Coombe Mill: A family holiday on a farm

So, it's been a while since I last blogged. It's really been a while.

No real reason why. The longer I didn't blog, the harder it became. I didn't feel like I had a 'come back' post. Although we have had lots of fun over the past 10 months, nothing seemed blog worthy somehow.

Until I went on holiday 2 weeks ago. I had the most amazing time, I just HAD to share!

We went to Coombe mill for the week.

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.

Secret dens & Forest fairies

‘Cannock Chase’ is an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, and it’s on our doorstep. 

It offers an amazing amount of free opportunities to be physically active as a family/group.

Dressed in woollies and waterproofs, we

had a brilliant time running and splashing

in puddles and catching rain drops.

It’s so easy to look at the dull weather and

put the television on instead. We discovered

some little creative techniques that really

worked to get us and our kids motivated to

be active, whatever the weather.

Creating regular outdoor experiences helps

our children to get into the habit of playing,

exploring and discovering, in all seasons.

Many of us in the group never dreamed

of going out in the cold pouring rain for a

walk. Now we just grab our coats!

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!

An outdoor adventure - rustle, squelch, splash!

Lungs full of fresh air... A warm breeze on your face... Freedom of open space...The sound of baby birds chirping in the trees... Alfresco dining...

THE GREAT OUTDOORS!

You really can't beat it. And I personally love it at this time of year. Buds appearing, new life beginning, weather not too hot and not too cold.

I truly believe that come rain or shine children should get at least an hour of outdoor play everyday, provided they wear the correct clothing and protection there's absolutely no reason not to.

I actually love the motto that the blogger at Learning for Life uses for her nursery and have adopted it for myself "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, and snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather" (John Ruskin 1819-1900) Couldn't have put it better!

Rainbow Messy Play

A colourful sensory adventure! 

Silent Sunday

Find out more

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.