A couple of weeks on from the end of the 365 day nature play challenge and I’m beginning to think about it as a whole thing instead of a daily crisis and panic.  It’s still not dawned on me that it’s over.  B and I are both feeling guilty that we haven’t been outside EVERY DAY.  And we both think that’s quite good.  We really want to keep going and doing things and are going to start working through what we did last year and seeing what we’ve learnt.

Looking back at the year I can see the panic in the initial challenges.  We leapt in amazingly unprepared on 1^st January.  There were some days we put an awful lot of work in and some where we completely failed to find anything good.  Around the start of February, I remember a painful couple of weeks where I despaired of finding anything to do at all.  Then Spring started to appear and we both got more practiced at finding things.  In April I had the first person say, “you must be running out of things soon?” and I knew that we definitely weren’t.   I’ve come to realise that there’s an infinite amount of ways to play to find (I think B knew that already).  We both want to keep finding as many as we can.

There’ll be more analysis to come and a lot more organising of information to make it helpful.  For now, I’m going to stick to a few observations.

1. The first rule, ‘letting B lead’, was probably the hardest for me and there was a definite art to it.  She has fantastic amazing ideas and can run off with them joyfully (which is surely the point).  On good days I suggested something she loved that then led her to find things herself.  On ok days I suggested something she hated and she found things in defiance of me.  On bad days, we both argued about what to do, had the grumps, managed one thing and went back in again.  I reckoned it was still better than nothing.
2. The hardest thing was finding the time, particularly on school days, with clubs after, in the winter. We needed things that could be incorporated easily into a daily routine. We’re definitely going to be looking for more of these.
3. Much as I was sure B was going to get fed up with it, she never actually did.  Cross with ME, yes.  Thinking my ideas were stupid, yes (and she wasn’t always wrong either).  But the idea of going outside became something she got more attached to throughout the year.  She learnt that she felt better outside and by September it was her instinctive response to stress or boredom.  
4. B’s confidence has increased hugely over the last 12 months. That might be a ‘going into year 6’ thing, but I’m sure the challenges helped a lot. They’ve given her a wonderful relationship with the natural world which you can see in her daily interactions with it. It’s become ‘her’ thing.
5. A challenge is a great concept.  If I’d called it a ‘rule’ or a ‘resolution’ it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.
6. As the weeks passed, it became clear to me that the heart of the challenge were the things we could do near to home, often after school, without getting in the car.  Local parks were great but the bit of neglected land behind our house was absolutely amazing and brilliant in a way I’d never expected.  Likewise, the streets and local area had so many things to do, despite it being covered in concrete.
7. We did generally manage to do without accessories or tools, with a few notable exceptions (the paddleboard was amazing).  In fact, using the local environment to solve queries (“how can I get that down?” “Find a stick!”) was really fun.
8. But while we generally managed without manmade play things, good equipment was hugely important all through the year.  The difference between what you can do in the water with water shoes on and without is ridiculous.  Likewise, you can stay out a lot longer in the cold February rain if you’ve got dressed well.  Good basic articles were fine though.  The issue was more remembering them than the cost.
9. Evening excursions are great (if a little stressful from a ‘there’s only an hour left till bedtime and we haven’t done a challenge yet’ point of view).  B was always happy to go out and do something that meant she could go to bed later.  Summer daylight hours are helpful with this.  In winter, I think we began to push the boundaries of what can be found in the dark.
10. Finally, it was the best conversation opener ever.  We’ve met so many cool and amazing people this year and learnt so much.  My favourite thing is discovering who, among your acquaintances, knows how to grass whistle.  The answers will surprise you and the demonstrations are wonderful.