100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 53: Whirlybirds

I took Oliver outside so I could sweep autumn debris from the patio. I quickly realized that most of the debris was "whirlybirds." Whirlybirds are what we always called the seeds that fell from maple trees when we were growing up. Here's what they look like:

I knew from my own memories that throwing whirlybirds makes for a ton of fun. I'd introduced the concept to Oliver once, when we were in Chicago. He loved it then, and he loved it today!

We took the whirlybirds and threw them up in the air. They started to spin, catching the air, and slowly fell to the ground. I captured some of the fun on video because pictures didn't do the activity justice.



Here's a picture of Oliver after throwing a whirlybird. The whirlybird is the blurry, moving object close to where Oliver's belly button would be:


Getting ready to throw another:

At first, Oliver wanted me to gather the whirlybirds for him. It wasn't long before he started picking them up himself.

And Oliver decided his whirlybird collection should go on top of the chair:

I think he had fun!

After about 20 minutes of playing "Whirlybirds," Oliver decided to sweep the patio. He's such a good helper :)

"Whirlybirds" is an easy and free activity to do, as long as there are maple trees nearby! In Chicago, they seem to be on the ground in the spring, summer and fall. In many areas of Denver, there don't seem to be many at all. At our house, they only seem to really fall in the autumn. So, while I suppose the activity doesn't work for everyone and definitely not all year long, it's loads of fun when and where it's available. "Whirlybirds" gets an A.