first pedal bike

Simple pleasures – garden play

The weather’s turned a lot warmer recently, and apart from a bit of rain, it’s generally been dry enough to get out for some garden play and a mooch around.

N loves being outside, and at his day nursery earlier in the week, he’s been happily making the most of freeflow and spending all his time outside, only coming in for food!  Good job I’ve ordered some more of his Green People sun lotion so I can take some in for him in readiness for the sun shining through the smogginess we’ve got at the moment

He had a great time the other day, hiding under the trampoline.   It really shows how much he’s grown since the Summer as back then, he didn’t have to bend his legs to stand up at all.

under the trampoline

He was hoping for a bounce, but our uprights seem a bit bent and I can’t work out how to check or put them back in place, so we’ll have to wait for his dad to sort that out.  Hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later.

hands on hip stance

Then the dog arrived to see what the excitement was, so N decided to run off.  Well, if you have a Labrador, you probably know that running along, calling to a 3 year old dog  encourages said dog to go loopy.  Firstly Fern followed N a bit, then decided to turn and do her mad ‘greyhound’ running round the houses.  Usually she does it when the other dogs are around, but a 3 year old child sent her off the same way.

boy teasing dog

N thought that was highly amusing, so cue much laughter before he decided to run off into the garden to check out his toys.

practicing for cow tipping
Practicing for cow tipping in later life?!

The balance bike got brought out, and we’ve also been exploring moving to a proper pedal bike.   It feels a bit early, but he’s a total whizz on the balance bike, and rides a trike and his pedal tractor like a demon, so I was debating getting a bike for him in the Easter sales in readiness for the summer.

'Get off the garden' is a popular refrain he hears from me
‘Get off the garden’ is a popular refrain he hears from me

Instead, his dad turns up having found one of the nephew’s first bikes in a shed on the farm.  Bit of a jetwash, put the saddle down to the lowest level, and then check to see if it was the right size for N.

first pedal bike

He wasn’t entirely sure, and it was a little high for him at the moment, but he seems really keen to be trying it out.  The pedals were ok for him to reach, and we pushed him round for a bit while he pedalled.  He did struggle with the strength needed to actually pedal hard enough to move the bike himself which I’m not surprised with as he was the same with his trike and ride on tractor.  The pedals are obviously straight underneath him rather than slightly in front as well, so it will be a bit of a learning curve.

Once he’s grown a bit more and can touch the ground while sitting on it, I think I’ll have to take him to the park so he can ride on some concrete rather than the grass.  Grass is softer for falling on, but it’s also much harder to pedal on.  But it’s back to the balance bike for the moment.

I popped inside, and next thing turned round to see him up on the wall walking along it, humming to himself.  He seemed pretty surprised to reach the end, but it’s definitely his new thing…he always asks to walk on any walls especially if he’s seen other children doing it.

It’s been lovely to get back in the garden again, and I’m just hoping that we’ll have some good weather in May so N’s ‘non-birthday’ party postponed from January, will be able to be outside.

Have you managed to get out in the garden yet?  What are your children’s favourite things to do in it.

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17 Comments

  1. Reading through this post made me feel as though I could replace your child’s name with mine, they are very alike! My son has boundless energy, so whenever we are in the countryside we have to visit the garden. He loves it there!

    1. Such a shame not having a garden. I think it’s essential with children (or at least a park within view). N is definitely an outdoor boy – he spends all day at nursery outside when they’ve got freeflow. All the others do painting and drawing…he just plays outside.

  2. Your garden looks perfect for toddlers and N is adorable. We love The Green people Suncream too 🙂

    1. It’s a great garden for playing in (bit open so gets a lot of wind), but is literally still a paddock really. No fenced off to stop him wondering off down to the farm, so really much get the OH to sort that out.

  3. He just loves being outside. He spent most of last week’s nursery freeflow outside, just coming inside for food.
    Thanks for commenting

  4. He’s so lucky having so much lush green space to play in! I love farms and we’re planning on going to loads more now that the weather is nicer 🙂 x

    1. We’re definitely lucky with the outdoor play space. Just need to fence off the garden so he can play out without me having to hover or trust him to stay within boundaries. Luckily he’s not too bad at it (fingers crossed he stays like that)
      Thanks for stopping by

  5. Having a farm as your back garden gives so much scope for free play and easy enjoyment. I love all the things you got up to here. He will be riding that pedal bike in no time at all and as for wall walking it is a great way to encourage adventure and balance. Mine still do it. Thank you for sharing your sunny garden day on Country Kids

    1. The wall walking’s definitely N getting more adventurous – signs have been there over the last few weeks, so it’s all quite exciting.
      Thanks for stopping by

    1. So agree. Garden’s are perfect as there’s no effort needed to get out somewhere else. Kids are always happy with them too!
      Thanks for commenting

    1. Definitely, although I don’t usually have much choice as as soon as we’re back from nursery, n wants to stay outside.
      Thanks for popping by

  6. It is nice to be outside again. N looks like he is having lots of fun. My children learnt it cycle on grass. They’d start at the top of the slope and balance. After a while, they were pedalling. They still prefer to cycle on grass than roads. #CountryKids

    1. We’ve got lots of grass, but not much slope. Hopefully when it’s drier it’ll be easier to pedal on.
      Thanks for popping by

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