Whatever the Weather!

Outdoors come rain or shine?

The importance of this is based around the notion that there is never a bad weather day, only poor clothing and we fully embrace this! Infact, to illustrate this we know for instance it is sometimes harder to prepare small children for a morning in hot sun than puddle jumping in wet rain, we've all been there in mid-summer; trying to keep sun hats on, reasoning if to keep arms covered to protect from the hot sun whilst sweltering in a summer vest ourselves; and worrying about little sandals rubbing tiny feet when wearing flip flops ourselves. Yes, welly wearing, puddle-jumping rain is sometimes much easier to manage than hot sun!

1. Resilience outdoors is vital because the world is large and the enviroment can be unpredictable if its not fully familiar to us. Often, small children can find themselve in a sudden position where their needs are not being met through no fault of the adult. Maybe they trip over an unseen tree root, maybe they cannot scale the hill, maybe the scissors wont work in the required way or maybe their body suddenly feels hot! Learning to cope with the changes in ourselves brought on by external factors puts your child at a huge advantage in life and resilience rejects the idea of 'helicopter parenting' and encourages children to find security in themselves and their care-giver through communicating and self-talk.

2. Sensory stimulation in the great outdoors has a calming and energising affect on young children. The sounds of the rain or birdsong, the smell of the damp ground, the feel of the soft grass, or crunchy leaves underfoot. All of these elements activate human senses and stimulate their brains in a way that artificial stimulation indoors just doesn't achieve. At the same time the dappled light in the woods is calming for both adults and child and we are so much more receptive to feel the deep connection between each other. The alert state we fall into from having our senses gently stimulated (not over-stimualted) means that optimum learning can happen during exploration and activity.

3. Unique seasons - the passing of time is a concept that infants do not fully grasp until later into their childhood, but what we can draw their attention to is the rhythm of life. It happens all around us; when we are sleepy we rest, when our needs are met, we feel alive! Just as mother nature does in the passing of each season - trees sleep in winter, the birds seem to come alive in Spring. Exposure to all seasons - even deep Winter helps us to build an appreciation of our own rhythm and the needs of all living things around us.

4. Active - your child's rounded physical development in the early years of life will enhance their ability to write at school age and help develop their concentration by enabling them simply to be still for longer periods as they mature. So moving and challenging your child physically is critical for future success as well as their physical health.

5. Be prepared - yes SCOUTING in all its glory - this is a life skill that will never leave your child if you show them the way. The ability to be adaptable and cope and THRIVE in ever-changing environments is something that will see them through life. We never want to see our children fail but being adaptable means that even when life is tough, if we go into situations feeling prepared, we can give it our best shot and learn from mistakes along the way.

To ensure your child is comfortable and that you are prepared outdoors, please consider bringing the items in our kit list to our sessions and leave valuable items at home because, well, the MUD!

We encourage you to arrive earlier than the start of session so that you can suit and boot in the car park and dress yourself and your child in waterproofs/ apply suncream (or both!) depending on the weather. We love to see baby carriers, slings, wraps and chidl carriers because of the benefits to baby/child wearing and because when little one is tired at the end of session, its inevitable that you might end up carrying them!

You can find a kit list in our 'what to wear' guide.