Home Education – Project Ocean & Flotsam

We love using themes in our home education and The Ocean was no exception! I have seen Flotsam the book recommended a lot. It’s a visual book, no words. I wasn’t sure my kids would be interested but they loved it!

Flotsam is basically a story of a boy who finds an old box camera washed up on a beach, he gets the film developed and makes lots of discoveries before taking his own photo and throwing it back into the sea for someone else to discover.

When the book arrived I sourced an old family heirloom box camera to give the book some authenticity and really capture my boys imaginations.

The box camera was a hit and they spent a long time investigating it before we delved into the book.

There were so many untold stories and questions within the book that it really got their minds thinking and wondering. We told each other what we thought about each photograph within the book: location, age, profession, name. They thoroughly enjoyed this part.

I made up a few Flotsam Discovery boxes for the boys which included a photograph and a few clues as to what the person liked and/or their profession etc. I printed off a few factfiles for them to fill in about the person they had discovered.

One of our Flotsam discoveries was an engineer so we did some research on famous engineers and chose our favourite one to write a short bio on.

We then moved on to discussing the ocean and how important it is to take care of it. We watched the Blue Planet and researched ocean pollution. The boys decided to make their own posters promoting the welfare of the ocean.

We made a jelly fish out of a storage bag and an elastic band using blue coloured water in a glass jar. This was really effective.

We explored the layers of the ocean and then made our own with the corresponding sea creatures.

We explored the coral reef and the dangers it faces today due to water pollution. We discussed coral bleaching. The boys then used watercolours and charcoal to show the effects of coral bleaching.

Bioluminescence was really interesting topic the boys were keen to understand, once we had the basics we then decided to do a few little projects using neon paint and a black light. We created a puffer fish and neon jars.

One of my boys was really keen to make a felt sea creature so that’s exactly what we did, but first we had to practice a few stitches. Then we designed our felt creatures and made a template. We cut them, sewed them, stuffed them.

We even took our theme into our cooking and we made sea creature shaped bread!

We really enjoy art here so I couldn’t let the topic go by without a little art history! Silhouette art was our topic. We researched and wrote a few bios, then had a go at creating a sea creature silhouette.

This ocean themed learning went really well and we all enjoyed it so much!

I really recommend the Flotsam book!

Home Education – Project Dragon

We have home educated now for 17 months and we are loving every minute. It was the best decision we have ever made. It took a while to find our feet and de-school but it’s safe to say we know what works now and what doesn’t.

Our home learning is usually based around a theme or two, and I plan a couple weeks in advance which really helps us. I follow a lot of teachers and home educators for inspiration, but my favourite to follow is Teacher Glitter over on Twitter. Her ideas are amazing and this is where Project Dragon came from! She inspired us immensely!

Project Dragon was so well received by my boys despite them being ten and eight! You’re never too old for a bit of magic!

We’ve learnt how to paint in watercolours, draw in pastels, we’ve modelled with clay, researched artists & places, we’ve used our imagination, we have written poetry & stories, we have invented, we have experimented and read books, and we have had fun!

Having Dragons as a theme has really given us purpose in every area of our learning.

After looking at different types of dragons and dragon eggs on the internet we discovered Andy and The Dragons of Wales. His illustrations are incredible created!

I created a paper mache dragon egg to getvis into our project…they weren’t sure what to believe, but believe they did!

Paper Mache Dragon Egg

We researched the anatomy of a chicken egg and labelled all of the parts from memory. We used our exercise books to record the 4 stages of a dragons egg with labelled drawings . We designed our own dragon eggs and started a display board.

We then discussed the myth of dragons eggs exploding if they get too hot. This led us into our experiment testing out the effects of hot and cold on playdough. Twinkl had a great printable for this we used!

Hot & Cold Science Experiment with Playdoh

I then challenged them to invent a machine that would keep a dragon egg cool so that it wouldn’t explode. They got to work straight away thinking about the materials they would need and how their machines would work.

Dragon Egg Cooling Invention

I created a little box for our dragon egg ready for him to hatch…and hatch he did!

Pet Dragon

He became our new pet for a few days to take care of. He came with a new book about dragons by the wonderful Andy Shepherd, a letter and some hot chocolate sachets. The kids couldn’t decide on a name so they wrote a few and we pulled the name out of a hat; Rhaegal! The book, The Boy Who Grew Dragons, was to read each night as a family.

We took part in a dragon drawing tutorial online and then practised our watercolour skills again.

