Outdoor fun

Thomas and Sophie playing with sand in the tuff tray

Summer days in the garden

Summer holidays are normally jam-packed with days out, meeting up with friends, weekends away, trips to see family and lots of other plans. This summer is a much quieter one…

Sophie adding sticks to her den

Building a den in the woods

One of the nice things about my husband working from home more is being able to take advantage of Thomas’s nap time and have some one-to-one time with Sophie. It’s…

Three leaves on a piece of paper with a rainbow print of each leaf above it

#30DaysWild – Rainbow leaf printing

We’re taking part in #30DaysWild once again this June. If you’ve not come across #30DaysWild before, it’s a challenge set by The Wildlife Trusts to do one wild thing each…

Sophie and Thomas playing together with a farm scene set up in the tuff tray

Outdoor learning and sensory play using the tuff tray

I bought our tuff tray a few years ago when the girls were very small. It’s been one of the most useful things I’ve bought for the children and has…

Me and my husband dancing together in the garden

Our VE Day 75 garden party

Like many people around the country, we marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day with a little party. We decided to have our party in our back garden rather than…

Two sheets on a tuff tray – one showing the parts of a flower, the other with flower parts stuck on and the names of each part written on

Outdoor learning: parts of a flower

One of the many things I’m enjoying about doing more outdoor learning with Sophie is teaching her about different plants and flowers. She’s getting quite good at identifying the different…

A wormery made from a plastic bottle with alternating layers of sharp sand and compost inside

Outdoor learning: making a wormery

Sophie has been enjoying our various outdoor learning sessions over the last few weeks. We’ve created a little ‘Muddy Puddles’ area in our back garden as a space for her…

A toy den made of sticks with Playmobil 123 and Duplo figures inside

Outdoor learning: making a toy den

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about doing home learning with Sophie has been thinking of ways to take our learning outdoors as much as possible. One of Sophie’s home…

Sophie holding liquid oobleck in her hands

Outdoor learning: exploring oobleck

Making oobleck has been on my list of things to do with Sophie for a while now. I thought it would be something fun to do as part of our…

Sophie playing outside the tepee in the garden

50 outdoor activities to do with kids in the garden

We’re all needing to stay much closer to home at present thanks to the coronavirus. Social distancing and self-isolation doesn’t have to mean being constantly cooped up inside the house…