...used to be the norm, didn't it?
As kids, we'd career down dirt roads in billy carts banged together lovingly by Dad in the shed. Wheels from old wheely bins would ping off in all directions midway down the dirt road rendering us grazed and band aided.
We had cubby houses made from rusty bits of roofing iron and fence palings. Lurking inside would be juicy, velvety spiders with hairier legs than your Dad. Always dispensed of bravely by a gumboot clad foot before serious play could begin.
The sandpit was invariably made of a combination of treated pine and truck tyres and was routinely cleared of sticks, leaves and neighborhood cat deposits before empires could be built within.
It was a precarious play environment, but somehow super awesome.
There was no safety net on the trampoline.
The slip and slide, wasn't a boxed novelty from the toy shop. It consisted of three blue tarpaulins laid end to end down the steepest bit of backyard grass (not lawn, NEVER lawn) with the hose at the top, a bit of Morning Fresh and, by the end of the day, a grassy, sloppy swamp at the bottom. And those tarps? They took the skin off on the brisk slip to the bottom.
Water play in searing heat did not consist of a squirting thing with a face, and wiggly arms plonked on the lawn. It would be jumping on a slippery trampoline underneath the Rain Wave sprinkler, which was doing double duty hydrating the tomatoes in the garden at the same time. And do you remember that other sprinkler? Chik, chik, chik, digadigadigadiga......
There were bare feet all Summer. On concrete, on hot sand and on prickly, bluestone driveways.
Public playgrounds had rides that terrified your Nanna (and if utilized following birthday cake would unfailingly induce vomiting). There were ALWAYS two slides. A small, safe one and another, taller than your house and without sides. Oh, the danger, oh the excitement.
So here, at my place we're taking the cotton wool off the kids. It inhibits risk taking and subsequent learning and it's pretty hot and itchy, too. Their Dad has scoured the town for pallets and built them a top notch cubby (above). It hasn't cost a cent and every time I look at it I blow a metaphorical raspberry at the places selling those overpriced, ordinary, flat packed ones.
We've salvaged several chunks of tree from friends for some pirate ship/space shuttle/prehistoric adventures and some sand (by the trailer, not the bag) will be introduced shortly...and plenty of crafty, outdoorsy things to add later on.
Amongst peers raised in safe, sterile environments, my two don't know how lucky they are.
There's some good stuff happening in buntyandsars land, too. I've got some new products, plenty of new ideas, a new studio and, at long last, a new printer!! The shape and face of my beloved brand is evolving and bit by bit, in the gaps left around being a Mum I'm getting stuff done. This here humble little blog is slowly undergoing a transformation, too. Stay tuned for more crafty bits, cookery bits and kid bits. Fun, fun for everyone.
