Inspiring links

The Big Book To Grow On with illustrations by Janusz Grabianski

Inspiring links:
... puddles as lakes at imagine childhood
7 Family Habits worth building and How to at Play Activities
Charlotte Mason Method: Adding Rhythm and Routine at Down A Rabbit Trail
When it Rains, Look for Rainbows . . . Homeschooling on Rainy Days at Teaching Stars
The One-Dimensional Mom at let why lead
6 Vintage Children’s Books That Formed My Views on Motherhood at Sara Bran's Notes From the Edge of Motherhood
The Lost Art of Lashing - by Gever Tulley at Make
The Art of Unblogging at Trina Holden
Eight Ways To Find Creative Inspiration at A Subtle Revelry
Spring Is Coming: A Sweet Story and Song for Spring and Easter at Song and Season
Cherry Blossom Picnics at Rhythm Of The Home
How to Draw a Dandelion at Art Projects for Kids

Chosen by Sunnyboy:
Lego Science: An Ice Excavation Experiment at Lemon Lime Adventures
How to build your own Time Machine at Science Channel
La Macchina Botanica at Anthology



We were featured at:
Free Spring Nature Hunt Printable at Free Homeschool Deals
Great Nature Activities for Your Spring Bucket List at KCEdventures
8 Unique Ways to Play & Create with Books at KCEdventures
10 Culture & Map Activities for Kids at KCEdventures
Fine Motor Activities with Recycled Materials at Fantastic Fun and Learning
Spring Activities at Inspiration Laboratories
Spring into Learning with Nature at Stir the Wonder

Inspiring links on Sunny Days Pinterest:
INSPIRATION, SPRING, CHILDHOOD & PARENTING, HOME EDUCATION, BOOKS, BLOGGING, PICNIC, PINNED FOR SUNNYBOY.

{life}

E is for elephant
Daisy
The Vikings
Speed domino
Fruity bath marbles



The moments of our lives in pictures and words.
Leave a link to your {life} in the comments.

Ancient Egypt project: how to mummify Action Man

We've been doing various projects on Ancient Egypt and a favourite topic is mummies. Inspired by a post on Kids Activities Blog, Mummification: Let’s Mummify Barbie!, we decided to make an Action Man Mummy.

We collected the things we would need to mummify Action Man (and his cat) then started the mummification process.


Click on the picture to enlarge it and see what we used

First Sunnyboy removed the organs, leaving the heart, and put them into canopic jars. Then he removed Action Man's brain (by inserting a long hook through his nose) and discarded it. He used salt to dry out the body and oils to anoint it.





After the preparations were complete he wrapped the body with linens. Finally he put the death mask on Action Man Mummy and put it in the sarcophagus along with the mummified cat, canopic jars, the Book of the Dead and clothes, food, money and jewels for the afterlife.



We also visited the Ancient Egypt galleries at our local museum and looked at real sarcophagi, canopic jars and a mummified cat.

You may also like:

15 books about Egypt for children


Another 15 books about Egypt for children


Scooby Doo sand play


Homemade wooden Angry Birds game


Pirate boat (and a treasure map)


Hunt the fossilised dinosaur poo


Click here to see the play, crafts and learning ideas blog link-ups we share at.

HOME EDUCATION: HISTORY on Sunny Days Pinterest.

Favourite websites for young children

One of the first websites Sunnyboy used himself was Charlie and Lola and it was while watching video clips on that site that he started using the mouse. Since then he's taught himself more computer skills by spending time on the CBeebies website. Other sites he visits too include Poisson Rouge, UpToTen.com and The Fungooms. Recently he also did a two week free trial on Reading Eggs and they've now been sent us a code for a month free trial. His favourite website though is YouTube!

