Learning about the Seasons

Here is a really easy activity for kids.

It can be used as an introduction to the seasons (and the calender) or as a visual reminder for kids who already know their seasons but might be a little shaky on the details.

In our house, we just needed a reminder but we did find it handy to keep one of these 'seasonal pie-charts' pinned up in the school area for a few months after we created them.

This simple activity teaches:

+ The names of the 4 seasons

+ The order of the seasons

+ The cyclical nature of the seasons

+ The names of the 12 months of the year

+ The order of the months

+ The cyclical nature of the months

+ The months that belong to each season

Note: We live in Australia (southern hemisphere) so yours will obviously be a little different to the ones we drew if you live in the northern hemisphere.

Start with your circle - we traced cups.
Place twelve equally spaced marks around your circle.

OR download and print out this one I made especially for you ;)

Label these marks from January through December.

Divide the circle into quarters that match the seasons in your hemisphere. This is important. Lol.

Label your seasons.

Get creative! We chose a simple colour to represent each season but you could draw snowflakes in Winter and flowers in Spring. Make it your own :)

Please leave me a comment and tell me about your favourite season & don't forget you can download the file. Enjoy!

p.s. Need to learn the 7 days of the week? Here is activity I did with Lovely a few years ago that was actually the inspiration for this one.

The Beach Boys

I don't think I ever posted these sweet photos of the boys from last year. 
I have such an excess of photos to sort through!!!

One of my best friends is just AWESOME at printing photo books. I think she does one a month which literally blows my mind - I don't think I've printed any photos since about 2008! Lol.

How do you organise your photos? A. x

Dairy-free smoothie time!

We have been drinking lots of smoothies.

Our easiest go-to version is the banana smoothie. Especially as our freezer is packed with yummy frozen banana at the moment .

Just add rice milk (or almond milk - Mmmmm)
+ a dash of vanilla and blend.
Extra ice depending on the weather.

I also mix a little protein powder into ours which isn't the kids favourite but more a mama-ruling.

I also like a pineapple juice/frozen banana mix. Yummo. I must add a little coconut cream next time come to think of it! #pinacolada stylee ;)

What kind of smoothies are popular at your house? x

It's an Indian Summer

We seem to have found ourselves in an Indian Summer! 

While the Northern Hemisphere has hit late snow, here in Australia we are enjoying some amazing beach weather. With the promise of back-to-back winters ahead of us I for one am trying to savour it.

I took these photos over the last two days, yes, one being yesterday - Monday. It was just too beautiful on the beach to be inside doing school work!

A sand bar miraculously appears from nowhere. 1, 2, 3... Jump!

Lost in a world of sand-play. For a moment.

*splash!* I believe that's Lovely ;)

Do we really have to hand the sun over soon?! I am just getting used to this...

Tell me what the weather is like in your part of the world right now. A. x

The Imagination Foundation and Caine's Arcade

Hug wanted to watch Caine's Arcade over lunch today.

So we did. And discovered there is Part Two!... the response to Caine's Arcade.  I still choke up watching the first film. This is a lovely follow up featuring Caine and some of the kids around the world he has inspired. My kids certainly have been!

So, I was very excited to see the magic of this story continue with the launch of the Imagination Foundation. 

The Imagination Foundation's mission is to 

find, foster, and fund 

creativity and entrepreneurship 

in kids. 

Rocking core goals:

1. Instill Creative Thinking as a Core Skill and Social Value
2. Give Kids Opportunities to Create and Learn Based on their Passions 
3. Foster a Community of Creative Makers
4. Introduce Social Entrepreneurship at a Young Age
5. Use Storytelling to Celebrate Exceptional Kids and Inspire Communities

Watch Caine's Arcade. Part One:

And, Part Two:

Want to find out more about the Imagination Foundation? You can also like The Imagination Foundation on FB or follow @imagination on Twitter. 

What's in my bag... packing light trial #1.

I think I can comfortably say that this has always been a lifestyle blog. 

Of course it's also very-much an edu blog but I have always talked about more than just home/school. This year I hope to continue to extend that reach; to talk about travel, design, food, fashion and more. I hope that is as exciting to you as it is for me. Smile. 

