Wacky Races

I am going to be entirely honest with you! The idea I had today for the DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS, was one of those ideas I thought would be a flop. It would thus provide us with an activity and me with a funny story - but actually it worked.

OK, So spring has not sprung, that was a lie from last week from the pit of hell. It was so cold today, the boys, one-by-one, went off like little time bombs with cold noses and painful toes.

Our focus for today was RACES!! I really didn't expect the boys, who are on average ranging from 18 months to 3.5 years to be that competitive and I didn't expect them to want to follow our 'race' instructions... I was wrong on all counts!

The first race we did was a scooter/bike/running race. It felt like the boys had every reason to call unfair advantages on their fellow race-ees but alas they went as fast as their short little legs would carry them... way past the finishing line and into the distance... they were fabulous and really got the whole concept.

Next we did the egg and spoon race. It was unbelievably hillarious. One of the mums supplied boiled eggs, and with a stroke of genius, a few ladles to carry the eggs... the boys were slow, focused and definitely found that participating was the name of the game as the timings of each boy to cross the finishing line was so completely different.

About 21 seconds after the Egg 'n' Spoon race, the boys lost the plot. The cold had been working its way from the youngest to the oldest, and enough was enough. We made our way to the cafe and then spent the next 20 minutes doing a chocolate egg treasure hunt for our snack and then made as much noise as we possibly could.

A lovely cold DC4B today!!

Treasure Hunts

OH SWEETNESS, GOODNESS & BLISSFUL AMAZINGFULNESS!!!!!! Spring is on its way!!!!! I cannot express more strongly how good it is to drink in the sun, photosynthesise and let my body start to adjust to daylight once more. Is it me or has this winter been a tough one???

A whole group of us met up with a far greater ratio of kids to adults, in the 'almost' spring sunshine!! A couple of us were looking after other peoples children so there really were not your average number of Mums and Dads to kids... it was great. The kids ran in a pack and felt so much more secure... for the first time since the DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS was birthed, we watched with joy as our kids ran, without us, over the horizon - confident and together!

We sat on some picnic benches and I handed out some camouflage notebooks. Please note: this was just a nice touch... your notebooks, if ever you do this activity, do not need to be camouflaged!!

We drew in each child's book, animals that they may find on our walk.... worms, deer, dogs, cows, snails etc.... the drawings were hilarious... my deer looked like a pylon and someone else's squirrel - bore the resemblance of a crab! Art aside, the boys then went on the walk with notebooks in hand, spotting the things we had drawn. If repeated, we would have added helicopter, tractor etc... but who knew we were to stumble across a tractor in the middle of a tiny country pathway!!! (I told all the Parents that I had hired it for the kids.... don't tell them I am liar!!! hehe!!!)

We dug for worms, held snails and really enjoy our romp through the English countryside! At the point of vague fatigue we hid a stack of chocolate eggs (thank you easter, for your early eggs!!!), to which the kids spent a while finding them and a brief time consuming them. 

Today has been a great success - my feeling is that the smallest idea - like a treasure hunt can transform a simple walk and in this case make us look up, down, out and around!