Adventure every day
Don’t just save it for Christmas
We hope you all had a great Christmas Day, whatever you were doing.
It was so nice to see so many people out and about in the fine weather we were experiencing here in Saltdean yesterday.
It was also so lovely to see so many people out walking, running, scooting, playing on the beach, and enjoying the trails heading off into the downs - so many people out talking, walking, running, scooting, playing. We have the best free playground and it was so good to see it being fully utilised!
I’m constantly looking for inspiration of activities or themes to use in our Kids Adventurist forest school sessions at Saltdean, and the enjoyable hum of families playing got me thinking.
Why do we wait? Why do we save days like this for special occasions, for holidays or rare sunny mornings on wintry days? Are we teaching our children that joy must be penciled into the calendar, that adventure has to be scheduled?
We’ve all been there.
Wrapped up in the demands of work, the monotony of daily chores, the constant pull of screens. Days blur into weeks, and suddenly, those sweeping family walks down a leafy trail seem like a distant memory, something reserved for a “later” that rarely comes. But it’s not just us who feel the squeeze of routine. Our children notice it too.
The delights of Christmas day walks didn’t happen by accident.
When the shops closed, errands ceased, and cafés were shuttered, we collectively—almost instinctively—looked outward - a little bit like lockdown four years ago,
There was only one thing left to turn to, and it wasn’t an app or a schedule. It was the natural playground around us. It was the beach we don’t visit enough, the trail we pass by too often.
But why should nature be the backup plan when life pauses?
Instead of waiting for the world to create these moments for us, what happens when we lead the charge and make such moments a way of life?
Look at your or your child’s shoes by the door.
Are they worn from adventures, muddy from trails yet to be named, or covered in chalk from wet play time on the undercliff? Or are they pristine, saved for school days and predictable outings?
Here’s a thought that might stay with you, as it hit me yesterday afternoon, walking back from our beach in Saltdean —our actions today are what shape our children’s habits tomorrow.
If we present the outdoors as an occasional treat, that’s how they’ll view it. But if we show them that adventure can happen at the drop of a hat—on an ordinary Tuesday after dinner, on a misty morning when the world feels still or on a wet and windy Saturday —we’re giving them something extraordinary.
A lifelong lens to see wonder everywhere we go.
Start Small, Start Now
Adventure doesn’t mean booking a faraway trip or waiting until the weather is perfect. It can begin with something as simple as stepping outside your front door.
Challenge yourself to see the ordinary as extraordinary. That patch of grass at the edge of the park? It’s a jungle when viewed through the wonder of a child’s eyes. The smooth flat rock by the beach? It’s a throne for queens and kings of imaginary kingdoms.
The next time your family slips into after-dinner routines of screens and quiet distractions, invite them to grab their shoes instead.
Walk the neighborhood in the dark with flashlights to see it as they never have before. Park your car a little further away from school and walk through the park when you drop them off back to school.
These tiny acts of disruption can anchor you and your children in the here and now while imprinting memories that will stick far longer than any TV show or online scroll.
At Kids Adventurist, we believe that these small adventures are the foundation for a lifetime of exploration and joy. Start today, and watch as your family’s adventures unfold in ways you never expected.