When Thinker (now 9.5 y.o) and Little Rascal (now 7) were toddlers/preschoolers we spent a lot of time at parks and playgrounds. As we have had more children and the number of activities we fit into the day increases, I noticed earlier this year that Possum and Babaganouski really don’t get to the park as much.
I think part of this is due the fact that we moved out of the inner city and into suburbia with a decent size back yard, so the kids have a lot more space at home anyway. But there are benefits of going to the park that I can’t necessarily duplicate in the back yard all the time.
We have a trampoline, bikes, scooters, balls etc but no real climbing trees or balancing equipment. These are important gross motor skills that the toddler and preschooler need to be practising. Neither do we have a swing, which promotes:
I have put a request into Mr Infrastructure that he build some climbing equipment and include a swing, but I am not sure when or if this will happen! In the mean time though, I have tried to work in visits to the park as part of our weekly routines, so the children have the opportunity to practise these essential gross motor skills.
This term a good friend enrolled her daughter in the same dance class as Possum, so each week I pack a lunch box for the children and myself and we head to the park with our friends after dance. Even on the chillier days, the coolness has seemed to worry me more that the children and they look forward to this time each week.
The second session is a little closer to home and requires the kids to use a little more imagination. We have a small area of park land next door to us and it has great trees for climbing and a sloping face that is perfect for rolling down. I have been making sure that once a week I take the smaller two over to the park (the older two are allowed to go by themselves as long as they tell me) and let them investigate and explore.
Any exposure to parks and playgrounds on the week end depends a lot on what sporting activities and birthday parties are on. Given that we are in football season and we have three different types of football activities across the weekend (Auskick, dad’s footy and under 10’s) we generally come across another park once in our travels.
In addition to the benefits of practising their gross motor skills, by going to these public places the children also have a chance practise their social skills: waiting turns, meeting new children, negotiation etc.
How do you fit in visits to the park or do you have an playground equipment at home to use?
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We have lots of playground type equipment at home so as far as gross motor skills are concerned, playgrounds aren’t a huge priority. Having said that, I think playgrounds are great for developing social skills and our visits are usually packed with teachable moments.
I try and take the girls at least twice a week. One day we go with friends after a music class as part of our routine, the other day I usually try and go somewhere different and incorporate it into taking the dogs for a run.
I have to add that before I became a parent I would never have imagined putting this much thought into children’s playgrounds!
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By Alison on 06.26.08 12:15 pm | Permalink
We live a long way from everything.. parks included, so when the weather is bad (as it is these days) we don’t make it to the park very often if at all. When the weather is good we go more often as we have a really awesome new ‘all access’ park in town but we’d still be lucky to go once a week.
We do have a huge ‘back yard’ plus the rest of the ten acres to play on, and we are slowly building up a variety of kids areas in the yard - we have a swing, sandpit, basic balancing items (tree stumps that are too hard to chop up for fire wood are awesome) as well as a trampoline and plans for a stage/cubby… but for us the park is a social thing, a chance for my quiet girls to practice being around a group of other kids… we really do need to make more of an effort!
katefs last blog post..What Can We Do Today?? - Draw Big!
By katef on 06.26.08 2:15 pm | Permalink
I have the same problem! I used to take the kids to the park all the time, but now with school and after school commitments we don’t go there nearly as often. And we have a park just at the bottom of our street! I have recently managed to fit a couple to visits in with the time limit requirement of ‘until the chicken is cooked’. This gives us about an hour at the park and a roast dinner when we get home.
By Catherine on 06.27.08 8:16 am | Permalink
We love going to the park and we usually get there at least twice if not three times a week!
Something which I never thought of doing until recently was to take my eldest (5 y.o)to skateboard parks which have been superb! Great for his balance and adventure side, confidence in sharing the park with much older boys and he’s been chatting with them to find out how to do “tricks”. He loves using his scooter there doing jumps and all sorts. I tend to close one eye and watch with a hand over my other eye!!
We’ve got so many great skateboard parks in Australia … check out http://www.skateboard.com.au which has an interactive skateboard park finder.
We also tend to have a play at parks and go for long bike or scooter rides on the weekend and we meet our mother’s group in parks every week. Like you said PQ, its great for my little two year old to learn to take turns and be social etc.
By ickle Kids on 06.27.08 8:27 am | Permalink
An old post I know, but I wanted to comment. I love parks with Munchkin and friends and wish their were more ‘great’ playgrounds around! I love playgrounds that are fenced for safety, have a sunshade, and an area for littlies and biggies - much easier that way! I have a park about 5 minutes walk away with a great cafe opposite - mum nirvana
Gypsys last blog post..Worth musing over
By Gypsy on 07.19.08 11:45 am | Permalink
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