Shoebox postbox

Thrifty Craft Mama has posted about The Beauty of Cardboard. She's linked to some wonderful ideas for projects using cardboard boxes. I love the Cardboard Box Washer/Dryer and her post about Frugal Organization has a good use for shoeboxes. I'm always keeping empty boxes so now I have more ideas for things to do with them.

Here's a picture of a shoebox postbox I made for Sunnyboy last December.

Salt Art (Kid Friendly Friday)

Kid Friendly Friday is a new carnival at I Blame My Mother and has started with a Salt Art craft project. Here's my suggestion for another Salt Art idea:

Paint some paper with watercolour paint. To get the best effect it should be quite wet and the paper covered. While the paint is still wet sprinkle salt on it. Wait until the paint is completely dry and then gently rub the salt off. The salt absorbs the paint and the effect left on the paper is amazing. You can experiment with different amounts of paint and water in the watercolour and different amounts of salt, which will alter the result.

I don't have any pictures as it's years since I did this but here's a picture of some coloured salt I kept all that time.

Moon

Inspire Me Thursday is a weekly invitation to amuse your inner muse. This week's topic is the Moon.


A picture inspired by the moon, by Sunnymama and Sunnyboy (2 1/2).

Jumping on the bed and the slinky

Sunnyboy invented a new version of jumping on the bed and a new use for the slinky.

Valentine's cup cakes and "I 'ove you"

Sunnyboy found Valentine's cup cakes in the reduced section at the Co-op today.

A few days ago when Sunnyboy woke up in the morning he rushed up to me and said "Want to tell you something mama" and when I asked what he wanted to tell me he replied "I 'ove you". Now he is saying he wants to tell me "I 'ove you" several times a day. I love him.

Today's charity shop finds

Slinky - 10p


Little C3PO - 10p (Sunnyboy already had an R2D2)


40p (I can't remember what these are called but Sunnyboy is fascinated by it)

Full-term breastfeeding

We've been nursing for 2 1/2 years now. Sunnyboy says that breast milk tastes better than ice-cream, strawberries, sosmix, cheese, lollipops, lentils and all his favourite foods. The other day I was wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on the chest and Sunnyboy pointed at the writing and told me it said breast milk in there.

Here's a video of us at The Great British Lactivists’ Rally at Parliament Square, London last year. (We only make two very brief appearances so don't blink!)



More information about full-term breastfeeding:
Kellymom: Extended Breastfeeding Fact Sheet
A Natural Age of Weaning by Katherine Dettwyler, PhD
Not Just for Babies: 10 Good Reasons to Breastfeed Your Toddler by Elizabeth Bruce, Mothering Magazine
Extend Breastfeeding's Benefits by Kyla Steinkraus, Mothering Magazine
Mothering Your Nursing Toddler by Norma Jane Bumgarner
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (La Leche League International) by Judy Torgus (Editor), Gwen Gotsch (Editor)

Some great children's books we've got:
I'm Made of Mamas Milk by Mary Olsen
Mama's Milk by Michael Elsohn Ross; Ashley Wolff
Mama Mama by Jean Marzollo

T-shirts we like:
The Mothers Milk Marketing Board

Wordless Wednesday

The Daily Groove: Letting Go of HOW

I really liked today's Daily Groove:

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: Letting Go of HOW ::

Creativity involves exploring the unknown. So if you
want to *parent* creatively, you need to accept that
you often won't have the comfort of knowing, in
advance, *how* it's all going to work out.

In other words, creative parenting is what you might
call a "faith journey." You're constantly facing the
unknown and surrendering to it. When you surrender to
the unknown, you open a channel to inspiration and new
knowledge.

Today, if at some point your child's desire seems
incompatible with yours, tell yourself that there must
be a way that both of you can feel satisfied, even
though you don't yet know what that is.

"I don't need to know how... I trust that a way will
be revealed."

Remember that the most creative solutions often defy
logic!

http://dailygroove.net/how

--> Get "The Daily Groove" book!
http://www.enjoyparenting.com/book

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2009 by Scott Noelle

Pancakes

Sunnyboy made pancakes with Nozy.

