Crabbing

 (Goblin is 4 years old)

Hublet took us crabbing. Its something he did as a child, I'd never done it before and I have to say its AWESOME! 

Its so simple. All you need is a bit of string, a weight and a hook or mesh bag to attach bacon to. You lower the bacon into the water until its resting on the bottom. Then you wait a minute. It really doesn't take long at all which is perfect for little kids with short attention spans. 

When you gently pull the string up there will usually be one or two crabs attached to the bacon. You can shake them off into a bucket with water.

The first time Goblin went crabbing he was a bit nervous of the crabs and didn't want to pull the string up or touch the bucket with the crabs. But on the day I came too he was feeling brave and did the whole process himself including shaking the crabs into the bucket.

In 15 minutes we caught 38 crabs. This is the photo we took just before they righted themselves and scuttled back into the water.

Mud glorious mud

 (Goblin is 4 years old)

We finally visited Hollow Trees Farm. Its one of these places that all my friends have been to and I keep seeing great photos of it in my face book feed, but for some reason we haven't managed to get our act together to go. But we finally did, and it was not a disappointment.

Apparently there are animals at Hollow Trees farm. We did not get far enough to see them. Instead we made a tiny detour past some tractors (real tractors, Goblin was in heaven!) before heading to the main play area.

The play area called Pogals Pit is down a little hill. It had been raining non stop for the last four days and the place was a complete quagmire. It was perfect for a waterproofed four year old.

As I stood back and watched my intrepid explorer attempt to climb a muddy hill, and fail, several times, some other children rounded the corner. They had obviously got there before their parents and they threw themselves down the hill with abandon. They weren't quite as prepared for the mud as us and although they had wellies, they only had jeans on. These rapidly turned the same brown as Goblin's entire waterproof suit. Then their parents appeared on the verge of the hill. OOOH! Someone's in trouble!

Goblin embraced his new dirt skin with open arms. After the first coating he decided to basically lie in the muddy puddles. At least he did this out of choice - I saw another child trip and fall head long into one that was about a foot deep. This was definitely an area that required parental supervision (and parental waterproofs).

Despite having my own waterproofs on, I did draw the line at giving Goblin a carry when he got tired. He was after all covered entirely from head to toe in thick glorious mud.

At the top of the hill was a tap and wash basin, but we rapidly concluded that it was a losing battle to try and get him anywhere near clean, so before I put him back in the car to drive home we both stripped off and put on our 'emergency clothes' that I keep in a bin bag under the car seats for just such occasions.

 Say yes to Mud!

Playing with Leaves

(Goblin is 4 years old)

The Neighbourhood kids came to call for Goblin. The kids on our estate that play are between 5 and 11. I find it ever so cute that they include Goblin, he is the youngest of their little gang and I don't let him go out on his own yet. 

Often they just ride their bikes up and down the paths or play with toy cars. Today they had nerf guns and were trying to shoot each other in the head. So I decided to encourage a redirection of play. To be honest I thought it would take a little more to convince them to play with something else. But it didn't, all I had to say was:

"Look boys why don't we play with these leaves"
All five boys threw themselves entirely into the task of collecting leaves to build a giant leaf pile.

They collected up all the leaves from under the nearby trees using a rake, and then they set off to collect more leaves from the gutters around the estate! I cringed a little when I saw where they were getting the leaves from, but to be honest they were about to throw themselves onto the muddy ground and roll around, they were all going to need a good bath after this anyway.

They lined up and took turns to hurl themselves into the leaf pile and do somersaults and rolls. Then they started a leaf fight. It was so much fun, they were all laughing and squealing. A couple of times someone got a leaf in the mouth or things got a little too rough but they managed to sort themselves out fine without any intervention from me. Catching a falling leaf is one of the National Trust's 50 Things to do before you are 11 and 3/4, I wonder if catching a leaf in the gob when thrown by another child counts.

Nature's toys are such a great leveller.

50 Things to do before you are 11 and 3/4

(Goblin is 4 years old)

Last week Goblin and his friends joined the Essex branch of the National Trust in Chelmsford to tick off some of the activities on their list of 50 things to do before you are 11 and 3/4. We have been steadily working our way through the list over the last year, and have managed 21 so far. My blogging chum The Boy and Me has done loads and her posts are well worth a look. 

