Autumn arrives with his beautiful colours but also with rain and wind. It’s not a reason to stop going outside ! Kids need to go outside everyday to get their dose of Vitamin D. Some studies show also that outdoor play has many brain-boosting benefits for kids and support kids with concentration or stress problem. Moreover nature is also a big source of learning and make our kids grow !
Naya Nature has some advice!
Naya Nature would like to share with you 5 tips to start going to the nature with your kids even when the temperatures drop.
1/ Well dressed !
First step to enjoy going out even with rain or cold temperature, is to dress with the right clothes. On top stay dry and protected from the wind with warm waterproof coat. Under the coat, keep warm but with comfortable light clothes as fleece jacket. In the bottom, relax pants and rain pants for kids who fall often in the mud. Waterproof sneakers can be better than boots to feel more free to run. And don’t forget a warm chocolate when you are back home !
2/ What to do under the rain ?
Of course the first one we think about is singing and dancing as Gene Kelly in “I am singing in the rain …” But you can also build a dam using stones, rocks, mud or anything else to stop the water.An other idea is to make rain music, by putting out pots, bowls, or other objects that can make a nice sound when the rain falls on it. You can then build xylophone that plays rain music. And of course, one of the favourite activity for small and big is to jump in puddles. Why not make a race in the puddles !
3/ Fruit and plants picking
There are several places in Amsterdam where you can pick up fruits or vegetable as fruittuin van west. It’s time to prepare apple or pear pie !! Go to Fruittuin van West! My favourite is to pick chestnut. I like eating it roasted simply, but you can find a lot of recipes online. Don’t forget to make a small incision in the skinbefore cooking it to avoid it to explode in your kitchen or living room ! There are also full of eatable plants in the park that can be used to make tea for example.
4/ Trees in autumn mood
Amsterdam is one of the most leafiest cities in Europe with not more than 400,000 trees. The city of Amsterdam provides a map with all trees. Good idea to know the names of the tree in front of your house ! You can also do nice walks to discover the trees and see the city within a different perspective. Lulu’s walk proposes examples of walk for each season. You can organize a tree hunt with your kids. They will love it ! Especially if they can walk on the crunchy leaves around the trees.
5/ Be creative !
With all these different trees around the city, the first thing we think about is making a herbarium with our kids. What a beautiful book covered with colourful leaves ! You can also invent other games as creating a memory game. Ask your kids to pick 2 same leaves from different trees and then you paste it on cardboard to make a memory game. With mud you can paint or create a pie. Kids can also draw with washable markers and then put it outside to see what happens. We can also build shelters for birds to protect them from the cold.
Hope you have more and more desire to go outside and try these new activities with your kids ! Enjoy !!
Written by Naya Nature, weekly outdoor programme in Beatrixpark, to connect children with nature and their inner nature kids from 2 to 12 years-old.