• How to make a Winter Solstice ice lamp
    crafts - Nature crafts - STEM activity - Winter

    How to make a Winter Solstice ice lamp

    December 20, 2016 - By 

    Did you know that tomorrow (Wednesday December 21st) at 10.44 GMT is the Winter Solstice. The winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It happens when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. To celebrate the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of the year we made a Winter Solstice ice lamp. I’ve wanted to make one for a few years, the kids always enjoy a little science at home, and finally got round to making it with the children. We used: a plastic tub water red…

  • 10 Swallows and Amazons crafts for kids
    crafts - Nature crafts

    10 Swallows and Amazons inspired crafts

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    As we were coming back from the theatre last night my 4 year old spotted a poster for the new Swallows and Amazons film which is out today. You may remember we were lucky to attend the preview last month and the film obviously made a big impression on her as she wants to see it again. I couldn’t resist looking for Swallows and Amazons crafts. We’ve already made a few ourselves but here are 10 Swallows and Amazons inspired crafts for fans of the book or film – make sure you try and see it! 10 Swallows and Amazons…

  • Outdoor Alphabet cards
    Happy By Nature - Kids crafts - Nature crafts

    Little adventures with Bear Nibbles Outdoor Alphabet Cards

    August 11, 2016 - By 

    More of this beautiful weather please. With the children beginning their summer holidays I am on the lookout for how best to keep them both active and creative. I’m delighted to announce I will be working with BEAR Nibbles over the coming months, as BEAR really understands how to make being healthy a little bit easier and a whole lot tastier. BEAR believes in going the extra mile to ensure kids are both healthy and happy and has recently launched its  Little Paws Outdoors Campaign,  in partnership with The Wildlife Trusts, to make it a little bit easier and a…

  • a beach themed mud kitchen Invitation to play
    Kids crafts - Nature crafts

    Invitation to play – a beach themed mud kitchen

    August 7, 2016 - By 

    Our homemade mud kitchen has been getting a lot of use this year. To mix it up a little I thought I would set up an invitation to play for my children, using some of the treasure we brought back from the beach earlier this year. Every year we try to have a holiday by the sea and this year we brought back a lot of it with us. As we were packing up the car the children were still slipping sea glass and shaped pebbles into their bags, desperate to bring a little of their holiday back to London…

  • Sun catchers from nature
    crafts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts - tutorial

    Sun catchers from nature {inspired by Puffin Rock}

    June 7, 2016 - By 

    Do your children enjoy Puffin Rock? It’s narrated by Chris O’Dowd and stars 12 year old Kate McCafferty from Derry as the voice of Oona. Puffin Rock follows the funny adventures of a family of puffins who live on a beautiful Irish island. Oona, is a smart young puffling, eager to learn and explore. She shares her escapades on Puffin Rock, with her sweet little brother, Baba, and all their friends. The show is a charming mix of natural history facts, pre-school learnings, relationship dynamics and humour. My 4 year old loves Puffin Rock so I’m really pleased the new series launched…

  • Halloween crafts - Handmade gifts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts

    Homemade Halloween treat bag

    September 27, 2015 - By 

    We’re lucky to live in a really family-friendly neighbourhood and the last couple of years the children have dressed up to go trick or treating. We know all our neighbours and they always have a few sweets for them when the children visit. I wanted to make some special treat bags with them and thought it would be fun to print out own using apples. Equipment needed to make a homemade Halloween treat bag: Craft paper box with twine handle from The Works Apple Orange acrylic paint and brush How to make a homemade Halloween treat bag: Apples make the…

  • Baker Ross Blogger Network - crafts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts - Summer

    Paper plate weather station

    July 8, 2015 - By 

    We were recently sent a box of arts and crafts supplies from Baker Ross. The children really enjoyed opening them as they sent a mixture of fun craft kits and supplies. These foam weather stickers immediately caught our eye. The pack contained around 100 of 24 different designs so the children had fun trying to find them all. I asked them what they wanted to create and they said paper plate weather stations. There aren’t many photographs because this is a quick and easy craft activity. Time to make: 10 minutes Equipment needed to make a paper plate weather station:…

  • mud cakes from the mud kitchen - the gingerbread house
    Crafts for kids - Kids crafts - Nature crafts

    Making mud cakes in our mud kitchen

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    We seem to be experiencing a mini-heatwave in the UK today which meant we have spent most of the day outdoors. My 3 year old loves playing fairies so we thought we would add to our fairy garden. So far we’ve built a fairy house in the garden, made a painted stone fairy door for a fairy house and painted pebble animals to live in the fairy garden. Today we had some messy sensory fun, making proper mud cakes for the fairies, in our tuff spot mud kitchen. Setting up a tuff spot mud kitchen It was really easy to…

  • how to build a fairy house - the gingerbread house
    Fairy garden crafts - Kids crafts - Nature crafts - tutorial

    How to build a fairy house

    March 12, 2015 - By 

    I’m really feeling Spring is on its way lately. The back door has been open letting some much needed fresh air in. We’ve packed our winter coats away and I’m really hoping the sunshine and warmer weather will stick around. The warmer weather means outdoor play! The children love to be outside after school and have been collecting all sorts of things for our Spring nature table. Today I’m joining in with Building Blocks and Acorns’ Outdoor Play Challenge. Every day in March a parent blogger is publishing their idea for a different way of playing outdoors. My 3 year…