Temperatures are falling here, and we awoke today to find a layer of ice over the pond and our bird-bath frozen solid!
Score!! I carefully lifted ice out of the bird-bath and moved it to the deck so the Hooligans could examine it.
As I watched them sliding their fingers over the smooth surface of the ice, and idea came to mind, and I dashed inside to grab our Polly bucket.
An Ice Skating Party!
It started with just a few Pollys gliding around the ice, and soon became a full on party at the rink. They loaded up the ice with furniture and Polly pets.
Look at them all gathered around that little bit of ice! They played like that for almost 2 hours.
By the time we stopped for lunch, the girls had run off to play in the yard, and our little guy excitedly shouted at me to come and see what he had done.
With the ice to himself, he’d created a masterpiece!
There were some terrific outdoor play ideas linked up to the Outdoor Play Party last week. My favourite was Shapes on the Playground from Toddlers through Preschool! 
I love the idea of having the children look for shapes in ordinary, everyday objects while you’re out and about. What a great way to learn through play!
How did your kids play outdoors this week?
Any kind of children’s outdoor play-related posts are welcome!
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I absolutely loved the photos from the Polly Skating Party! What a wonderful and creative idea and the photos were amazing! I am gonna “pocket” this idea for a weekend outdoors with my kiddos
Suz
MapleMouseMama
Thanks, Maple Mouse Mama! It’s neat when a completely unplanned activity captivates the children like this!
Hahahaha! How sweet!
Love that, it was so thick too. It never ceases to amaze me how much fun children can have with nature! Kierna
I just found your blog via topblogs.ca and I’m loving it! So sweet. My kids are a bit older but I still need some gentle reminders to do more activities with them. They are so busy with sports and school that I sometimes forget to do the simple things we used to do! I’m looking forward to reading more! Joann
So glad you found us, Joann! How old are your kids? I really miss the days when my own were young enough to do all of these things with. My teenage boys aren’t exactly big crafters now, you know?
There are actually a lot of crafts on my blog that are fine for older children. I often do my own version of what the hooligans are crafting, and I swear I have as much fun as they do!
My daughter just turned eight. She loves to do activities with me. My son is 10. I think he still likes it, but he’s not quick to admit it!
I enjoy art activities too, so I guess age isn’t an issue. 
Joann
Lucky you, Joann! I just said to my younger son (12) last night that I wish he loved crafting. He did when he was little. I often think that if I had daughters, we’d sit in my craft room in evening prepping and crafting for my daycare. How fun would that be?!!
My son will make things on his own if he is interested in something. For example, he made a dagger out of scraps of wood when he saw his dad making something with wood. And, he has been working on a Minecraft pickaxe because he loves the game so much. I guess it’s like boys and books. They are interested in different topics than girls, that’s for sure.