Family Tree: Our Land-mark

A Real Family Tree in the Outdoors

 

Dimples has decorated a few of the rainbow trees with his handprints. There is one blank tree that will be Purple very soon.

 

Once again, we have been in the outdoors painting trees on our property.

This time we did a family tree.  Something a little more meaningful and fun.

Painting the tree

 

Last year some time we Painted this tree, you can see it here: adventuresathomewithmum painting-tree it lasted the weather, lasted through Summer and didn't fade. It wasn't until autumn that the tree started to shed its top layer of bark and most of the painting came off with the bark.

 

Its tough work, we used exterior paint left over from our Backyard Balance stumps and we only needed one coat.

Here we are again, painting big trees, Beautiful rainbow trees.  This time with something more meaningful and bright.  Ofcourse it wont last but for a year or so it will make the property look bright and be a family reminder of the fun things we do together.  

 

Once it was dry we put Black handprints on it and I named and dated them. It didnt take long to dry in the sun.

We have even done a foot print Family tree.
 

Dimples has a funny very vocal cow 'cackle' who had to come see what we were doing (and lick the paint) 

 

Happy Outdoor Adventures  :)

If your after more outdoor activities, click on my outdoor tab under my header at the top of the page.

Balance Stumps - Outdoor Play Decor

Our Out-Door Play Area is slowly growing, its beginning to take over the yard. I love it! I am a strong believer that outdoor Play is essential and one of the fundamental ways kids learn. Particularly gross motor skills, but outdoor play also builds a kids physical confidence; it encourages safe risk taking, children get to test their ability and know their boundaries. Through this they learn what they are capable of and when they should stop. Have you seen Dimples tree house & water wall??? Click here.

These bright balance tree stumps are such as easy way to spruce up an outdoor play area.  They look fun and add a colourful addition to a play area, they could be adapted into any area or even used as a garden border. All you need is a fallen tree (or you could get a post from the hardware shop) we are lucky enough to live in the country and had a fallen tree that was in perfect condition. Adventures Dad cut it up into different lengths and Dimples had a ball painting them with me.

I used Exterior Paint, half a litre of paint in each colour did about 3 coats on each stump, the paint was fade proof and didn't require any under coat or protector. However, if your timber was still wet it may absorb the paint so you could end up needing more paint as it dries out. The other thing I was weary of was the colours, I went for bright rich colours instead of light ones, again if you picked light colours or pastels you would require much more paint or under coats to seal the stumps first.

The stumps were dug and packed into the ground using mud about 15-10 cm deep, ideally you would cement them in but a good strong pack has done good for us and they can steadily hold my weight with out any movement what so ever so I trust they are safe for Dimples.
Just to add another element to the task I placed them around in a S shape so that Dimples has to shift balance and direction, they are also at different heights.

There are many benefits of outdoor play, this type of activity helps develop a child's body strength, Imaginative play, happiness being outdoors & being active, Perseverance, Testing their own limits, Balance, Attention & focus, body coordination, Stretching, Learning what they are capable of doing, connecting them to natures, & helping them to rely on their own instincts.

Dimples has already formed a game where he is surrounded by snapping crocodiles below and he mustn't fall into the swamp below. He has learnt to have his arms out by his sides as he balances and he tends to go right foot first as he steps down, but left foot first as he goes up a step.
The colours are also fun. Dimples and his good friend Miss K chanted the colours for each other as they stepped on them and it brightens up his whole play area making it look so much more appealing.

Happy Outdoor Adventures :-)

Wombat Stew

Do you bring your stories to life?  We do!
Lately we have taken this to another level.
This is how we bought Wombat Stew to life using pretend play & a little imagination.



Wombat Stew



Reading is much more interesting and intriguing to children when you use exciting faces, character voices and engage them in the process.  Pointing to the words as reading them, discussing what they think will happen or for older children, getting them to fill in the blanks. I do this often with Dimples, reading a familiar sentence then pointing to the last word and pausing so he can finish it.


