Monday 31 March 2014

Artwork

I thought i would keep a record of some of the childrens art work.
We looked at the I Am sayings of Jesus and did some artwork around those:



I Am the Good Shepherd

I AM the Light of the World


I AM the Gate


I AM the Bread of Life


I AM the Way

Luke saw this idea on the internet and wanted to have a go, I think its a really great effect


Not to be outdone here are some of Amys creations





Love how she's done red rosy cheeks on this last one!

And finally some lovely mother days flowers


Yum yum!!!

Thursday 27 March 2014

Daffodil Dissection

I saw this idea a while ago and filed it away for springtime. Everywhere we go at the moment we see these beautiful yellow flowers - I love them. Here is a photo of one of the pots I received a few years ago for Mothers day that I have at my front door. These are mini daffs, tete a tete, which are really lovely.


My children like taking things apart so it was a great way to review all the parts of the flower.
First we cut the stems, which were thick and waxy and found them to be hollow and all sticky inside.


 We talked about how the plant transports water and food from the roots up the stem in the xylem and how the food made from photosynthesis travels through the phloem.

Then we removed the brown papery spathe which protects the flower when in bud and usually splits lengthwise to allow the flower to open.


We counted the petals - 6 in all, 3 outer and 3 inner petals called the perianth, which join together at the base with the cup or corolla. The petals felt smooth like suede almost and the corolla was thicker.


Once we'd removed the petals we could see the inner parts of the flower. There were 2 different stalk like structures. The centre, slightly taller stalk is the female part called the pistil and the 6 surrounding parts are the male stamen covered in pollen.


The pistil consists of the stigma at the top which is slightly sticky, supported by the style, below this is the ovary which we cut in half to observe the ovules or immature egg cells.



Amy wanted to join in too - she used the daffodil as a flag!


The boys weren't that keen on recording what they'd learnt but I asked them to complete a page in their nature books.



 I really struggle with this - they always enjoy the practical parts of work and moan about writing anything down. I'm never quite sure how much I should "force" them to write down in some way what they've been doing, whatever the subject. Any thoughts would be welcome.









March garden

Here's whats been happening in the garden this month

Mini daffodils tete-a tete at my front door
Forsythia in flower

Rhubarb starting to grow

We've found a few ladybirds

Potatoes have been chitting on the kitchen windowsill
Daddy shows how to plant them

Amy wants to help
2nd row of potatoes
First planting of peas
The plum tree is in blossom
Kango Saiko (japanese maple) buds beginning to open

Friday 14 March 2014

Spring picnic

March came in with a beautiful sunny day and we have enjoyed lots more sunshine  and blue skies over the last week.
On Wednesday we had our first picnic of the year in the garden.

We made some soda bread for the first time in the morning - much quicker than previous bread recipes that we have tried as it doesn't use yeast and so doesn't need lots of kneading and time to rise. The bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk are the secret ingredients to this bread.

Ben looking slightly anxious that Amy might not get the ingredients in the bowl! 

but she did ; )
I managed to take photos along the way but not of the end product as we were all so anxious to try it.
It was slightly doughy in the middle when we cut it warm, but a lovely flavour and very tasty later on in the day when it had all cooled down. Quite scone like with the raisins in. Will definately be making that one again. Amy was disappointed not to be able to lick the bowl, so we had to make some chocolate buns too - her favourite

Here are the children enjoying the picnic

Yum
Hopefully the first of many more picnics to come this year!

Thursday 6 March 2014

Spring Rainbow Colour walk

I set the boys a challange to photograph something from each colour of the rainbow on a walk around our neighbourhood.

Here are my photos

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet
 Love rainbows : )