Away From Home Poppy
One of the hardest things about being a ‘stay at home’ Poppy, for me at least, is the staying at home. I love E.V. dearly, but before she came along I would take my work to a cafe and let the gentle murmur of the crowd sharpen my focus. Sometimes, when I needed a little inspiration, I would go for a walk on the Natchez Trace to clear my head. In short, though I worked from home, I spent much of my time out and about.
Now I have a little girl to think about, one who needs constant supervision and a constant stream of money to keep fed and in diapers. So, in order not to go stir crazy or broke, we got creative with some field trips. I won’t be going into obvious things like ‘the local playground’ because that’s a cop out and not helpful. Most of these involve stores, but remember just because you’re in a store doesn’t mean you have to buy stuff!
1. Free Zoo (aka Pet Stores)
Poppy! It’s a Snake!
Before I scored a $20 family membership to the Jackson Zoo on Groupon, E.V. and I spent a lot of time at Petsmart. We can look at a fairly large variety of animals close up and a lot are even at her height, so she can run back and forth between cages to look. She adores the reptiles and loves it when they came up to the glass to see her.
Some things we do to add in some education while we play:
- Name that Animal – I ask E.V. to name all the animals we see, both out loud and in sign language.
- Counting – We count the animals, the fish are especially fun because they move so much.
- Navigation and Memory – I ask E.V. where different animals are and have her lead me to them.
- Sensory Fun – We make animal sounds and faces.
2. Explore the World (aka Ethnic Stores)
E.V. isn’t sure what to think about Mr. Chen’s Jellyfish!
Here in Jackson, Mississippi, we have a variety of stores that cater to certain ethnicities. These are great places to learn about other cultures, the food they eat and the products they use. I follow E.V. around as she goes from aisle to aisle pointing and asking, “Poppy, what’s that?”
Some things we do to add in some education while we play:
- Sensory Fun – We smell the spices, touch the weird fruits, and look at everything!
- Language and Manners – At every place we’ve been, the employees always interact with E.V. and if I hear them speaking a different language I ask them to teach E.V. and me how to say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ in their language. Then when we come back I have E.V. practice. Sometimes the employees learn sign language in return. One employee at Mr. Chen’s here says, ‘Thank You, Chi, Chi,” while signing ‘thank you,’ which E.V. loves!
- Open Mind – Just being around new and different things and people exposes E.V. to some diversity she might not otherwise see. Hopefully, E.V. will grow up knowing that the world is full of many different wonderful people and their differences don’t make them strange or bad, just interesting.
3. Loud Library (aka Bookstores)
E.V. reads Curious George to Curious George.
Some of you might be thinking, ‘Bookstore? Why not just go to the library?’ In the library you are expected to be quiet, a thing that E.V. often is not. We can find and check out books, but then we take them home, and the purpose of the trip was to get out of the house. At a bookstore, we might get some sidelong glances when E.V. squeals in pleasure at finding a monkey in the book she’s perusing, but there aren’t any angry librarians ready to throw us out. Bookstores always have an underlying amount of noise that a toddler won’t really disturb. After all, if the other people wanted to read in a quiet place they could go to the library!
Some things we do to add in some education while we play:
- Reading – Kind of self-explanatory. I mean, you are at a bookstore right?
- Exploring – Pick a topic, find a photography book on the subject and look. Beaches are one of E.V.’s favorite things to look at.
- Matching – Putting books back can be a matching game when there are a lot of the exact same book on the shelf.
- Practicing Names – We go to the magazine section and I point out different things on the covers as we walk and ask what they are. E.V. then says and signs the answers, and giggles a lot too usually.
4. Dress Up Closet (aka Thrift Stores)
Wearing a hat at a jaunty angle!
E.V. loves to try on clothes, I love to grab the first thing in the drawer and put it on, so when we play dress up we compromise. We go to thrift stores, and sometimes retail stores, head to the clothing aisles, and E.V. can try on anything that can go on and off quickly. Hats, sunglasses, jewelry, shoes, she loves to try it all on endlessly. She also loves to use me as a mannequin, and though I usually don’t care to try on clothes, making her endlessly giggle is totally worth it!
Some things we do to add in some education while we play:
- Practice Talking and Clothing Names – E.V., like many toddlers, loves to point and grunt rather than talk when she wants something. I make her say and sign the name of anything she wants to try on before giving it to her. I also encourage her to say, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’.
- Sensory Fun – Even though we don’t try on the shirts and pants, we touch them, along with everything else, to feel all the different textures. Then we practice our ‘feel words’, rough, soft, smooth, hard, etc.
- Colors – We also like to practice our color words and signs while we try on different hats and shoes.
- Counting – One thing E.V. thinks is hilarious, is piling hats on my head. As she adds hats to the stack we count together. Five is our current high score, but I’m sure that will go up as her coordination increases.
5. Big Back Yard (aka Nature Trails)
Poppy sometimes wears a mascot head for work!
When it’s not terribly hot, E.V. and I will head to the Natchez Trace to take a walk along the nature trail. Who need swings when you can see birds, bugs and berries and a myriad of other naturey things? We no longer use a stroller, sometimes we take a wagon, but mostly E.V. walks on her own. There’s nothing like watching a toddler enjoying nature to reignite your own love of the outdoors!
Some things we do to add in some education while we play:
- Coordination and Conditioning – While we’re out I encourage E.V. to run and jump and roll and play. This strengthens all her little muscles and gets her accustomed to all the ways her body can move.
- Animal Names – I ask E.V. to say and sign the names of all the animals we see as well as the different kinds of bugs.
- Plant Identification – E.V. and I feel and name all the different plants we can (avoiding the poison ones of course). She especially loves feeling the bark on the different trees.
- Listening – Though toddlers are usually busy making noise, they can listen quite intently when they want. E.V. loves to identify the sounds of the wind, trees, crickets and birds as we periodically rest on our walks. This also helps show her the value of quiet.
There’s a great book that I read a few years ago called, ‘Last Child in the Woods’ by Richard Louv that talks about how children need exposure to nature. After reading the book I decided that my children would spend as much time in nature as I could give them!
Don’t know what to do with your kids while on a nature trail? I recommend reading/studying, ‘The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs’ by Tristan Gooley as a way to connect, and in turn, help your kids connect with nature. Mr. Gooley’s book is extremely informative and surprisingly entertaining.
Things to Avoid
- Toy Aisles – Toddlers aren’t known for their self-control and if you let them go to the toy aisle to play, they will want to take the toys home. When you read a book, you get to the end and you are done for the moment. When you try on clothes, taking them off is half the fun. Toys are made to be played with endlessly and if you try to take them away you may end the trip on a melt-down low. So skip the toys unless you plan on buying one.
- Posh Shops – Your toddler doesn’t know the difference between Goodwill and Gap, but the Gap Employees will likely have an unpleasant reaction if your sweet little tyke is drooling all over their $100 apparel.
- Wild Woods – Toddlers are clumsy, and tend to put things in their mouths, two very bad traits when going into very wild areas. Roots, rocks, and holes abound when you get off the trail, and sometimes all it takes is one bad fall to ruin an entire outing. Also, when there isn’t the buffer of a nature trail, dangerous things can quickly be swallowed as they are in easy reach. Poison berries, poison ivy, and death cap mushrooms are prevalent and harmful, if not deadly!
Other Ideas to Try
- Feeding old bread to the Geese at the Park
- Picking Flowers (silk ones) at the Hobby Store
- Feeling Fabric at the Fabric Store
Questions, comments, or things you’d like me to add? Let me know in the comments below!
Cheers,
Lawrence – Home Poppy
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