It has had several different feels to it over the 12 years since we bought our house, going from BBQ central to dog friendly and many different Child friendly variations.
Liv absolutely loves being outside doing anything, she is a social butterfly and generally happy to just be out! At various times we have squeezed in a play house, sand and water table and an extra small trampoline. Right now she has a picnic table with a sandpit inside, a basketball hoop and plenty of outdoor games, anything fun that encourages energy burning.
I absolutely love sitting outside in this wonderful weather we are having and listening to the children out in their gardens having fun, squealing with delight and getting moving, it reminds me of being young when we were out to play straight after school every night.
These days we all know how tempting it can be to leave the kids safe watching TV or on their devices for an extra 30 minutes to allow us to get to get that extra load of washing done, run the hoover over or sometimes just to have a hot cuppa! However the sad fact is, so many Children now are being left on these electronic devices without any adult supervision or time restrictions at all. While its fair to say a lot of Parents simply feel their Children are safer at home, it can cause other problems along the line. For example the rate of obesity in Children at the moment is truly shocking, with over 1,000 children being referred to hospital as a result of obesity, and 1 in 3 children between the ages of 2 and 10 being classed as overweight.
Finding a happy medium between physical exercise and screen time is key, it also helps if you can trust that your Childs school is doing all they can to help keep them physically moving and burning off energy, especially during break times.
Livs school has recently been fundraising for some wonderful playground markings and wooden climbing frames. They have just been installed in the last week or so and the Children already absolutely adore them!
For example Liv came home Yesterday telling me about games they have made up about jumping to different letters to spell out rhyming words, exercise and phonics work in one!
It's brilliant seeing all of the Children enjoying everything in the morning. I love that the school are investing both time and money in our Children's exercise needs, especially when I'm sure there is a hundred other places that money could have been equally helpful.
I can be confident that Liv is not only enjoying physical exercise on the yard but socialising and learning too. What more could you ask for?
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Do your school have any floor markings or equipment to encourage physical play? Please let me know in the comments, I would love to pass our head some more ideas.
