcome back to Playtime! This segment of the podcast is designed for kids from babies up through the elementary years, and their grown ups, to listen to together. Thanks for starting your play with me - today we will be zooming in and looking very closely at our nature space to find out what is living and growing there. I will also be introducing the concept of nature journaling!

The supplies you will need for today's playtime are: paper, and something to draw with - crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc. If you want to start a journal that you will continue to draw in together, you could use a notebook or sketchpad, but loose paper is also fine. We will be taking a close look at a small square of ground today - you can imagine this square in your mind as you look together, but if you think it would be helpful for your child to have a visible barrier, you could also bring along a piece of rope, jumprope, hula hoop, or something else to define your space.

Our favorite sketch books: https://amzn.to/3xntuMR

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I have been looking forward to sharing this conversation! Lindsey Lapointe is an outdoor adventurer, a writer, a middle school teacher, and a mom. She currently lives with her family in New England where she enjoys hiking and documenting her adventures on her blog, the freelance adventurer, and on social media. She is a regular contributor to the Seacoast Moms Blog and recently wrote a book, Seacoast Hikes and Nature Walks, to share her knowledge of some of the amazing trails in the Seacoast region. Lindsey loves to take her family out in the wild on adventures but also does such a great job getting out on solo adventures. I hope you enjoy hearing some of her outdoor story!

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Welcome back to Playtime! This segment of the podcast is designed for kids from babies up through the elementary years, and their grown ups, to listen to together. Thanks for starting your play with me - today we will be exploring with water and soap, making bubbles and creating our own toy wash station. The supplies you will need for today's playtime are: a plastic bin or similar container filled with water, some dish soap, a spoon or other stirring utensil, and old washcloth, and some toy animals, or vehicles, or other toys that are ready for a washing!

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