Memory Makers: Playground Journal
With Summer vacation just a mere week away for my kindergartner, I have found myself compiling an ever growing list of fun activities for my girls and I to do together. Last summer one of our favorites was spending the afternoon picnicking at different parks and playgrounds around town. We are fortunate to live in a community filled with lots of great playgrounds and the girls loved exploring all our different options. We drove, biked and walked all around town, but problems arose when trying to return to some of our favorites. “We want to go to the one with the tire swing and sandbox Mom, you know that one!”, my then five year old tried to explain. Reading the minds of children is never easy and the trouble was, I couldn’t always remember the one playground she was referring to, or where it was located!
This summer we have created the perfect solution – The Summer Playground Tour book! A plain binder was decorated and filled with blank pages ready to be drawn on. Our plan is to keep the binder in the car along with some crayons and to have the girls draw a picture of every different playground we visit. We will also write what things the playground has (don’t want to forget that this is the place with awesome monkey bars), where it is located, and our nickname for the place. This is a fun way for my almost first grader to practice her journaling and my three year old her coloring. It also is a nice activity to add after they have been playing for awhile and need a little quiet time at the park. Looking forward to making lots of great memories this summer starting with our playground tour!
What a wonderful idea! Not only will this be useful for you now, it will also give you a precious keepsake of their childhood. It will also be a teaching tool for writing and art. As soon as they are old enough to understand maps, you could have them make maps of the parks to better pinpoint where the special flowers and other “finds” are located. It could also turn into a field guide in time.
Great idea! Your girls will have a wonderful memory jogger and you’ll have a priceless keepsake of your fun summer together.