Depending on your area, summer walks might be too hot right now. We go out in the morning. We eat breakfast, get ready, and go for a walk. As you can see in the picture, Brayden rides his bicycle while the girls sit in the stroller.
Children learn so much by observation, so if you can get out and walk around, you are giving your child the chance to observe the world around her. In fact, one of my favorite things about toddlers is how much they are in awe of all they see. Everything is interesting, so a walk by itself can be a learning activity.
You can add in bits of information from mom. Talk about the plants and animals you see. Talk about the weather. Talk about what is safe and what isn't. Point out the colors and shapes you see. You could even make a card with pictures on it and have your child check off or put stickers over the things she finds on it.
We will also often go for family bike rides where my husband and I each use a bike trailer and pull our children along. We use this in place of our vehicle for going places that are close. We will go visit fun little places around town.
2 comments:
Wow, that scenery is just beautiful!
I have a somewhat dumb question as I'm learning with my oldest as we go along. But I see Brayden is riding his bike. How long of a walk do you do and how far does he ride? I'm curious because I see kids his age walking beside mom in the neighborhood, so they must get to an age where it's not too much exercise for them. My DD1 is 3.5, so not much older than Kaitlyn, and she took rides in the stroller with my almost 2 YO. She's perfectly content to do so:) I may have her walk a bit (like 1/2 a block) but she's more than ready to sit down. So what age do transition to being able to walk outside of the stroller so it's not too much? I imagine it varies but it's kind of like shopping I guess. Mine still sit in the cart but I see older kids walking the entire store and in and out and it's quite a LOT of walking! Kind of silly, I know:)
I think it varies a lot based on the child. Kaitlyn will be taking dance this fall, and I spoke with the teacher yesterday. She can either take a 45 minute dance class or a 1 hr 15 minute dance followed by tumbling class. The teacher explained that some 3 year olds are fine with 30 min of tumbling after dance and some are just too tired--so there will be variance.
I don't know exactly how far we go. It isn't far, but it does take us about 30 minutes because Brayden can be slow sometimes.
Brayden didn't start walking/riding for walks until he was almost 4. That is when McKenna was born and I didn't have space for him in the stroller anymore :) I think it would be too much for Kaitlyn at this age. However, our friends' son rode his bike for a mile followed by a one mile "hike" (it was in yellowstone--those aren't real hikes they are more like walks). He was too tired to walk back and ride his bike back, but he made it the two miles. This was when he was 3 years and 9 months old. So again, it depends on the child and it probably depends on how fun it is for the child plus how hot it is. I can't go as far myself if I am hot and hating it.
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