Learning: Ocean Slime Baff Activity Box

A few weeks ago we had a really fun afternoon playing with a dinosaur sensory Gelli Baff activity box which we put together. We had so much fun with it, the boy made several requests to do something similar; so I went back to my local toy shop and bought some Slime Baff, which is similar to the Gelli Baff but made of slime. We invited some friends around and had some Ocean Slime Baff Activity Box fun!

The Slime Baff is available in a range of colours (red, green and blue) but I opted for blue which seemed about the right shade to create a lovely blue ocean with. It’s safe for children and should be fine for sensitive skin. It also has a pleasant fragrance.

A packet of Slime Baff costs £5.99 and there’s enough for one bath in the pack. I used the whole pack in our box of slime. I wanted a fairly thick, gloopy slime for the sensory box, but you could experiment with using less for a looser slime.

Learning: Ocean Slime Baff Activity Box

HOW TO CREATE A Ocean slime SENSORY ACTIVITY BOX

You will need:
One plastic storage box. I used an IKEA Trofast Storage box
Slime Baff
Warm water
Selection of plastic fish and ocean life and maybe some shells

How to make your ocean slime sensory activity box:
In your clean plastic box pour in six pints of warm water, you can add more if you need to later. Pour in the Slime Baff powder and stir it in. It should turn to slime fairly quickly. If the texture is too thick for you, add some more warm water and stir until you’re happy with it.

Learning: Ocean Slime Baff Activity Box

Grab your plastic fish figures and shells and put them in the box, let your imagination run wild.

Once you’ve finished playing with your ocean slime sensory activity box, pour it into the sink and add more hot water until it slides down the plughole.

TIPS:

Although Slime Baff doesn’t stain (or shouldn’t), you might want to wear an apron to protect your clothes.

I put the washing up bowl nearby so any figures he’d played with could go in there and be rinsed off afterwards. Some of the goo did cling to them quite a bit.

We played with this in the kitchen which was fine because if there was mess it could be mopped up. If you’re playing with this in a carpeted room I’d but a wipe clean cloth down under the box to minimise the mess.

Children might like to use tools in the sensory box. The slime really lends itself to scooping and pouring, so if you have some small plastic cups, they might be quite fun to include too.

The slime really clings to your skin, so keep an old towel close by to wipe hands on. You can wash the slime off your hands with soap and water. It is very slippy stuff, so be careful if any gets on the floor too.

Learning: Ocean Slime Baff Activity Box

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Like with the dinosaur sensory activity, this was a good way of expanding his vocabulary and exploring new ways to describe things. We founds words such as; slimy, wobbly, gooey, warm, cold, soft, stretchy and floppy which all described the Slime Baff well.

We closed our eyes and felt around for sea creatures in the goo. When we found them we had to try to feel to guess what we had. We had a selection of shells in the slime too. We tried to figure out what they were by feeling the shape, size and ridges of the shells. This was a great game and one we all really enjoyed.

For a more interesting tactile sensory experience you can make the Slime Baff up with quite warm water and children can explore the different temperatures as the slime cools while they play with it.

He mostly enjoyed just playing with the ocean slime sensory activity box, and who can blame him. It was great fun, perfect messy play for slime loving kids!

Learning: Ocean Slime Baff Activity Box

Six Children’s Books About Starting School

In England, the start of the school year is just a few short days away. It’s a time of year I have very mixed feelings about. I’ll be glad for my son to be back with his friends and in more of a routine, but I’ll also miss spending time with him and having him to myself. I remember when he started school and how nervous he was and how much more nervous I was. It’s a huge landmark in a child’s life and it does need preparing for. With that in mind, I’ve picked out six children’s books about starting school, which might help smooth the transition!

Six Children’s Books About Starting School

Charlie and Lola: I Am Too Absolutely Small For School by Lauren Child. I adore Charlie and Lola, the Charlie and Lola books are relatable and fun to read. This classic picture book is all about starting school and all the worries children might have about that.

Lola says, “I am absolutely not BIG. I am still really quite small. I probably do not have time to go to school. I am too extremely busy doing important things at home.”

Which is the kind of thing my son says about going to school too!

Six Children's Books About Starting School

My First Day by Leilani Sparrow is a lovely rhyming book for children getting ready for their first day at school. Each page covers what might happen on their first day, such as a making new friends, having a snack and maybe falling over. The illustrations are lovely and the rhymes are simple too. It’s a lovely book for little ones nearing their big day!