Dragon Art with Watercolours

Dragons are often found in Wales (didn’t you know!) so we decided to explore Wales, a country we love and visit often!

We decided to explore eyes as part of Project Dragon. We researched eye anatomy and labelled diagrams. We then decided to research artists who involved eyes as an integral part of their work. We came across Margaret Keane and we wrote a short bio on her through independent research.

We drew our own dragon eyes and used watercour on them. The boys knew the anatomy of a human eye so they incorporated the parts they wanted to. Then we progressed to clay dragon eyes.

Clay Dragon Eye Sculpting

With our whole theme being magical I challenged the boys to create a magic jar. Once they had created them they used them as a story creator. Their imaginations ran wild!

Magic Jars
Magic Jar Story Writing

This theme has worked so well and the possibilities are endless! I really recommend trying out themes!

One of our next big themes is The Ocean! We cannot wait to share it with you!

Easy Activities For Young Kids

Whether it’s a rainy day or a lazy day we all find it hard to occupy our children without it costing the earth. Over the last 18 months I have found numerous activities that my children love that are relatively cheap or even free! Here are the top 24 (two per month at least):

Rock painting – pretty self explanatory. It kept my children occupied for over thirty minutes. You can varnish the rocks after they’re dry and keep them on your garden.

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Gluing & Sticking – My boys love to use glue. I usually cut out a random animal or mode of transport shape and give them lots of different things to decorate the shape with (dried pasta, foil, lollipop sticks, buttons, sequins etc).

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Making a stick man – My children love these. You literally pick some sticks and fasten them together with pipe cleaners or string.

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Treasure Hunt – My children love treasure hunts. I draw them a map each and then plant treasure around the house or garden. I use gold coins, or chocolate eggs, but anything will do.

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Shaving Foam – My boys love getting messy, so shaving foam is one of their favourite activities. I hide plastic dinosaurs and figures in the foam and make snow mountains. They love it!

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They also love clapping their hands together in the foam to create a snow blizzard!

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Fruit fondue – Melted chocolate, cubes of fruit, and a blunt skewer. My kids love this!

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Decorating eggs – You can use foam eggs or real eggs. My children love painting eggs and hiding them around the garden for each other to find.

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Floor doodles – I use a roll of old wallpaper for this, just turn it over. I give my children a tub of markers and chalks and let them draw away. They usually end up drawing a volcano and river and then put their small world figures on there.

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Pancake creations – My children love pancakes, and they love making them. I usually lay all the syrups, creams, sauces, marshmallows, sprinkles and fruit out for them to create their own pancake dessert once we’ve made them.

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Fun in the tub – My children love waterplay especially bubbles in the bath. Add some funnels and you’ve got an hour of fun!

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Make your own popsicles – You can buy these popiscle moulds from discount stores everywhere and they cost next to nothing. We add milk, yoghurt, jelly, candy, and fruit to ours.

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Sink waterplay – My two year old loves nothing more than pretending to wash the dishes. He’d stay in there all day if I let him. Plastic dishes and cutlery of course!

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Paper plate decorating – Totally self explanatory and so quick and easy too!

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Salt dough handprints – My kids love salt dough creations. They love mixing the dough, sculpting with the dough, cooking the dough, and then painting the dough. This activity passes a couple of hours. The recipe I use is literally one cup of plain flour, half a cup of salt, and half a cup of cold water all mixed together then kneaded to a smooth dough. I then cook mine in the microwave once it’s scuplted for around seven minutes but it depends on your microwave. Just check it at three minute intervals until hard and dry. Then cool and decorate.

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Printing – My kids love to dip things in paint and print them. You can use anything aswell as real stamps; fruit, toys, sponges.

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Tape track – This is so easy and provides hours of fun! I turned my whole lounge into a race track using tape! Laughter and fun galore!

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Sock puppets – All you need is a sock, googly eyes and other pieces of fabric or paper to cut into ear shapes etc.

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Pizza creations – My children love making pizza for dinner! It gets them involved with their meals too. Just give them a few ingredients to choose from.

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Footprint and handprint wreath – This wreath activity can be used all year round if you change the colours to reflect the season or occasion. My kids loved printing their feet and hands.
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Cornflour play – Cornflour mixed with cold water is such a bizarre combination. Have you tried it? It solidifies as you collect it up then turns back into a liquid and runs through your fingers. My children love it. I’m not gonna lie though it is very messy, but worthwhile!

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Spoon animals – Old wooden spoons and cut outs of animal ears and noses etc. It keeps my children occupied for ages as they use them for puppet shows after too!