Our new thing though, is playing out stories through dress ups or pretend play.  We did this with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, one of our favourites.  One of Dimples other favourites is "Wombat Stew" By Marcia Vaughan and Pamela Lofts.
Have you heard of it? I think it is an Australian Classic. Well written, great illustrations, up beat, fun, educational and it rhymes. Dimples sings along to the dingos chant and gets right into it, he finds the ending hilarious every time.



We bought this story alive by making our very own wombat stew, Dimples was the Dingo and had a big fat wombat reading to stew up. I gave him some blue cellophane that he cut up and put in a large laundry tub,  I mean into the bubbling billy. We collected some Mud from the Platypus, Some feathers for the Emu, Some Plastic flies from the Blue tongue Lizard, Plastic creepy crawlies from the Echidna, and Real Gum nuts from the Koala.



 

All our ingredients were placed out on Dimples table and he got his stuffed toys ready. He had most of them but his echidna was missing in action. We spent all morning looking for it, it didn't turn up until later that day when we weren't looking, I found it hidden in a jacket in my wardrobe, go figure!


Dimples sat his fat wombat ready as he stirred the billy and chanted "righto, in  they go!" along with the story as he put in the ingredients.  All the while the kookaburra sat by and watched, just like in the illustrations.


It was funny to see Dimples get right into it and act like the dingo, his eyes lite up as waited for me to read the next part of the story, of course he already knew which ingredient was going to be next but waited patiently stirring the billy.



At the ending Dimples tasted his stew, not really, but he went to the extent of getting mud on his face. " Argowwwwwwwwweeeeee, I've been poisoned, You've tricked me!" He screamed and then ran off, hands waving in the air and his tongue poking out. Never again to sing - " Wombat stew, Wombat Stew, Gooey, Brewy, Yummy, Chewy, Wombat Stew!"
It was awesome fun and he played with his Wombat Brew for a while after chatting away to himself. I'd here the occasional "righto in they go!" as he inspected the ingredients.

Happy Adventures :)

Discover the Seasons ~ I Spy Bottles

We haven't done discovery bottles for a while so this was an easy in door activity that we did on a very windy day.  Previous discovery bottles have been made when dimples was younger for him simply to explore and shake around, so this time we did a little more of a grown up activity 'I spy Bottles'.

 

Dimples said 'why is it winter?' this morning, because the weather doesnt know what it is doing, although it is spring it does feel like winter of a morning.
We went around collecting bits and pieces that represents the seasons and discussed what happens over the course of a year as the weather changes, and why it may still feel like winter but it is actually now spring. We then went on a quick flower hunt and noticed all the new blooms and all the nice smells that Spring brings.



 

 

 

Winter: Some white dusty corn flour, snow flake sequins, thinly cut cellophane, some pearl beads, blue glitter and some pearl blue shaped bunny heads. Symbolising cold, snowy weather during winter. The picture does no justice as you cant see the pretty snow sequins, it does look just like snow with snow flakes.

 

 

Spring: we gathered some lavender, added some bright pretty coloured Pom poms, a fake daisy flower, purple, yellow and aqua coloured rice, a knitted daisy flower, some pink glitter and some green plastic petals.

 

Summer: To us Summer means the beach, so this was easy. Sand from the sand pit, some shells, a plastic sea star, and some blue sparkling jewels.

 

Autumn: In our Autumn Discovery bottle we had some gum nuts and fallen leaves in shades of yellow and red, dimples added some golden decorative stones in it and painted a few leaves in yellow and orange.

 

For older children these discovery bottles are great for I spy games. For younger children and babies they are great for shaking, twisting, switching hands and inspecting.

We did lots of I spy games: I spy games based on what is in it, for example I spy with my little eye, something beginning with S- Sand, sea shell, sea star, Summer. We did some based on colours that were in it and some based on the objects in it and we lined them all up in order. Dimples still enjoyed knocking them around and shaking them as musical maracas.

Happy Adventures

X marks the spot

lots of loot

My little Dimples loves Pirates.

Just have a glance through this blog and you will find lots of Pirate inspired play ideas:

 From his Pirate room , to his Pirate birthday party invites , Pirate Party games , Pirate Party Grub to his Pirate theme tree House & fun things like Treasure Hunts & small world sand dough pirate play .

