Hideout

Can you spy the kids?

Now can you?

There they are!

 

In a way that only small children can, my children find the wooded area behind our house magical.  The deer love to cut through this area, so the paths are small, narrow, and perfect for children.  Everything is overgrown, but one of the trees has vines and drooping branches that have created a cozy fort of sorts.  The underbrush doesn't grow in that area, instead it's soft moss.  All the branches offer places to hang water bottles, baskets and buckets for gathering supplies, and any other materials they need for the day's adventures. 

 

I'm really trying to "let go" in appropriate amounts and ways to let Mannchen and Töchterchen explore, succeed, fail, and learn on their own.  Something along the lines of what is discussed on this video.  Obviously I'm not going to let my three and four year old wander around town or go to the park across the street and around the corner on their own yet.  But I do want them to feel like they are given space and freedom to explore.  We don't have a lot of wide open space right now, seeing as we live in town, but we do have a yard and a small wooded area in the back.  I feel like one of the best gifts I can give them is time and space to explore these areas on their own - without my warnings and advice, other than wear long pants and beware of poison ivy.

 

Yes, indeed, the adventures that transpire in this hidden nook are quite magical.