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  • The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids – A Book Report
  • The Slingshot: Taking Aim Outdoors
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The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids – A Book Report

By Grace 'n' Tater's Dad On April 16, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Book Reports
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Spring is here (in Michigan it’s been here for a month)! This means our seasonal window for camping has expanded enormously. It doesn’t mean, however, that we are prepared for it. Camping requires some planning, and if you’re bringing kids along, it also requires strategy and stamina.

I’ve read a few books on camping [...]

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The Slingshot: Taking Aim Outdoors

By Grace 'n' Tater's Dad On March 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Ideas for Playing Outside
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In preparing your children for the coming apocalypse, you must realize that your month-long stores of canned goods will eventually run out. At some point they will need to emerge from the bomb shelter and hunt radioactive chipmunks if they hope to survive. To that end, they will need some proficiency with the making [...]

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Beavers!

On March 25, 2012 By Monkey's Uncle

I’d like to think at this point in my life, that I’m some sort of amateur naturalist.  After all, I started reading Ranger Rick magazine when I was about 7 years old, and have been aware of animals ever since.

 

Add to that all the hours I’ve spent watching deer with my mother (“Be [...]

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Rainy Day Swimmin’, Whether 12 or 35.

On March 11, 2012 By Monkey's Uncle

As we continue through March, you can sort of rest assured that there’s a few rainy days ahead.  ‘Cat-in-the-hat’ days.  So what’s an outdoors-oriented parent to do on a day like that?  Well, one could make a case for being outdoors in all weathers with your kids (as I will, later).  Or a person could [...]

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Snow Day Montage

On February 27, 2012 By Grace 'n' Tater's Dad

Winter is the time for montages. Time outside can be difficult, so our memories are summarized in mental snapshots. Flick. Flick. Flick. We tick through the best parts, ignoring the snow that sneaked under our gloves and froze our wrists. Wet socks? Frozen nose and ears? No way! We made a snowman. We made snow [...]

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Ready to Try Geocaching?

On January 9, 2012 By Guest

We’re not experts at geocaching, so we asked Val Joiner if she would give us an intro to the sport. She obliged, and we are ever so glad she did. Val is a former geologist who now spends her time as a wandering homeschooling mom. She believes travel and exploring nature are vital to kids [...]

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Five Reasons For Hope In 2012

On December 31, 2011 By Monkey's Uncle

Generally, I have contempt for these “end of the year” countdown posts. But in the spirit of the “season,” I’m going to set that aside and think positive.  Lots of people have had a stinky 2011. Here are five reasons why 2012 is going to be better…

5. The rise of public bicycles.

First, [...]

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Pining for the Hills

On December 29, 2011 By Grace 'n' Tater's Dad

The word pining comes from the Latin, poena, which means “to suffer.” And even though it seems natural to us this time of year that the word should be related somehow to the name of the conifer, pine and to pine come from very different sources.

In either case, we’re pining for the pines, [...]

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My “Grown-Up” Christmas List

On December 20, 2011 By Grace 'n' Tater's Dad

I have this suspicion that very little of human communication is original. There seem to be “scripts” for a huge variety of situations, and they are odd individuals who deviate from the lines we know that are expected of us. No one really answers the passing “How are you?” Chatting with a stranger almost always [...]

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SurvivorKid

Our Holiday Shopping Guide to Great Books

On December 12, 2011 By Grace 'n' Tater's Dad

Hello, and Merry Christmas! The two of us writing this site both have undergraduate degrees in English Literature, so when it comes to great gift ideas, we often turn to books. We love ‘em, and books like Last Child in the Woods and Lenore Skenazy’s Free-Range Kids have provided the philosophical ground and inspiration [...]

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Stocking Stuffing

On December 8, 2011 By Monkey's Uncle

Just a bit ago, I posted about slightly big holiday gifts that you could get, that would encourage your kids to brave the winter and get outside. But they were all a bit expensive.  Without commenting on the various levels of gift giving and grousing on philosophically, here [...]

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  • "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

    –John Muir

  • Great Gear for Getting Outside

  • Recent Articles

    • The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids – A Book Report
    • The Slingshot: Taking Aim Outdoors
    • Beavers!
    • Rainy Day Swimmin’, Whether 12 or 35.
    • Snow Day Montage
We just read a great new book on camping with kids! http://t.co/PLV6BNpQ  — cagefreekids
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