Now that the weather is finally turning pleasant, it’s a great time to get yourself the kids outside for some exercise. 

If you’ve had enough chase, ball, or running, try just taking the family for a walk.  It’s great practice for making sure kids hold hands, and look both ways before crossing the street.  Plus it is an excellent opportunity to talk about all the things you see together while exploring.  Just this last week my son, 18 months, picked up the words “yucky,” “bug,” and “flower.”  Thankfully those didn’t all happen at the same time, but instead were three different things that we discovered. 

He has also recently starting running to our front door and saying, “walk!!”  We even occasionally bring a camera to take pictures of flowers and bugs that we don’t recognize so we can come home and look them up on the internet. 

My daughter enjoys just being out and talking, especially talking to our neighbors that she knows well.  She insists that we will do it again soon, and next time we will be sure to bring cookies.  This has become our tri-weekly ritual.  (I’ve started stocking up on cookies just so I can let little Ladybug bring them and be the social butterfly that she is.) 

Honestly, we don’t go very far, about a block or two.  I try to vary which directions we go in order to keep the scenery fresh.  I’m guessing we probably won’t continue this when the weather turns hot and muggy, or when the kids realize they have bikes and don’t have to walk.  When that happens, I’ll have to find a way to keep up with them and not pass out.  Until that moment though, I plan to enjoy our adventure walks and let the kids have their fun.

-Stephanie Wright