This week we decided to look for more websites that he'd like and tried out quite a few. If you have any favourite websites for young children we'd love you to let us know in the comments. Here's the list we have so far:

ABC 4 kids
Barnes&Noble Online Storytime
Bembo's Zoo
Boohbah
BrainBox
BrainPOP
CBeebies
Charlie and Lola
Childtopia
Count Us In
Curious George
Disney Junior
Doodle!
Enchanted Learning
Fisher Price
HooHa House
Kids' CBC
Kids Learning Videos
Leading to Reading
Learning Games for Kids
Light Up Your Brain
LiteracyCenter.Net
MathGameTime
Mazes
NASA Kids' Club
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Little Kids
Orisinal
Pauly's Playhouse
PBS Kids
PEEP and the Big Wide World
Poisson Rouge
Reading Eggs
Roy The Zebra
Scholastic
Seussville
Sheppard Software
Starfall.com
Storynory
The Fungooms
Topmarks English Games
Topmarks Maths Games
UpToTen.com
YouTube
Ziggity Zoom

We also found this great list of Favourite Interactive Museum Websites for Children at Autonomous Education.

Click here to see the play, crafts and learning ideas blog link-ups we share at.

Freezing toys

The other day Sunnyboy asked me to put two of his toys in the freezer. I asked him why and he told me he wanted them to have ice on. As we have a frost-free freezer I suggested he put them in a jug of water first. He was very pleased with the results and then proceeded to knock the ice off with his wooden hammer. We've done this experiment again several times since then.







See more play, craft and learning ideas at:
Learning Laboratory at mama smiles
We Play at Childhood 101
Tot Tuesdays at My Delicious Ambiguity
Show and Tell at ABC and 123
Kids Get Crafty at Red Ted Art's Blog
Play Academy at NurtureStore

Photographing toys

Over the last few days Sunnyboy has been very interested in photography and taking pictures of his toys. These are two of his favourites.


Duplo after he'd been playing with it


More toys carefully arranged on our bed for a group photo

See more play, craft and learning ideas at:
Learning Laboratory at mama smiles
We Play at Childhood 101
Tot Tuesdays at My Delicious Ambiguity
Show and Tell at ABC and 123
Kids Get Crafty at Red Ted Art's Blog
Play Academy at NurtureStore

More inspiration

Last week I posted 50 inspiring links and here's an update with some more inspiration since then.

A beautiful post describing Infertility in the Bookstore at It's a Brave New World, Baby.

To Wallow or Not Wallow? That is the Question at The 2 Week Wait. This post made me laugh and cry.

Ready to be a Mom reaches the final six weeks of pregnancy and writes about Infertility Gratitude.

Thinking about giving children freedom after some Pond dipping at Aqeela's home & garden.

Worms Eye-View has created some fantastic Play Trays in Mini beasts and a look towards Spring.

We Are Here posts pictures of a day of being creative out of nothing and links to Made by Joel (an awesome blog with lots of fun and inspiring art projects, toys and crafts).

The Mahogany Way family hang out in jammies and play in the backyard.

Sharing poetry in Why I Read Poetry to My Toddler at Imagination Soup.

Papa Kangaroo talks about Semi-Infinite Rods and going into the wide world of mummy and daddy bloggers.

Just a Bald Man explains Why We Unschool.

A wonderful story about running home from school and learning about volcanoes at Blissful E. (Thanks to MaryAnne from mama smiles who left the link for this post on our Volcano videos and links for children post.)

Counting and cleaning coins

The other day Sunnyboy was counting his money (by counting the number of coins in his moneybox) and showed me an old and dirty penny. We decided to clean some of the coins. We'd used up all the vinegar in the house last week making volcanoes, so for this we used lemon juice and salt. We mixed one tablespoon of lemon juice with one teaspoon of salt in a little jar. We put some coins in and left them to soak. Later we took them out and polished them with a cloth. When we have some more vinegar we'll try it with vinegar and salt, and we'll also try it with coca-cola.

Click here to see the play, crafts and learning ideas blog link-ups we share at.

Volcano videos and links for children

For several weeks Sunnyboy has been fascinated by volcanoes and yesterday we went looking for more volcano resources online.



