When I use “we” in a post I am referring to my family. Everything I post about are things that my children enjoy doing or that we do together as a family. My children are at the heart of Green Acorns. So, I figured it was about time for them to share directly with you. This post is from my 12 year-old daughter, Em. She writes about one of my children’s favorite play activities. It inspires creativity, ingenuity, thinking from a different perspective, and of course getting outside. We hope you enjoy it!
My brother and sister and I love to play with our miniature stuffed animals. Especially the favorites, Chompers and Oliver. Chompers and Oliver are about three inches tall, so they can do plenty of things that we wouldn’t be able to do in real life. To a miniature stuffed beaver, and a tiny cat with a button nose, a pile of twigs becomes a giant beaver dam, a bunch of duct-taped shoe boxes becomes a mansion, a puddle becomes a pond, and a flower garden becomes a giant forest. In the world of mini animals, you can imagine anything. That’s why we love playing with them so much, because they can do things that a person couldn’t, like jump down a mouse hole and explore like it’s a secret tunnel, or ride on the back of a stuffed dragon. Another thing that we also love about playing mini animals, is that we can make and create any thing for them, like draw a big city out of chalk on the driveway, or a giant castle out of blocks. Me and my brother have created an entire mansion for Oliver out of cardboard, paint, lots and lots of duct tape, and nine shoe boxes. My brother and sister and I also all love to make little things for Oliver and the rest of the minis, such as tiny cardboard furniture and little clay food. I have made cardboard box houses for our other mini animals, too like Chompers, and two other little cats named Clover and Skyler. We now have four mini houses, and we like to set them up in the front yard and make a little town.
Chompers and Oliver also have lots of outdoor adventures, too. We also love playing and exploring outside, but the mini animals can do lots more outside. Like a tiny trickle of water running down the driveway is a rushing river to Chompers, and he goes sailing in a puddle after a rainstorm, or flies through the air on the back of a kite. You can also make houses and shelters for mini animals outside, too. Like a little Oliver-size mud hut or a fort out of sticks. They are also just the right size to go into a fairy house! And if they ever get dirty, (which is often) they take a bath in the sink and dry in front of a fan.
Do your children have any tiny stuffed animals? Get them out and let your kids imagine all they want! Turn on the hose and let a flowing river run down a slanted driveway, or turn a cardboard box into a miniature hotel. With your imagination, somewhere to play, and a mini stuffed animal or two, anything is possible!
Green Acorns 