• Sycamore seed faces, a nature craft for kids
    Autumn - crafts - Nature crafts

    Sycamore seed faces

    August 12, 2017 - By 

    The signs of Autumn have been around for a while – conkers growing, blackberries and shorter evenings. I love Autumn so I’m pretty happy to embrace it all. I noticed lots of sycamore seeds around the park so picked some up incase we could craft with them. We actually came up with something very simple – sycamore seed faces! We used sycamore seeds and card face blanks from Baker Ross (although you could easily draw your own faces). We also used a glue stick, some coloured card and wool. First my daughter glued the sycamore seed on where she thought it…

  • Bostik Family Craft Bloggers Network - crafts - Nature crafts

    Easy paper plate pond craft for kids

    July 15, 2017 - By 

    We love crafting with paper plates and have had fun with paper plates recently. They are so easy to add to and embellish, and pretty cheap too, the perfect crafting material! A few days ago my 7 year old made a paper plate pond, inspired by a visit to our local duck pond. Easy paper plate pond craft for kids Material: Paper plates Bostik Foam Pads Green and blue tissue paper Bostik Wide and Fine Glu Pen Selection of craft leaves and nature stickers How to make a paper plate pond The 7 year old cut up the green and blue…

  • Tuff spot fairy garden play
    crafts - Fairy garden crafts - Nature crafts

    Tuff spot fairy garden play

    July 4, 2017 - By 

    I think a tuff pot must be one of the best products I ever bought. It gets used a lot, especially in the warmer months, and is the perfect size for both my children to use together. At the weekend my children got out their Fairy Busy Box for some small world play. The weather was lovely and warm and it was great to see them setting up the tuff spot for some fairy garden play. Our Fairy Busy Box is actually overflowing (like every other toy box) but this meant they had plenty to keep them busy. It contains…

  • crafts - Nature crafts - Summer

    Frozen flowers play {A-Z Play at Home}

    June 30, 2017 - By 

    Now our garden is in full bloom it’s been fun to use some of the flowers in our crafting. Every week we have been joining in with the A-Z Play at Home blog hop. This weeks letter was the letter I which immediately made me think of ice. The children love making ice, using ice and playing with ice. We wanted to give our ice play a little seasonal twist so picked some fresh blooms from our garden for some colourful ice play. We used: heart shaped plastic trays from the recycling bin fresh flowers from the garden water Frozen…

  • How to make a simple cable reel blackboard
    crafts - garden crafts - Nature crafts - Painted rocks - upcycling

    How to make a simple cable reel blackboard

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    A few weeks ago I shared a recent upcycle of a wooden cable reel. We turned it into a fairy house for the children to play with. We actually picked up two cable reels so today I’m going to show you what we did with the other. Cable reels are great and there are so many ways to upcycle them. My children love to use chalk to draw on the patio and walls so I made them a cable reel blackboard – perfect for mark making outside. We used: Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint (Old School Green) Wooden cable reel Smooth pebbles…

  • Easy pipe cleaner bird feeders
    crafts - Nature crafts

    Easy pipe cleaner bird feeders

    June 26, 2017 - By 

    Now Summer has officially arrived it’s lovely to see our crafts being inspired by nature and our garden. We love to attract the birds to our garden so made some easy bird feeders after school today. It’s a quick and easy craft but a great way to improve those fine motor skills. Easy pipe cleaner bird feeders We used: pipe cleaners Honey Loops breakfast cereal I poured some of the Honey Loops into a smaller container and sat my children down with an assortment of pipe cleaners. They threaded the cereal onto the pipe cleaners, one by one. It was…

  • how to make a Feather crown craft
    crafts - Nature crafts

    Feather crown craft {A-Z Play at Home}

    June 9, 2017 - By 

    The letter this week for the A-Z Play at Home series was F. I tried to think of an every day item around the house and came up with feathers! Father dusters are great but we also had a plentiful supply in our craft cupboard. We used them to make a fun feather crown, perfect for play at home. You will need only two basic things, cardboard and feathers, to make simple feather crowns. Roughly measure your child’s head and cut a thick band of cardboard accordingly. We placed our feathers at the front of the crown so used a scalpel…

  • crafts - garden crafts - Nature crafts

    How to build a bug hotel using a pallet {Part 1}

    May 11, 2017 - By 

    Now the weather is warmer we have been thinking about our little garden. Our cat died recently and overnight we noticed more birds appearing in our garden. The children really wanted to encourage them and learn more about them. Our garden is small but child-friendly and we want the children to enjoy being outside, especially at this time of year. As well as making lots of handmade bird feeders we started to plan a bug hotel. We have been wanting to build one ever since we saw an amazing bug hotel at Hughenden Manor, a local National Trust properly. Here’s…

  • Lavender play dough recipe
    crafts - Nature crafts

    Lavender play dough recipe

    May 9, 2017 - By 

    It’s been a while since I made any play dough for my children. The lighter evening have meant they have found it difficult to wind down at bedtime. I thought a batch of homemade lavender play dough was just the thing for a lovely sensory experience. Lavender has some great properties and is well known for aiding sleep. I like to make my own play dough. It’s quick and cheap and I like to know exactly what my children are touching. I’ve used this recipe a few times now: 150g plain flour 40g salt 3 tsp lemon juice 2 tbs…