All posts by rightfromthestart

bristol, children, days out, netmums, outdoor play, parenting, play

Free or Low Cost Summer Activities for Children

July 21, 2011 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

I was recently asked by Netmums to suggest some of my favourite free or low-cost ideas for keeping children entertained in the summer holidays. Below are a small selection.

Things for Keeping Active

We particularly like woodland walks where the kids like to disappear into the woods to explore and find things, play hide and seek , build dens or run away from monsters. Blaise castle woods are a big favourite because we can hide in the caves or follow the trail to the castle. My eldest called our local woods the hundred acre wood and spent hours role playing various Winnie the Pooh scenarios. The Woodland Trust have some great free downloadable resources with ideas for playing in the woods, Summer activities and free things to do with kids.

My kids favourite active pursuit is jumping on the trampoline.
Play traditional playground games

Creative Fun

Give children a large piece of clay, for the younger children the bigger the better. Make it wet and squidgy and enjoy feeling the texture. Give them things to put in it, we use cocktail sticks, bottle tops, seeds, feathers, pebbles and shells. Older children can be taught to model clay around wire or make a flat tile with a picture on it.

The best summer activity I had as a child was with an empty large cardboard box, we slid on it and built things with it and spent the whole 6 weeks playing with nothing else.

The best creative play comes from being outdoors with natural materials, in the woods, park, beach or even in the street. If your kids aren’t old enough or you’re not happy about them playing outside without adult supervision, take a group of children to an open space and sit at a distance from them so that they can develop their own play but you can still see them. My kids love digging, building dens, pretending to fish, making pretend dinner and many other scenarios.

Our local town has a flower show and the children love to enter the competitions, it gives them a sense of achievement and pride.

Give your kids pieces of material, old sheets, netting or even bin bags and get them to make clothes and have a fashion show – this was my favourite summer holiday game.

When its sunny it great to get a big roll of paper, spread it across the garden and let the kids paint , they can use hands, feet or whole bodies – great for babies too.

Make a simple potion station

Inspiring children

Children’s Festivals often give a number of inspirational ideas many are free or low cost.

We have been to some brilliant museum exhibitions and as museum entry is usually free it is a great day out. Our local museum has lots of activities for children of all ages to accompany the exhibits.

Go blackberry picking , picking your own fruit always leaves us inspired to come back and cook lots of yummy treats. In the US we pick huckleberries at the local park – they make delicious muffins.

Keep them Laughing

Local councils often provide fun/play days in local parks, ours involve entertainment, games, activities and crafts – the children have lots of laughs.

Get Wet – be it in a water park, paddling pool, swimming, with a hose pipe, playing with water bombs or splashing in puddles in the rain – have a water fight and you can’t help but laugh. Weston Super Mare has a fantastic water park opposite the sea front and splash parks are really common in the US. Check out these Seattle Splash Parks.

I think sometimes we plan too much for kids, give them some freedom to make their own play, give them the chance to be with their friends and they will come up with some great ideas of their own.

bristol, review

Bristol Zoo 175th Birthday – Big Village Fete

July 17, 2011 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

What a fantastic day we had today at Bristol Zoo. To celebrate their 175th birthday Bristol Zoo organised a Big Village Fete, hosting a multitude of local talent, stalls and crafts. It could have been a washout looking at the torrential rain first thing this morning but by lunchtime the sun was shining and the children were dancing to the music. My 2 year old although taken aback when she first saw a gorilla dancing around the lawn, soon became obsessed with following it everywhere.

On the dance stage there was an amazing group of young street dancers and my 2 year old couldn’t wait to get on stage when the Egyptian dancers asked for volunteers to join them.

There were some fun activities and stalls in the family area and the girls loved making masks.

My personal choice of the day, had I have been on my own would have been to sit in the beautiful flower garden listening to the acoustic music sipping a glass or 2 of wine – oh well, maybe in another life.

As members of Bristol Zoo we go there a lot and today made a refreshing change not to see the animals (though we did check out the new meerkat house which is a vast improvement on the small space they had previously). There are a number of new sculptures dotted around too – we spotted a kangaroo (you can sit in its pocket) 2 new gorillas and a lion but I’m sure there are more. There are also a number of historical photographs dotted about and film footage of the zoo in past decades.

