Apr 12, 2021

🌳 Freeschoolin' Parks It

We're Locked Down!

Our family lives in Ontario, Canada, which has been under lockdown on and off since last year.

Many people are unsure whether it's ok to go to the park, go hiking and get outside for walks and exercise, so we wanted to set the record straight. Under official Emergency Provincial Orders, according to CBC News, "As long as those parks and playgrounds near your home remain open, you can take your kids there."

So this week we adventured to a new park we'd never been to before! Walter Henry Park is a natural playscape in the city of Orillia that opened in the fall of last year. It is over 8 acres with a splash pad, zipline and much more, including shaded areas to sit and picnic, which we did.

It had be a while since Hope had hung out with other kids, and she definitely was a bit nervous, but she ended up in a game of tag, then grounders and finally a giggle filled game of king of the hill. The zipline was a big hit and the only downfall to the park was there was only 1 swing that was meant for younger children. Hope loves swinging and since we have no playground at home on our rural property, she relies on parks for her swing fix. We assured her we'd go to another park with lots of swings as soon as possible and she was happy with that.

To our Ontario friends, please enjoy the outdoors and parks to get all the fresh air and exercise you need! It's essential!

This Week

Our chicks are over a month old now and we are having a blast caring for them. Hope gets up every morning and lets them out of their cage for some exercise and socialization. We took our flock outside for the first time since the weather was so warm and sunny. It will only be a few weeks until they are outside full time so we're enjoying our house chickens as long as we have them. The coop is coming along great! There's not much to show as we've done a lot of the leg work but yet not put it all together just. There should be some progress to share in the next week so stay tuned! Hope hung out with her chicks outside, ate a picnic lunch and enjoyed some tic tok in the sunshine while we were busy building. It's finally bike riding weather so Hope has been racing around our circle driveway, often barefoot. We went grocery shopping, made organic date puree brownies, organic raw vanilla ice cream and Hope even offered help with folding the laundry. Hope finally finished her painting project she'd been working on, but I didn't get a pic. Next week, promise I'll try.

Like every week, Hope spent a lot of time drawing and her art seems to evolve with every piece. There was also roleplay, reading, planet zoo, minecraft, wildcraft and more.

SUBJECTS:

Community Living, Team Work, Work Ethic, Social Responsibility, Socialization, Cooking, Food Preparation, Nutrition, Art, Dramatic Arts, Technology, Problem Solving, Energy Regulation, Body Care, Animal Care, Responsibility, Phys Ed, Nature, Risk Assessment, Fear Management, Home Management, Boundaries, Bonding, Project Management, Math, Finances, Decision Making, Physics, So Much More...

Video

THE CHICKS FIRST TIME OUTSIDE! Check out our Youtube Channel

Much Love Always, Wendy BOOKS, CLOTHING & MORE

About the Author

Wendy Elizabeth Hart - Author, Illustrator, is a radical unschooling, homesteading Mom of 2 amazing kids and wife of more than 10 years to her bff, Jaze. Together with their daughter Hope, 10, they live a life of daily discovery in rural Ontario, Canada and share it with the world to connect with and support other families in the unschooling community.