She looked at me aghast, her eyes wide in horror at the mere suggestion,
"No no! They can't climb trees! We're a conservation area! They might damage the trees, plus of course the danger to themselves!"
How To Make A Minibeast Hotel
There's one activity that The Boy has been desperate to do all Summer; make a minibeast hotel!
Last week we were playing in the garden when he spotted his old and battered wheelbarrow, went in search of a trowel, and decided that he'd had enough of waiting for me, and started doing it himself.
Days 349 – 355 of Project 365
349. MONSTER BINGO (… is the phrase that needs to be shouted out by the winner of the latest Orchard Toys game we're reviewing. I love the exuberance on his face here.)
350. Daddy Does Craft (This is not something which happens often in our house, in fact he groaned when I asked him to do this activity, "Homework; yes. Reading; yes. Craft; NO!" However, it was a super easy activity from Toucan Box with idiotproof, foolproof, comprehensive instructions.)
351. Intent (Watching his video message from Father Christmas via the Portable North Pole app, he was enchanted with the whole thing. Every time Father Christmas said his name, he nodded eagerly and smiled.)
352. Dear Miss… (Making his Christmas cards for his teachers, the effort was immense but he made a super job of it.)
353. Bedtime Reading (New pyjamas and books sent from Marks and Spencer for a bedtime reading project. I love seeing him in old-fashioned pyjamas, he looks so cute!)
354. Hungry (For a few months now we've visited our local nature reserve once a week to feed the swans, our confidence has grown as has their hunger. Yesterday they were starving, and with it a little bit nasty. For the first time, I felt nervous feeding them in the slipway area; one of them hissed at The Boy and flapped his wings, another pecked my hand. We walked up to the boardwalk as they can't manage it and it forces them into the water to have the bread; more controlled you see! Within thirty seconds of us being at the board walk, the 40+ swans had worked out what was going on and swum around to feed on our stale offerings.)
355. Best Buddies (We ventured to Tredegar House near Newport today to see Father Christmas in his grotto. Normally we go to Cardiff Castle but it was completely sold out weeks in advance, so we decided to try here in their first year as a National Trust property. The Boy was over the moon to see the Big Man himself, and the room was dressed so beautifully! He walked in cautiously, took one look at him and ran at him to give him the biggest, most heartfelt cuddle I've ever seen which was received warmly. Unfortunately the photo is too blurred to share as a 365, but it was a wonderful sight to see. And all for only £2.50.)
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Days 342 – 348 of Project 365
342. Reach For The Stars (We ventured over to Cardiff Bay to the Christmas Food Market set out in the old dock basin. There were a few small, fairground rides there and The Boy relished the opportunity to try out this jumping trampoline ride thingy. I love the silhouette against the stormy sky.)
343. Burp (Reviewing a game sent to us from Orchard Toys, The Boy found it very amusing that the gorilla burps after feeding it junk food!)
344. My Little Star (This is The Boy performing in his first Christmas concert. I took photographs of him walking up and down onto the stage that showed off his costume better, but this is the picture that I love because of the sincerity on his face, filled with the effort of getting it right. I'm so proud of him for fully taking part as he was so petrified during the Harvest service he could only cope with standing on the stage.)
345. Homemade Gifts (I've written in the past about the significance of giving teachers presents to acknowledge their hard work, I decided that we'd make some lovely ornaments for The Boy's teachers and LSAs. With four teachers to buy for, and additional Reception staff, it would never have been cheap and I don't know enough about them to buy a worthwhile present. I thought Christmas tree decorations would be a good idea as they're resuable and show care and attention on his part.)
346. RUDE! (Our weekly trip to feed the swans saw an extremely cheeky seagull swoop in to grab a stray piece of bread lying on the boardwalk. The Boy was incensed!)
347. Wriggler (A busy day Christmas shopping with my mum in Cardiff, taking The Boy to a classmate's house for tea and then me swanning off to Cardiff Bay saw me sneaking a last minute photograph of a wriggling Boy in his sleep.)
348. Family Days Out (On a day when the blogging world is remembering a special blogger and her legacy of Family Frolics, it seemed very fitting to me that we spent the day with extended family; my brother and his family. I'd bought Mr. TBaM a segway driving experience for his birthday and we finally redeemed it with my sister-in-law joining him on a device which I would be useless on. My brother, niece, The Boy and I explored the other adventure activities possible in the centre and made a vow to come back and try the zip wire out when the children are a little bit older. We finished off the day with a lovely meal in a newly-opened restaurant nearby. A wonderful family day out.)
