Imagination

A couple of feathers stuck in their hair and your child is instantly Geronimo or Pocahontas.

Long clusters of berries make beautiful earrings and a cicada skin is the perfect brooch.

Mother Nature provides the most diverse and fabulous "props box" for young children. Nearly every object found outside can become something special.

Encourage your child to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, the magic in the mundane and enchantment in the everyday.

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."
Carl Sagan

Letters, Jack Frost and Facebook using a stamp...

Letters, Jack Frost and Facebook using a stamp…

I love receiving and writing letters.  I collect stationery like corners collect dust.  I blame my mother for this addiction because, from the moment I could read, she has written and posted me letters.  All through my childhood, she would often disappear to the post office and post a letter back to where she’d just...
Nature as a 'device'

Nature as a ‘device’

I have long admired the work of Australian cartoonist & artist Michael Leunig.  This cartoon?  One of his best ever.  Please encourage your children to do as he suggests and make sure you join them, often.   Thank you to the wonderful people over at The Nature Nurture project for sharing this originally. LOVE. x  ...
Departing childhood - will your child pack the important stuff?

Departing childhood – will your child pack the important stuff?

I recently had the misfortune of watching an advertorial about a product that promised to have your child reading fluently by the age of 1. Whilst I adore reading and would always encourage children to do so, the advertorial implied that young children should spend every waking moment engaged in some form of structured learning....
Believers or not, they'll still eat the cake thanks...

Believers or not, they’ll still eat the cake thanks…

My children are on the cusp of not believing in Father Christmas.  They are torn between not wanting to appear to be baby-ish (their words) and desperately wanting to be absolutely certain that it is indeed possible for a fat man to squash himself down the chimney and reward them for being good throughout the year....
You want me to make and eat what?!

You want me to make and eat what?!

I credit my mother for instilling in me a love of food and a passion for experimentation in the kitchen.  She is a great cook and always insisted that we try the dishes she prepared at least three times (big mouthfuls, not just nibbles).  On the whole it was a positive experience as she had...
Kids and senses - the sound of sunrise

Kids and senses – the sound of sunrise

At 5.00am this morning my 10 year old son arrived at the side of my bed. He wasn’t unwell nor had he had a nightmare, he just wanted to climb in for a cuddle.  As we both lay there unable to go back to sleep, we decided to play a game in the darkness. We...
Tick, tock goes the clock.  Children and time....

Tick, tock goes the clock. Children and time….

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” ~Albert Einstein My daughter has become quite the clock-watcher of late as she has been learning about “time” at school.  She is particularly fascinated by clocks with roman numerals and was spellbound when I managed to produce an old Mickey Mouse alarm...
Simple pleasures...

Simple pleasures…

“Life can be rich without riches.  And it can be full without a cupboard overflowing with toys or a drawer stuffed with computer games.” Next week marks 10 years since I became a mother.  Whilst I was overjoyed at having a healthy baby boy, (followed closely by a beautiful little girl just 16 months later),...