His favourite volcano video is Volcano Eruption by John Seach (volcano adventurer and film maker) at Volcano Live.

Earth Science: How a Volcano Forms

Volcano Explorer at Discovery Kids (Sunnyboy loves the virtual volcano)

Photo Gallery: Volcanoes at National Geographic

Kids Investigate Volcanoes! at Squidoo

Continental Drift & Plate Tectonics


How Volcanoes Formed


The Sounds of an Erupting Volcano


The power of Etna


The Volcano Song


We had a great time last night watching volcano videos before bed and singing The Volcano Song. Thanks to @CamilleBijou, from lightly enchanted, for some great volcano website suggestions via Twitter.

Do you know of any volcano websites for children, or volcano videos? We would love it if you let us know and leave links in the comments section.

More volcano links from the comments section:
TopGear: James Goes to IceLand Volcano (suggested by The Barefoot Crofter)
learning about volcanoes (suggested by mama smiles)

Our volcano activities:
Playdough little volcano
A volcano painting

50 inspiring links

Spring is springing... at What are we doing tomorrow?
.: Embracing Life :. at gardenmama
Let your dreams grow big and strong at Roots of She
ways to say I love you any day at Adventures with Kids
hearts on a stick at simple as that
Keeping Track of the Little Memories at Childhood 101
content and such at Days of You and Me
Breath at bluebirdbaby
Magic Carpet at mama smiles
Inspiration Board at Hip Mountain Mama Blog
Childhood isn’t a rehearsal at Making it up
The first thing to do is not do at radio free school
never dull your shine for somebody else at kind over matter
Magical Webs at Earthboys
Beautiful wood at Earthboys
Inspiring Reading... at Three Joyful Pixies
On Mornings at Shivaya Naturals
Nature Connections 2010 at Living and Learning
Look Past the Obvious to See What's Really There at freeplaylife
On Creating an Unschooling Life at Flow of Love
Could Christmas be about YOU? By Neale Donald Walsch at VividLife
Snowy Days at Free to learn an lovin it
everybody needs beauty... at Mama Craft
When all else has fallen... at Journalling Through Photos
Suspended for a moment in time at The Barefoot Crofter
Kinetic Marble Track Around The Top Of A Room at instuctables
The kindness of strangers ... ... at The shed and beyond
Graffiti Parenting at grit's day
If only we could see the possibilities like children at grit's day
I took His Hand And Followed. at Charlie and Us
On days like these at The Barefoot Crofter
slow childhood at A Wild and Precious Life
Not Laser-Vision, Toddler-Vision at Feeleez
It's a big world at Smiling like sunshine
Here Before at Smiling like sunshine
What Should a 4 Year Old Know? at A Magical Childhood
Unschooling is How Adults Naturally Learn at The Mahogany Way
Zen & the Art of Unschooling Math by Rachel Gathercole at Life Learning Magazine
The heart - a mathematical figure at Heart Curve
Dr. Edwards, in the laboratory, with an axe at a little pregnant
Faith, Fertility and Doogie Howser at Chances Our
The Facebook pregnancy announcement at Yolk
Please Stop Telling Me to Speak about Infertility at Stirrup Queens
Rudy, The Lone Embryo at the 2 Week Wait
The universe of my uterus at It's a Brave New World, Baby
Oh, the Places You'll Go! at Waiting for a baby bump
The Face of (in)Fertility at the state that i am in
Lost in shadows at CD1 Again.....
We are Amazing at Miracle in the Making
Winter Song

More inspiration

Gever Tulley: Reimagining Education

Gever Tulley urges us to stop thinking of education as something that we do to people, and start thinking of people as voracious self-directed learners.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning -- creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish.

