Miniature Fairy Herb Garden

Looking for a creative planting activity for preschoolers? How about creating your own mini fairy herb garden! These are actually great for any age, & a neat way to encourage an interest in plants & caring for living things, as well as exploring creativity & design.

For our fairy gardens we used small plastic dessert dishes, we found 4 for £1 in a local pound store. I made a few drainage holes in the base using a bradawl, & Minnie filled each pot with compost.

I set out a few fairy themed items including; small pebbles, gemstones, sparkly butterfly & foam flower stickers, glitter covered sticks, & cocktail umbrellas which make perfect fairy parasols!

She had a wonderful time interdependently decorating her fairy gardens, using the pebbles & gemstones to create paths, & adding her stickers to decorate the sides of the dish.

Any herbs can be grown in these fairy gardens, but we chose sweet basil & chives as they both grow fairly quickly when placed on a warm, sunny windowsill. Minnie sprinkled the seeds over her gardens & gently covered them over with a little more compost (she made two gardens so added one set of herbs to each pot). She added a couple of glittery sticks to create a fairy woodland, & a cocktail umbrella fairy parasols before spritzing the garden with a little water. Minnie was then ready for her favourite part of the whole activity!

No fairy garden would be complete without... fairy dust! I used fine glitter (pink of course) which made a perfect light pixie dust, & added it to a small fancy pot I've had hanging around for ages. When Minnie caught sight of the pot & I told her what was in it she thought it was truly magic!

She took a pinch of fairy dust & sprinkled it over her mini indoor garden. Her face was a picture! A fairy even flew into the garden to see what was happening!

These mini gardens are currently soaking up the Spring sunshine on our kitchen windowsill, & the herbs are just starting to peek through the soil. Minnie has been eagerly watering & watching the gardens, & with the addition of toy fairies & pixie figures theses little planters have evolved into small world play scenes! She's been careful not to squash any seedlings, & has been inviting the fairy figures to water the garden with her! So cute to watch! 

I love these simple seedling pots, they've already inspired so much creativity & imagination in our house! When our herbs have grown we're planning to transplant them into our herb garden outside, which hopefully the fairies will visit sometime too!  

Looking for other indoor gardening ideas? 

You might like this post or be interested in this. 

If you're a fairy fan too, check out this mini bunting we made for our outdoor fairy garden & our upcycled toadstools.

Playing inside a Book - 100 Days of Play

 Today we're excited to be taking part in the 100 Days of Play blog hop organised by Sun Scholars & Life at the Zoo. It features 100 bloggers from around the world sharing different play based activities over 100 days! Each activity offers a simple & fun idea for you to share quality time together with your kiddos.

Today we're sharing one of our favourite activities - playing inside a book. Minnie loves cuddling up & sharing a story with me (I love this precious time we share too) but she also loves retelling favourite stories & acting them out. With a few props gathered from around the house we've created simple play set ups which have helped bring familiar stories to life! All you really need is a little imagination & time set aside from the daily chores & routine to enjoy this magical play time together.

Playing alongside your child is a great way to observe their language, knowledge, & imagination, & of course it's great for creating special memories too. The play set ups don't have to be elaborate or take ages to put together, they just need a few items which are relevant to the story & props which will spark your child's imagination.

Blankets, towels & bed sheets are fantastic for transforming every day objects (such as sofas, tables) into something completely different. Check out our snow bear cave below, we just moved the back sofa cushions to the sides of the sofa & added sheets to create this chilly winter cave, perfect for exploring "The Bear in the Cave" by Michael Rosen or "The Ice Bear's Cave" by Mark Haddon.

Or how about using a cardboard box to create a cave. We used this one when we reenacted "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen.

A few strips of material / paper hung over a length of string tied to a couple of chairs can transform your living room into a jungle!

Great for playing 'peekaboo' & exploring books such as "Walking Through the Jungle" by Julie Lacome, "Rumble in the Jungle" by Giles Andreae, or "The Animal Boogie" by Debbie Harter.

How about going fishing, swimming or even paddling in your own river/lake/pond or sea! Again we just spread a few bed sheets, blankets & pillows over the living room floor & suddenly we were splashing & sploshing in the water! Any underwater tale would be great to play out here.

Collect a few simple props of differing sizes along with 3 teddy bears & you have a "Goldilocks & the 3 Bears" play set to share.