This one is a fun simple outdoor activity that we do often.

Buried Treasure in the back yard sand pit.

Burying the loot using a tonka dump truck

We have a collection of treasure that we use all the time.

It is just a bunch of shiny stuff like....  lucky stones, blue jewels from the craft isle, fake coins from Pirate dress ups, some kids plastic dress up necklaces cut into strands of jewels from the party section of the bargain shop, some fake pearl ribbon cut into strands, old junk jewelry and bits and bobs that I had for some reason kept from my teenage trend years but would never wear again.

A large X gets drawn in the sand pit over the buried treasure

Dimples Draws up a treasure Map, and has to put a Large X that marks the spot.

We have done this so many times that he can now draw perfect X's

Sometimes we get dressed up, all out in Pirate gear and some times he is happy just to pretend.

He announces that we are going to sail the seven seas and hunt for buried treasure, Once we find it we need to hide it from Captain Hook and mark it with a X

Here he is pointing out the X and telling me that is where he has hidden the treasure.

This is a regular game at home, I can speak fluent Pirate now. Adventures Dad was laughing at me last week saying how good my Pirate Tongue is, I quite often break out some Pirate jargon is a rusky Pirate voice to get Dimples to eat all his lunch "Pirate Grub" and if he is not co-operating for some reason and it usual works a treat. He gets in to the Pirate mood and the Pirate goes along with what Ive asked. 

We have played this game so many times and it never fails to bring out Dimples imaginative play.

He runs around the yard pretending to sail the seven seas, see islands and enemy pirates, Captain Hook and the dreaded Croc. He spots light houses and sails through rough storms, gets onto skull Island where there are skull caves that he ducks through and rushed to bury his treasure before anyone can find his secret hiding spot. Then he rolls up his map for safe keeping and sails away.

Its quite simple, yet there are so many possibilities and every time when he re-discovers the treasure, its a completely new game and a completely new treasure hunt.

Our Hidden Happy Camper

Our Hidden Happy Camper is a gag man type of Dummy I guess would be the best description, Dimples and myself made him so he could sit on our property in the bush, under a large Sumac tree in the middle of a paddock, viewable to the road. 

He will be particularly noticeable in Summer and Autumn when the leaves on the tree go from Orange to Red, its the only tree like this in the middle of a very green bush so it stands out as you drive past anyway but now we have something more fun that will catch peoples eye.

Strange?  I know, but I like to think that passes by and visitors get a laugh or are totally confused as to why a man is sitting all on his lonesome in the middle of a paddock with his beer (especially if it happened to be raining at the time).

We threw him together over the weekend, it took me a couple of hours with the help of Dimples.

First we hammered his farm together out of scrap wood.

Using old stockings we stuffed his legs with foam, put some old jeans on him.

Then I used an old towels to wrap around his torso, taped it up and threw on an old shirt, more foam stuffing and a flannelet shirt on top.

Dimples had to cuddle him and sit on his lap at this point, he was quite cuddly.

His hands are simply washing up gloves turned insides out and with wire through them, then stuffed with foam. The wire worked well to turn his fingers into a wave and so we could tie the other around his beer bottle.

Then a old pair of boots tied around the stockings tight and we took him and his head for a drive out to the farm.

There were some strange looks as people seen a random body waving in the back of the Ute.

We used an old dummy head that hair dressers used but you could use one of those kids doll hair play heads or make a scare crow type head with a drawn on face.  Add a hat, a BBQ and a table for his beers to sit on and there you have it. A happy camper.

We sat him in the paddock, he is far enough from the road that you can see him clearly but not well enough to see the details that he is a doll.

He is positioned in a spot so that passers by will see him sitting there but only for a few seconds before they continue on into the bush so they wont have time to turn around and have a good look.  We plan on making a girl in the future. maybe swinging in the tree?

Happy Adventures :)

Magical Gnome Garden

This is Dimples Secret Garden.

It has been a work in progress and our peaceful corner of the yard where mystical talk and magical imagination begins. We add bits here and there, Dimples plays with the gnomes and tells me stories of all the mythical creatures who live in his Secret garden while he swings under the tree.

