Getting kids playing out and about

The report by the BBC this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17690875 made for really interesting reading about parents struggling to play with children or children not being allowed out and about to explore and get dirty. The National Trust has come up with a list of 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4 and reading through a lot of them are easily covered by places we have featured on this blog. So here is a few of the national trusts 50 and where you can do them locally.

Build a den - this is a Daddy favourite task. We have built dens at Little Whittenham Nature Reserve and Cowleaze Wood
Fly a kite - well the best place for this has to be Wittenham Clumps
Play conkers - the best place for conker finding is the car park at the start of the Steventon walk
Balance on a fallen tree - need some of the nice woody walks for this one Little Whittenham Nature Reserve, Cowleaze Wood or Lashford Lane Fen
Blackberries growing in the wild - we saw these at Wittenham Clumps
Hunt for fossils and bones - the area is protected so be careful not to climb or damage the walls to the pit but Dry Sandford Pit has these
Climb a huge hill - the perfect hill for this Wittenham Clumps
Discover whats in a pond  - the best for this would be going to one of the open days at Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre as there will be staff to help you
Hunt for bugs - you could go anywhere for this but we have found the best places are the BBOWT nature reserves
Dam a stream - this is great on a warm day we went to Shotover Country Park but we also see kids building dams along the ock river walk when its low