Why Not?

I love it when children make discoveries all on their own. It reminds me that the children's personal discovery can lead to new and amazing things. Reminding me that my job as a caregiver is to provide them opportunities and environment that is inspirational and promotes self discovery. 

So when the children discovered that the long big blue tubes work well to blow bubbles in the water, in a way that a straw can be used to blow bubbles in milk, I was eager to share it with our little blogging community.

So why not blow some bubbles?

Whaaaa?

We have been all inflicted with 'the sniffles' over the last few weeks, and it has made us all feel pretty miserable and sad. So I had to share the trick I used to get on the other side of the congestion. No, this post is not really related to our adventures, but it's worth a share.

It's called the Cold Sock Treatment, and before you completely write it off, I have to tell you it seemed to have worked for me. I have done it before, as a suggestion from a friend, so I thought i'd give it a go. Sometimes we just have to try things, just because nothing else works. I don't know the exact science behind it, but from what I understand it rushes the blood to your feet immediately, to counteract the freezing cold feet you have. It seems to be related to the swelling in your nose, and drains the swelling very quickly, thus making it easier to breathe again.

Who doesn't love a good foot soak? Foot soaks, even for children have their added benefits, they are especially useful just before bed time, as they are known to slow down anxiety, and that racing brain, which, let's face it, children do suffer from, just the same as adults. A good warm foot soak is great for everyone in the winter months, just to get the chill out of our bodies.

The cold sock treatment does a lot for the congestion, but still seems to leave the fogginess and tiredness behind, all the things that make us quite miserable... this is the part that breaks my heart when the children are ill.

To counteract the fogginess, I upped my vitamin D intake, and that seems to have REALLY helped.

Of course the best thing is to get outdoors. Breathe in the nice fresh air. Keeping your children inside makes them restless and lethargic, and it increases their chances of getting sick. Children need to be outside EVERY DAY!

Frost

“Frost grows on the window glass, forming whorl patterns of lovely translucent geometry.

Breathe on the glass, and you give frost more ammunition.

Now it can build castles and cities and whole ice continents with your breath’s vapor.

In a few blinks you can almost see the winter fairies moving in . . .

But first, you hear the crackle of their wings.” 

― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

We have been preparing for the day, but it still tricked us anyway. We talked about how one morning we would wake up, and there would be white all over the grass. It will look like snow, but it won't be snow. We talked about what frost was, we talked about the sounds it would make, we talked about how it would feel.

So on the day that we got our first frost, it still tricked us! It goes to show that it really makes a difference when the children see, feel and hear it for themselves. It all makes sense now.

Under Observation

We discovered a weed recently. I don't know how we didn't notice it before... perhaps because it went the way that weeds go, and shot right out of the ground. It's right there beside our door. It's massive!! It's taller than some of the children. Rather than pulling out the weed. We have decided to use it for a science experiment. So we are observing it right now.

We have been tracking the growth over the last few weeks, and we are astounded to see how much it grows each week (at least 3inches!!!)

It was originally in our greenhouse, and we were measuring it on the greenhouse wall. Some children felt it would grow more if it got some rain on it, so the greenhouse was removed.

But.... a day after writing this blog post, while it was sitting in the draft box.... it suffered a rather sad demise. With the removal of the green house it was left to defend itself, and it accidentally got crushed under a fall. 

*Good news though, the children have still chosen to observe the weed. The prediction is: as long as it stays green it will come back to life, but if it turns brown, then... all hope is lost. 

So with the last few days being clear and sunny, the children have taken to watering the weed. The observation is still in process.

Barefoot Benefits in the Cold Months

WE LOVE BAREFEET!!!!
We've talked about it before... going barefoot has HUGE benefits. I believe in walking barefoot. It try to do it as often as I can... and I try to do it as much as I can outside.
A friend of mine is a Reflexologist, and her and I have had some rather exciting conversations about the benefits of barefoot walking, and the improvements it makes on our general well being. Another friend of mine is from New Zealand and is living here in our lovely province. When I look at her, she is always barefoot. So I asked her about this one day. She explained that in New Zealand the children are always go barefoot. Even at school. It's pretty typical for the children to walk into their classroom in the morning and take off their shoes and socks and go barefoot for the rest of the day... inside and out. This explains why every Kiwi I meet seems to be chill and relaxed. *wink, wink* At first I thought, "it would be nice to have such a mild climate, so we could do that year round." But i'm learning a bit more about New Zealand, and it's not that far off of our own climate.
So with that being said, I was looking for alternatives to reap the benefits of going barefoot for these unfavourable months. So when my reflexologist friend shared this fantastic video, I wondered how I could get my hands on these health pathways, or even how to make this into a project with the children.
In the mean time, I perhaps by fluke, came across these fantastic foot massagers. I probably bought too many, but there is a project a-brewing!

Celebration

Whoooeeee, it's been a while. The children and I are 'hopefully' on the other end of this nasty cold that has been going around. For those of you that were lucky enough to have missed it, consider yourself blessed! It was a doozy! It's been hanging on with a couple of the children, and it's a bit hard to kick, not to mention it made us all feel miserable. It breaks my heart to see them ill, and sad, so i'm glad we're nearing the end *hopefully* Heading outdoors has been the best form of defense, I can offer, these last few weeks, it really clears our heads, and revitalizes us!

Now back to what we've been up to. Thinking back a few months now, the children and I came across a picture in a Nursery Rhyme book we have. It corresponded with the Rhyme that goes like this:

"Hoddley, Poddley, puddles and fogs,the cats are to marry the poodle dogs.

Cats in blue jackets, and dogs in red hats, what will become of the mice and the rats."

The children were fascinated with the picture, and this fascination welcomed some inspiration.

So it took a few weeks of planning, but we put together a tea party to mimic the picture. The plan was to include the mommies and the daddies, and it was to include EVERY food item in the picture. Including the wedding cake (with three 'apartments' aka tiers). The children wanted the juice in a bowl, and tarts, and sandwiches. And most importantly it HAD TO BE OUTSIDE!!! (children after my own heart!) Some children wanted to wear red hats... and sadly this did not happen, my bad, I completely forgot about this part.

So it took a bit of preparation and planning. It took me a while to figure out how to include the children in the wedding cake process. In the end, I think they did a fabulous job. Because we had lots of prep to do, and also because I wasn't sure how to make a wedding cake have 'apartments' I baked and covered the cakes, and got them ready for stacking. The children decorated the cake with silk flowers.

It was the first real 'Fall Day' so it was a good thing that we did it when we did... it was chilly, but dry! It was lots of fun!