Finding Fairy Boats

We made it out into nature this week, yay! In fact we only drove 10 minutes away to this gorgeous little creek.

We have had a considerable amount of rain of late so I wasn't sure how it would be. It definitely had alot more water running through there than normal. It took a bit of precision to get across without being washed away!

Whilst we didn't see any exciting wildlife, we had a carefree morning,

full of digging and water play

Dam building

Seeing who could make the biggest splashes, watching the ripples that the splashes made and listening to the sounds that the different sized rocks made as they hit the water.

and trying to catch things, anything really. When all of a sudden we spotted this,

a perfectly formed Fairy Leaf Boat. How very exciting. We were on the other side of the creek at this time and the water near where we were was far too deep to just wade across. B made a run for it before the little boat got washed further down stream.

I think I was more excited than the kids about our little find.

B attempted to make a sail but getting it to stand up was tricky. It was at that point that I suggested that he may have in fact stolen a Fairy's Boat and that they may not be happy when they realise. I'd say at this point he thought I was loopy but I'm not sure as I didn't receive any comment from him.

K on the other hand, her eyes lit up and her mind was a whirl. It was about then that the boat washed further downstream.

We went searching for Fairy evidence, this was all could find?

K loved this little piece of very slimy rock moss.

This little guy decided to join us for a snack. His friends watched in the distance.

Little C didn't want them to leave though.

Mummy look at the big truck going past!

Not sure how well you can see this but, look down below and you can see where the creek is and then how high the recent waters rose in this area, it must of been a gushing torrent running through here. This lead to many discussions about water and floods.

Another lovely morning with nature.

Annual Canvas Art

I have seen this idea around the blogosphere a couple of times in the past and wished that I knew about it years ago, when B was little. I think it is such a great idea! You can never keep all of your kids art work but keeping at least one canvas a year will always show how much they have grown and developed over the years. It's a bit like a class photo isn't it!

I've had these canvasses in the cupboard since before Christmas so it has taken us awhile to get around to them, but better late than never.

They had complete freedom for this exercise, my only stipulation was that they had to be all done within the same week. Call me silly I know but if I am going to do these on an annual basis then I wanted them all to be done at the same time. B dragged the chain, I don't think he really felt like doing it. He loves his art but he really has to be in the mood to produce spectacular results.

B's Mountain Scence

K will always take up the offer of painting, in fact I think she would paint all day if she could!

A couple of very glittery apple trees and an adorable little girl.

This was C's first real painting experience, on canvas and with a brush.

His masterpiece!

I can't wait to see what they come up with next year.

Free Printable: Alphabet Playdough Mats

I'm in the middle of doing the whole Alphabet of these, both Upper and Lower case letters.

They can also be used with a dry erase marker, after laminating, of course!

Kids love rolling out the playdough to make the letters and each sheet includes a few images to discuss whilst they are working with the playdough.

So far only Letter A has been uploaded. I will continue to amend the file as I complete the other letters.

Download here >>>

Hope your children enjoy them!