Topsy and Tim Start School by Jean Adamson. Topsy and Tim Start School is a lovely, reassuring picture book for children who are just about to start school. Topsy and Tim learn what to expect in lessons and in the playground. They find out all about school dinners and that school can be lots of fun too! I remember reading Topsy and Tim books when I was little and it’s so lovely to be able to sit and read them with my son too.

Do I Have to Go to School? A First Look at Starting School by Pat Thomas. Do I have to go to school is a beautifully illustrated picture book for children who are starting school for the first time. Going to school can be a huge change for young children, this book encourages children to discover the joy of learning new things, meeting new people and having new experiences. Written by a psychologist, this is a really helpful book for those who might be nervous about their first day.

I’m Going to School by Chris Dickason is a great little activity book to help children prepare for starting school. There are lots of colouring in pages, places to stick pictures and lots of scope to discuss what happens at school. It’s a good book to work on over the first few weeks of school too.

Starting School by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg. From first day nerves to finding your peg, this reassuring read is full of good humour and fun for children and parents alike. This classic picture book offers advice and enjoyment for the whole family before school starts, all in a lovely Ahlberg style which children and adults both love. It’s such a good book, you wont just be reading it at the start of term!

Good luck for the new school year!

Six Children's Books About Starting School

Skincare: Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Mask

On a recent girls weekend we all brought along some pampering treats. The aim of the weekend was to relax, have fun and return home with our skin glowing and feeling pampered. In my box of treats I took some body scrubs, hair treatments and a selection of Montagne Jeunesse face masks for the girls. I put the Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Mask to the test. How did my middle-aged skin get on with this mask?

Dead Sea Mud Mask

The Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Mask is an ultra deep pore cleansing mask made from Dead Sea mud, lavender and sea kelp nutrients. The mud helps to draw out impurities and open blocked pores to leave you with clean, soft skin. The mask is apparently ideal for oily skin, is PETA certified cruelty free and is Vegetarian Society Approved.

To use the Dead Sea Mud Mask, cleanse your face with warm water. Then you apply it evenly all over your face and neck with your fingertips. Take care to avoid your eyes and mouth. Then relax for 15 or so minutes while the mask dries, you might feel it crack when you move your face.

Dead Sea Mud Mask

Once it’s dry and cracking, wash the mask off. I found it easiest to hop in the shower to rinse it off. Your skin should feel soft and really clean.

Dead Sea Mud Mask – My Verdict:

I am a big fan of Dead Sea Mud Masks and I’ve tried lots of different mud mask brands over the years. I found the Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Mask gave a really thorough cleanse and my skin did indeed feel squeaky clean afterwards.

The mask smelt good, there was a nice gentle lavender scent but without it being overpowering. The mask felt thick and was easy to apply. I did feel that it dried my skin out a little; but I don’t have the kind of oily skin the mask is designed to treat. It’s perhaps more appropriate for teenage skin. Having said that, I’m pleased with the results and I would use this mask again.

The Dead Sea Mud Mask comes in a 20g sachet and I usually find if you’re frugal with the masks there is just about enough for two applications. I bought the mask from Boots and it cost me £1. The Montagne Jeunesse range of masks is widely available in chemists and supermarkets.

Days Out: Launceston Castle, North Cornwall

We are frequent visitors to Cornwall and we’ve visited Launceston many times over the years, but we’ve never visited Launceston Castle. The boy has been learning about castles at school, so whilst we were in the area we decided to pay a visit to the castle and learn a bit more about life there.

Days Out: Launceston Castle, North Cornwall

Launceston Castle is in the north Cornish town of Launceston. You can’t miss it, it’s right on the top of a hill and really dominates the surrounding landscape. It is believed there has been a castle on the site for around 1000 years. Launceston Castle was built after the Norman conquest but was redeveloped by Richard, Earl of Cornwall in the 13th century and was originally his administrative headquarters.

Launceston Castle is a motte and bailey style castle. The castle has a fairly unusual design. It has unusual keep consisting of a 13th century round tower which is set within an earlier circular shell-keep. The top of the tower is reached by an internal stone staircase and once you are up there you’ll find breathtaking views of the town and the countryside beyond.

Days Out: Launceston Castle, North Cornwall

Although Launceston Castle doesn’t have any on-site parking, you can park in nearby car parks. You access the castle through the 13th century southern gatehouse which leads you up to the bailey where the ruins of the great hall, kitchen and hall can be seen.