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Clothes peg trees – I did this at Christmas time with my kids, but again, you can change the layout and colour to be season appropriate. My children loved making these trees and were so proud we displayed them on the kitchen door.

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Salt dough gift tags and hanging ornaments – See salt dough recipe above. We made stars, cars, and gingerbread men here. Don’t forget to punch a hole through each one before cooking so that you can thread ribbon through.

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Teddy bears picnic – This idea is such fun. My children constantly ask if we can have a teddy bears picnic. Sometimes we have it in the lounge in our beach shelter!

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I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to get creative with your children. You don’t need to be Van Gough or Master Chef! Have a try. Your kids will love them!

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activity

We love the story about The Very Hungry Caterpillar in our house we always have, and most likely always will. Over the years we have based so many activities on this story from paintings to taste testing, and this time story stones and play dough.

My six year is becoming an amazing reader, he is fascinated by books, and really gets lost in the story, I love watching him whilst he is reading.

I decided to make some story stones to use alongside The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a way to extend the story further, and to also help my little boy who fidgets quite a lot. I added in some coloured play dough, a piece of bark, and a laminated leaf.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Setup

I took a few stones away to aid imagination. I then invited my six year old to come over and read the story with me if he wanted to, he excitedly obliged but told me he would be reading it to me. When he reached a part in the story he thought there should be a stone for, without prompting, he placed the stone in a timeline order.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activity

When he came to a part and there was no stone he decided to use the play dough to make his own interpretation i.e: the little caterpillar, and the leaf he nibbled through.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activity

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By the end of the book we had the whole story lined up with story stones and play dough and a beautiful stone butterfly on a piece of bark at the end. He was so proud. It really bought the story alive for him.

The very hungry caterpillar

This activity is so simple, yet so effective, and my six year old really enjoyed it. This was one of our favorite story themed activities so far, along with our Gingerbread Man activity we did a while ago.

Here’s our ‘stone how-to’:

Or stones were so easy to make, we simply painted on flat grey pebbles with acrylic paint and then once dry we outlined them with a permanent black marker pen. After a few hours to ensure the pen was dry we gave them a coating of matte Modge Podge. We then left them overnight to dry thoroughly. The possibilities are endless with story stones.

This activity is part of the National Reading Month Book Inspired Blog Hop hosted by a wonderful lady called Amy over at Learning and Exploring Through Play. Go take a look at all of the other wonderful ideas to bring books to life.

National Reading Month (1)

Transport Themed Activity

When your children are under the weather you look for ways to keep them occupied that require a minimal set up and that use the least energy possible for them.

My two boys love cars, and trucks, and trains, and tracks, and roads. They also love making a mess. Today they were both under the weather so I began thinking about what activity we could do to brighten the afternoon that involved some of their favourite things.

After a quick look through my Facebook newsfeed I had a few ideas. I decided to upon a transport themed sensory activity.

I decided on using our puzzle track, 4 different modes of transport, and 4 different items that were very different in appearance and texture. I chose water beads, cotton wool balls, dried animal shaped pasta, and small plastic bottle tops.

Transport sensory activity set up

The aim of the activity was to fill up your mode of transport with your chosen items and then transport them along the track to the empty plates, and then carefully drop off your load. Along the way we placed stars, and if you managed to get all of your load to it’s destination carefully you were able to claim the star as a reward.

Transport Sensory Activity track set up

This transport themed sensory activity was a big hit with my two boys, they had so much fun!

I love watching them play, and engage in activities that strengthen their skills without them even realising it.

This activity was so good for their fine motor skills for various reasons; the track was a puzzle and they had to keep rebuilding it, they used scoops of various sizes to manipulate the objects into their chosen mode of transport, and they had to use precise movements in order to get their star reward.

Transport Themed Activity for Children

This transport themed sensory activity was also great for their hand-eye co-ordination. They had to plan their route along the track to drop off their objects. They even started counting the objects they had, bringing maths into the activity voluntarily.

Transport themed sensory activity for children

They had so much fun, and it is such a versatile activity – you could use anything around your home to recreate this transport themed sensory activity. We will definitely be making this a regular activity in our home!

Transport themed sensory activity by Swords & Snoodles

Why not have a go at creating your own transport themed sensory activity?

Jelly Play

We love messy activities in this house.

Here’s a quick photo blog post of our jelly play today.

We went on a bug and sea creature hunt! My two boys really enjoyed themselves! We used a mini beast hunting set, and some measuring scoops too.

