Multitasking: Taking Toys & Things Outside

Little kids love (well, whatever you teach them to love, in this case, toys and instruments) toys and instruments. They also love the playing down by the river. (The nitrate-heavy, city-gross, unswimmable river) Dad loves to unicycle. Sounds like a plan!
Why There Is No Recess At Unschool

Why separate learning from play?
Here was a neat little impromptu climbing adventure on the way home from our adventure. The trees along our river are quite large and old. Seems one of them had gotten struck by lightning recently and had been started to be taken away. Clearly only a several-day job; we had to experience it now, if we ever..haha..wood.
Don’t Keep Your Kids Away From Things. Teach Them All You Can About Them

A month or two after my kid could reach the table, I kept my ‘fancy camera’ at the edge of it. Right next to all the computer stuff. All of which were, and still are, important to me.
All the photos and images on this site were taken with the cameras my kids could use anytime they wanted.
Don’t Run Too Fast Down a Hill, Like I’ve Been Saying For Years

I figured he understood not going too fast down a hill, I’ve told him several times throughout the years (at hills) and always made sure to keep him going slow. (just in case)
Well, today just in case happened. He outran his own legs in a couple of strides and was out of control.
Unschooling : Where Unicycling Lessons Turn Into Ballet Experience

I don’t want to make their unicycle lessons feel like ‘lessons’. So we bring them out with us to places here and there and get a minute or two more of practice.
You may or may not be a unicyclist if you are reading this. If you are, you would notice how naturally he’s picking his unicycle off the ground and placing it under him. Learning to unicycle is often compared to dropping your unicycle 1000 times then you can ride it…that’s not entirely accurate, but it’s close!)
Unsocializing? Unicycling, For Example

Among the many unschooling and life benefits that come from unicycling is the socializing. (one of the other ones is that if you can physically walk and have access to a unicycle, you have all you need to be able to do it)
What’s the first thing people think about when trying to get your kids more socializing? Sports. Sign them up for soccer or baseball, right? Not necessarily!
Surprise Spider Family

This was exciting a couple of times. At first, I showed them the dead wasp in the spider web. A whole ‘even the mighty wasp can get stuck in a tiny web’ kinda demonstration.
The five year old reached down to touch it, and a spider who we didn’t know was on it sprinted up the web way faster than any spider web travel I have seen.
Anything + Fitness

Hey, go run to that tree and back!
Wow, great job!
Hey, go run to that tree and back!
What is your favourite way to incorporate exercise into your day?
This is an example from just a 10 minute break
Instant Exercise with a Side of Science : Slacklining

Slacklining allows a person to quickly and consistently experience and work against a range of stresses and forces that our bodies are fighting against all the time…without the advantage of the ground’s stability! One of the reasons you don’t really pay attention to all these forces throughout your day is because the ground you are walking on or the chair you are sitting in is stable. The ground is pushing up on the chair with the same force you are pushing down on it…but on a slackline, what you are pushing down against is flexible. And wobbly.
Nuts, Bolts, Inventions, & Toddlers

Well look who learned ‘righty tighty lefty loosey’!
My advice for people who are about to buy ‘toy tools’ for their wee ones, let them use the actual tools! A socket wrench, baggie full of nuts & bolts, and things with holes in them will go a lot farther than a ‘plastic tool bench toy’
Toddler #2 Gaining Prehistoric Interest :)

I didn’t know what she was talking about until I saw the video and I noticed little green individual styrofoam dots missing from the trees…and the white ones that were used to accent the waterfall 🙂
There Are More Advantages to Pop Research than Pop Quizzes.

Here’s a nice little gem we found on our way to mom’s work, a lake surrounded by trees and a walking path, nestled near the industrial area of town.
A little section of nature that I had passed by countless times over the years. It wasn’t open to cycling, why would I ever pop in?
Because now I have kids!
Freemount Attempt: Toddler’s Continuing Unicycle Journey

Here is the first time she wanted to try it outside…She wanted to bring her unicycle and bubbles. (He brought a unicycle and a ball)
Initially, with him, I thought it would be great to see how young I could get him riding one. I quickly lost interest in that for a variety of reasons.
Teaching Your Kids Not To Throw Their Toys Unless It’s For Science

“Dad, can we make a video about a dino battle for kids? i bet they would like that.”
I knew he wanted to make a dino battle video because that’s what he was watching when he asked it.
When Things Don’t Go According To Plan

There were several great examples of unschooling here. We went to our local dam to check it out. What would they be interested I wondered; water levels? water pressure? lake/river transition? Height? Cement and steel? I figured I’d show it to them from the road up top, and then drive them down the road to see it from the bottom.
Sidewalk Chalk In Puddles

This one is pretty straightforward…if you put sidewalk chalk into puddles, it gets sciency pretty quick… Why stay inside during the rain? They don’t mind being that wet, and even colder, at the splashpad! It runs down all your sidewalk chalk faster than you’ve ever seen, but as soon as they start colouring, they experience […]
Low Water & High Grass at the Swamp

Ooooh, look at this! I taped a strainer to a pole. Let’s go see what the bottom of the swamp looks like!
It was almost summer time and there were big differences at the swamp. The water was clearly lower, and the grass and other vegetation had massive growth. The last time we came here was less than a month ago, fast changes!
5yo Unschooler (and dino fan) Asks What a Quiz Is

He was watching some youtube video with his little sister and it was an alphabet video about animals. I asked him what they said for Q, and he didn’t know…I went back and found it. It was Quiz. He asked me what it was. I gave him a quick little answer and knew I would […]
Night Time Adventures

Kids tossing and turning? Just can’t get them to go to sleep? Go out and learn!
The world is a different place at night. I found a $20-$30 LED worklight, and brought it outside once when I couldn’t find one of their flashlights. It has a stand on it, and it has sparked many ‘can we do a night time adventure?’ long before they are tossing and turning!
30 Seconds of Unicycling, 20 Minutes of Unschooling

So I ask the the five and almost three year old, ‘Anyone want to make a giant unicycle shadow video out in the dark?’
I told them it would not be dark enough for 20 minutes. I thought it was going to take me 10 minutes to get ready, but it took 20, with two live shadows on me the whole time…they were excited.