Tuesday, June 8, 2010

We Play - Digging in the Dirt

Indoor activities are coming to the fore as winter sets in around here, but we were lucky enough to score a fine, if cool, day last week that coincided with a day off from school for my eldest. So what did three sisters want to do?

1. Stay in pyjamas all day - CHECK
2. Play outside until the chill set in - CHECK
3. Cooking-in-the-dirt - CHECK

My girls love to play in the dirt. It has a different fascination for them than playing in the sandpit; when they play in the dirt, they are more likely to involve multiple other objects from nature (grass, leaves, fruit, herbs, sticks, snail shells, feathers ...) and the elder two are often to be found engaged in extended imaginative play, usually involving cooking. We've had a large number of lemon-grass-dirt soups, "gorgeous" herb casseroles, "exquisilet" mudcakes (literally!) and dirt cookies coming out of our backyard kitchen.

Outdoor play is more restricted in winter so whenever health and clear skies allow, I like to let the kids have the run of their dirt kitchen.

11 comments:

  1. I think we've spent at least half of every day in our pyjamas for at least the last week! Getting dresses seems like such an effort, and if we aren't going anywhere why bother ? :)

    Wish we had some dirt to play in! Princess spent 1/2 hour yesterday running her fingers longingly through the worm farm ... Looks like yours are having lots of fun!

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  2. My daughters pre-school had a big dirt pit / mud pit and the kids had so much fun playing in it. It is indeed wonderful to see the ideas children come up with just playing out in nature.

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  3. Dirt play is just so much fun and a day playing in your Pjs has gotta be pretty good too :)

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  4. We're playing in the dirt too! It is getting hot here in Texas and we a preparing our summer square foot garden.

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  5. ah we are missing being outside here at the moment... we rug up and head out whenever we can too

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  6. Love it Kathy! The easiest way to entertain my toddler is to let him outside and point him to a pile of dirt :).

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  7. PJ's, dirt, sunny winter afternoons...Sounds perfect! And I just love the cooking with the dirt - Mud and Leaf soup was a specialty of mine when I was s little girl

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  8. Wow, we're in the dirt this week too. However,here it is actually getting a little hot and humid outside!!! We like playing in the sprinkler when it is so hot.

    To answer your square foot garden question over at waddlee-ah-chaa. I did use all organic "dirt- mixings". Organic mushroom compost is wonderful for plants. We also made some of the compost ourselves out back from our veggie scraps. Good luck trying a square foot garden.:)

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  9. My two boys love digging in the dirt. In fact, last week we even buried a treasure for dad to dig up! I love to see the different ways that girls and boys use their imagination when it comes to dirt play.

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  10. Our whole yard is pretty much dirt at the moment so we have lots of dirty play too :) Well done being 1st this week!

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  11. yes it is amazing what attract kids...!

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