Easter Eggs

WITH all intention of dyeing them and hanging them on an Easter tree, for days we had been diligently blowing eggs and carefully saving the shells. It didn't happen, but we discovered that crayons make an excellent substitute for dye to bring colour to Easter baskets. And azalea bushes make great hiding places for the eggs!

Little Nest Eggs

NESTS are fun to build but not nearly as easy as you'd think. We tried several different sets of materials, starting with grass and glue. It was tricky, so we changed tacks to create two-dimensional grass nests for our new hanging chickens. Of course they then needed eggs, which we made by watercolouring paper and covering them with crushed egg shells. Not quite the nest project I had envisaged, but fun nevertheless.

Stick nests were trickier still until we discovered vines. These are wonderfully pliable and can be woven through and around all the brittle sticks that insist on breaking. After a few attempts and genuine awe for birds who accomplish such a sculpture with only feet and a beak, this nest gradually took form and now has pride of place on our nature table.

Mothering Sunday

THE European celebration known as 'Mothering Sunday' is now often called Mother's Day in the UK and elsewhere; however its origins differ from the American Mother's Day. Mothering Sunday is originally a Christian festival, which begun as far back as the sixteenth century, when parishioners returned to their 'mother church' on the fourth Sunday in Lent for worship. This inevitably developed into a time for family reunion, and later became the one day a year that young people in domestic service were given the day off. They would return home to visit their mothers, often bringing a simnel cake or flowers as a gift.

Sadly a visit home was not possible for us; however we had fun sifting through photos to create a photo calendar of extended family to send to three sets of grandparents. And we now have a lovely visual reminder of cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents across the sea.

Seed Pods

RECENTLY we've had fun observing and collecting some interesting seed pods. We discovered some large woody pods that produce a percussive rattle when shaken. When we used them as musical accompaniment at our circle time, we also discovered that if you shake them really wildly, they pop open like dragon mouths and spit out thousands of tiny seeds. This was the Empress Tree seed pod. Photo: http://tree-species.blogspot.com

The Tulip Tree not only has leaves shaped like a tulip, but after most of its cone-shaped seed pod has fallen off, the tulip-shaped base remains. Photo: www.wcisel.com

Though the delicious underfoot crunch of Autumn is behind us, we found ourselves crunching on long woody seed pods on a hike the other day. We have not been able to identify this one, but the long bean-like shapes made great boats for a game of 'pooh sticks'.

Just Kidding - I'm Back

Winter's back! Just when we were dusting off our 'welcome to spring' songs, the day grew greyer and greyer and all of a sudden... snow! Snow here in the south is as a rule not very impressive; however this time it put on a pretty good show. Of course all plans for the day were immediately shelved and instead on went the rain suits and boots. The afternoon was spent mostly outside, coming in just for warm apple juice, hot chocolate and snacks. Knowing that it may be gone the next day, we wanted to make the most of every snowflake. So in the evening, we went for a moonlit adventure (well there was no moon, but it was dark) and took a walk, acting out Ezra Jack Keats' A Snowy Day as we went:

"First he walked with his feet out like this.

Then he walked with his feet in like this.

Then he found something that made a third track. It was a stick.

A stick that was just right for beating a tree.

Plop! A lump of snow landed on his head."

Bannock and Fire Wood

THIS winter we've been enjoying our new fire pit. We haven't been camping much, but that doesn't mean we can't simulate parts of this experience right here at home. A couple of times we've got the grill out for sausages, then sat outside eating all bundled up in coats and hats around the fire. Then of course there are marshmallows and mulled wine. And bannock. I'd never heard this name until recently when I was looking for the recipe, though I was very familiar with the notion of twisting dough around a stick and toasting it over a campfire. Bannock has been a staple food of wilderness explorers, prospectors, soldiers, and trappers for centuries. The most simple bannock recipe consists of just flour and water. Our first attempt included seeds and dried fruits and I have to say it didn't turn out too well. The second time was better, though I'm going to have to work on the recipe to give the marshmallows any serious competition in the children's eyes.

What to do with the leftover fire wood? Well the stack outside our back door has been used for so many things. Habitat for all kinds of pretend creatures, roads for cars and lorries, picnic benches, chopping blocks and - my favourite - seesaws. Everyone had their own personal seesaw, including Baby.

Valentine's Tree

VALENTINE'S Day is not a festival we usually celebrate at home. However, when Emma was invited to bring 21 homemade valentines to school to exchange with classmates, my creative juices took over and we spent several afternoons creating pretty paper decorations to share.

We built on our recent discovery of rose windows and began by cutting out heart-shaped and circular frames. These were covered in a single layer of white tissue paper. Then we tore red, pink, white and lilac tissue paper into tiny pieces and stuck them all over the white background. The top frame piece sandwiched the mosaic together. Other decorations were made by cutting out heart and flower shapes and decorating them in different ways with paper scraps. To those who may protest this was supposed to be Emma's project, let me assure you many of the decorations were entirely her own creation. Her favourite response to any hint of direction these days is: "No Mama; people like to do what they like to do." How very right she is.