The play set up below was put together by my 3yr old after we had read "The Snail & the Whale" by Julia Donaldson. To some it may not look like an ocean & shoreline, but this play set up had her captivated for a whole afternoon as she retold key parts of the story.

The simplest items can be used to transport you into another world! How about this cardboard box truck Minnie used to reenact "Duck in the Truck" by Jez Alborough

Or these tp rolls used after reading "The Treasure Hunt" by Nick Butterworth.

So why not check out your child's favourite book & have a hunt around the house for a few play props. Give yourself 30 mins (or more if you can) to play alongside your kiddo & play inside a storybook together. If you let your child take the lead, & listen to their thinking as they play I bet you'll discover something new about them, & you. I wonder what adventures lie ahead for you both? What characters you'll meet, or lands you'll explore together?

Forget the washing, cleaning, & the humdrum for at least half an hour & escape with your little person into their world of wonder & imagination... it's well worth it.

To discover the other fantastic play based activities check out the list below, & why not join in the 100 Days of Play Challenge.

100 Days of Play Blog Hop
Sharing simple ideas on how to connect with your children through play!
New ideas shared each day from 4/1 - 7/16.  

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Grow an Easter (Resurrection) Garden

With Easter just a week away it's an ideal time to create & grow an Easter Garden / Resurrection Garden. This version uses only a few items most of which are recycled, & is simple enough for young children to create. 

To make each garden we used:
A clean recycled plastic food tray
Plastic cup
2 wooden skewers
3 food twist ties
Compost
A few small stones/gravel
1 large pebble
Grass seed
A section of kitchen roll

We started by adding handfuls of compost to our plastic tray. To make a tomb for the garden I cut the plastic cup in half & Minnie added one section to the tray.
 

To make the 3 crosses for the garden we carefully cut up the wooden skewers & used the food twist ties to join the sticks together. (I initially secured the sticks with string, but the food ties were much easier for little hands to manipulate.)

We covered the plastic cup (tomb) with more compost & created a hill shape, before adding our crosses to the garden.

Minnie sprinkled the grass seed over the compost, & cut 2 small strips of white kitchen roll (to represent strips of linen) & added these to the inside of the tomb. To create a garden path she arranged the small stones & used the larger pebble to seal the tomb. We've placed our garden where it can get plenty of sunlight, & sprayed it with water daily.

When Easter Day arrives we'll roll the stone to one side to reveal the empty tomb. All we have to do now is just wait for the grass to grow & turn our garden green.

You could of course add more decoration to your garden; moss, small pebbles, small plants etc. But I like the simplicity of this garden. It's dull, bleak appearance before the grass seeds germinate resembles the bleakness of Good Friday when all seemed lost. And as the grass grows it reminds us that what once seemed dead & bleak on Good Friday, is well & truly transformed & alive on Easter Day!

To explore the Easter Story alongside our Easter garden we've also been sharing these picture books together.

"The Easter Story" by Juliet David & Jo Parry

"The Amazing Journey" by Suzie Poole

"The Road to Easter Day" by Jan Godfrey & Marcin Piwowarski

"My Very First Easter Story Sticker Book" by Lois Rock & Alex Ayliffe

A Taste of Spring! Chocolate Gardens

These cute little gardens are a real Spring treat! Easy for children to create for the rest of the family, & a fun way to celebrate this beautiful time of year.

To make our Spring gardens we used recycled dessert pots. Yoghurt pots would work just as well, but these transparent pots allow you to see each layer of the dessert garden as it grows!

We also used:

1 tablespoon raisins / sultanas

1 packet of Chocolate Angel Delight (& milk)

1 chocolate brownie / cupcake crumbled into a breadcrumb consistency

1 tablespoon Coco Pops (or any other breakfast cereal)

A handful of desiccated coconut

A few drops of green food colouring

Mini chocolate beans to decorate

We started by making the grass for our garden, & added a handful of coconut & a few drops of green food colouring to a plastic food bag, then rubbed together until the colour was even.

Then it was time to plant our garden! We started by adding a layer of raisins & sultanas to the bottom of our pot followed by the Coco Pops. After mixing our chocolate mousse we added a layer  to the pot & then sprinkled over the crumbled cake. These ingredients can be added in any order your kids wish, & of course they can decide how much of each ingredient they wish to add, it really doesn't matter too much about the quantity of each, our ingredients are simply a suggestion. If your kids aren't keen on any of the above ingredients they can be substituted for many others, such as ice-cream, Oreos, nuts, or ginger / digestive biscuits.