A Walk in the Woods

I enjoyed this article by Richard Louv in the latest issue of Orion magazine:
A Walk in the Woods: Right or privilege? by Richard Louv
Published in the March/April 2009 issue of Orion magazine

Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder which I haven't read yet, but I found some more interesting articles and videos online and now I've ended up with a list of related books I'd also like to get.

July 16, 2008: In a segment on Nature Deficit Disorder, TODAY’s Ann Curry talks with Richard Louv about ways to help your kids experience nature:


The Abundant Childhood: Nature, Creativity & Health: An Evening with Richard Louv - Indianapolis Museum of Art


No More "Nature-Deficit Disorder"
Richard Louv, January 28 2009, People in Nature

Study Finds Access to Nature Improves Health
Steve Connor, November 07 2008, The Independent (UK)

Have children lost touch with nature?
Stephen Moss, Friday 1 August 2008, Guardian.co.uk Environment blog

The precious gift of parental neglect: Children are having childhood stolen from them
Carol Sarler, December 27 2007, The Times

Resurrecting Free Play in Young Children: Looking Beyond Fitness and Fatness to Attention, Affiliation, and Affect
Hillary L. Burdette, MD, MS; Robert C. Whitaker, MD, MPH
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159:46-50.

Helicopter Moms vs. Free-Range Kids
Louise Crawford, April 21 2008, Newsweek

Free Range Kids

Playborhood

Green Hour Blog

Nature in the Garden: Fun for Kids - Natural England

Books I want to read:
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-deficit Disorder by Richard Louv
No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society by Tim Gill
Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children in Our Achievement-Oriented Society by William C. Crain
I Love Dirt!: 52 Activities to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature by Jennifer Ward
Earthwise: Environmental Crafts and Activities with Young Children by Carol Petrash

Two pictures at the end of the day

This crocodile fridge magnet clip was posted through our letterbox while we were in the bath this evening. We don't know who it's from but it's cute.



Sunnyboy fell asleep on the sofa watching Toy Story 2 with Woody.

Abraham-Hicks - Wonderful Life, But Messy House

More inspiration from Abraham:

Wonderful Life, But Messy House

Woody

Nozy bought Sunnyboy a new talking Woody today. Sunnyboy is so pleased, and so is Buzz.

Another video by Nozy

The Green Balloon - Sunnyboy at 13 months

Mango juice bag

See more yellows at Mellow Yellow Monday

Snapshot Sunday

Visit Sarah at The Napping House to play Snapshot Sunday and read an explanation here.

Washing up

Sunnyboy likes washing up.

Learning all the time

I found this great video on YouTube with quotations from Learning All The Time by John Holt.



When I started researching home education I read Learning All The Time and several other books by John Holt; How Children Fail, How Children Learn, Teach Your Own, Freedom and Beyond and Escape From Childhood. I'm so glad I started out by reading Holt's books as I immediately wanted to find out more about unschooling/autonomous education and I've been so excited and inspired by this. I love watching Sunnyboy 'learning all the time'. I'm looking forward to attending the 1st Annual London Unschooling Conference in July. The keynote speaker will be Dayna Martin, a radical unschooling advocate. Below are two of her YouTube videos:





Here's an in-depth interview with John Holt from 1980:
The Plowboy Interview: John Holt
Teach your children ... at home.
By the Mother Earth News Editors
July/August 1980

The den

Today it was Woody's turn to go out and play in the garden with Sunnyboy.



Sunnyboy also had fun playing in the 'den'. Some neighbour children built it a couple of weeks ago. It's made from all sorts of interesting materials and is great for climbing, jumping, banging, digging and more.

Playing with a friend

Sunnyboy is delighted when our neighbour knocks on the door and asks to come in and play. Here's a picture I took today of one of their affectionate moments.



Later Sunnyboy went out to play in the garden with Buzz and she came out to play again.

Silver

Inspire Me Thursday is a weekly invitation to amuse your inner muse. This week's topic is Silver.


Silver paint left over from making winter decorations.

Today's charity shop finds

Garage - 50p


Little wooden animal set - 20p


Pack of multi colour A3 paper - 50p


Pack of origami paper - 20p


Sheep noughts and crosses - 40p


Another puzzle - 15p