To mark the 175th Anniversary of the Zoo life-sized gorilla sculptures are dotted all around the city of Bristol. A map is available to download from the zoo’s website. That’s another few days to kill during the school holidays.

barry island, Random Thoughts & Life Stories

Barry Island – A Strange Phenomenon

July 15, 2011 rightfromthestart 4 Comments

I am completely intrigued and bemused by the phenomenon that is Barry Island. I grew up in Barry and Barry Island has always conjured up a Morrissey lyric

This is the coastal town that they forgot to close down.

So when my friend’s 13 year old niece greeted me with great excitement and a multitude of questions after telling her that I grew up in Barry, I was a little taken aback. Of course it is all fueled by Gavin and Stacey, a programme that I absolutely love and somehow Barry has been given a chance to redeem itself.

Barry used to be a thriving resort full of day visitors and holiday makers at the Butlins Camp. As a child we didn’t visit Barry Island much because my dad hated sandy beaches, bemoaning how he got sand in his sandwiches. We spent most of our time at the other pebbly beach in Barry scrabbling for the tiny piece of sand that emerged when the tide went out. Going to Barry Island as a child was a huge treat – oodles of sand, arcades, funfair, tacky shops – a child’s dream. We had a children’s party once on the penny machines and the arcade with the historic slot machines displaying 1940’s film stars was a huge hit for those on a small budget.

As teenagers we used to meet at the amusement park for a night out, go for day trips to Butlins and trawl the arcades in search of ‘foreign’ boys. As 6th formers we loved the Warehouse nightclub and Pebbles but by the late 80’s early 90’s the holiday camp had closed the nightclubs were mostly boarded up and anything that was still open was forced to close at midnight.

During the 90’s I worked at Barry Island and often went for walks to the sea front on a Sunday afternoon. It was still busy but not quite what it had been in its heyday. We took my daughter to Barry Island funfair as a toddler – I was amazed at how little it had changed from when I was a teenager, it certainly hadn’t moved with the times.

I still think I was extremely lucky to grow up by the sea, to be able to make going to the seaside a regular occurrence and to be able to sit and look out over the sea when I needed thinking space. We took it very much for granted as children. Now I live by the sea again but we don’t have any particularly nice beaches so I do appreciate more the ability to walk to the beach on a regular basis.

I think it’s great that there is a new sense of excitement about Barry. It’s become a popular location for many television programmes including Being Human (filmed in my cousin’s street), Dr Who (our Wedding Venue featured in an episode) and of course Gavin and Stacey. I just hope that it lives up to the hype.

So for me, a small town Welsh girl, the idea that my home town has become a phenomenon is very strange, but I’m getting used to it.

photographs courtesy of Augusta Trussell

early education & play, parenting, Random Thoughts & Life Stories, review, Uncategorized

Lauren Child

July 13, 2011 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

I was going to write a very different post but have decided that on reading an email with a link to the new Lauren Child website, that it needed to be shared.

I am a huge fan of Lauren Child, I think she is a creative genius. All of her books give me a warm fuzzy feeling, from the witty text to the colourful illustrations – and the children love them too. If I have as much talent in my little toe as she has, I will be happy.

A while ago I took 3 children to the Lauren Child exhibition at Cardiff Museum. I was awestruck. The children had an amazing time playing in Charlie and Lola’s kitchen and dressing up in their clothes. They read books and played with puppets, even the one year old had a great time.

For those of you who are aspiring writers Lauren Child’s website offers useful advice on writing for children and the Frequently Asked Questions give some great insights into her writing.

My eldest loves the Clarice Bean series, reading the books over and over. She loved them so much she wrote to Lauren and was very excited to receive a reply. One more reason to love her.

If you haven’t read any of her books, please do, I promise you won’t be disappointed

guest post, Random Thoughts & Life Stories, Uncategorized

Wedding Singer / Things that Could go Wrong on your Wedding Day.

July 12, 2011 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

This weekend I sang at a friend’s wedding, both in the church and later at the reception with my lovely 7 year old daughter. This is the thank-you Message that the bride posted earlier, I thought it was beautifully written so she has agreed that I can use it as a Guest Post.

