AdventuresThea HermansenOctober 15, 2016Norway, Forest, Children, FilmComment

Worlds biggest playground

AdventuresThea HermansenOctober 15, 2016Norway, Forest, Children, FilmComment

Do you remember how it is to be 7 years old & knowing you're about to spend a whole day in the woods? If you were like me, you would probably be scared, feel tired, hungry, lazy and then you would cry a little. But when you were finally there, well - then you realise: it's actually the worlds biggest playground in the whole world!

Watch the Let's Go Slow video of 7 year old Oliver explaining how he feels about nature

Becoming comfortable in nature

Walking in the forest, or walking anywhere can be a challenge if you are 7 years old. And It doesn't necessarily help when your little brother (4) is also on the same adventure (but not necessarily doing the same as you...). This is one of life’s facts. It is not always easy to enjoy nature, but it makes the feeling of achievement so much stronger when you finally get the hang of it.

Childish mindfulness

We started our autumn adventure on the parking lot in Estenstadmarka (Bekkengård) and we walked from there and up to the playground just before Estenstadhytta (Kvernhusflata). Starting in the shadow of the surrounding forest, were the ground was covered with autumn frost, made the walk up and into the sunny forest extra special. After a about 50 meters or so we had to cross a small bridge over a stream. That’s apparently a very good excuse to stop, lie on the bridge and follow the stream closely for about 15 minutes. It might have been 15 minutes of impatient adults, but this excuse for a stop resulted in a very cool observation! As August and Oliver was lying on their stomachs, they spotted a 10 cm long fish hiding among bits of wood and leaf on the bottom of the stream. It proved that there is so many things to see if you just take the time to sit still for 15 minutes and observe. And sometimes it helps when somebody else is controlling the time, like two 4 and 7 year old boys.

Oliver, August and Ane wtching the fish under the bride.

Forest treasure game. All you need is a jar!

After some time spent eating lunch, playing around with ”swords”, building houses and jumping over fallen trees the creativity levels were falling and it was time for a more organized game. We played “Fill a jar with treasures”.

This is how we played it:

You need: 1 empty jam jar (ours was filled with cookies when we started the adventure!)
And a list of treasure ideas, or just keep them in your head and make them up as you go!

Our list: Something green
Something red
Something that looks like gold
Something that was made by a human (we found a plastic bead)
Pine cone
A straight stick
Something edible
Something round