30-Day Outdoor Play Challenge! #opchallenge

Back in February, I issued a Creative Kid Challenge which involved doing a different creative craft or activity with one or more children for 30-days straight. I took this up with my (then) 26-month-old daughter, and we had a blast! I ended up writing a blog post on the top 10 sensory activities we tried out.

Now that the weather is warm (for the most part!) my daughter's outside a lot. Hubby put together a "fun center" for her in our backyard comprised of a sandbox, play house, slide/swing combo and other toys, and she loves it! However, she often ends up playing alone with me on the sidelines feeling I should get in there and play directly with her, but not quite sure where to start. As such, I took to Pinterest (which originally inspired our #ckchallenge) to gather ideas for creative outdoor play. As expected, my search turned up all kinds of goodness which prompted me to take up (and issue, for anyone else who's interested) a new challenge - a different outdoor play activity every day for 30 days!

The rules I'll be attempting to follow are similar to my Creative Kid Challenge with a few amendments:

• Each day of the challenge must have a different activity
• All activities must be enjoyed outside, unless the weather sucks in which case an indoor activity can be substituted.
• A maximum of 5 activities can be familiar (i.e. ones we have tried out before)
• Activities must allow my child to participate directly
• Activities must be safe and use non-toxic materials
• Hubby (or another family member) can sub in if/when it becomes too difficult for me to participate directly (e.g. if our son's having a particularly rough day)

Now here's the thing - warmer weather invariably brings bbqs, festivals, parties and other events, so in practice I'm not sure we'll be able to complete the challenge perfectly. That would be awesome, though if we can get to 25+ I'll consider that a success. :) We'll be starting our challenge tomorrow so it'll end on June 25th. If you want to participate too, you can start at any time!

Like I did last time, I will share each day's activity on FB and Twitter (using the hashtag #opchallenge), and blog about our favourite activities when the challenge is over! Also, I will be continuously adding to my Outdoor Toddler Activities Pinterest board as we go along!

So who's going to embark on this challenge with me?

30-Day Creative Kid Challenge! #ckchallenge

With another month or two of cold weather still on deck, I've been gathering ideas for fun crafts and activities I can share with my 26-month-old daughter S. She's at such a wonderful age for learning, exploring and experimenting and the last thing I want her to feel is bored and unstimulated during the long hours we're spending indoors! (As a fringe benefit, this may also dissuade her from laying the smack down on her baby brother ;) )

I've already uncovered a bunch of cool projects to try with her, from homemade lava lamps to bath tub science and I'm sure I've just scratched the surface, as Pinterest is proving to be a goldmine for creative kid awesomeness! All this has motivated me to challenge myself and try out a new creative craft or activity with S each day for 30 days straight.

Here are the rules I'm following for this challenge!

• Each day of the challenge must have a different craft/activity
• A maximum of 5 activities can be familiar (i.e. ones I have tried out before)
• Activities must allow the child to participate directly
• Activities must be safe and use non-toxic materials
• Activities must involve creativity beyond simply using a commercial product as designed. For example, putting together a beaded jewelry box using a beaded jewelry box construction kit doesn't count! That said, commercial products can be used to supplement a more involved creative activity (e.g. Playdoh).  

I will share each day's activity on FB and Twitter (using the hashtag #ckchallenge), and blog about our experience when the challenge is over! Also, I will be continuously adding to my Creative Toddler Activities Pinterest board to fuel my inspiration! :)

Who's up for taking the 30-Day Creative Kid Challenge with me? Do you have any suggestions for toddler-friendly crafts or activities that would be fun to include?

(Note: I will be starting this challenge today (February 12) however feel free to start whenever this works for you!)