Things that Could go Wrong on your Wedding Day by Jane Northcombe

You could be woken up by rain so torrential that you couldn’t hear yourself think; you could still have a prominent red rash on your (bare) shoulder from the persistent scrubbing of the fake tan so shockingly applied two days previously; your dress could be creased like a screwed up newspaper following the aborted attempt at steaming it by the bridal shop who had double booked themselves the day before your wedding; in setting up the perfect shot, your photographer could fall backwards through the open french window with such a force that the heel is prised from his shoe as his back hits the deck; you could be standing in the lounge in full wedding attire, anxious to get to the church, listening to the strains of your beautiful vintage Austin car turning over and over and over . . Things that could go right on your wedding day: The rain could stop just in time for your three beautiful bridesmaids to leave the house with hair, make-up and dresses intact; you could hold your father’s hand all the way to the church, both sporting big cheesy grins because you’re both so happy; the creases in the silk could enhance the quirky asymmetric design of your fabulous Benjamin Roberts dress, you could walk into a church filled with virtually all your close family and friends; you could manage to refrain from crying when your dear friend sings the most beautiful rendition of Ave Maria; you could marry the man you love; your children could be beautifully turned out, beautifully behaved and be allowed to throw confetti over you inside a church, where the throwing of confetti is not even permitted outside; your two year old could be charmingly two and drive his toy cars around the altar, making loud ‘broom, broom’ noises, keeping the guests amused while the non-spectator sport of signing the registers takes place; the sun could come out at the perfect time and stay hot even to the extent of inflicting sunburn on some unsuspecting shoulders and you and you brand new husband could have the best day of your lives, surrounded by fabulous friends and family. Thank you to everyone who helped make our day so brilliant x

And if you would like to check out the aforementioned rendition of Ave Maria

early education & play, education

My Grown Up Weekend part 3 – Festival of Education Bob Geldof

July 7, 2011 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

Besides the fabulous weather and the chance to chill out in the sunshine in beautiful surroundings, the highlight of the festival was Bob Geldof’s Speech.

He was relaxed, engaging, funny and above all passionate. He used a rich intelligent vocabulary, peppered with a few swear words and held the audience in the palm of his hand. The speech began with recollections of his own experience of education which he described as ‘ a horror’. The 2 saving graces were radio and poetry. Radio helped him to see other possibilities – the possibility of change.

He talked of a key message that he had learned from Africa

Only the educated are free.

Inequality is a signature feature of today’s society and in an asymmetric world instability is inherent. 42 million children went to school for the first time as a result of the G8 cancelling national debt, these children have an entrepreneurial spirit far greater than children in our own culture. Similarly in China 400 million people have been pulled out of poverty enabling them to become world market leaders. In the UK education has become a given right and therefore children derive little inspiration from it – perhaps then it is time for a shift in the purpose of education.

Bob Geldof talked of the role of education in this country. He described values as shaping our future. Britain is the most tolerant of all countries and we will only keep to that through education. The cliché is that children are our future, but how do they become our future? The UK is full of creativity, it has fostered many creative geniuses from musicians to poets and the creative arts was the 6th greatest industry in this country for many years. Of course creativity is not only about the arts but also about creating new technologies and inventions and recognising genius early on. He encourages the importance of spreading these values throughout the world ‘or black darkness faces us’.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it

The talk ended with a story of a time in the Congo when he rested from the heat and was fanning himself under a tree. A Bicycle came by and rang a bell and a multitude of people came from their huts clutching laptops and plugged in to download email. The world’s ideas will change as a consequence of such people.

all progress depends on the unreasonable man – George Bernard Shaw.

In my opinion the most important skills we can teach children is to ask questions, think for themselves and believe that they can make a difference. Bob Geldof was so passionate and articulate about what he believes in, that you can clearly see why he has been able to make a difference and will continue to do so.

If you ever get a chance to see/hear him speak don’t hesitate his talk was truly enthralling.

early education & play, education, technology

My Grown Up Weekend part 2 – Festival of Education : Technology and Education

July 6, 2011 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

As regular readers will be aware I am very interested in the use of new technology in early years classrooms. I was pleased to see therefore that the Festival of Education at Wellington College Crowthorne had a number of sessions relating to education and technology. As usual at these events most of the content was aimed at working with older children but I found a number of ideas/materials that could be adapted for use with younger children.

Jan Webb from Microsoft gave an interesting talk outlining many of the free resources available to teachers and the ways in which she had used them in the classroom. Many of the resources were used to link up with schools in other countries to add another dimension to project based learning. This could be used really successfully in an early years classroom, using video chat to talk about and demonstrate concepts such as snow to young children who may not have seen it before.

Jan explained that the Partners in Learning Network provides free downloadable software for use in the classroom. I got up and showed off my singing talents to demonstrate Songsmith – for creating music (ok it was only Happy Birthday).