We filled some cups and jugs with jelly mix and added our bugs and sea creatures. We set them overnight in the refrigerator. Once they were set we rinsed the outer cup with hot water and poured the contents into a large storage box.

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My two boys loved rescuing the bugs and discovering sea creatures. We used scoops, magnifying glasses, tweezers, and bug catchers.

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This jelly play activity is great for exploring textures and smells, and is also great for strengthening fine motor skills too. It’s a fun activity, and doesn’t cost very much at all. Why not give it a go?

How to Make a Fairy Garden

Over the last 12 months I’ve noticed that Fairy Gardens have become increasingly popular, from tiny fairy doors on trees, to extravagant forests dedicated to our fairy friends.

We’ve visited several places that have had some sort of fairy garden, and it’s always proved a magical experience for my boys.

With all of this in mind I decided to make our own Fairy Garden with them.

Here’s how we made our own Fairy Garden.

We used a large black flower pot for the base, and filled it with heavy stones, and the soil. We visited several cheap, local shops and chose items we thought would look ‘fairy’. We brought wooden border roll, a stone mushroom, a stone mini-log burner, a wooden bird house (which we didn’t end up using), artificial flowers, large stones, small flat pebbles, glitter, scattering gems, a solar light, mini windmills, blue gravel, stone gravel, decorative pegs, a mini gnome, and a tiny wooden flower.

Fairy Garden Kit Fairy Garden Kit

We filled the black flower pot with heavy stones to about halfway and then filled the rest with soil. I used the wooden border roll to create a sloped pathway by filling it in with soil on a gradient. We added artificial flowers at the back and used some blue grass samples to create a ‘magical gem filled pond’. We used blue gravel, blue plastic ice cubes, and scatter gems for our pond. We used some wooden sticks to create a dam at one end of the pond, as requested by my four year old! We also used a green grass sample to place at the bottom of the pathway. I used permanent markers to draw doors and windows onto our mini burner and our mushroom, and added spots for a toadstool effect. We put these at the top of our sloped pathway. We also purchased a fantastic plant marker that we wrote ‘Fairy Garden’ on.

How to make a Fairy Garden Fairy Garden Ornaments

We used our smaller flat pebbles to mark the pathway to the fairy houses, and we placed our solar light in the centre of the houses. We decorated the area with flower pegs, windmills, and a mini wooden flower. We added a gnome and a pot of scattering gems too which my four year old called ‘the fairy treasure’. We filled in the blank pieces of soil with gravel, and then we sprinkled fairy dust over it all (glitter).

Fairy Garden Ornament Ideas DIY Fairy Garden

Here is our finished Fairy Garden below. My boys absolutely love it, and they keep checking for fairy friends! It was a great addition to our garden, and was a lot of fun making it. You can use anything to make your Fairy Garden, thats the great thing about DIY projects! The only limit is your imagination.

Fairy Garden Ideas
Have a go at your own Fairy Garden and share your pictures with me on Facebook or Twitter, I’d love to see them!

Finished Fairy Garden

 

Happy Fairy Garden making!

This post was due to go live on 21st March 2015, but I postponed it after a family emergency. My nan sadly passed away the next day. I’ve decided to dedicate this project to her, and keep this Fairy Garden in her memory. RIP Nanny B xx

Dinosaur Activity – DIY Fossils

My two boys love playing with dinosaurs, and they love making dinosaur lands with volcanoes, and hidden dinosaur bones. They have fantastic imaginations, so I thought I’d make their dinosaur adventures even more exciting today by making their very own dinosaur fossils. This dinosaur activity was a huge hit with them!

We made our fossils by using a basic salt dough recipe that we always use; 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of plain flour, and 3 quarters of a cup of cold water mixed in gradually.

dinosaur activity diy fossils

We divided the dough into golf ball size pieces and flattened them out to around 0.5cms in thickness.

My boys then used their plastic dinosaurs to imprint onto the flattened pieces of salt dough. They used the dinosaur tails, feet, bodies, and heads. They also used plastic forks to give the fossils a bone texture too.

dinosaur activity diy fossils dinosaur activity diy fossils

We popped the salt dough into the microwave for 4 minutes, and then checked them, they were still a little bit wet so we popped them back in for 30 second bursts until they hardened. We let them cool and then we dabbed a little white and brown paint on them to give them an authentic look.

dinosaur activity diy fossils dinosaur activity diy fossils

My boys were so excited to bury the fossils and rediscover them in their self-made dinosaur land in my lounge.

dinosaur activity diy fossils

This dinosaur activity is so easy, and very cheap, give it a go!