The first real job I ever had was at a university doing paperwork down in the basement. Days blended and time felt non-existent. I was cranky...bored...miserable, and it showed. In my physical appearance...my mental health. Fast forward fifteen years, and I found the Stockton Six stuck in the same rut. And if it made me irritable, how could I expect my kids to be any different? 🤔
When we're stuck inside, we get stir crazy, irritable, and our bodies scream for movement. But with young kids, sometimes we need a different angle. One that piques their interest and keeps their minds buzzing. Want to hike...maybe. Want to go on a bear hunt in the woods? Absolutely! We've discovered so many different ways to make our adventures ones worthy of a fairy tale and we're sharing them with you. Try one out, or better yet, come along with us on our next!
"It's not about the treasure, it's about the hunt." - William Ritter
1. Treasure. Kids love it. They want to find it, see it sparkle, and stuff it away in some unknown spot where it'll be found weeks later in the lint trap. So why do kids love it so much? It's the hunt. The first time we went out to Arizona on our own, we went hiking up in the Superstition Mountains. With two four-year-olds in tow, I knew we'd have to make the hike interesting to keep them moving. Before we left, I went out and found some fool's gold to bring along. It was easy to slip in my bag, and sprinkling it along the trail for them to find would prove to make an interesting adventure. The girls LOVED it! We grabbed a map at the ranger's station on the way in, and we set off. Our hike took tens times longer than normal because we had to stop every few hundred feet to dig around in the dirt and collect sparkly rocks and cool looking sticks. And it was amazing. Their memories of that day are flooded with digs and screams and giggles, all centered around their treasure hunt. We still have the fool's gold in our adventure box at home and when the we got back, the girls spent days making maps and hiding things around the house. Treasure hunt. Try it out!
2. I can't even tell you how excited the Stockton Six were when I told them we were going on a real live bear hunt. The words wouldn't do it justice. We've all read the classic storybook, went over the hills and through the squishy mud only to find a bear in a cave and run all the way back home. Imagine their faces when I told them we were going to go up into the mountains and actually do the same thing. We went on our bear hunt right after the Christmas season. I was in Walgreens and saw a large stuffed bear that was 70% off, and I just knew we were about to embark on an epic adventure. The cashier stuffed the bear in a million different bags and I prayed the girls wouldn't see it. We layered, and double layered, and put on our beanies and set out. The snow covered trail was like a winter wonderland. We hiked around, made snow angels, and giggled, and while they weren't looking, I stuck the bear in the crook of a tree. We hiked over a mile and a half, and the girls didn't even know it. We found Beary at the end of the trail, and he instantly became part of the family. Check out this blog post to read even more. I can't wait for the snow to fall again. You better bet we'll be out on the hunt once more!
"Learn To Love Your Inner Monster."
3. Getting out and about early on a weekend day can so be so much harder than it sounds. You've got to pack what you need (lunch? layers? sunscreen?) And if you have younger kids? The hard factor goes up exponentially. Even if you get a few minutes to pack all the lunches and grab all the right shoes, sometimes you pay with a bombed out house and, I mean is it really worth it? Well, we've found an adventure for you. Grab a handful of rocks, some eco-friendly paint, glitter, googly eyes and you've got yourself a rock family in the making. Use things you find in your own backyard to make hair and smiles and everything else. Once your done, take your rock family out for their own adventure. Hide them along the paths you bike or walk, and dream about the smiles on other's faces when they find your creations. This is one of our favorite ways to get outdoors! We're out, taking in the fresh air, getting a dose of Vitamin D, and we're back to nature. Best part for the Stockton Six? We spent a bunch of time finding the perfect names for our rock people (Dolphin and Miss Bubbles became quite the best friend pair), and when we got back, we each wrote a story about the adventures our rocks would have!
"The Wand Chooses The Wizard, Harry."
4. Ok, so does it really surprise any of you that I would have a Harry Potter themed outing? I mean it's Harry Potter, quite possibly my most favorite young adult series of all time. I've read it more times than I care to admit, and fortunately (or, unfortunately? I really don't know) the love has trickled down to my girls. One of our favorite things to do on our hikes is look for real-life wands. When we hike the trails, we scour the land for broken sticks that are just the right length, width, and rigidity. It can't just look right...we have to flick it and give it wave and it has to feel right. We won't stop until all six of us has found something suitable. It usually takes the whole trail to find the right ones...and then we take it a step further. We stash them in the backpack, and when we get home, we whittle them down and smooth them out until they're worthy of Dumbledore himself. We have a collection going, wands from so many different adventures, and we keep them in a jar in our little Stockton Studio. I love when they pull them out to play. Each one is so unique, just like each of the Stockton Six. Accio wand!
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