101 inspiring links: spring, creativity and parenting

Feeling Spring at Shivaya Naturals
First Day of Spring at Childhood Magic
New Beginnings... at Mom in Madison
Hanging Out at On Bradstreet
Cultivating Joy at Chicken Counting
loving it up at Days of You and Me
Enjoying The Little Things at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Simple Spring Celebrations: Earth Day, Easter, and The Pink Full Moon at SimpleKids
Blog Favorites: Spring and Easter at mama smiles
Easter Activities at Counting Coconuts
Carnival of Unschooled Life—April 1, 2010 at The Expanding Life
“Beginnings” – March 2010 blog carnival at Enjoy Life Unschooling
Homeschooling Series: Resources at Shivaya Naturals
Innate Knowledge… at rhythm of the home
Why home education works, even when it doesn't.... at What are we doing tomorrow
Our Pace at Free to learn an lovin it
My Favorite Unschooling books that keep me motivated. at Free to learn an lovin it
The Call to Brilliance... at Flow of Love
Children Teach Themselves to Read at Freedom to Learn
When Less is More: The Case for Teaching Less Math in Schools at Freedom to Learn
Taking a leap out of the box to see that consequences are damaging and make no sense! at Ode Magazine Blogs
unschool monday :: so how does it work? at owlet
What If? at Unschooling Adventure
A Different Perspective at Unschooling Ruminations
Ice Cream for Dinner? Yes! at Ohio Moms Blog
Learning Flexibility Together at Steady Mom
Pushing our kids away at Radio Free School
John Holt: question or quiz? at Radio Free School
Instead of Education at Radio Free School
Free Range Surrey Ride at the Beach at Child's Play!
Preserving Childhood at Home Baked
The importance of being at home at Home Baked
Survival guide to home education: 'me time' at grit's day
Kids in woods at grit's day
Did we socialise? at grit's day
Opening our Hearts at The Wonder Days
I Choose You Happiness at Pepper Paints
Grace… Heap it on Yourself at SimpleMom
Crafting Rich Experiences for our Children on a Frugal Budget at SimpleMom
The Family that Plays Together at SimpleHomeschool
6 Easy Outings to Nurture Your Child’s Mind (& Yours, Too) at SimpleHomeschool
Going Wild: How to Enjoy Nature With Your Kids—Wherever You Live at EcoHearth
hike on the top of the world at All of Us
A sunshiney afternoon. at Becoming Sarah
Faith at Journalling through Photos
Sepia Scenes - The Alphabet at The Wilson-Parkes Family Tree
This is why... at Space of Love
How much fun can you have... at The Interrupted Gardener
.: A Garland Of Roses :. at garden mama
.: Nature & Nurture :. at garden mama
The Love List at Shivaya Naturals
A Mother's Love at peaceful parenting
Morning cereal at Serenity Now!
The Cherished Child: Parenting after Infertility at Creating A Family
My Infertile Heart at The Baby Dust Diaries

Spring crafts
Celebrating Spring: The Welcome at Shivaya Naturals
Appearance of The Root Children at rhythm of the home
Coloring Eggs Naturally at rhythm of the home
Spring Blossoms at Little Family Fun
spring birds to hang at 5 Orange Potatoes
Rockin' Spring Chick... at A bit of this and a bit of that...
Paper Daffodils at Notes from Emily
Miniature Fairy Garden at Childhood Magic
Gnome and Fairy Books at Wee Folk Art
Egg Cartons – Imagine the Possibilities at SimpleKids
Quick Craft -- Spring Tree Sculpture at Frugal Family Fun Blog
Story Stones and Sidewalk Scenes at Frugal Family Fun Blog
Coloring Rice Green for a Springtime Display at makes and takes
plants who live in glass houses (with stones) at Paint Cut Paste
interesting things at Paint Cut Paste
capturing the spring at The Blankie Chronicles
Spring quilting at Stitches in Play
wash, press, fold, cut, repeat at Stitches in Play
The Art Jar at Chasing Cheerios
Get Your Kids Creating. at Clean.

