Get outside and play!

The play highlight of the weekend for us was the chilly but sunny walk we had in High Park with friends and their lovely dog on Saturday morning.

We may have needed hats, gloves and boots, but the mood was definitely springy on dog hill and on the pathways through the woods to "castle park" and past that strange menagerie of llamas and bison.

It was a great reminder that our kids have the best kind of fun and most natural form of exercise when we simply head outdoors. You don't need a plan. You may not even need a destination. (Though meeting friends on the corner for a tromp around the neighbourhood, or in a park for an adventure walk, may help coax your kids out of pajamas at the weekend.) I squeezed in a workout, too, piggy-backing Alister up a long hill at the end. (At least I hope it was that uphill walk that made my hamstrings a little stiff on Sunday, and not the, um, bowling I did later that evening.)

The Active Kids Club has come out with this great video aimed at inspiring all of us to get outside with the kids. Check it out!

Need some more inspiration?

Here's a list of great things to do with the kids this week.

Here are some things you can do on rainy days.

Comments

[Sandra Cardinal]

Getting outside with grandkids is the way to make a weekend visit memorable, and entice them back for more visits. When our three grand-daughters come to see us downtown, we may take them to a play at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People or to a great eatery for lunch, but what they love the best is running through the park chasing squirrels and each other around the trees. No matter how wired-in our kids become, playing outside together is still the best way to relate.