Skittles Experiment

We did the Skittles experiment.We put skittles in a circle on a white plate and then poured on some warm water. Pickle was really excited to be able to do an experiment with us all. He was very happy taking photographs of the result with his own camera, received for Christmas.

We talked a little about the colours dissolving in the water and looked at what happened to the colours as they started to mix. Pickle had a grand old time and enjoyed seeing how the skittles themselves had dissolved later in the afternoon.

Until next time....S x

Leg Warmers

Penguin is a Kangeroo baby. Ooo mixture of animals. I wonder what at Kangeroo Penguin would look like.....Anyway. She spends a lot of time in the carrier. Our carrier of choice right now is the Lillebaby. I love it.

Through the winter she has been in a slightly padded puddle suit or a reindeer all in one to keep her toasty when on my back. She feels the cold so I like her to be wrapped up warm.

Now the weather is getting warmer (she says hopefully) or on days when we are in and out of buildings a lot (like a visit to the Natural History Museum) the all in ones can get a bit too warm. However, her little dangley legs can still get a bit chilly. So we have gone for the Hat, Fleece and leg warmer look....

I whipped these up pretty quickly. They are quite big around her legs so I can still pull them on and off over her shoes which is very handy. I think they could do with being longer but they certainly keep the bit between trousers and socks toasty. I would definitely make more. These are worked up in Stylecraft Special DK, I think a wool blend for extra warmth would be fab. Maybe for Autumn when we are on the nursery run...

Until next time... S x

Fairy Dough

I made some Fairy dough for the kids. Just cornflour and hair conditioner. I thought it would be a nice little sensory activity. Poor Penguin doesn't get nearly as much sensory play as Pickle used to. The groups we go to now don't have any sensory play and when she was little we were limited by space when we were living in a very small flat. When we moved we were finding our feet. We did a little in the summer but Penguin was so terrible for putting everything in her mouth I was nervous to try many things I would have done with Pickle any day of the week.

So I mixed up the conditioner, 2 parts cornflour to one part conditioner. I then tipped it into a box to let them play. Penguin tried to eat it. Of course. I thought we might be coming out the other side of putting everything in her mouth. She usually takes one look at dinner and says 'no, no, no' before pushing the plate away. Sigh. Life and mind of a toddler. Who can fathom.

They played quite nicely with it for maybe 5 min. So I should probably count that as a win....there wasn't a huge quantity and I left it really open. Next time I will set up with more spoons and containers maybe with a bigger volume. I am all for not wasting so I put it in a pot. I have no idea if it will be of any use....only time will tell. Have any of you had any success with Fairy Dough? Any ideas?

That is all for now! Until next time. S x

Ventura Wildlife Park

We live in Hertfordshire, UK at the moment. Not too far from us is the Van Hage flagship store in Great Amwell. We moved here around 10 months ago and heard about this place fairly early on as they had a very nice and free animal garden. The children loved visiting here and they had some interesting animals to see. Over the winter it has been closed for refurbishment, their enclosures needed a fair amount of work to repair and improve them as they have been well used and in a few cases have seemed a little crowded. 

We have missed visiting the Animal Garden as it is quite a nice little trip to get Pickle and Penguin outside and they love seeing the animals. It is also a lovely free activity as nowadays finances are always on the tight side. Anyway, they haven't given a date for when it will reopen so we decided to visit the Ventura Wildlife park which is on the Van Hage site to see what it was like. We had a lovely family afternoon out.

It was a lovely little trip. It is not very big, a modest little zoo with an enthusiastic staff. Tickets are not expensive and they have a few different animals to see with plans for expansion. The enclosures are clean and well kept and as it is a new zoo it all looks rather smart. I would recommend a visit for young ones if you have some time to spare but don't want a full day out or don't have the budget for a larger zoo. 

We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a baby wallaby sticking its little head out of its' mothers pouch. 

Not the best photo I am afraid. It is always rather tricky taking photos in zoos! We met a few animals at one of the keeper talks and saw some animals I haven't seen before. It was small enough even for Penguin to walk all the way around and she enjoyed the bird enclosures very much. 

We decided to upgrade my ticket and Pickles ticket to an annual pass so we can pop in as often as we like. Perfect for an afternoon out and as Penguin is still free I can take her whilst Pickle is at preschool!

Whilst we were getting our annual pass I had a little chat with the owner of the zoo and it was lovely to hear about how enthusiastic he is about the conservation work they are doing. I am looking forward to seeing them expand and enjoying many visits over the next year!

Me xx

Painting on Foil

Penguin is not very good with the cold. She is still little and is quite slight. In this weather we can't generally stay out for very long before taking her back inside to warm up. Last week was a welcome break from the icy weather but one colder day we decided to get on with some painting. 

I am rather a Pintrest fan and have seen various Pins about painting on foil so I thought we would give it a try. I rolled a long sheet of foil out on the kitchen floor, taped the ends down and let the kids go at it with a brush each and a few colours of paint. Here we used green, blue, white and a blue glitter paint.

It was quite fun, although I am not sure how different Pickle and Penguin found it from painting on paper. Pickle later in the week asked to to painting. On paper. Penguin was a little more intrigued sticking her finger in and sliding it in the wet paint, although she ended up sticking her painty finger in her mouth (typical) and then trying to walk all over it with her socks still on (Mummy Error!!!).

I think it will be a nice activity to try again when Pickle is big enough to think about shapes and to look at some examples of Swirly Monet painting. I have seen swirly patterns work very nicely on Pintrest....here and here are just two examples.

Flapjacks

I am always looking for yummy healthy snacks for the kids. I quite like to keep sugar down, particularly for Penguin and we do enjoy a spot of cooking. 

Last week we made some tasty flapjacks. They were no added sugar, packed with fruit, seeds and oats. And Pickle and Penguin love them, they gobble them up quick as a flash. 

Perfect, tasty snacks, guilt free Mummy. 

As you can see it didn't take long before we were tucking in. They are a good balance of being clean, not too sticky and not too crumbly. The toddlers are not very good and using plates properly!

So my recipe, it has been developed over time. I usually judge by eye but I have measured and written it down for you all. 

Pickle and Penguin Flapjacks

2 apples, grated

1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/4 cup mixed seeds

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cut cranberries

8 dates, chopped

1 mashed banana

2 cups oats

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175 (fan) or equivalent.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. 

Press mixture into a greased and lined shallow tin. Whatever you would usually use for brownies or flapjacks should be fine. 

Place in the oven for 15-25 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Cut whilst warm and enjoy once cooled!

Do give them a go and let me know what you think!

Me xx

Sugar pops

Hello all, sorry for my absence, I have been rather under the weather. Just a little cold really but the coughing and loss of voice has made me rather run down after running after two toddlers all day! I am on the mend now and hope to be fully recovered in time for half term!

The latest of our little science experiments was to do with dissolving and solutions. We made a concentrated sugar solution and added lollypop sticks to make sugar crystal pops. 

Adding a little blue food colouring and leaving it for a week or so and we have a rather wonderful sugar pop. It is fair to say Pickle is rather excited by the result.

I think perhaps we will have another go at these another time, in a few colours. Perhaps as Christmas gifts....they are rather beautiful.

Me xx