When we'd finished adding the ingredients our garden dessert looked like this. Looking at the different layers gave us an opportunity to briefly talk about various soil layers beneath the ground, & which animals / insects lived there. We talked about the rocks (raisins) at the bottom of our pot & how we'd have to dig through the other layers to reach them. 

We topped off our soil with our green grass & we were ready to add some Spring accessories!

The mini chocolate beans created simple flower shapes & were great for exploring patterns. We couldn't resist adding a little ladybird (made from red fondant icing & decorated with an icing pen) to enjoy our colourful garden.

Having talked about which animals/minibeasts lived in the soil Minnie was keen to add a worm to her garden! A jelly sweet snake made a perfect worm, & we added a spoon garden spade ready to get digging!

These cute little Easter chicks (from The Works) fitted perfectly into our Spring garden, along with a couple of mini chocolate eggs.

These fun Spring themed desserts are a quick & easy activity for kids to enjoy over the Easter Hols. 

50 Outdoor Activities for Kids this Spring!

Spring is just around the corner & to celebrate we're sharing 50 Outdoor Activities for Kids to enjoy this season! It's a great time of year to explore & perfect for encouraging plenty of physical play, as well as discovering all that nature has to offer!

So here are our 50 favourite activities to enjoy out & about this Springtime!

1. Spring is the perfect time to grow your own fruit or vegetables. (If you have limited space here are a few ideas to inspire.)

2. Grab your wellies & splash, jump & play in the mud.

3. Listen to the trees in a spring breeze.

4. Help peg out the washing outside!

5. Make a bug hotel for local insects.

6. Plant some sunflower seeds. Why not give some to friends & have a sunflower growing competition

7. Have a jumping race around a local park. How many jumps does it take to get to the bench, the path, etc.

8. Blow bubbles with a friend & take it in turns to run & catch them.

9. Grab a bike, scooter or trike & set off on an adventure with all your family.

10. Go puddle jumping... & encourage the adults to join in too!

11. Go on a snowdrop walk with your family, or see if you can spot them as you walk around your neighbourhood.

12. Make a rainbow wand & dance with it around your garden or local park.

13. Plant some Spring flowers in a container & take them to a neighbour as a gift.

14. Scatter some wildflower seeds around your garden to help attract insects this summer.

15. Make a simple birdbath.

16. Go on a worm hunt.

17. Visit your local beach.

18. Wrap up in your waterproofs & go exploring in the rain.

19. Make a den with your family in a nearby woodland.

20. Play with indoor toys outside! (Plastic toys are ideal for this.)

21. Have a picnic or snack outside in the Spring sunshine.

22. Go on an evening walk & watch the sunset.

23. Instead of having a playdate indoors why not go on a walk together!

24. Climb up a hill... roll down a hill!

25. Collect sticks.

26. Play 'Pooh Sticks' over a bridge with your family & friends.

27. Go on an Easter egg hunt.

28. Paint outside walls, sheds & garden fences with paintbrushes & water.

29. Wash the windows! So much soapy fun to be had!

30. Make a kite & explore what happens when you run with it on a windy day.

31. Visit your local playground.

32. Discover newly born chicks.

33. Hold a Spring tea party for favourite toys

34. Make Easter/Spring Hats & have an Easter bonnet parade outdoors

35. Go on a blossom hunt & make blossom confetti! Throw it, catch it, dance in it!

36. Take a walk to feed the ducks... & Spring ducklings.

37. Hug a tree! What signs of Spring can you see on the tree?

38. Collect a favourite pebble on a walk & turn it into a Pebble Pal!

39. Keep bubble bottles & turn them into a Spring wind chimes

40. Go on a Spring hunt looking for signs of Spring?

41. Visit a nearby pond with family & go pond dipping. Can you find any tadpoles?

42. Play 'hide & seek' in the Spring sunshine.

43. Search for daisies & make a daisy chain.

44. Create some Land Art with items collected from a nature walk.

45. Take a large cardboard box outside to play in... what will it turn into?

46. Explore a bluebell wood (April/May)

47. Look for moths/butterflies hiding under plants.

48. Make a simple bird feeder!

49. Climb a tree!

50. Visit a local woodland & go bird spotting. Which birds can your see or hear?

You can download a printable list of these activities here.

We're excited to be joining in the Spring bloghop organised by the lovely Angelique Felix & Rainy Day Mum. Check out the other great blogs taking part from around the world & their fabulous Spring & Easter activities.

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