How mummy bloggers enjoy time with their kids

Really Kid Friendly is all about enjoying time with your kids, so for this week’s BritMums Blogging Carnival, we’ve asked parent bloggers to send in their best posts about doing just that.

Reading through the carnival entries was both a pleasure and an immense surprise… nearly all of the mummy bloggers wrote about free (or very affordable) activities that have nothing to do with children’s toys or electronics – they’re all activities which even our grandparents would have recognised, and which our children can enjoy with theirs when the time comes.

We’re genuinely moved realising how much pleasure your children get from the simplest things in life, like poking a stick into a puddle, collecting leaves, or trying to find a funny shape in the clouds. As Liz Jarvis urges us in her lovely post “Don’t wish their lives away“, let’s savour every moment we spend with our children.

Without further ado, here is a quick round-up of how mummy bloggers have been enjoying time with their kids…

Our favourite was by this loquacious little schoolgirl who writes (with the help of mummy, we presume!!) about Top 5 Ideas for Playing Outdoors with her little brother. They’re all free or very affordable activities, and all exciting enough to drag her away from her moshlings. Sorry Moshi Monsters – you know we love you to bits (and with good reason: read our Moshi Monsters insider tale here), but these ideas really are superb.

Suburban Mummy took her toddler and baby to the beach for the very first time and discovered the joys of collecting shells and pebbles. As you all know from my recent BritMums video, my own children are avid pebble collectors themselves – the little ones get such pleasure out of it that people without children just wouldn’t understand!

Mammasaurus and her preschoolers explore their local beach and create their own little collection of pebble animals. Red Ted would be proud.

Muddling Along Mummy sent in a thought-provoking post about the media’s portrayal of pregnancy and birth, but to keep with our “Enjoying time with your kids” theme, we’ve decided to link instead to her cute little photos of how to improve an outdoor walk with young children – just add puddles and sticks!

Clare (Emmy’s Mummy) has been out enjoying the woods, collecting sticks and leaves, running through long grass, and other outdoorsy things that toddlers just can’t get enough of! Little Emmy has also had the chance to try her hand at leaf rubbing.

Emma from Mummy Musings writes about a thrilling and rather unique experience with her daughter at the Wildlife Workshop at her local Sure Start centre.

Octarine Fire is a single mum who thought she had had a ‘rubbish’ summer filled with missed opportunities and not much else. Looking at her gallery of photos of all the wonderful experiences and days out she spent with her sweet little boy, we beg to differ.

Caroline from Lunchbox World’s attempt to celebrate National Cupcake Day while in a family holiday cottage made us giggle. How *do* you light a candle for a microwave cake without matches?

We really enjoyed It Started With a Tent from Jacq, a mother of 4. Personally, Jacq, I think the back pain was worth it – your kids will remember that night for a long time to come.

Susan loves looking at the clouds with her little boy, age 4, and seeing which creatures and shapes they can spot. Let’s face it, cloudy skies are not exactly rare occurrences, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try this out with your own kids!

Crunchie Mummy succeeds in luring her little boy outdoors for some fresh air and tree-hugging with the help of an iPhone. No, there isn’t “an app for that” (you wish!!), but this smart mum got her child away from the TV and excited about exploring nature just by encouraging him to take neat photographs of trees, leaves and acorns.

Susie catches a glimpse of herself in her daughter and hands over her camera to let her experiment with photography. Will photography become a hobby they can share?

This North London Mum write about how much she loves baking with her toddler on Saturday mornings – it’s messy play, creativity, life skills and quality time all rolled into one.

I’d like to close by paraphrasing Jacq from her Tent post – let’s make this autumn about giving our children “a childhood full of both big and small adventures“. If you’re lacking inspiration, please do check out Louise’s superb round-up of the best woodland National Trust sites for families, and see what other parents have added to our Best Outdoor Adventures for Children page. Do add your own ideas and blog links there too. 

Finally, for a little Friday afternoon boost, you must read Piglet in a Poke’s  Monday Morning Moment of Murderous Intent. Besides being cringingly accurate and quite funny too, it culminates in an “I’m the Queen of the World” moment which made me quite envious indeed.

About the Blogging Carnival

Blogging Carnivals are a lovely way to discover new blogs and to share your favourite blog posts with the rest of the parent and parent blogging community. You can read more about Blogging Carnivals and check the schedule here. 
The next one is over at The Alexander Residence  on September 27th.