Backyard Baking...

Backyard baking is so much fun.  Props required?  A bowl and maybe a large spoon.  Your child might need a little encouragement to get started, but after that they will run with the activity for quite some time.  If you have cooked with your child they will probably take to this activity more readily.  Here are some open ended questions you can use to help the activity along if necessary: What are you baking today? What...

Window Washers...

While my blogging friends in the northern hemisphere are shivering through blizzards, here down under it’s mid-summer!  Keeping kids cool and busy is sometimes a challenge.  Inspired by a window washer on Playschool the other week, Little Miss 3 asked if she could do some window washing too – which I thought was a great idea!  We have a glass sliding door which worked perfectly because the kids could wash...

Nursery Adventure...

As part of our garden week the kids and I took a trip to one of our local nurseries.  There are several nurseries in our area, ranging from a small, no-frills native nursery to large cafe-designer-lifestyle nurseries.  I opted for a larger nursery because of stroller accessibility and the availability of toilets!  There are many reasons why a nursery trip is great for kids.  For starters it’s free.  And considering...

Garden In A Week...

A weedy, gravelly mess of garden bed has been sitting near my clothesline for a very long time, just waiting for some kids to give it a little love.  Last week was the week!  There was no need to rush, and the kids enjoyed spreading the project out over a few days.  Besides – in the heat of summer it’s hard to stay in the yard for too long.  Here’s how you and your kids can have fun transforming...

Nature Games: Marble Run...

A friend of ours has a game my daughter never tires of: a marble run.  It’s the first thing she asks for whenever we visit.  She loves putting the pieces together, dropping the marbles into the hole at the top and watching them make their way down through the tubes. This week in the backyard we seemed to have an abundance of bark, so I suggested we make our own marble run using macadamia nuts.  I showed Little...

Singing In The Rain...

We’ve had rain in Brisbane!  Real rain, with thunder and everything!  Rain to tickle our faces and catch on our tongues.  Rain to brighten the colours of everything in the garden, making it fresh all over again.  Rain to catch in buckets, containers and watering cans.  Rain to gush out of downpipes, overflowing out of little hands.  Rain to create little rivers on the dry ground, perfect for leaf boats. ...

Busy Boxes (Mumblers)...

I’m blogging over at Aussie Mums Network Mumblers today about busy boxes.  Having a few boxes set up indoors and out can make free play time with kids a breeze.  For ideas on different types of boxes, and what to put into them, head over to Mumblers.  There are photos of our indoor, outdoor and quiet time boxes in the article.  Here’s a snippet… A Busy Box is a container filled with age appropriate...

Seedpods...

We had a much needed day at home today.  We had time to just be.  Kids need that, and mums do too.  We spent the morning in the backyard making nature collections together, and discovered that half of the collection tray was taken up with interesting seedpods. It was a wonderfully spontaneous way of talking about life (at a three year old level).  “A tree grows big and strong.  The tree grows seedpods with...

Fresh Air High Chair...

With spring in full swing, now is the perfect time to enjoy being with your kids outdoors.  Here in Queensland winter is already a fading memory and summer will be bearing down on us before we know it.  Lately I have been taking my son’s highchair outside quite often.  Admittedly ours is a fairly simple highchair (small, wooden, and without wheels and whistles) so it’s easy to take upstairs and out into the back...

Guest Post: Caroline Webster...

“Be careful, there’s a dragon in the back garden…” … So my young daughter told me recently. Off we set, bravely looking for the evidence. And we found it too.  Dragon poo (large palm seeds dropped by a wayward bird), stomped upon plants (the late night frolicking of our puppies) and a mark on the outdoor table – made by the beating wings of said dragon (remnants of potting mix) were, to my daughter’s...