Small world play on a budget - Shhhhh! It's our little secret...

So you may have seen recently we've been loving small world play in the garden, and even made our own fairy gardens which were great fun to make and super duper cheap!

But, if you are not one for crafting/ DIY....... forget about expensive plastic tree houses, cottages and the like. Quite frankly, they are not only expensive but also don't fit in for a 'natural' fairy scene or small world in the garden.

No, save your money and listen up to my little secret I'm going to let you in on.....

A fairy world in your own back garden!

“The perceptions children have of life are bound up very closely within a world where fantasy and reality
constantly go hand-in-hand. Research has shown that the children who indulge freely in good quality
fantasy and pretend play, the children who are considered to be ‘high fantasizers’ and spend a good deal
of time in imaginative thinking (Singer and Singer, 1977; Pulaski, 1981; Reiss 1981;), have greater tendencies
towards being creative with materials and situations. Such studies have also found that these creative,
internal thinkers have better concentration, are less aggressive generally, can tell more creative stories with
greater originality and more complex characters and situations, and are more inclined to enjoy what they
do than children who are ‘low fantisizers”.

                                        Janet Moyles, Just Playing

Following on from our magical adventure discovering forest fairies at the local forest (blogged about here. One of my favourite posts so far!), there has been a new found interest in all things fantasy, so we decided to make our very own fairy gardens.

We started  off with an impromptu afternoon outside, using a couple of old tins, some sand, water beads, stones and flowers and made some little portable gardens. We kept it very simple, bearing in mind I was working with a 2 year old, but she enjoyed every second of tottering around the garden looking for things we could include and placing them in the tin to look pretty.

Senses in the garden #1 - Sound

At the moment we are really trying to get the garden all set up for the summer and our aim is to maximise development and fun potential outdoors.

The way were trying to organise this is to make little areas within the garden dedicated to different senses for the children to explore and play. We already have a play decking area with toys in like a playhouse, car, bike, tent etc. Normal things you might find in anyone's garden with kids.

What I want to now do is create these areas as cheaply and economically as possible to show children don't need expensive toys, just a few recycled household objects and a bit of imagination.

Silent Sunday

Outdoor Art

Now the weather is brightening up its a great time to start taking the indoors out!

These activities are really really simple but the kids love them.

Chalkings

Spring: Sowing Sunflower Seeds

Source

What better way to welcome spring than to sow some seeds? And what better seeds to sow that sunflowers? I love them! They are a sunny, happy flower which kids of all ages will love to get involved with and it's always fun to add a bit of healthy competition into the mix with 'Who can grow the tallest?'

The best time to plant sunflowers is just after the last frost of the season if planting straight into the garden or anytime around now (March) if planting in pots.

We have done both just to see which do best as the worst of the weather seems to be over with.

For planting straight into the garden choose a very sunny spot and somewhere close to somewhere to tie it to when it gets tall, like a fence.

There are many different types of sunflower but for maximum competition potential we chose the giant sunflower and for maximum prettiness and colour the red sunflower!

Rainbow Messy Play

A colourful sensory adventure! 

An outdoor art activity

The sun is shining YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I *think* spring has sprung and it feels great to be soaking up the rays and enjoying this whilst it lasts. We've been doing the usual with bikes, playhouse, climbing frame and sand/water play but here is a quick art activity you can take outdoors for something a bit different.

Silent Sunday

Pin It