The National Trust ladies had laid out four different activities - creating wild art; plant it, grow it, eat it; looking for bugs; and snail racing. Goblin was interested in looking for bugs. With the help of an older child he rummaged in a plastic tub filled with leaves, bark and mud. When he found a bug he used a paint brush to brush it gently into a paint pot. Then he used a giant magnifying glass to look at it. The National Trust had provided identification sheets with pictures and names, and the older girl helped Goblin identify his finds which included a cylindrical millipede and a flatheaded millipede, a slug, a snail and a woodlouse.
Goblin was not keen to tick off another activity on the the 50things list - holding a scary beastie. He flat out refused to hold the bugs despite being fascinated to look at them. Sensible child!

Elfin opted to create some wild art, although there was less nature in the art, the wildness was more how the kids wielded the 50things stamp.

Elfin's younger brother got in on the action checking out the bug hunting and bonding with the National Trust folk.

Once Goblin was done with the bugs - which took a lot longer than I'd expected - he moved into the plant it, grow it, eat it challenge. He was assisted to roll a newspaper pot, which he filled with soil. Then he planted rocket seeds and covered them with more compost. The lovely NT folk gave us a newspaper bag to put the pot in so we could take it home and nurture it. But I'm afraid it didn't survive three hours in my back pack, so we can't tick off this challenge yet.

When the kids were done with the activities we went to the playground where they found another opportunity to tick off a 50things activity on their own - climbing a tree!

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Extended family fun at the Vyne

(Goblin is 4 years old)

To celebrate Goblin's fourth birthday, with my family, we went to the Vyne. It's quite near my parent's house and Goblin loved it last time we went. This time they were holding an "Apple day".

Apple day involved lots of little craft stalls, some musicians, re-enactors and apple tasting. Goblin even found some archery. Since our holiday at Kentwell hall, where he first tried shooting a bow, he has been excited every time we find somewhere he can have another go. As you can see from his face he took the instruction quite seriously.

And of course he was excited by the birthday presents from my sister and brother in law, and my Mum and Dad. After a busy day running about in the grounds of the stately home Goblin bonded with his Grandpa, sharing their mutual love of fast cars, by watching the Pixar movie 'Cars'.

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The freedom of the beach

(Goblin is nearly 4)

Montessori, Waldorf and Reggio educational techniques all pay a lot of attention to the learning environment. While on holiday in Wales I started to realise what an amazing learning environment the beach can be. 

One of the main reasons that the beach offers such wonderful opportunities for kids is actually the effect it has on parents. Parents on the beach tend to be more relaxed, less rushed and less bothered by mess, noise, and other things that can be annoying when cooped up in the environment of the home. 

This leaves kids free to play and learn, discover, test, experiment. They can dig, and move stuff around without risk of chastisement. They can make land art or tap into their imagination and turn a beach into any setting they want.

They get to do things that need big open spaces.

They can fling themselves about with less risk of injury.

And even the messiest of messy play can be washed off in the sea. 

They have freedom in space and freedom in time - what better learning environment could you have.  

 

The Vyne

(Goblin is nearly 4)

The other day we went to visit friends who live the other side of London. They took us to The Vyne which is owned by the National Trust. This place is very kid friendly and I would recommend it to anyone who loves outdoor play.

It has a lovely little playground with tunnels that look like hobbit holes. Goblin and his friends spent ages running in and out of them. There was a gravel river which was just too tempting for our three year olds and they had a lot of fun throwing gravel into the tunnels, much to the distress of some older girls who came and told on them because they were "making a mess". When I explained that our three year olds were helping them, because if there was no gravel in the tunnels there would be nothing for the older girls to clear up, the girls went away satisfied.

I'm afraid I don't believe in telling little kids not to throw stones. I tell Goblin not to throw stones at people, but I'm not going to deny him the pleasure of throwing stones all together just because it makes some other people uncomfortable.

As well as the wonderful playground, The Vyne has a beautiful lake - that Goblin ran towards at full pelt. Since he has developed the skill of being able to swim to the edge of things I have become more relaxed with him around water, so I didn't shout out or rush to stop him. Instead I waited to see if I'd hear a splosh. But he sensibly stopped in time. (I do still carry a change of clothes at all times). And Him and his friend sat and 'fished' at the edge.

There is a wood at the Vyne but we didn't get a chance to explore because we were sidetracked by the toy tractors, wheelbarrows and bouncy animals that had been left out on the grass by the apple trees. Goblin was in vehicle heaven - to the extent that tearing him away when it was time to go was not a pretty site. 

I can't wait to go back, and its also made me look at other National Trust venues which I may previously have assumed were not so child friendly.
For your nearest National Trust place check out their website http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/