The Magic of Play in Nature

There’s nothing I love more than being outside in nature.

10 minutes spent under the trees in the woods for me is soul food. I hope I am bringing up my two boys to appreciate the natural world around us too.

I home educate and I am inspired by Waldorf education, I try to keep a gentle daily rhythm, and being outside is one of the most important parts of the day for us.

We are extremely lucky to live on the doorstep of a lovely woodland….much of our time is spent here.

A big part of Waldorf education is also play/imaginative play, especially for the first seven years. This is why I love beautiful open ended toys so much.

Many afternoons I will gather up a selection of toys and we head outside.

There is something about these beautiful, natural toys out in the wild, that is just magical.

Our time outside may begin with me whispering to Arthur, who is 2.5 years old, let go on an adventure and see what we can find…

There is always little surprises in nature for us to discover, a crisp leaf, a ripe berry, a snappy twig….you can imaging his delight to stumble across Bodo the Dwarf and a little fawn in the forest!

We will go outside and we lose ourselves for a little while.

Arthur will be exploring, bringing me little treasures and I will be stacking my 12 piece rainbow amongst the trees…..

Or I may setting up a little Nin scene, I find it very mindful and it nurtures my inner child. Arthur loves to discover the Nins!

I will have a bag of toys with me and Arthur will join me in choosing things. It is amazing to watch his imagination come alive!

People often ask me if I am worried about losing our toys or them getting dirty! I am terrified of losing them, especially a sweet little nin!

Yes the toys get a little (a lot!) dirty, but we don’t mind….

We have been okay so far, this Holztiger cow was rescued last week after spending a week in the bug hotel! What fun he must have had!

Imagine stumbling upon some little woodland creatures having lunch?!

How delightful to find a magical elf house at the edge of the forest!

Taking out toys outside has brought us much pleasure….it has become a favourite past time of mine, getting outside with my camera and capturing magical scenes.

Our toys often come on days out and holidays too….

Arthur loves to select toys to take with us….Our beautiful Ostheimer Unicorn joined us on a recent trip to the Lake District. Imagine out excitement when we discovered a fairy house tree for the Unicorn to explore…

The Nins always join in the fun…sometimes they get up to a little mischief!

If you already follow me on Instagram already you will know I am little obsessed.

It has been lovely with this warmer weather, being outside so much more.

I am looking forward to Autumn now, to see what treasures it will bring for us.

Thanks to Amy for sharing her love for nature, rainbows and beautiful natural wooden toys xx