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Autumn Sensory Playdough
I know it's the tail end of Autumn and we're about to embrace Christmas (and with it Winter), but there are still plenty of natural play resources falling from the trees to enjoy this type of activity for a few weeks yet. [Read more…]
Days 279 – 285 of Project 365
279. Sunset Splash (Having taken my niece and nephew on their first conker hunting session of the season, the three of us then went down to Barry Island for a chippy tea. We of course had to paddle in the sea, although The Boy had difficulty understanding it would be too cold to take our shoes off at this time of year. He ended up splashing around in his boots instead. And when I say splashing in his boots, I do mean in; there was three inches of water in each boot.)
280. Eye-Eye (Magnifying glasses are such fun!)
281. Construction (The Boy was having a great time tonight constructing an aeroplace. He very rarely constructs anything without guidance or a picture to work from, so I was pleased to see him having a go.)
282. Greedy Guts (A quick after school trip to the local nature reserve to feed the swans, they are very greedy and reach up to grab the scraps from the boardwalk.)
283. Concentrating Mummy! (We revisited the nature reserve to film The Boy tree-climbing for a National Trust project that I'm collaborating on, and were very happy to find a new, perfect tree with low sweeping branches and thick boughs.)
284. Homework (Those who follow me on Instagram will know of my ongoing concerns about when The Boy's school was going to introduce homework, as he has been able to read since May, and I am eager to give him the opportunity to develop his interest. Tonight we had his first homework; a worksheet which he had to practise his 'S' formation on. We decided that was a little boring so got out the shaving foam in the bath!)
285. Wait For Me! (Where Fiery Cousin goes, The Boy must follow! A wonderful afternoon at Dyffryn Gardens, the local National Trust site.)
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Why Our Children Need Outdoor Play
I'm not going to bombard you with words or images in this post, just please spare the two minutes that you might normally sifting through all of that to watch this video.
PROJECT WILD THING – official trailer from Green Lions on Vimeo. David will be touring nationwide with the film, dates available here.
This is the man that made me realise why I have to ensure that we get plenty of outdoor play time in a week; because I can't have The Boy be one of those statistics.
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Linking with Country Kids
Oxwich Bay Explorations: #37 Check Out The Crazy Creatures In A Rockpool
One of the things that I'd set on our Summer Bucket List was to visit Rhossili beach on the Gower Peninsula with The Boy. It's something that I'd wanted to do for a while with him, having visited it with extended family around seven years ago, but despite it being one of the top three beaches in Europe, I was put off by the steps down the cliff-face. They're perfectly safe, but it's a long way down and therefore a long way back up again for a toilet break!
However, when my sister-in-law suggested at the beginning of the Summer holidays that we go to Oxwich Bay for the day that seemed like the perfect compromise; it's not as far as Rhossili and there isn't a long walk down to the beach from the car park. In fact, the car park stops at the edge of the beach and there are fairly alright shower and toilet facilities within a hundred yard walk of the beach's edge.
I've never been to Oxwich Bay before and I think it has quickly become one of my favourite beaches, because it has everything there; sand, rockpools, wildlife, facilities, decent parking, and more importantly it is sufficiently off the beaten track to not be over-run by tourists.
My sister-in-law had recently undergone some 'Beach Schools' training and guided The Boy and Fiery Cousin around the rockpools, demonstrating how to find crabs and what the difference between a limpet and a barnacle is (guides can be found here). We also learnt the phrase 'Green Is Mean' courtesy of my brother, i.e. algae is slippery, as The Boy found out when he landed on his bottom in a rockpool!
We shared a picnic lunch sprawled out over the sands with the children playing around us. Normally I'm quite cautious at keeping The Boy within a twenty yard distance of us, at Oxwich Bay it is so vast that the next family could well be over 150 yards away and therefore it allows the children a little more freedom to 'free-range' play.
After we'd finished snacking, I showed the children how to create a shell-shaker which they then pranced around with, making music.
As the tide was reaching it's lowest point, my brother was desperate to go cockle-hunting (he's a chef) and so we all waded down to the shoreline to search for the much sought after cockle. We found plenty, but we also found jellyfish, crabs, sea anemones and sea urchins!
As The Boy was beginning to get cold and exhausted, the mums and children trekked back up the beach to our beach tent while the dad continued their search for cockles. My sister-in-law and I glanced down to the shoreline and beyond to the rapidly darkening sky.
This resulted in us quickly gathering our belongings into the tent along with the children. We had three seconds to spare before the quickest rainstorm I have ever come across deluged us! We thanked our lucky stars for the tent until we realised it was vented at the bottom where the children were and they were getting soaked. My sister-in-law raced them up the beach to the shelter, then came back for me and the tent. By which time the dads had returned, drenched to the skin. They were literally dripping! We carried everything back up to the shivering children in the car park and proceeded to assess the damage and dry various bits and bobs off, while standing and laughing hysterically at how wet we all were!
