Christmassy Playdough Mats – Free Printables!

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!

A Winter Visit to the Wildlife Park, Port Lympne

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

Paper Snowflakes – “different, not less”

Sometimes, the things I expect to be difficult are no problem, while other turn out to be much harder than anticipated. Like today, when we cut these paper snowflakes: Penguin cut out the circular shapes all by himself, which was brilliant! It takes a level of coordination which just hasn’t been there until now. Lovely … More Paper Snowflakes – “different, not less”

Not One Rudolph, But Two! – An Easy Christmas Craft

Day 8 in our Advent calendar of Christmas activities brought us Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, times two! Of course it’s entirely possible to make just the one, but I’ve found that it works much better for us to work in parallell, making one each of any crafting or other project we do, as this means … More Not One Rudolph, But Two! – An Easy Christmas Craft

50 things to do – for learning, for environmental enrichment, and fun!

In need of a kick? I might as well admit it straight away: I’m a person who needs an occasional kick up the backside, in order for things to get done. I’m pretty good at coming up with ideas, and not too bad at planning and making preparations either, but for some reason I often … More 50 things to do – for learning, for environmental enrichment, and fun!

7 significant (non-academic) steps forward in our first few months of Home Education

The strains of being at school and the magic of summer holidays It’s now been almost six months since Penguin stopped going to school, as we started homeschooling, or Elective Home Education as it’s formally called here in the UK. The were several reasons for why we thought this would be a better fit for … More 7 significant (non-academic) steps forward in our first few months of Home Education