Shireland Collegiate academy demonstrated their learning gateway . Though this is a secondary school and would be used very differently in an early years setting, I saw merits in the way that staff could share planning and assessments, as a means of getting parents involved in their children’s learning and making learning visible to them.

There was an interesting discussion at the end of the day about what we could teach the Facebook generation. There were some interesting points regarding worries about the ever growing use of technology and social media. On the positive side was the idea that worries about technology are similar to worries about the novel in the eighteenth century and that whatever children are interested in will become the dubious thing. I think that is an interesting view and that we should be using children’s interests to stimulate meaningful learning , rather than threatening to ban things. Another point made was that in this generation the most important skill we can teach children is to take charge of their own destiny. Some felt that this generation were in danger of losing social skills and that technology should be limited to allow children to spend time reading. A straw poll was taken as to the preference between physical books and reading them electronically. Personally for me I would much rather have a kindle with hundreds of books in one place than have to find or carry real books. I suppose there is still some sentimentality about having books on a shelf, but is that because they are precious or because we want to show others what we have read?

I have many links and inspirational practice to look up as a follow up to the festival, these will appear on the blog in due course.

parenting, Uncategorized

My Grown Up Weekend (Part 1) Cybermummy 11 – Living up to the Hype

June 30, 2011 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

This weekend I had a proper grown up weekend away doing and learning things for me. Saturday was spent at Cybermummy a conference for mummy bloggers and Sunday at The Festival of Education.

I have been watching fellow mummy bloggers counting down with excitement and anticipation in the lead up to Cybermummy. There has been talk about what to wear, what to pack, creating business cards, haircuts and manicures – you would think we were a bunch of mums who never get out! This was to be my first Cybermummy experience and as I hadn’t met any fellow bloggers before I was going alone. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but hoped as a relatively new blogger to get some useful tips and meet new people.

The day began in a crowded room packed with fellow bloggers, iPads, cameras and notebooks in hand and many already heavily laden with goodies. There was a buzz in the air as the more experienced bloggers chatted with familiar friends but even for the newcomers like myself everyone was very friendly and interested to learn about new blogs. The keynote by Sarah Brown was an excellent start to the day, she was an engaging and entertaining speaker. Her recommendation to use your voice and collectively make a difference resonated with me.

Following the opening session we headed for coffee, cake and the stands at Cybermummy Central, but not any ordinary cake

(Trust me, the only photograph that I took at Cybermummy was of cake!)

I don’t think that I had ever seen so many freebies in one place, each stand giving away big bags of goodies and loads of competitions to boot. I wasn’t quite sure how I would get it all back on the train. The P&G Recharge Room looked amazing. I really wanted to get my hair, make-up and massage but as a newcomer really didn’t want to miss any sessions. Next year I will definitely be making time for a pamper.

The sessions left me with much food for thought, from ideas for using my blog as a vehicle for other things to connecting with the academic world and bringing academic research to the masses. I loved the crowd sourced keynote with its blend of comical and heart wrenching posts and thought the little book produced by Johnson’s containing the blog posts was a lovely touch.

The highlight for me however were the wonderful people that I met, they were fun, warm and interesting just like their blogs and I ended up pouring my heart out to a few over a curry. My roommate for the night Kirsty from Imperfect Pages introduced me to many friendly bloggers but I’d hit the wine by then so can’t quite remember who everyone was.

The Netmums Bellini Reception followed by a curry was a great opportunity to meet familiar bloggers in the flesh of including Kate Gunn, Superamazing mum and Penny at Alexander Residence

So as a Cybermummy virgin did it live up to the hype? Absolutely and I can’t wait until next year.

death, early education & play, parenting, toddlers, wildlife

How my 2 year old learned about deer and death.

June 20, 2011 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

It’s not every day that you wake up to the sight of a dead deer in your garden! I was first alerted to the fact when my dogs hadn’t come to whine at the door after being let out. My 7-year-old went to find them and see if they had gone into the woods at the bottom of our garden. She returned and said that there was something lying down behind the dog, I asked how big and she said she didn’t know. I was expecting to find a frog or maybe a bird but was confronted by the above.

I wasn’t sure whether to let my 2-year-old see it, she really wanted to see the ‘reindeer’ but I thought she might be frightened. However, I’m always keen to avoid sheltering my children so we went to the bottom of the garden so that I could gauge her response.

She was in fact absolutely fascinated by it. It isn’t often that you will get the chance to see a deer that close so we could look at it and talk about it. I pointed out its hoofs and she said

maybe it will get proper feet – does it have to go like this? (standing on tiptoe).

