Oh we have dirt everywhere, we are doing up our back yard so dirt patches all over the place. DH lets DS sit in the trailer of dirt when shovelling it out for the garden etc. He loves to get in there with his dumptruck. He'll spennd half hour digging rocks & dirt from the driveway or under the tree. Just loves it!!!
Rural lifestyle property, so lots of dirt, grass, cow poo etc. DD2 just loves outside, espcially at the moment as there are broad beans to pick and eat. DD1 tends to go out with DH when he is digging in the veggie patch.
We have no dirt our entire back yard is concrete and out front yard is mostly concrete. Ds still manages to get very dirty but- he is currently covered in sand.
You've inspired me Bath. We might have to start work on the herb tubs out the front and plant some strawberries in pots too.
Ah well. Ds has a dog to lick his face- that makes me feel better!!
I totally agree!! Dirt is good!! DD will be able to play in the dirt when she's bigger. I remember how much fun I had as a kid.
Dirt doesn't worry me at all, germs from people are what worry me.
Definitely Heaven! And the chemical ****tails inside our homes are far worse than anything you'd find in your average backyard digging patch.
I remember some of the best fun was had as a kid was to be found in the gutter out the front after heavy rain. Sadly I don't let my kids do this though. It was a different situation back in the mid 1970's in a country town... I don't think i would trust the gutters of a major city. But it's this kind of play that I think can still be encouraged in the backyard... really basic stuff. You learn so much... (do gum-nuts float?) as well as really exercising the imagination. I think that when it comes to playing kids these days are always told what to do, how to play, "this is how you use this toy"... it's all been decided for them. There's alot to be said for showing kids the backdoor and letting them find their own fun. It teaches them to be more than "consumers" of entertainment... it teaches them to be the creators of it. Necessity is the mother of invention and all that... if you give kids everything they need in terms of fun then how exactly are they going to learn to be inventive? I find that with dirt, and found objects kids have more "ownership" of the whole thing. They love the fact that the grown-ups have had no part in it.... it hasn't been made by adults, the grown-ups aren't going to come out and tell them how to do it better or "right". They themselves are in control. I find that also because they own the process they are more protective of it. If i give them a toy from a shop they might use it... but they also tend to mis-use it... I have observed things that they have made in the dirt that they have treated much more respectfully. My boys worked together making a long row of pine tree nuts and daises all across the sand... they both seemed to have an understanding that the rows shouldn't be mucked up... maybe because it took them so long to make it. If it was Lego they wouldn't have been so careful. There's a photo of them doing this in my FB album. The rows were there for nearly a week!
I totally agree Bath. Before DD was born DH and I talked about not getting her too many toys and trying to mainly buy toys that she could play with however she wanted rather than toys that are specifically for one thing and used in one way iykwim?? I can't even think of any examples now!! pmsl.
We don't have much dirt for DS to play in with this house. He has a sandpit but he likes to play in the dirt around it. The problem is that it has bits of junk all through it like metal shards. One ofhis toys had a magnetic connector on it and when we picked it up from the dirt it was covered in little bits that had stuck to the magnet. But our next house will be more rural and lots more fun. Only 2 months to go....
DD is allowed to roam outside and play with what ever she likes... she LOVES playing with the pebbles near the pool fence, likes eating daisy's and sometimes even grass.
She's allowed to pat the dogs (some parents wont DARE let their kids touch a dog), she patted a frog from the pool the other day.
She gets washed throughly when we get inside but that gorgeous MUD smile stays while she's outside playing... lol my FB pics prove it...
I am all for little kids getting dirty, i went and bought her 'OUTSIDE CLOTHES' from the op shop as at one stage she was spending atleast 2hrs a day outside getting dirty!
Have a friend who's little boy doesn't get much outside time and when he does it's on a blanket and he hardly EVER gets dirt on him, he is always sick... i just wanna babysit him for a day or two and let him run free with DD, no more gross germs and he might be a well boy again!
I don't think my life would be worth living if I tried to stop DS1 playing in the dirt. He loves it and is always filthy, but it doesn't bother me. Our neighbour is from the country and is regularly telling us how much she likes seeing DS1 covered in dirt.
DS2 is already out in the yard crawling in dirt, eating dry leaves and chewing on sticks.
I went out this afternoon and realised on the way that I probably should have bathed both the boys before I left the house, or at least wiped them off better. Luckily they are boys... people seem happy for boys to be dirty. Too bad if I ever have a girl, if she is anything like her mum she will be covered in dirt most of the time too.
DS plays in dirt everyday When we get our own place Im hoping to have a 'designated digging space' for the kids and hide cheap cars and different stuff in there so they can find them.
We play in dirt multiple times daily! DD is also very fond of eating dirt, so much so that her poo sometimes looks like worm castings and DH has remarked “I think it’s a waste to flush this, we should be putting it on our veges” (this is an exact quote, no joke!).
DD gets into everything. we are lucky to rent a house with a big garden and have landlords who dont really care what we do to it as they are going to flatten the plot and build on it when we eventually move out we now have a veg patch and she loves to dig in it! she gets so messy some days!! but loves it!
I think its so important for kids not to be over sterilised!! i remember kissing my cat as a child and having mouthfulls of fluff, eating some of the most horrible things and playing in some pretty yuck places and i dont think it does any harm, aslong as its not bad germ ridden, its fine, thats my thoughts anyway.
now i feel VERY no my kids dont YES i agree dirt is good would nto even debate it cause i know its good.
i live in a highest home with a pool out back so kids dont go out side enless supervised. As for playing in dirt i rent there is not a designated spot here. Our 16 month old is allergic to sand flies and me im allergic to the spiders out side every time i go in garden my leg swells up with some kinda bite. There is mosquitoes EVERYWHERE out side ya cant even go down stairs with out being chewed alive, getting in the car is a dash too... Ds whom is 4 cant be trusted to be out side by himself i get chewed alive and so would he plus he would sneakingly eat leaves and bugs and all sorts he is an eataholic.
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our entire back yard is concrete and out front yard is mostly concrete. Ds still manages to get very dirty but- he is currently covered in sand.
Luckily they are boys... people seem happy for boys to be dirty. Too bad if I ever have a girl, if she is anything like her mum she will be covered in dirt most of the time too.
When we get our own place Im hoping to have a 'designated digging space' for the kids and hide cheap cars and different stuff in there so they can find them.
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