Fall is almost over, and winter will soon be here. We took the opportunity to enjoy some of the last fall warmth and headed to the park, again. This time, though, we got to do some of my favorite fall activities.
To begin with the park we were visiting had great play equipment. There were fantastic slides, monkey bars galore, and great balancing and climbing equipment. So, we played on all of these fantastic apparatus (that is the correct plural form, I looked it up.) Our baby even overcame her fear of the playground equipment platforms to go down the slides.
After enjoying the already provided fun things, we decided it would be fun to play a “new” game. The game ended up being called “Find the Hat”. I would hide my Kindergartener’s knit hat somewhere in the park. I used the trees, the cement retaining wall, and he used the slides as the hiding places. After the hat was hidden, we’d give one clue about the general area where the hat was located. I’d give a clue like “It’s on the ground, somewhere.” My son’s clue was a bit more obvious. He said “It’s at the top of something you can slide on.” After the general clue was given, then we played “hot and cold” until the hat was found. It was a great game to practice listening and following directions, too!
After the game, we played on the swings. My baby thinks the swings are the best things ever invented and would spend days in the baby swing if I kept pushing her. We spent a loving bit of our time at the park swinging and pretending to be flying to the rescue. Sometimes my Kindergartener would jump out of the swing and take off running to rescue something. He is such a character; he had me laughing at what he rescued from danger. He saved a few leaves, some sticks, and his school back pack. I’m not sure what the impending danger was, but they were all safe – thanks to his efforts.
Finally, we got to my very favorite fall activity – kicking through leaves. Most people love jumping in the leaf piles, and that is a lot of fun. But I’ve become more pragmatic as I’ve gotten older. It takes a lot of work to put a good sized leaf pile together. It’s a lot faster just to kick through the leaves scattered on the ground. Sometimes it’s good to be able to “instantly” do the activity, instead of waiting until the pile is ready. The kids seemed to enjoy kicking through the leaves. They formed trains and would “choo, choo” through the leaves. They went through the leaves so much, that the leaves were turned mostly to mulch by the time they were done.
We had a great time enjoying the last bit of autumn sunshine at the park. It truly is the simple things in life that bring the greatest satisfaction.
What are some of your favorite fall activities? I’d love to hear about them so I can try them out next year!
