As my kids are getting older, I’m finding that less of the time I spend looking after them is focused on doing ‘stuff’ for them, and more time is spent helping them to grow and develop emotionally. As a parent, it’s all a bit of a learning curve - like every other aspect of having kids I guess! - and it feels like we’re exploring this whole new area of growing up together. Is it the same for you? I’m always singing the praises of physical ...
Nature craft: painted rocks
Painted rocks are a classic nature craft, and one that my kids never tire of! It's a great little craft that doesn't need much preparation, and suits pretty much all ages of child. It's also brilliant for those days when the weather isn't fantastic but you'd still like to get hands-on with some natural materials. Here's how to make your own painted rocks. We use rocks and pebbles from our garden for this craft (I'm pretty sure it's illegal to ...
Craft inspiration with The Works
Are you crafting with the kids during the school holidays? I love the fact that the school holidays give us more time to get creative; the kids love crafting, but term time is just so busy and we don’t always manage to fit it in. This week we’ve been working on a school homework project which involves making your own musical instrument, namely a shaker using a kitchen roll tube and dried rice; we’ve had one major spillage but it’s coming along ...
Christmas craft ideas with Wynsors shoes
Welcome to the latest instalment in our Christmas crafting. We love a good old craft session, and Christmas always inspires us to get making. This year so far we've had fun with pom pom pine cones, baking soda dough tree decorations and pine cone trees. With some help from Wynsors we've just added a few new creations to our collection. The lovely people at Wynsors sent us a box of goodies, containing everything we needed for a relaxed family ...
Inspiring Christmas projects
Have you started preparing your home for Christmas yet? With the arrival of December, Christmas is suddenly feeling rather close, and lots of us will be starting to prepare for the big day in earnest. Whether you want to make indulgent treats, find gift inspiration, or spend time crafting with the kids, it's always a great idea to take a look at what other people are doing for inspiration. To help get you in the festive mood, some of the ...
Nature craft: making a wooden whistle
Today I'm sharing another lovely nature craft that we did on our recent trip to Skylarks nature reserve in Nottingham. As well as doing some fab clay pressing with natural materials, the kids also had a go at making a wooden whistle from twigs. I can vividly remember having one of these made for me when I was six years old and we were on holiday in Canada; it was so exciting watching it take shape, but I didn't get hands-on like my kids did ...
Clay craft: making clay pressings from nature
A couple of weeks ago, we spent a fantastic afternoon exploring nature at our local nature reserve, Skylarks in Nottingham. Skylarks is part of the Wildlife Trusts, and it's a great place to take the kids for a good old outdoor romp. Last year we made journey sticks there, which has become one of our absolute favourite nature crafts. On this particular visit Skylarks was holding an open day, with lots of hands-on activities, demonstrations ...
Beach craft with natural materials
We had a big family gathering in Devon over the bank holiday weekend, and the kids made the most of the chance to get creative with some lovely beach nature play. Our first beach trip of the weekend consisted mainly of body surfing. However, as the tide had just started to go out there was lots of very wet sand, which the youngest cousins loved crafting with. It was so wet, you could drizzle it through your fingers to create some ...
Nature craft: flower pressing
Oh this flower pressing nature craft has taken me right back to being seven years old :) We've been finding beautiful flowers and petals in nature, then preserving them using a flower press, just like I did when I was little. How have I not done this with the kids until now?! We didn't over-complicate this nature craft; we just worked with what we found in the garden. It was an absolute joy to watch these two exploring nature, getting ...
Nature craft: making natural noughts and crosses
I always look forward to the kids being at home more in the school holidays, and this year I'm absolutely loving the extra time it's giving us for crafting. There's a four and a half year age gap between my kids, and I find nature crafts one of the best ways to get them inspired and absorbed by the same activity. We're having our bathroom re-fitted at the moment, and we've been a bit tied to the house while the workmen do their stuff. So we ...