From the outset I talked about how it was dead. I think children are very matter of fact about such things and their questions should be answered honestly but in a sensitive manner. She saw that it had hurt its legs and was very concerned,

Maybe we could put it in the shower or in the bath and make its leg better?

I explained that we couldn’t put it in the bath and that we didn’t need to make it better because the deer didn’t hurt anymore, he couldn’t feel it because he was dead

Does it have arms?

No it has 4 legs like the dogs. Most animals don’t have arms.

But we have arms.

Yes.

Perhaps when we talked about the deer not feeling hurt, she was thinking of feeling as touch.

Not that it’s likely that many of you will encounter a dead deer in your garden, but would you know what to do if you did? Probably not, well neither did I and it took about 2 hours to find the answer. First port of call the vets – I thought they might be able to point me in the right direction. They gave me the number of the RSPCA and the local council. According to the council a wild animal can only be collected from the roadside or public place, if it is on private property then the disposal is your own responsibility. If I couldn’t find anyone to collect it then it became an environmental health issue and they would come and collect it. The RSPCA suggested I contact DEFRA . They said that they would normally advise people to dispose of animals in normal refuse, but that a deer probably wouldn’t fit! Their advice was to call the council again. The senior staff at the council finally authorised collection free of charge.

The men arrived and my 2-year-old delighted in showing them the way, saying ‘we think it is dead’. I think they had visions of an animal that as soon as they moved it would start kicking out – I reassured them that it was dead. The small antlers were caught around the tree and the deer was too big to fit in the bag they had brought so they carried it up the garden.

Oh look it’s awake now

my daughter said when she saw its eyes wide open. She wanted to see them put it in the van and know where it was going. I told her that they would probably bury it. They put it in a yellow bag and onto the truck.

Are the mummy and daddy reindeer dead?

I don’t think so, they might be looking for it – poor deer

It’s alright reindeer you’ll get better soon.

We waved goodbye to the deer and the men. So that was her first experience of death – we will see what other questions it raises in the coming days. For now she has gone to bed with her cuddly reindeer kissing it’s legs and telling it she will give it a plaster to make it better.

parenting, Random Thoughts & Life Stories

Mothers and Their Neglected Talents

June 15, 2011 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

I’ve just spent a weekend away for a friend’s hen party. We were in a party of 3 stay at home mums and one who works full time.

What struck me about our conversations at the weekend is that although all 3 stay at home mums are intelligent, skilled and have had good jobs in the past, our confidence about returning to work is rock bottom. Part of this is a lack of direction, having been out of the workplace for a while, what do we go back and do? Some of us are petrified about entering the world of work again and some don’t want to get caught up in demanding careers and feel guilty about neglecting the children.

For me work and career are a big part of both my identity and my self image. I think we all agreed that staying home full time is more demanding than any job. I love having some time away from the children, but for me work isn’t really about that. Work is partly about having some financial independence so that I don’t feel guilty if I get my hair done or buy some new clothes. Any job that I do has to be financially rewarding enough to pay for childcare for 2 children and leave a bit over. Mostly, work gives me a sense of purpose and achievement. In any job I do I need to feel that I am challenging and developing myself and ideally I’d really like to make a difference. Work gives me a different aspect to my identity, at work I’m not just mum but someone people listen to and look up to. I think I’m a better mum too when I work because I appreciate the children so much more and think about more than what I need to add to the shopping list.

I think there must be an abundance of mothers out there who have many talents but are drifting or working in jobs that undermine those talents.

Last week I went for a job interview for a full time job with some travelling and lots of responsibility. The job was very exciting but I began to think about working full time and the impact it would have on the children. I got a glimpse of what it might be like to be a full time working mum and the guilt about the lack of time you would be able to give your children. I didn’t get the job, which was probably for the best. I talked to another friend recently who has managed to hold on to a fulfilling career. She feels that she never completely succeeds at anything because she is spreading herself between wife, mother and business woman and each one suffers in some way.

Going back to work this time will be the beginning of a new chapter, as the children grow up and I can build a new side to my identity. As a qualified teacher I could easily drift back into a job in the classroom but somehow this doesn’t feel like moving forward. Maybe I should just take the easy option, earn a bit of money supply teaching and switch off to it at the end of the day. I’m hoping something more inspirational will strike me. If anyone is looking for someone who is passionate about early education, loves a challenge, writes, sings, can juggle a household of 3 kids and 2 dogs amongst many other talents give me a shout.