Days Out: Launceston Castle, North Cornwall

Recipe: My Prize Winning Victoria Sponge Cake

Summer is the season of horticultural and agricultural shows. Up and down the country, towns, villages and counties have fairs, fates and big shows and often there’s a competition where crafters, growers and bakers enter their produce to be judged against the best.

We were on holiday in the North Devon village of Welcombe during the preparations for their 60th Welcombe Horticultural Show. We have friends and family in the village, and they suggested I enter some of my baking. So that’s what I did. I entered two classes in the cookery section – Victoria Sponge and Homemade biscuits.

A Victoria Sponge should be a fairly straight forward thing to bake. It’s considered my many to be entry-level baking; but with a Victoria Sponge there is nowhere to hide. It’s so simple but quite easy to get a little bit wrong. Before I became more interested in baking I used to make very mediocre Victoria Sponge cakes, but in recent years I’ve perfected my recipe and technique and now my Victoria Sponge is as good as any.

Recipe: My Prize Winning Victoria Sponge

We were staying in a converted barn which had a very well equipped kitchen, so I only needed to buy some new cake tins and some weighing scales, plus the ingredients I needed. I made everything the night before the competition and made sure I read the WI rules for the perfect Victoria Sponge which you can find below.

Guidelines for making the Victoria Sponge sandwich for competition are set out in the NFWI Education Committee’s handbook On with the Show:

May be baked in one or two tins
No cooling rack marks on top or bottom surface
Traditional filling of raspberry jam, sufficient and evenly spread
Light sprinkling of caster sugar on top
Pale golden colour, evenly baked
Texture fine, even
Flavour delicate, characteristic, with no strong favour predominating

I followed these instructions almost to the letter, almost because I used icing sugar rather than caster sugar sprinkled over the top. I’ll know better next time.

I had a bit of a disaster with my lemon shortbread biscuits, the mix wouldn’t firm up enough for me to roll out, so I baked it in a traditional round and sliced it into six wedges. I knew that presentation would mark me down, and I was right; but the judges did comment on the lovely flavour and texture. So I just need to figure out what went wrong for next time.

We dropped my entries off on the morning of the show and then had a nervous wait while the judges deliberated. I was delighted when the show opened that afternoon to find that my lemon shortbread had won 3rd prize in its class and my Victoria Sponge was joint 1st.

Recipe: My Prize Winning Victoria Sponge

I genuinely did not think my baking stood a chance against the talented local bakers. The competition was very stiff and I was so pleased with myself for doing so well.

The recipe I used for my Victoria Sponge was based on my fail-safe sponge cake recipe which has done me proud over the years. It never fails, never.

Prize Winning Victoria Sponge cake Recipe

Ingredients:
200 g caster sugar
200 g softened butter or margarine (I use Stork)
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tbsp milk
200 g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

To finish
1/3 of a jar of good quality raspberry jam
Caster sugar for dusting

Method:
Heat your fan oven to 190c. Grease two 20cm sandwich tins, I also lined the bottom of each tin with a circle of baking parchment. In a large bowl, beat your butter and sugar together until fluffy (I used a hand mixer). Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and combine, then add the flour and baking powder and mix together until you have a smooth batter.

Divide the mixture equally between the two tins. You can weigh them to make sure they’re fairly equal if you’d like. Bake in your pre-heated oven for around 20 mins until golden and they’re cooked. Remove from the tins and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

If you’re baking to WI standard and want to avoid making cooling rack marks, then turn your cakes out onto a cooling rack; but make sure there is a piece of baking parchment between the cake and the rack.

Leave your cakes to cool, preferably overnight before thickly spreading good quality raspberry jam between them and sandwiching them together. Dust with a little caster sugar and serve.

It’s really important to make sure your cakes are cool before you put your jam layer in. I thought mine were cool enough, but they weren’t and my jam seeped into the layers and I got marked down for that.

My Victoria Sponge was victorious! I’m planning to go back again next year and defend my title, enter a few more things into the show and do better with my lemon shortbread.

If you live somewhere where there is a village show, or some kind of Bake Off competition, please do consider entering. It’s really great fun. I entered thinking I didn’t have much hope of even placing, let alone winning anything. I was delighted to have done so well. Good luck, and happy baking!

