A Stroller Adventure
This blog post is part of this week's Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge over at Steady Mom.
Last Monday was our first day of childcare swap. Our little bud Z came over to our house for a few hours after preschool.
It is about a half hour walk from preschool to our house. So I had LP and Z in a double stroller (which is surprisingly more heavy than the weight of the two kids plus the weight of the stroller). About two minutes into the walk, it started to rain. And Z didn't like the snacks I brought. And LP & I aren't wearing raincoats (at least Z is). And it starts to rain harder. And harder.
The kids were actually pretty relaxed about the cold rain coming down but I was not a happy camper and we still had a good 20 minutes of walking to go.
And so a game was born.
I started with an open question about what they could see from the stroller. That didn't inspire anything, so then I asked Z if he saw anything in the large bush up ahead.
"Lions! I see Lions"
What a delicious offer to all of our imaginations! So we spent a few blocks looking for lions and even occasionally roaring at them. Sometimes I'd ask one of the kids to describe something or point a lion out to me and sometimes Z would spontaneously point one out. This evolved into being in the jungle as we went down a block with lots of greenery reaching over the sidewalk.
It made a challenging walk home fun and certainly took my attention away from the rain and all the other things going on in my head (wondering if Z was going to be happy playing at our house, my self-criticisms of not having LP & I in raincoats and so on and so on).
This is a great "quickie" improv activity.
First, make an open-ended offer to your kiddo's imagination (like asking "what's in that bush?" or "who's hiding under that leaf?"). You can play with the scope of the question (in my story above, my more general question of "what do you see" didn't get any response from the kids but focusing on the bush inspired Z's imagination.
They will either 1) ignore you because something else is cooking up in their minds already, 2) ask the same question back to you or 3) give you an answer that opens a door to more.
Then build on it. Which can be really simple. See the lion they see and then be excited to see the lion they see. Find out what the lion is doing in the bush or move on to another bush and see if there's a whole jungle of animals on your street.
One of the wonderful things about an activity like this is that it doesn't have a specific beginning, middle and end. So you can stop and start as their (and your) interest dictates and those lions will be waiting for you to rediscover another day.
Last Monday was our first day of childcare swap. Our little bud Z came over to our house for a few hours after preschool.
It is about a half hour walk from preschool to our house. So I had LP and Z in a double stroller (which is surprisingly more heavy than the weight of the two kids plus the weight of the stroller). About two minutes into the walk, it started to rain. And Z didn't like the snacks I brought. And LP & I aren't wearing raincoats (at least Z is). And it starts to rain harder. And harder.
The kids were actually pretty relaxed about the cold rain coming down but I was not a happy camper and we still had a good 20 minutes of walking to go.
And so a game was born.
I started with an open question about what they could see from the stroller. That didn't inspire anything, so then I asked Z if he saw anything in the large bush up ahead.
"Lions! I see Lions"
What a delicious offer to all of our imaginations! So we spent a few blocks looking for lions and even occasionally roaring at them. Sometimes I'd ask one of the kids to describe something or point a lion out to me and sometimes Z would spontaneously point one out. This evolved into being in the jungle as we went down a block with lots of greenery reaching over the sidewalk.
It made a challenging walk home fun and certainly took my attention away from the rain and all the other things going on in my head (wondering if Z was going to be happy playing at our house, my self-criticisms of not having LP & I in raincoats and so on and so on).
This is a great "quickie" improv activity.
First, make an open-ended offer to your kiddo's imagination (like asking "what's in that bush?" or "who's hiding under that leaf?"). You can play with the scope of the question (in my story above, my more general question of "what do you see" didn't get any response from the kids but focusing on the bush inspired Z's imagination.
They will either 1) ignore you because something else is cooking up in their minds already, 2) ask the same question back to you or 3) give you an answer that opens a door to more.
Then build on it. Which can be really simple. See the lion they see and then be excited to see the lion they see. Find out what the lion is doing in the bush or move on to another bush and see if there's a whole jungle of animals on your street.
One of the wonderful things about an activity like this is that it doesn't have a specific beginning, middle and end. So you can stop and start as their (and your) interest dictates and those lions will be waiting for you to rediscover another day.
Labels: activity, improv, improv parenting, spontaneity
posted by Susan at
9:43 PM
5 Comments:
We play this game too! I love it when their eyes widen and you can tell they are "seeing" exactly what they describe.
What a great idea. You sound like such a fun parent!
I love this idea! I'm excited for the time when my son is old enough to pretend :)
What a fun walk despite the rain. I love giving kids the opportunity to imagine all the possibilities -- and it gives them such a thrill when the adults play along. I'll be keeping this in mind!
This is an encouraging idea. I tend to become Monster Mommy in the rain! It is one of the things about city living I have never adjusted to.
Go, go, go, by the way, BABYSITTING SWAP! I had a successful swap going for about 4 years. AMAZING. Good luck!
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