Homebound Activities: Kite Flying and Decorating

For Easter our daughter got a kite she could color from her grandparents and on a nice windy day we packed a picnic lunch and drove to a relatively tree free park to fly a kite. We spent about 30 minutes coloring the kite (until she got bored) then we spent about 10 minutes putting it together. Pretty soon she was flying her kite and running around for nearly two hours (with bathroom breaks and drink breaks).With the kite she made lots of friends to practice sharing and taking turns, gross motor skills, understanding of weather and wind directions on top of all of the fun to be had.

I'll be the first to admit we did have a lot of kids gravitating toward the kite. We are all about the socialization and sharing when others don't have something. We are helicopter parents in the sense that  our daughter constantly had 1:1 support from us ( she's 3) and we like to be there to help her out in social situations ( she's still learning). So often times we encourage sharing. However, I recently read an article on how sometimes meeting strange kids at a park and sharing can become overwhelming and the child doesn't get to play with a toy they bring. I can see both perspectives and see how all of the adding more people to a one person or two person activity can be a bit much. Yet, playing devils advocate, we don't bring things into the public sphere we are not prepared to share. I am not saying share everything you bring, I am am saying traditionally these toys were intended to be shared with friends. Often times when we go places we bring more than one anticipating someone will not have some.

Billy and I have this philosophy and think what you may. Our philosophy is if a child is engaged in play directly with our child she will share what we have. I am not the kid of person (nor is my husband) that will watch a kid get a sunburn on my watch or go hungry. We always try to pack extra and offer to other that don't have any. Also, on the other hand, I have been there. I have been in such a hurry I forget things in attempts to get out the door to catch an event or be somewhere on time. I am also constantly learning from senior parents who have some tricks of the trade I'm still learning. In my experience,that kind of empathy goes a long way and I think that goes along with the golden rule. I do not believe in kids taking off with your kids toys and not playing with your child. But, if they are interacting by all means share and take turns!



This is an example of a kite to have on hand :
https://www.amazon.com/HQ-Kites-Creative-Line-Creation/dp/B000Z6UG3U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494286082&sr=8-2&keywords=color+your+own+kite