Recipe: My Prize Winning Victoria Sponge Cake

May the odds be ever in your favour – Surviving the School Holidays

Day 812 of the school holidays. There’s been no food in the fridge since a party of locust-like 7 year olds visited 3 days ago. All wholesome activities have ceased, instead Pop Max blares from the TV 24/7. I am a broken husk of a woman. School returns in just 253 days.

…

He’s found the crayons I’d hidden. My walls look like Jackson Pollock visited for the weekend and felt like getting a bit artistic while he was here. There is lego everywhere. Everywhere. I have the hollow look of The Scream and I’m looking at the last Jaffa Cake the way Gollum looks at a nice ring. It’s precious.

Surviving the School Holidays - May the odds be ever in your favour

Dear Diary, At some point very soon I have to go school shoe shopping where a thousand dead-eyed parents will also join a mile long queue to buy overly expensive shoes which will fall apart within a fortnight.

…

Shoe shopping. Everyone in this queue is speaking in aggressive hissy whispers, but no one’s lips actually move. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle. This feels like the Hunger Games, but with shoes. May the odds be ever in your favour of finding shoes they will actually wear, or better still, put on every morning without you having to bellow “PUT YOUR SHOES ON, PUT YOUR SHOES ON” for anything up to 20 minutes before you give up, wrestle them to the ground and get the bloody shoes on their feet yourself.

…

With just 736 days until school re-opens I realise we need to buy a selection of overpriced uniform items from a school uniform shop located unusually far away from school. The shop has opening hours you can only guess at and nothing is available online. Everything you buy from the shop will be languishing forever in lost property within a week of school starting.

…

In desperate need of monastic style silence, I hide in the confined darkness of my wardrobe as I try to blank out the desperate cries of “can I have another snack?”, “I’m so hunGREEE” and “I’m so borrrED. You are SO BORinggg”. He will never find me here. My phone beeps loudly. My cover has been blown.

Parents are desperately Whatsapping each other for playdate swaps. The last time Tarquil came round he ripped the curtains off the wall and broke a bed by bouncing on it. I turn my phone off and go into the garden. I dig a hole several feet deep and throw my phone into it. No more playdates with Tarquil. Ever.

…

Tarquil is coming for tea. I have dug out the plastic toddler plates and have set up a number of no go zones within the house. Later I enter my bedroom, a no go zone and find Tarquil bouncing on my bed with a pair of worn knickers on his head. I practice my mindful breathing.

My mindful breathing does not help. No more playdates with Tarquil. Ever.

…

Tomorrow I will take my son to the Slug and Lettuce for lunch (as requested) where he will refuse to eat anything because the food might have slugs in. Or lettuce. School reopens in 3000 days.

Surviving the School Holidays - May the odds be ever in your favour

Outdoor Crafts: Making Clay Faces

Every year at the Just So Festival, we venture into the woods to make clay faces. Barefoot Ceramics run the clay face making sessions and you are basically given a lump of clay and the instruction to go find a tree and let your imagination run wild. The clay faces in the woods are always worth visiting, there are some really creative creations stuck to the trees by the end of the weekend.

A few months ago I bought some clay and I’ve been trying to make a few different things with it. With two boys to entertain for a day last week, I thought they might like to try making some clay faces too.

Outdoor Crafts: Making Clay Faces

It’s important that you have permission from whoever owns the trees you want to stick your clay faces onto if you can. They might not like having a clay face stuck to their trees.

We found some nice barky trees which I knew would be fine to make our faces on. A tree with good crinkly bark is usually best, it gives the clay something to grip onto. We used air drying clay which when used indoors dried within about 24 hours. I’ve no idea about how it would work outside, but clay faces are never meant to be a permanent feature. I would fully expect the faces to melt off the tree over time, especially in the rain.

Outdoor Crafts: Making Clay Faces

How to make clay faces in the woods

You will need:
A nice barky tree
A handful of clay
Maybe some leaves, twigs, stones, seeds etc

How to make your clay faces:
Take your handful of clay and squish it around a bit until it is soft. Find a spot on your tree where you think a face might look good and dust it off a bit with your hand so any loose bits of dust or dirt come off.

Decide what kind of face you might want to make. It could be an animal, an alien, a gargoyle or whatever you fancy.

I like to make a base for my face, by working about a quarter of my clay into the bark to give something for my face to stick to. Once you’ve done this you can start to build and sculpt your clay face.

