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Adventure Tips and Hacks

three boys riding scooters on a sidewalk
Adventure Tips and Hacks

13 Outdoor Learning Activities for Toddlers

As we began our homeschool year and combing through curriculum after curriculum for toddlers and preschoolers I was simultaneously overwhelmed and unimpressed. The websites and books I found either required an expensive list of materials, hours of adult preparation time, or assistance of technology, sometimes all three. All of the things I was trying to avoid. Toddlers learn through play and the simpler, the better! Have you ever given your toddler a cardboard box? They don’t need expensive learning gadgets!

These ideas pulled from my years working in early education and largely inspired by our own kids’ interests and ideas are minimal set-up, inexpensive, and tech-free.

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three boys riding scooters on a sidewalk
Adventure Tips and Hacks

Back to School and Cutting Back on Screen Time

If your back-to-school plans include a shake-up of routine and a reset you are definitely not alone.

A theme in our end-of-summer parent sideline chatter has been the much-anticipated reduction of screen time that comes with school and a new routine. If you have followed our family over on @fivepax social media for a while you know, we are all about that screen-free life. For years our kids watched cartoons on weekend mornings while we prepped for adventures. And then maybe a few hours on a rare afternoon when we the parents needed to get some work done.

As the older kids have gotten bigger we have extended to 3 hours of tech each week with more hours available to be earned through chores. We have had a million things in our favor (a kiddo with screen anxiety to start). But we have also made a lot of intentional decisions as well. And we stick to them even when our kids let us know how unfair it seems. More on how below.

But let’s be real, it’s hard. Really hard to both set limits yes, but to stick to them.

Here are 5 strategies to help your family cut back on screen time that don’t feel like a dreaded punishment for everyone involved. These tips will leave you feeling confident about how to limit screen time for kids and set everyone up for a successful school year. 

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winter snow
Adventure Tips and Hacks, Camping and Hiking, Camping and Hiking Tips

Keeping kids warm during winter adventures

If the amount of time you are spending getting your kids ready to head outside to play is longer than the time you actually play outside… you might be a parent in winter. We have been there, and after conquering winter in several zones of the US with our four little ones, we have several snow-tested tips and tricks to cut down on the tears and increase your time actually having outdoor winter fun!

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