Walk Around the Block Challenge

I spend a lot of time as a parent and educator trying to plan the next entertaining activity for my preschooler. We've been to water parks, botanic gardens, beaches, play places, classes and more. I'm glad that I've done this and don't regret it but sometimes I wonder if do to my own anxiety and those pesky social media posts infiltrating my coffee-fueled brain at 1 am, if I could take it down a notch. My son seeks out a lot of movement and activity to stay regulated, but does that mean daily organized entertainment is a requirement? I don't know. Recently I thought, maybe this Wednesday I won't put on my top hat and sparkly leotard for the motherhood song and dance, and we will just walk around the block.

So starting last week, we decided that every Wednesday we would walk or take a tricycle ride around the block after lunch. We would take our time. I wouldn't roll my eyes if my son HAD to stop to collect three perfect pine cones or see how close he could get to a squirrel before it ran up a tree. These are real important elements to a walk, by the way.

On our first trek around the block, we saw a police car. My son remembered how we talked about police officers and their role as peacemakers in our community. This month, we have been discussing super heroes, their powers and the real heroes in society with our Mother Goose Time curriculum box. My son waved "Hi" and we peddled along to a tree that had been cut into pieces on the side of the street. He stopped, got off of the tricycle and examined the rings and took note that one piece looked like a boot print. He asked what these trees would be used for and if they would be recycled or made into paper. Another school topic from Mother Goose Time.

At this point, I'm pretty sure the Michigan-based company has a GPS on me and knows what topics and craft projects to send based on what questions my child is going to ask....

We then stopped to look at some beautiful flowers that are planted every year by a lovely women in down the block. We see orange, yellow and pink. Two of the flowers have different types of beetles on them. So we take pictures of the beetles to look up later, obviously. We stop to talk to a neighbor pushing her napping son in a stroller and show off our R2D2 helmet, which for some reason reminds both of us that we need to go back 20 feet and find three perfect pine cones.

When we get home, I happened to have a peace symbol project set up. Of course my son needs to replicate the colors of the flowers he saw on the walk to make the Mother Goose Time project perfect. I'm so glad we received the box this month in exchange for sharing our experience.

I challenge you, now that school schedules are getting started, activities are underway and that eclipse is over, to walk or ride around your block with your preschooler. I was pleasantly surprised by the observations we made and the questions it prompted.