I am not an outdoors person.  I have never been an outdoors person.  No, I was a bookworm, the girl who hated bugs and dirt and always wore socks.  But now, I have a child and I want something better for her.  I don’t want her to be scared of the outdoors.  I want her to understand how the world works, through first hand experience of the world.

So how do we do this?

Meeting a horse at the Ada Cole horse rescue sanctuary

The first step is to get outside.  It’s much easier said than done, but it’s all about the baby steps.  This week, we went to the village green on Monday, the park on Tuesday, the back garden on Wednesday, a walk to the shops on Thursday and today, Friday, we went to a horse sanctuary!  Next week, we’re meeting friends in the forest on Monday, and the rest of the week is yet to be determined.

The second step is to have a couple drivers to keep us going when we aren’t feeling motivated.  I bought a copy of Exploring Nature with Children, which gives a year long ‘curriculum’ to guide you through a year of nature study, based on Charlotte Mason’s vision of home education.  This is great for simple activities and doesn’t make me feel bad for not being that nature-loving parent you often see.

The final step is not to let the weather thwart you.  You know the drill.  There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.  So get the right clothes.  Today, it was pretty cold out at the horse sanctuary, but Bella was dressed in wool leggings, fleece trousers, wellies, a long-sleeved top, cardigan, coat and a balaclava-style hat.  She didn’t seem fussed at all.  I’ll be honest, I don’t tend to go outside if it’s really pouring it down, but I know that a light drizzle is fun for the little ones, and we’ll often go into the back garden then.  At least it’s easy to get warm and dry on a moment’s notice if we change our minds!