If you are a Jane Jacob’s fan or a fan of walking, this event is for you! Takes place May 5-6 in Vancouver. If you participate in this or something like it, send me your comments. To learn more:
The intergenerational Hume Park Invasive Plant Removal and Native Plant replanting scheduled for this Saturday April 28 is a great opportunity for youth and their families to protect their park and learn a little something about their local natural environment.
Protecting the environment and being socially responsible are prominent themes in schools today. But children and youth can’t learn to care about an environment they don’t understand. In a recent study, young people were able to identify 1000 corporate logos but fewer than 10 plants or animals native to their backyards! How can we expect students to care and protect something they can’t even name?
So here is a great opportunity for youth to meaningfully connect with their environment, learn about native versus invasive plants and spend time outside with their family. Unfortunately I can not attend this event because ironically I’m in meetings all day at the British Columbia School Trustees Association’s AGM.
The details: Lower Hume Park, New Westminster, from 1-4 pm, rain or shine (where boots!), ages 13 + years.
If you’d like to attend, registration is necessary. Please call Call 604-519-1066
Growing Up Urban the outside way!
For a related read on this event go to The Tenth to the Fraser.
Yesterday it snowed here in coastal Vancouver – snowed on the first day of spring break! My 3 year old daughter asked if spring would ever come.
So if you can’t beat them, join them. Up to Cypress Mountain to snowshoe again, this time with friends. Despite the weather being socked in, there was lots of fresh powder for the kids to play in.
And after all that hard work … some hot chocolate for a little rejuvenation.
Happy spring break everyone!
Growing up urban the outside way.
Can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday than with my kids outside. Cypress Mountain has turned into one of our favourite places to snowshoe. Why? Because what goes up must come back down. And what better way than to slide!
Growing up the outside way
jonina
Nothing like a rare snowfall in Vancouver, B.C., to get kids outside playing. I checked twitter tonight and there were lots of tweets and pictures of kids playing in the snow today. By 10 o’clock this morning, my next door neighbours had already been sledding in our local park and were building a rather impressive snowman in their backyard.
At a time when play has moved indoors for many kids, it is exciting to see so many kids, and parents too, outside playing and having fun. Snow brings out the best in our play.
So whether you build a snowman, have a snowball fight, make snow angels or animal tracks, or go sledding, just have fun and enjoy because in Vancouver it doesn’t usually last long. Happy snow play everyone!
Growing up the outside way,
Jonina
ps. Remember, let the kids have fun and play. A little risk is okay, in fact, it is good for them.
If you are like me you still have one or two Christmas gifts left to get. I probably could have shopped yesterday but I took my 3 children — who think playing Wii for hours is the best way to spend their winter vacation — up to Cypress Mountain to go snowshoeing.
My husband thought this was an impressive undertaking but really it wasn’t any more effort than taking them to Science World. In fact, it was less. There were no crowds, no mild heart attacks when you can’t find your 3 year old among the hundreds of other children there, and no big admission fees.
It is relatively easy for me to take my kids snowshoeing because we have all the gear. Which brings me to my outdoor gift suggestions. This Christmas, give your family the experience of being outside. Buy snowshoes (or any outdoor equipment) or a give a gift certificate for rentals or taking a tour with a guide. Lessons are also a great gift (it is often less stressful to learn from someone else other than your parents).
I’ve attached a video clip to give you a sense of how much fun the kids can have. When we snowshoe in the Provincial Park at Cypress (the free trail), my kids snowshoe up and then slide back down. Snowshoe Fun at Cypress Dec 23/11
And what is good for kids is good for everyone. So if your stuck for a last minute Christmas gift for your spouse, consider a snowshoe fondue tour, a sleigh ride, or outdoor skating. Very romantic!
I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and thank you for your support with my blog. Enjoy your time as a family this holiday.
Growing Up the Outside Way,
Jonina
We love attending the Royal City Farmers Market in Tippery Park.
Tonight the market will be “having an all-wheel parade at 6PM and invite all kids of all ages to decorate their wheeled transports (bikes, scooters, wagons, trikes, wheelchairs, strollers, you name it) and join us for a parade! Parade goers will start at 6PM at the entrance to the walkway on 3rd. ”
A great way to be outside!
As a treat we had our faces painted.
We love eating the popcorn.
We always do the craft.
We love playing tag with our friends.
We love to explore and climb the trees.
Last week I wrote a post about walking or riding to school . I live in a different municipality from the one where I teach so I drive to work. As it is, it takes me about 40 minutes to drive to my school.
Yesterday the traffic was particularly bad (perhaps a bit of back-to-school traffic) and I arrived at work 5 minutes before the bell. Cars were lined up down the street to get into the school parking lot. I am not exaggerating when I say, it was grid locked. Parents were waiting for a parking spot and not moving their vehicles and this prevented me from accessing the staff parking lot. So I did the only thing I could think of – I opened the sun roof, stood up and took a picture!
Needless to say everyone in that line up was late for school. Perhaps tomorrow the parents will walk their kids to school if for no other reason than to be on time.
Will it be a nice stroll along a tree-lined street?
Or a version of the Indy 500 as you race up to the school in the mini-van, unable to get out and walk your kids to the door because you’re still in your PJs underneath your swanky black coat.
Back in the day, when I was in elementary school (I can’t believe I’m starting to talk like this!), it was rare for someone to be driven to school. Everyone either walked or road their bike. Regardless of the weather. Now we have traffic cones to keep the cars from blocking the road and special days to promote walking and riding to school. A lot has changed.
We are busier. Parents are working, children are in activities before and after school and this can leave less time for walking to the neighbourhood school.
Some students attend schools out of their catchment and walking would take too long.
And sometimes there are just days when the morning doesn’t go all that smoothly (ie. aging dog pees on floor, kids are fighting, no milk in fridge etc…) and you just need to drive.
But I think there is also something else at play. I think we are less trusting as parents than our parents were: less trusting of the environment and less trusting of our kids’ abilities to handle themselves in that environment.
I walked to school by myself in grade three. So did a lot of other parents I talk to. There is no magic age that we can say, “Your child will be ready to walk to school on their own,” but we do need to rationally think about why so many of us feel so apprehensive about letting our kids go to school on their own or with friends.
My son will be in grade three this September and my daughter will enter kindergarden and I will be walking them to school as much as possible. I’ve talked with parents who have children who live close to our house and we are discussing the idea of a walking school bus for the kids. The idea is one child would pick up my son and then together, they would go and get the other kids. I know from my experiences over the summer that my son is looking for ways to be independent. I am trying to find a balance between giving him that independence and being responsible for his safety.
The Hub for Action on School Transportation Emissions (HASTE) works collaboratively with School Districts to promote walking to schools. The New Westminster School District and HASTE have created Active and Safe Routes To School (ASRTS) Maps. You can click on your New Westminster elementary school (the middle school maps are in progress) and it will link you to a colourful and easy to read map that shows the best and safest route for children to walk to school. The ASRTS Maps are also full of great information on topics such as the benefits of walking to school.
See you on the walk to school!
As you plan your dream backyard, try and keep in mind the attraction children have to playing in dirt, and leave some space for them to dig and play. I know, it makes a mess and they get dirty but they do love it and it is so good for them.
If you don’t have a lot of garden space, get out some buckets and fill them with dirt. Add a little water and presto – you have mud soup!
Try adding some herbs from the garden or little rocks and twigs to make stew. If you are able to provide a table it makes it easier for the kids to display their kitchen creations. If mud is too much, a water table with lots of buckets of water is lots of fun too.
Grow up urban, grow up muddy!