Nature tables
which name, Sugar Boot and Weasel, The Interrupted Gardener, Space of Love, Green Babies, An Art Family, Stirrings and Stories, Granola Girl, This, My Life, In the purple house, LaLa...A Mountain Mama, Seasons of Joy, are so happy, Bluebirdbaby, Slugs and Snails, Living in the Land of Chocolate, Redbeet Mama, Alpengarten, playing house., morning sun rae, The Kings and I, Zach Aboard, Loopity Lou, MamaMoontime, Garden Mama,
Lots of these nature tables (and ours) can also be seen at rhythm of the home's Our Spring Nature Tables...

More inspiration

A conversation about colours

A conversation we had today after Sunnyboy picked a Cadbury's Roses chocolate with a green wrapper.

Sunnyboy - "I'll have the green one. I like green. Do you like green mama?"
Me - "Yes, I like green."
Sunnyboy - "I like yellow too. Do you like yellow mama?"
Me - "Yes, I like yellow."
Sunnyboy - "I like pink too. Do you like pink mama?"
Me - "Yes, I like pink."
Sunnyboy - "And I like blue. Do you like blue mama?"
Me - "Yes, I like blue."
Sunnyboy - "Nok Tok is blue mama."
Me - "Oh yes. Nok Tok is blue and De Li is pink."
Sunnyboy - "Yes mama and the Incredible Hulk is green."

50 inspiring links: love, creativity and parenting

Weekend Links: Valentine’s Day! at Simple Kids
Blog Favorites: Asian New Year and Valentine’s Day at mama smiles
Heart to Heart: Back to Back Valentine's Day Crafts and Some Companion Books at Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile
Valentine Crafts! at The Crafty Crow
More Valentine Crafts! at The Crafty Crow
Valentine Crafts for Kids at The Crafty Crow
Kid's Valentine's Day Roundup at One Pretty Thing
Valentine’s Day Crafts at the long thread
Really Easy Kids' Valentines at Alpha Mom
Simple Handmade Valentine's Day Cards at Alpha Mom
Weekend Make and Takes: Valentine’s Day at makes and takes
Weekend Make and Takes: Football, Hearts & Chinese New Year at makes and takes
Valentine’s Day Crafts from the Past at makes and takes
Valentine's Projects from the Past at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman
Valentine's Past at Frugal Family Fun Blog
Valentine Review at 5 Orange Potatoes
Land Art at 5 Orange Potatoes
Free Crochet Heart Pattern at Planet M Files
Crafting With Love: A Fabric Wreath Tutorial at GardenMama
Decoupage Rose Votives at Crafts by Amanda
Be Mine Valentine Heart Wall Hanging at Crafts by Amanda
heart strings at Little Birdie Secrets
Valentine Garland at Oh So Crafty
Valentine Plaques at Ordinary Life Magic
Beginning Needle Felting with Kids at The Magic Onions
Crazy Log Cabin Quilting at Acorn Pies
Cozy at Acorn Pies
Cosy Winter Tea-parties at Home Baked
The February Home Baked Challenge theme is Love at Home Baked
How to Really Love a Child at Shivaya Naturals
Creative Joy at Shivaya Naturals
Creating Their Story at Shivaya Naturals
But No One Taught Her Math! at Pepper Paints
little teachers at The Blankie Chronicles
Are you having enough fun with boxes? at grit's day
The art of creativity at You know how we're an art family
Living in Colour at Playing by the book
Gnome Home at Raising Rainbows
5 Things at Bohemian Single Mom
How to Have a Creativity Day at christine kane's blog
Heart at Thinking Aloud
the simple things at Soul Aperture
{i'm not gonna write you a love song} at Journey Wildly
Carnival of Unschooled Life - February 2010 Edition at The Expanding Life
January Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting resolutions at hobo mama
Idle parenting means happy children by Tom Hodgkinson
Fun for Nothin' on Flickr
imagine childhood: your nature walk on Flickr
Creative Every Day Theme for February: Home
52 Projects

*Operation You is the home of Inspirational Monday. You can get more inspiration there and are invited to stop by and post your links of inspiration.

