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As anyone with a toddler will tell you, Winter is a potential breeding ground for boredom, frustration and frequent temper tantrums. Let’s face it, there’s not much you can do when it’s raining buckets and the view outside the lounge window resembles a scene from The Perfect Storm.

After months of not being able to walk, run or jump, to be house-bound with only the pet Labrador to terrorise, probably feels something akin to having to work in an un-air-conditioned office in the height of summer when all your friends are sipping spritzers on the beach. No wonder they’re grumpy.

As I’m sure Martha Stewart will testify, being under house arrest is no fun. I know that this winter after my very active two year old had finger-painted every white surface in the house and fallen off every piece of furniture, I was at my wits end. As Dr. Christopher Green, author of “The New Toddler Taming” (I was desperate, okay…) puts it: When all else fails, dress them up warmly and brave the outdoors. And he’s absolutely right. A toddler needs to expel that boundless energy and put their newly found skills to the test in wide open spaces. So there we were, Jack in his anorak, wellies and beanie and me totally drenched having given up on the umbrella theory, climbing up sand dunes and running squealing down the other side. After taking a few nasty tumbles (me, not him) and looking like a character from Lost, we squished our way into the nearest Wimpy, much to the manager’s distress, for the Kiddies banger and chips.

The point to this story, is that much to the collective joy of parents the Southern Hemisphere over, Summer is around the corner! One of the things I love about being a parent is that you have a great excuse of reliving your childhood by doing things like running with reckless abandon down the beach and devouring Wimpy meals like there was no tomorrow. Particularly that last one… But if I had the choice, I’d rather do it in Summer, than in 15’C with a streaming nose and sand in my eyes.

The beach is only one of the hundreds of outdoor activities that toddlers love, especially if armed with a bucket and spade, or as Barney put’s it, ‘a shovel and pale’ (will never understand Americans).

We live in Cape Town and we’re blessed with an abundance of wide open spaces and interesting environments. I discovered the hidden pleasures of walking in Tokai forest the other day. Massive, gnarled trees with fascinating holes that look like hobbit homes and interesting stumps for toddlers to put their newly found mountaineering skills to the test. Squirrels and birds for them to chase and study. Acorns and cones to collect. Other people walking their dogs and the occasional horse-rider galloping by. Next to actually living Enid Blyton’s, ‘Adventures of the Faraway Tree’, this is a very close second.

The Cape Point reserve is excellent fun for parents and toddlers alike. Uncrowded, blinding-white beaches, protected bays and calm tidal pools in which to paddle. Sheltered rock pools in which to admire sea life and of course lots of wildlife in the form of baboons and buck, amongst others. There is a casual style canteen, perfect for a quick snack for the kids, as well as a posh restaurant for the tourists. Tip: keep toddlers out of here.

Muizenburg in False Bay is also a great place if you live in the Southern Suburbs to get them out of doors and active. Its an enormous stretch of beach with an interesting boardwalk which varies in height from a few inches to about half a metre. My toddler loves to practice his ‘jump and roll’ off here. The water is warm so you can paddle and dash through the ‘baby waves’.

Kalk Bay, still in False Bay, is a cute little fishing village with a long pier and lots of fishing boats and fish mongers selling their wares. Toddlers will love the colourful array of fishing craft, the busy vibrant sellers and the seals frolicking like they don’t have a care in the world in the harbour. Kalky’s fish shop is great if you need immediate sustenance, like fish and chips. Then you can go and find a perch on the long pier (hold on to wandering toddlers because the last thing you want to do is to have to jump in after one of them) and eat.

Even further south is the famous Boulders Beach. I took my two year old there the other day and despite the biting wind (it was mid winter) he absolutely loved it. We waddled around after penguins (or pen-pins as he calls them) and played hide and seek around the various boulders and rocky outcrops. Fantastic fun. The bay is still and the water the colour of the Caribbean. Perfect for summer picnics, but get there early as the crowds do converge.

For those closer to the Atlantic Seaboard, that’s Sea Point and Camps Bay to you and me, the tidal pool at Camps Bay beach is a diamond in the rough. Timing is everything here. Completely overrun during hot mid-summer afternoons, if you get there at around 9.30am you can have the whole place to yourself for at least an hour. Yes, in summer too. The pool is perfectly calm and azure blue. The sand is warm but not too hot and toddlers can paddle in complete safety while you while away the time with the latest Hello magazine. Leave when the hoards arrive.

I’ve recently discovered the simpler things in life can be fun too, like taking your toddler and his bike and finding a quiet cul de sac and letting him ride up and down until he’s worn out. Good one if you’re short on time and he’s got excess energy to get rid of before bedtime.

Simpler still is the beauty of kicking a ball around a field. All you need is a sturdy pair of shoes, a ball and a large field. You can keep them occupied for at least an hour in this way. You may be exhausted at the end of it, but happily, so are they. If you have a tennis court nearby, even a run down one as in our case, toddlers seem more than happy to try and hit the ball around the court (ad infinitum). If you don’t have a tennis racquet, a beach bat will do adequately.

The bottom line is if you’re creative the list of activities you can do with your toddler to get them outdoors is endless. So as Barney (our fave programme at the mo) would say: Mr Sun, Sun. Mr Golden Sun. Please shine down on me…