Today's "Hands On Play Challenge" was to build a fort. Wow! What a fantastic way to start off with a bang! When I read the challenge for today I immediately knew what kind of fort we would make. It's something I've been wanting to do with him for some time now. We have several stacks of logs that he frequently plays on that would make a good starting point. We spent all afternoon climbing, building, exploring, and playing.
My original plan was too ambitious, so instead of moving a bunch of logs, we climbed the logs and put up a tarp. We used logs to weigh the tarp down on one side and some string to attach the other side to a tree. R was involved throughout the entire process and I loved listening to him vocalize his plans and narrate what he was doing.
We spent almost four hours building and playing in our fort and we had so much fun. We ate our lunch in the fort. We read books in the fort. We pretended we were watching exotic wild animals. We looked at slugs and salamanders. And we told "spooky" stories. They cracked me up! I am so grateful for being able to spend an uninterrupted afternoon with my son, and I'm thankful for the wonderful inspiration this challenge is already providing.
My Rules:
Before we started, I debated on whether or not to bring along my camera. I didn't want this to be about my blog because, for me, that would defeat the purpose of the challenge. However, taking pictures is what I do. I like to take pictures. I like to have pictures to show R's daddy. He often misses out on some of the fun we have because he's working, and he's working so that I may stay home. Pictures help me capture memories and it goes along with my mission statement. I did set a few rules for myself though. I will not ask him to stop what he's doing to take a picture and I will not experience the whole thing from behind a camera lens. Any staged photos with finished products, etc, will be taken after we have finished playing. I will not set out with expectations to blog, but it might work out to where I can and do.
Did you participate in today's challenge? Do you have fond memories of fort building?
Ooo that is truly wonderful!! You combined it with outside play- couldn't get any better than that!
ReplyDeleteThe look on his face is priceless- fair to say he had a WONDERFUL time!
Thanks for joining us. This is going to be a great month!
I also debated on using the camera for this challenge, but like you, I have my camera at my side at all times and it really doesnt distract me like TV or texting does.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you all really enjoyed yourselves, I would love to make an outdoor fort but my hubby is big time against letting my kids touch sticks (it drives me crazy) because of poison ivy, ticks and black widows.
Can't wait to follow along with you on this challenge!
~Aleacia
Thank you, Anna, for helping deliver so much great inspiration! I'm glad to be apart of this.
ReplyDeleteI actually touched poison ivy as I was tying the tarp to the tree. Haha. I just finished tying it and went inside and washed my hands. So far, so good. We'll see tomorrow though. Lol. I can't wait to follow along with you as well, Aleacia.
I absolutely love that fact that you went outside with this!!! He looks like he had a blast! That's what counts!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the camera. I, too, thought we'd do better without the camera, but I want to capture the memories too. But I'm backing off A LOT and also trying my best to be in the moment and not behind the camera. Good rules :)
We both had a blast! I find myself trying to take everything outside. Haha. Thank you for the great idea! I *had* to turn it into an all day thing. We even went back out after my husband got home, and I'm sure we'll be back in it tomorrow. I'm so glad you reminded me and motivated me to do it *today*. I'm glad you like my rules. It's hard to find the balance, but I'm happy with how it turned out today. I took several pictures but it was over an extended period of time and it wasn't intrusive. I'm sure it will be harder for me when we do things indoors. My camera is horrible indoors. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI love that you took your fort outside! and love your rules ~ perfect i'd say.
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic, it looks like you both had loads of fun. You're blog is full of great ideas, thanks for sharing them. And totally agree with the picture rules, I love being able to catch the memories and share with family who can't be with us but making sure it's not just about taking pictures.
ReplyDeleteEllie
Your fort is amazing!!! I love having pictures of memories like this too, blog or no blog. And my kids do, too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful activity & playful fun! I would love for you to link up to my TGIF LInky Party - http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/search/label/Linkey%20Parties . I am also your newest GFC follower =-)
ReplyDeleteBeth
Thank you all for stopping by and commenting!
ReplyDeleteEllie, I'm so glad you are finding ideas when you take a look around my blog. I'm fixing to head over to yours and take a look!
MaryAnne, my son loves the pictures too! We often curl up and look at pictures and talk about the fun times we've had. Infact, I have a lot of very fond memories of sitting around looking at memories. haha.
Beth, Thank you so much for the comment and the follow. I would love to participate in your linky party! Thank you for the invite.
Love it Joyce! How perfect that you built the fort outside, and what a treasure to have a big pile of logs in your garden! I think your rules are great, too, and will try to follow them myself. I'm quite envious that you got to spend so much time with it and that you got to do it outside. By the time I get home from work these days it's pitch black out. Our outdoor play these days (or mine, rather - they still go out during the day without me) is limited to the weekends for the next several months.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up to the Outdoor Play Party again! So glad to have you!
You just have to take pictures! Sometimes when I get caught up in what we are doing I forget, but if I remember - later I;m glad I did. Photos are a great way to relive all the memories. What a fantastic job building your fort!
ReplyDeleteI hope your weekends are so much fun they make up for the lack of outside time throughout the week, Mama Pea Pod. I know that has to be hard. It was completely dark here at 5:30 tonight. I'm never ready for that.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by and commenting, Tat! I know we would ALL miss the pictures if I stopped taking them. You're right, picture taking is a must!
Forts are so much fun! even I love forts outside.
ReplyDeleteNaturegirlz @ Growing Roots for a Better Tomorrow :)
(shannon from Peace Love and Rainbows)
Love all your forts and exploration. It's really about creating with what we have and kids using their hands to build things.
ReplyDelete