Evergreen Exploring

Simple activity: huge joy ✨

When someone says den making you often think big, but it is great fun to make dens together for your little one's toys, cuddly or not!

✨ Our top tips

🌳 turn the stick gathering into an activity by taking a bag or basket outside to fill - a collecting activity is often a winner!

🌳try to get sticks that are bumpy as it is easier to get them to grip and secure themselves

🌳Use sticks which fork to make a tripod base (or thereabouts) at the start. This will enable your little one to add more sticks to that

Once your den is made, see where the play leads next.

Like this idea? We have something very exciting to share later this week, follow along and see 👀

Keep playing and exploring in nature
Natalie, Rosie and Emily

Play ideas 👇🏾

What's better than turning your recycling into something new for your little one to play with?

✨ You're little one will be so proud of their creation
✨ Once it's destroyed, you can make something else
✨ It's easy, entertaining and cheap!!

Some of our favourite things to do with a cereal box:

👉🏾 Create a crown or a bug head band. This is genius - you can just cut across a cereal box and the strip will most likely fit their head (if they have a big head, Weetabix boxes are usually bigger) once you have your strip of card, add some double sided sticky tape and decorate with nature treasures

👉🏾 Fairy door (or any shape you like!) again cut out the shape, add strips of double sided tape and decorate with nature treasures. The great thing about creating a fairy door is it can then spark imaginative play...

👉🏾 Cut out a shape from the middle of your cereal box and use it as a frame. With your toddler you can look through it, take some really cool photos or use it as a "that's not my...and go around touching lots of different things outside. This is great for vocabulary building

⚠️ WARNING - if you follow us you may find you run out of cereal boxes. So maybe save this as something to come back to so you don't have to waste the food

Taking part in 30 Days Wild? These are great ideas to get your under-five outside and connecting with the world around them!

Keep playing and exploring in nature 🐞
Rosie, Emily and Natalie aka Evergreen Exploring

What did we miss?

There are SO many ways to play with sticks

- to make music
- imaginative play
- stir potions
- make art
- paint (great for little ones who don't like messy fingers!)
- dancing sticks (trust us!)
- early years maths by making shapes
- make magic wands
- create puppets!
- den build for toys

Playing with sticks is on our 30 Days Wild list. If you want a free copy of the resource to print off, pop on the fridge and motivate you to get outside exploring comment JUNE and we'll send it your way.

Give us a ❤️ if your little one loves playing with sticks (or yourself 😜)

Keep playing and exploring in nature 🐞
Natalie, Rosie and Emily aka Evergreen Exploring

Easier said than done, right?

This is your reminder that we ALL have those days. With nine children between us, many times with our toddlers we struggled to get out, battles were fought to put on appropriate clothing and energy levels were nonexistent.

Try to celebrate every small win, focus on the good days and yes, it is ok to count down till bedtime and then miss them once they are asleep.

Do you know what really helped turn those bad days into good days? Meeting up together in the park to play and explore in nature at the outdoor play group that we ran. Those days weren't just good, they turned into the best and actually the reason we are here today as Evergreen Exploring.

Just as we were there for each other to motivate, encourage and share small wins, we are here for you. If you're new here and want ideas and motivation to get outside exploring with your under-five, welcome, come follow along.

What's your small win today?

Keep playing and exploring in nature 🐞
Emily, Natalie and Rosie aka Evergreen Exploring