Summer survival is not so bad

Summer survival is going better today, one might even describe it as thriving rather than surviving! (That said, I realised I have started mentally counting down the days rather than weeks, I am really starting to feel it now.  There are twelve more week days before nursery/toddler groups recommence!)

Here is a round up of today's altogether more wholesome than TV activities (these were interspersed with periods of watching TV)

Today looked like it was going to be raining all day.  I had planned on washing the car with the children (clean car plus they think they are playing with water) so I had to come up with something else in a hurry.  My children LOVE messy play, I do not.  I do, however, recognise the benefits to them so I try to do something once in a while.  My brother-in-law is here which meant I could do something a little messier as he would be able to entertain the children while I tidied up.  Therefore I let them do this...

I put out a big sheet of paper (we use the ikea mala rolls, it's really convenient to just roll them out if you want/need something bigger) and a few different things to print with.  There was an orange cut in half, an apple, some wool, a toilet roll tube, a toy car to make tracks with, a few wee tubs, some of those scrunchy things you get for using in the bath/shower (I always end up with loads at Christmas), some foam I had lying around and of course some paint brushes.  I put them all out with some tubs of paint and just let them do whatever they wanted.  I wanted to put out a potato masher but I don't have a dishwasher and wasn't convinced I'd be able to get all the paint off so it could be used again!

As someone who HATES (did I mention I don't like messy play) messy play here is my top tip.

Have a a basin of water ready, at a height the children can reach, so cleaning up can happen in an INSTANT!

Here are a few pictures of them enjoying the fun

mala

And here is the finished creation (hanging up to dry on my washing line, the rain didn't seem to materialise)

Then came snack (on a blanket, outside, because everything is better when done on a blanket outside!)

Trying to be a Dad has an amazing job that is really flexible and is also situated in some beautiful grounds so we all went down to have a picnic with Daddy at work

Unfortunately N is terrified of ducks so we had to cut things a little shorter than we might have (not helped by the fact she threw some bread to try and make them go "over there" not understanding this would make them come back looking for more!).  This did have a pleasant side effect though, it meant when the rain started to come down very suddenly we were already quite close to the car!

This afternoon N was in a bit of a foul mood so I let her do some baking (despite the fact that I normally I have a 1 messy activity OR baking per day rule)

We made Cheese and Tomato Melts from N's "I Can Cook" recipe book. We got given this book as a gift but N loves it and actually, so do I, the pictures mean she can follow a lot of the recipe herself and there are loads of handy tips for being able to include your children in cooking and even a little bit about gardening.

I won't bore you with another picture of my child standing at my worktop (if you are desperate you can see one here) but here is a picture of our savoury biscuits.  They were yummy!