Today's post continues a discussion about packing light!

If you've been reading the blog you will know that we are heading off on a big family trip later this year. Six months on the road. With just the bags on our backs (or *cough* wheeling beside us ;)

My goal... to pack lightly with style!

A month or so ago I escaped from family-life for a weekend away with my best friend and worked quite strategically to think about our bigger trip when I packed. I wasn't checking my luggage so I could only take one carry on bag and my tote. My tote is a gorgeous Kate Spade number that T bought for me when he went to New York without us last year. Yes, I just italicised that ;) but, really,  it was for work and he went with my blessings - and went to Kate Spade especially for me - so I forgive him this one time. Lol.

It's a great bag and in many ways perfect for traveling to Europe but it's one flaw is that it doesn't have a top zip. Talking to myself: Do I need a lockable day-bag instead?

Anyway, I want to show you what I carry in here because, well,  I know I like to see what other people carry in their handbags and maybe you do too!

The photo above shows my iPhone (white case), iPad (black cover), my purse for cards and money, glomesh purse for extra small things like lipgloss and hairbands, and just disappearing out of shot - a small notebook (I also carry a thin sharpie and a retractable pencil cos I love them) and collapsible shopping tote.

For jewellery I just took a little fabric gift bag.

My apple and bee purse safely holds my earbuds in case I want to listen to music.

Gratuitous glomesh photo :) #loveglomesh

I trialled a collapsible water bottle that we had picked up at Kathmandu and loved it.

Also, from Kathmandu, packing cells. Genius.  

I took a medium packing cell for my clothes (for 4 days):  1 x jeans / 3 x dresses / 2 x skirts / 1 x black leggings / pjs / linen cami / 3 x t-shirts / V-neck knit / 2 x cardigans / belt / dress jacket. This all fit in the medium cell excluding the outfit I was wearing of course. I don't generally travel naked as a rule ;)

A cell tube was the perfect solution for my ghd straightener and a pair of heels (this was after all a girly weekend!).

Aaaaaaaand... I did happen to buy 3 pairs of shoes. Hence there were 5 pairs of shoes to pack on my return. Whoops!

A small clear cell for my underwear.  These come in a set of 3. Very cute. I realise now that I haven't included my toiletries bag in this post but that's because there's another post coming up just about makeup and toiletries, but yes, I had one of those packed too. Including this cute toothbrush!

It all went in here. My carry-on. T takes it on all of his own adventures so it gets a lot of love (read: wear).

Finally, my camera bag. This didn't quite fit into the carry-on (maybe it was all the shoes ;) and is bulky in the tote. I'm dreaming of getting a compact DSLR before we travel. But dreaming it may just be...

And last but not least I grabbed a few little presents for the sweet-ones-back-home at the airport. 

Voila!

So, obviously this ain't quite enough stuff for six months... but I'm hoping it's not far off it to be honest. For my personal items at least. Inspired by Bea at Zero Waste Home I am planning on minimising my wardrobe but we will be heading into a European winter so I will need extra layers. 

What are your travel essentials and what do you do without? Please let me know and also let me know if you enjoyed this post! xx

Aboriginal inspired art

One of the books we are enjoying this term is Playground compiled by Nadia Wheatley. 

We use the bush as our school and as our playground, says one of the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people whose voices combine in this anthology of true stories about childhood, compiled from a wide range of memoirs and oral histories.

Alongside reminiscences of getting bush tucker, going fishing and taking part in ceremony, there are descriptions of playing games, building cubbies and having fun. The warmth of home, the love of family and the strength of community shine through every story. Freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility, while respect and sharing are constant themes.

The eighty Elders - both past and present - who have contributed their words or artwork to this book include many prominent community leaders, educators and artists. Their life-stories span the twentieth century.

 Last week's reading inspired us to do some Aboriginal-inspired painting.

We chose natural card stock and a simplified colour palette. 

My efforts. I was a little fixated with using the end of the brush dot-painting style.

The boys also worked on this Aboriginal art jigsaw puzzle. It's called 'Snake Dreaming' and is by Linda Smith from the Eastern Aranda Tribe.