By accident, we came upon this idea of mixing the new technology we love with the old-fashioned play we miss. By combining something a child is passionate about {in Ethan’s case bugs/animals/wild/dirt etc} with a little YouTube inspiration, taking cues from suitable role models and fashioning them into outside play in your own yard is easy!
We {read: ME} are big fans of Bear Grylls. We love his wild ways, we have taken careful note of scree-running techniques and applied them to our day to day lives haha! But really, we have run down one scree mountain slope on the Tongariro Crossing and it was AWESOME because Bear taught us how to do it in our living room!
So, naturally when the Man v Wild episode filmed in NZ aired on discovery last week Dave and I were stoked. He ate a Weta people!
The next day Dave was showing Ethan the episode on YouTube, the effect was instantaneous. MOVE OVER ROBSON GREEN, there’s a new hero in town. I just knew what was about to happen so I waited, with camera in hand of course.
Playing Bear Grylls kept E amused for hours, he fashioned a knife out of wood and sharpened it into a lovely vicious shape on a rock. He explored various habitats {sandpit, garden, woodpile, rocks} and catalogued his finds. He whispered commentary the whole darn time {I learnt so much in my eavesdropping!}. He got dirty-filthy, ATE SLATERS!!! {I was not aware of this until he insisted I smell his breath}, achieved his ultimate back-yard catch and release – a skink – and slept like a log. My work here is done.
Follow
