With the beginning of a new year comes a flurry of posts on social media, about the highlights that have been during the past year, and the happiness that may come in the next. Looking back on the year that we’ve had, I’ve found it a little bit difficult to join in the joyful exclamations … More A Hopeful New Year…
For our advent activity no.21, I made these playdough mats for Penguin, to use with the three types of scented playdough that we’d made the previous day. I simply drew the pictures and laminated them. I also got out some beads, pipe cleaners, googly eyes etc, for decorating the playdough motifs. It was good fun … More Christmassy Playdough Mats – Free Printables!
We are still loving the orange-coloured Christmas scented playdough we made earlier this month, but I thought it would be nice to add a few more scents and colours. So for day 20 of our advent activities we made three different ones: Gingerbread (brown), cinnamon (red) and mint (green). All recipes are included at the bottom … More Scented Playdough: Gingerbread, Cinnamon, and Mint!
Phew! As I said at the beginning of this Advent Calendar of Christmas Activities, I’m not a super craftsy person (even though I’m working on becoming one now!), and this little project of making salt dough ornaments really reminded me about my inexperience… To begin with, I hadn’t realised that this activity would need to … More Making & decorating salt dough ornaments
For our advent activity no.17, we finally made it to the Christmas market at Leeds castle. We’d originally planned to go the previous Sunday, but the weather was awful that day, so we called it off. Luckily this Sunday was not as bad, although a light drizzle started to fall as we arrived. Our first impression … More Visiting the Christmas Market at Leeds Castle!
Yesterday we spent a chilly yet beautiful afternoon at the Port Lympne Wildlife Park! It’s a great place with large areas to roam around for visitors and for many of the animals. There’s a ‘safari experience’, meaning a guided tour in an open truck & trailer, which takes you around parts of the park where … More A Winter Visit to the Wildlife Park, Port Lympne
Tomorrow is Saint Lucy’s Day, 13 December, and in Sweden (where I’m originally from) that is a day which is widely celebrated with songs and processions, as well as with mulled wine, gingerbread and saffron buns. So this evening we’ve baked some of the latter, as our advent activity of the day. [EDIT: You can … More Baking Saffron Buns!
Today we’ve made these Christmas cards with penguins on! We used: Red card, 2 sheets of A4 (but you could use a smaller piece, and then glue it onto a larger white card) Glitter glue pens in gold, copper and red Black and white pieces of felt Orange card Googly eyes We also used pens, … More Season’s Greetings with Penguin(s)!
Today we’d hoped to go to Leeds Castle, to visit their Christmas market and see the seasonal displays inside the castle. But we woke up to dreadful weather, with very strong winds and pouring rain, so we decided to stay at home. To get our daily dose of Christmasness, we lit some candles, chose a … More Stormy weather and pipe cleaners
Today we made another couple of ornaments for our little Christmas tree, and Penguin really enjoyed this. As soon as I got the beads out he came to sit down at the table and was keen to get started! So, after putting some suitable Christmas tunes on, this is what we did: Firstly, I strung … More Super Simple Beadwork Ornaments
Sensational Learning with Penguin 