I had the opportunity to talk to a group of moms with preschoolers this weekend about outdoor activities for their kids. Before I got into my laundry list of suggestions for their area, I gave them a few guidelines I like to use when I plan activities for my own family. One of those is what I call “The PetSmart Principle.”
I came up with this when my daughter was less than two years old. We were invited to go to the Atlanta Zoo with friends, and were excited to let her see all the cool animals.
But although the Zoo is a fantastic destination, it’s over an hour drive for us. And she was little enough to need a stroller to get to each enclosure. And then when we got to each animal, I had to lift her up so she could see over the railings.
As I hefted her up for the umpteenth time, I realized she didn’t even seem to be that interested in the animals. I wasn’t even sure she knew they were animals.
They weren’t ones she was familiar with from her daily life. Lots of them were also wisely staying as far from the crowds as they could. And some were barely moving — I remember the rhino in particular looked a lot more like a rock than any animal she knew.
And it struck me that she had had a whole lot more fun at PetSmart in a few moments stolen from running errands the week before.
There, she could get right in front of the animals, who were all on eye level. They were ones she recognized – birds, bunnies … the standard small pet line-up. And they were little, just like her.
And so that’s when I came up with my guiding principles for a toddler outing:
- Manageable – something sized right for her
- Accessible – not only for her, but for me (local options always won out at that age)
- Relatable – will this mean anything in her world?
The key is to remember to keep things scaled to their size. Don’t worry, they will grow into the bigger adventures before you know it!