I decided to make a bee. I made the shape of the body and wings, then added clay stripes and twig stripes. The wings I made by pressing a veiny leaf into the clay to make the pattern.

The boys made a dog and a centipede.

Outdoor Crafts: Making Clay Faces

You can do whatever you want. I’ve made lots of clay faces over the years and sometimes I have a fixed idea about what I want to make, sometimes I start and a face just evolves. Really the most important thing is to have fun and just explore what you can do with the clay, your hands and the bits of nature you might find on the floor nearby.

Outdoor Crafts: Making Clay Faces

Six Brilliant Nature Books for Children

This summer has been brilliant. Most days it’s been nice enough to go outside to play and explore. It’s been a brilliant summer for enjoying the great outdoors and learning more about nature. We’ve been reading lots of nature books, doing some nature-based crafts, some scavenger hunts, and reading lots of nature books. My son has thoroughly enjoyed himself, and I have too.

I’ve picked out six of our favourite nature books for children which we’ve been enjoying this summer. Do you have a favourite nature book?

Six Brilliant Nature Books for Children

six Brilliant Nature Books for Children

Hello Nature by Nina Chakrabarti is a wonderfully illustrated 160 page nature scrapbook. It’s full of interesting facts and activities to help you explore and learn more about nature. The book encourages you to “draw, colour, make and grow” all over its pages. Hello Nature is aimed at children aged 7-11 years, but it’s so beautiful it would make a great present for anyone interested in drawing or painting nature. You can read our full review here.

My RSPB Nature Clipboard by Eryl Nash and illustrated by Hannah Tolson is a great place to start discovering more about the nature in your neighbourhood. Learn to make bird and butterfly feeders, a minibeast hotel or a windowbox garden. Become a nature detective and head outside with your clipboard to explore the nature on your doorstep. Use the spotter sheets to identify birds, plants, animal tracks and much more, and record what you’ve found on your beautifully illustrated poster. The perfect gift to engage nature-lovers and budding bird-watchers with the wildlife all around them.

The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane. We’ve just returned home from the Just So Festival which had an area in the woods set aside for a piece about this most wonderful nature book. Inspired by the decision to remove fifty ‘nature’ words from the Oxford Junior Dictionary to make way for what are mainly transitory, computer-based words such as ‘broadband’ and ‘chatroom’. Author, Robert Macfarlane wrote this book to celebrate some of the lost words, such as dandelion, conkers, otters, adders and other wonderful nature words. This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the most beautiful nature book I have ever laid eyes on. Full of wonderful illustrations and thought provoking poetry, it’s a real treat for nature lovers!

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt: My Adventure Field Guide by Hannah Pang. Inspired by and featuring artwork from the original We’re Going on a Bear Hunt story by Michael Rosen, this field guide to the natural world is informational and fun. Eager readers will discover a wealth of facts about plants and animals, bugs and birds, clouds, the night sky, the weather and so much more. The book features facts galore, but also recipes, science projects and tips for how children can help protect the environment. Whether swishy-swashing through the grass, or squelch-squerching through the mud, there’s something here for everyone. You can read our full review here.

i-SPY Nature: What Can You Spot? We love this i-SPY series of books. They’re little pocket-sized spotter guides which are great to take out for the day. This nature book is a really fun activity book encourages kids to explore outdoors; from down by the sea to town and country animals, in search of i-SPY points. A fun, interactive way to encourage curious children to learn about the world around them.

The Big Book of Bugs by Yuval Zommer is a great introduction to the creepy crawlies with lots of tips on how to become a young bug spotter. The book is divided into key groups of bugs; including beetles, moths, butterflies, bees, snails, crickets, grasshoppers, worms and spiders, all wonderfully illustrated. It’s a real treasure trove of information, and can you spot the hidden fly on each page? Can you?

If you enjoyed this round up of nature books, you might also like our pick of five books about the environment.

Six Brilliant Nature Books for Children

Making Marvellous Memories at Just So Festival 2018

At the start of the summer, my Facebook timeline was full of memes about how we only get 18 summers with our children and how we need to make the most of them. This is summer number 8 for us, and the annual highlight of our “making the most of our time together” is always the Just So Festival. It’s three days away together, entirely unplugged; learning, exploring, enjoying and just loving everything the festival has to offer.

The Just So Festival 2018 has had a tiny shake up. All the old favourites were there, but just enough things had changed to keep it fresh for the families like us who come year after year.