Most people have family traditions around the holidays. My family is ginormous and has traditions that are a marathon of events and food. We (all 40+ of us) get together for a massive gift exchange. Between Secret Santa’s and gifts for our immediate family the tree disappears. The festivities last well into the night and after a goodnight sleep and a bit of time apart we reconvene for Christmas Day supper; where we all eat very well and laugh way too much into the night again.

So after indulging our stomachs for a couple days we get together again for our traditional Boxing Day merriment. Like I mentioned my family is pretty large. My dad has 7 brothers and sister who all have kids and in some cases grandkids. With someone of pretty much every age we have to have something for everyone to do. So we rent out this club house that has a decent sized hill for tobogganing, a field for some intense games of snow football, and even an ice oval out back! Some people even hit the club houses weight room for kicks.

Our outdoor adventures!

So typically when one hears tobogganing they think kids, and that’s partly true but with my family the adults go wild with it. The brother slide, the sister slide, how many can squash on the sled, how many people high can we go. Oh ya, it gets crazy!

Once we get our competitive juices going we take it up a notch from sledding to mostly.. touch snow football! Sports are a wee bit of a family legacy and football is a big one. So we play a few downs, mostly for fun..haha.. some take it more seriously than others lol.

For those not so thrilled about football or maybe feeling a little more refined there is the ice oval. The little ones tend to play football for a few downs and then want to skate.

Competitive togetherness!

All in all the day is about all of us being together! Running around and being active just enhances the fun we have together.

Do you have any active traditions around the holidays? We could always expand the competition so pass on your great ideas in the comments below.

Take it easy everyone..but not too easy!

Kenji

I fancy myself an outdoors women. I’ve always loved going camping, hangin’ at the beach and taking road trips up to the mountains. Whenever I can spend time outside, I do. There’s always mysterious potential and a sense of freedom in nature. It makes me sad to think about how many kid have seen more of an animated world in video games than they have the beautiful surrounding we have outside our real doors.

Luckily there’s light on the horizon. I was so amped to discover that today October 13, is the second annual No Child Left Inside Day! There are a variety of organizations and motivations behind this day of celebration. You can check out more of the history @ The Children and Nature Networks website. I discovered most importantly that each year on the Tuesday of Earth Science week we can celebrate No Child Left Inside Day. (NCLI Day)

Richard is now the Chairman of The Children and Nature Network. The network’s mission is to connect every child in every community with a wide range of opportunities to experience nature directly, reconnecting children with nature’s joys and lessons, its profound physical and mental bounty. The Children and Nature Network is just one nugget in an international movement to re-establish the youth of today and tomorrow’s connection with nature!

Here’s a thought: Why not propose that your teachers take class outside for today?  It’s Earth Science Week after all! If nothing else, get outside and enjoy a bit of your real outdoor environment today.

And don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear your ideas for getting back to nature.