Come on a Tour of our Magical Gnome Garden....

There is a Hungry Troll that lives under the bridge (of course)
He has claimed many fishing boats that try to sail into his territory.  You must remember to ask permission before you cross his bridge and you will only be allowed to cross if you know the secret word. Only Dimples knows that the secret word is Abra-Cadabra so he is allowed to play with the sunken ship when ever he pleases.

There are fairies living in Dimples garden, although he has never spotted any.  They live in a Large Blue Fairy house with a lovely double wooden door.  This was painted blue, it is just a tree stump cut down the centre and on an angle at the roof. Dimples and I got messy and blue in the process of painting the large trunk. 
These fairies have pet cats and dogs who sit by their door.
They also have a washing line with pegs and a basket so they can hang out their fairies gowns to dry, however they like to hang their clothes out every full moon so we don't get to see what they like to wear.

  

These fairies like to swing on their wooden swing as they sing along to chirping birds but only while no one is around and they laze on the beach in the morning sun, before the humans wake. They have a relaxing sandy beach area with a Umbrella and a hammock.
Dimples often collects shells that he saves and puts on their beach.

Did you know that fairies love to garden?
The fairies in our garden have their very own gardening patch, they use small spades and rakes. They have a tiny watering can and their very special wheelbarrow to help them around their garden.
Dimples loves to "help" them with their garden.

Over the other side of the secret garden there lives a Grumpy Gnome who sells slug skins and aphids.
He has a gorgeous hand crafted door & small log stepping stones that go past some glowing toadstools and some bright blue mushrooms. 
Dimples Helped with the making of the garden, including placing the stepping stones down, the small pebbles and setting up his super cool toadstool seat but there is always lots to finish.

The Grumpy Gnomes path leads past his court yard area and fire place, where he stacks wooden logs & enjoys magical potion by a warm fire at night.

Past his fellow Gnome friends Twig house, they live under a rosemarry plant & need a ladder to get into their white yard. There are 5 little Gnomes who arent like the Grumpy one, these gnomes have great big smiles and enjoy their sunny garden. Dimples loves to get them and trot them along all the paths and the next time he comes to play, they are always back waiting for him in their garden, by their twig house. Hhmmph, I am stumped, I wonder how that happens ;-)

Past a Peaceful hobbits hut, These hobbits enjoy eating their tea under a small hill. Their house is built into the hill. Dimples made this out of paddle pop sticks and generous amounts of glue, I then lined it with plastic before planting it.

Over the trolls fishing hole Bridge (Dont forget to ask permission to cross) and along a pretty blue stepping stone path.  This will take you past the fairies swing and to a fork in the road where a hand crafted wooden sign For Dimples Secret Garden that reads < Trolls fishing Hole - Gnomes lookout >
If you follow the path to the Gnomes look out it leads you to a bamboo ladder that Dimples & I made.

This ladder takes you to the Gnomes look out where the Grumpy fellow sits all day keeping look out for any humans, he does not like humans and will hide as soon as he sees any.

We all know that magical creatures dont like to be seen by humans and hide away when we are about, they particularly like to come out as the sun first rises, when we are all still asleep and they like to dance around as it goes down, when we are inside eating tea.
That is why we have some very special lights in our garden, it is full of solar powered light up magic mushrooms, toadstools, snail lights, butterfly & dragon fly lights and some bright lanterns.

Under the rainforest canopy next to Dimples Secret Garden, is PixieVille. This is where the Leprechauns and Pixies live in harmony. 
Dimples painted some blue stones with white dots to put in the garden, they look like toadstools & match all his favourite blue things.
There are several Ceramic Castles that were made by myself while I did my yr 12 Certificate that now live in the rainforest.

Throughout the garden there are mirrors, and garden statues, things hanging in the trees like dream catchers and chimes, gecko plaques and jewels.

Dimples enjoys imaginary play in the garden, he plays with the gnomes and the fairies garden, he helps me plant new plants and rearrange things.  His favourite game of all time is crossing over the bridge.

We will continue to grow The Secret Garden.

Linking up to the Fairy Garden Competition @ The magic onions