See more reds at Ruby Tuesday
See more Love Thursdays at Chookooloonks

A thank you, a reminder and 50 inspiring links

Thank you to Like a Starfish for the lovely words about sunnydaytodaymama in Happy New Year!

A reminder that this is the last week to enter the Why Love Matters Giveaway at sunnydaytodaymama and be included in a random draw to win a copy of Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby's Brain by Sue Gerhardt. The closing date for entries is Friday 8th January 2010 at midnight GMT and the winner will be announced on Monday 11th January 2010.



50 inspiring links that I've enjoyed recently:

Play - Journalling through Photos

Corner View: Books - Journalling through Photos

Nature Table - Pepper Paints

Changes - Free to learn an lovin it

Messy Messy Morning - Ingrid Liddle is Kind of Cute

More mud encounters - Free Flowing Ways

It's OK - I've got it covered! - Corridor Living

Color outside the lines - Sevin Family

Here's one mother who couldn't care less - grit's day

Hoop and stick - grit's day

With Hearts of Gratitude - Shivaya Naturals

In Search of Mama's Milk - Flow of Love

We’ve found our parenting style! - Our Life On Planet Earth

Peaceful Parenting resources - Our Life On Planet Earth

45 Ways to Say "Yes" to Your Child - The Sparkling Martins

Musings on the "normal" raising of babies - I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.

Deep Learning: Letting it Stew - radio free school

Carnival of Unschooled Life — December 2009 Edition - The Expanding Life

Doing What We Do - mama smiles

Cardboard, Tape, and Rags - mama smiles

Top 9 Posts of 2009 Round Up - Frugal Family Fun Blog

Early Christmas Present - My Bilingual Boys

Fantastic Fiction for Kids – Baking - Playing by the book

Art! Wax resist painting revisited… - Playing by the book

A Mix Of Everything - The Artist And The Teacher

Ch {A} lk - Simple Beauty

Toys. Who needs them? - tinygreenpeople

Everyday is magical - Operation You

Birdsong and Silly Walks - muddy bare feet

Weekend Bonus Post for Historic House Lovers - What Do We Do All Day?

Five Great Things About This Picture - Tinkering School

A Silly+Tasty+Kooky+Pretty+Utterly Outrageous+Pink and Blue Cupcake Kind of Post! - The Quintessential Magpie

Mosaic Monday - Riet's Photoblog

Mosaic Monday: Passionfruit - Journalling through Photos

Yellowstone Mosaic Monday - Traveling with Eileen

Making Photo Mosaics: A Tutorial - Little Red House

Jenny's Projects: teacup candles

Outdoor Winter Day Activities: Fifty Things To do on Cold Days

A Sydney Christmas - Summertime - Sydney Eye

2010 - Spirithelpers

All the possibilities of a new year. - Can't Get There From Here

Photo a Day - January 1st and 2nd - Feel The Rhythm Inside

Creative Every Day Challenge



Introducing the Home Baked Challenge! - Home Baked



"Gift of Jewels" Giveaways at Necessary Room. You can enter as many of the giveaways as you wish by leaving a comment on the featured post. The randomly selected winners will be announced on 7th January 2010. Entries will remain open until 6th January 2010.

Blog for victory! or Your fellow home edders need you but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it! - What are we doing tomorrow?

Blog For Victory!! is a new blogroll intended to celebrate the diversity in home education in the UK and the passion we share for defending it.



If you haven't already done so, please consider signing the petition to the Prime Minister to uphold that parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of their child. If you are outside the UK there is also a Global Petition to support home educators (homeschoolers) in England.

English Home Educators Under Threat: Time for a Stand of Principled Non-compliance? (PDF file)

How to take back your education, by America's leading educator John Taylor Gatto

Inspiration from Abraham-Hicks



*Operation You is the home of Inspirational Monday. You can get more inspiration there and are invited to stop by and post your links of inspiration.