I was astounded at the lack of people who were at the beach that day, even before the rain came. It must surely be one of the best beaches on the south Wales coast with such wonderful ecosystems to explore!
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Linking this up to Flashback Friday and Country Kids
Much of the Gower Peninsula falls under the protection of the National Trust, it currently cares for 157 miles of Welsh coastline. The National Trust are running a competition until the end of October 2013 to find the best loved beach location in their care.
"Tell us why you love your favourite National Trust place and you could win a day’s kayaking and/or coasteering for you and 4 of your friends with our qualified instructors at the amazing Stackpole Quay, Pembrokeshire."
Entry is simple via the I ♥ Welsh Coast app on their Facebook page and takes only a few moments. The most original and inspiring comment will be chosen on the 31st of October and the lucky winner has a year to claim their prize.
Country Kids Of All Ages At Coombe Mill
We've been having the time of our lives this week in Coombe Mill. It is one of the most magical place I've ever been to. One of my happy places; all of us have it as our happy place. The photos and the words of those who write about it can never do the farm or grounds justice. Coombe Mill is more than just a farm holiday, it's about re-engaging with each other and enjoying time as a family, re-engaging with nature and the wonders of the world that we live in, and re-engaging with our lost selves during the chaos of everyday life.
Until you've experienced it, it's hard to understand Coombe Mill's magic.
That's why I was really eager to have the motley crew from Mummy Mishaps down for a day during our stay, and the fabulous Fiona was only too happy to agree and welcome them with open arms.
And we've had the best day of our holiday so far because we have stayed on site and done nothing but play. That goes for the 'grown-ups' as well as the children, even Fiona said herself that she had done nothing all day but "rediscover my own farm through the eyes of others!"
We started with the 9am feed run where the deer behaved themselves wonderfully and showed up out from the forest, and then progressed onto one of the adventure play parks having refreshed on cake and drinks at Fiona's house.
Once the zipwire was exhausted from the boys' efforts, we enjoyed a picnic on the green in front of our lodge next to the River Camel, before taking our scraps up to Dotty and Piglet. The poor things were fast asleep in their sty until I clanged the bucket at them and the promise of orange peel, bread rolls and egg shells was too great for them to stay dozing.
Following our own mini feed run, it was time to indulge in a spot of wood craft where we made our own stick rafts to sail down the river, and forest faces to adorn the trees of Coombe Mill before heading into the river to sail our rafts in a competition between Jenny and Mr. TBaM.
Once we'd retrieved the rafts from the river, it was time to explore the more shallow parts of the river and Coombe Mill's very own little island (in the stream). Both The Boy and Burton had a go on the rope swing hung from the tree, while we all enjoyed throwing pebbles and seeing how far they could go in the rapids!
A quick snack and shower saw all the boys dressed in clean and dry clothes with one more treat of a train ride before the Mummy Mishaps bunch had to head home. It was a marvellous day, thanks to our wonderful friends and the idyllic setting.
Jenny won by the way!
How To Make A Stick Raft (#43)
Making a raft is an easy activity to do with children, although their age determines exactly how much input you give. The Boy is four years and two months old and quite good with fiddly and intricate things, but making this raft was more about him helping me, than me helping him. Now he knows how to do it, the situation will reverse.
This activity is completely organic, both in the way that it happened, and the materials we used!
How To Make A Stick Raft
You'll need:
- 4 sticks of equal length for the frame
- around 8-10 sticks of the same length as those for the frame to create the bed of the raft
- long grass reeds/stems
- 1 large leaf or a frond of leaves for the sail
- 1 stick for the mast
- Lay the four sticks for the frame on top of each other to judge size. Carefully wind a long grass reed around each of the join, overlapping and winding from one corner to the other. This will hold them in place. Complete for each corner.
- Once the frame is completed, fix each stick to the frame to make the bed of the raft, winding the grass over in a cross fashion as above. Continue until the base is covered, there will be gaps in between each stick.
- Use one stick as the mast and a large leaf as the sail. Make two small holes to push the mast through. We actually tied a large frond of leaves to the mast instead.
- Insert into a gap in between two of the sticks, carefully wrap grass around to fix it into place.
- The raft is ready for sailing!
- This activity is great for:
- fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination; winding the grass around the sticks.
- design skills; How can we join the sticks together?
- problem-solving; Did the raft float or sink? Why? Did it get caught on anything?
- communication; questioning and discussion.
- self-esteem; achievement!
- having FUN!
It is also one of the activities on the National Trust 50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾ list: #43: Build A Raft!
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