A Garden Project

We started with a garden of weeds ..........

This is what I saw whenever I walked out my front door.  :'(  and with spring here in full swing I really wanted to do something positive about it. 

In September we attended the Sustainability Expo where we were given three native bush plants courtesy of the City Council.  Fragrant Saltbush (Rhagodia Parabolica), Blue Flax-Lily (Dianella Revoluta) and Austral Indigo (Indigofera Australis) and I had plenty of good intentions of planting them out within the week. 

One month later and D-Day arrived today when we got home after a very BUSY day.  Firstly we gathered all our things

Daddy helped us to get some compost from the compost bin out back, it was great being able to finally show Sir N what becomes of all those scraps he keeps having to ferry to the compost bin. Next we added Thrive fertilizer and dug it through the soil.

Sir N was not happy at all about having to do prep work! Have to work on ATTITUDE around here. Working with a happy attitude is not that easy and from the conversations with my friends it comes with the territory of being six years old.

Then we did the fun part planting our seedlings

Today we planted Fragrant Saltbush (Rhagodia Parabolica), Blue Flax-Lily (Dianella Revoluta) and Austral Indigo (Indigofera Australis). Along the back we planted a row of Cosmos (These are my Mom's favourite flowers. I must confess I love the blooms too they remind me of Africa where they grew wild along some roads and would have the most beautiful show in April.), Lobelia and some carrot seeds.

Mmmm this watering can is a little heavy....

Now when I come out my front door I see .....

I am looking forward to the day when they have all grown and are in full bloom.

When ever I do little projects like this with Sir N I am reminded of what my friend Mrs S used to say to me:  " You can credit card parent OR you can savings account parent! it's up to you what results you want." 
Credit card parenting is so much easier.  You do it all yourself there is no training, very little time "wasted" but boy the interest you gain in a lazy child is not worth it in the long run.
 Savings account schooling takes time as you spend a long time preparing, coaching, checking up on them and working on attitude and the positive returns are really worth all the extra time it takes to do things now.

Galatians6:8-10 8 For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
 9 And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
10 So then, as occasion and opportunity open up to us, let us do good [[a]morally] to all people [not only [b]being useful or profitable to them, but also doing what is for their spiritual good and advantage]. Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those of the household of faith [those who belong to God's family with you, the believers].

So my friends do not grow weary as you train your children at home.

Blessings

Jess the cat!

A few weeks ago I was browsing at Big W and saw some really neat kits called Make-Your-Own Sew Cute animals, which are produced by Studiogirl and distributed by Grant Studios.

 

 

The kits come with all you need to complete the project, including a plastic needle. The only thing you need is a pair of scissors to cut the thread.

 

 

Each piece of felt comes pre printed and puched to make sewing easier.

 

 

The instruction leaflet is clear and simple to follow and older children could easily complete the projects on their own.

 

 

Step one line up the holes and start sewing.

 

 

We sewed half the cat and proceded to stuff it.  The best part was seeing the stuffing expand from it's vacuum packed bag!

 

 

 

Successfully completed Jess the cat.

 

 

There are four different kits available:

• Sew Cute Bear
• Sew Cute Bunny
• Sew Cute Cat
• Sew Cute Owl (this is our next project)

 

This craft was super easy and the best part was I did not need to be driving around to collect all sorts of bits and pieces and the pre punched pieces made sewing and lining up the bits easy.

 

I'm looking for easy projects to do with Sir N, any recommendations ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making a Volacano

In our home school we have been reading about Volcano's and decided to make one out of plaster of Paris from a kit I purchased from ALDI.

Sir N and our kit.

Contents of our kit. Great easy to follow instructions.

Putting the elastics on to hold the pieces together.

Plaster of Paris ready to mix.

Poured the mixture into the mold.

I got a little bit of a start as it started pouring out the sides but no fear there was enough and it soon stopped oozing.  I am grateful Paul was home when we did this as I would have waited too long before pouring the mix into the mold.  If you wait too long then you get a lot of bubbles in the mix you can't get out, it needs to be runny when you pour it in.  I also thought I had used too much water but that was not the case. We left it on the bench for about four hours and then ....

One volcano we had!

We waited for about a week before we attempted to paint it. This step was more time consuming than I had anticipated so I helped Sir N.  I think in hind sight I should have taken out the poster paint and thicker brushes.  Older sister came to the rescue and provided us with glitter glue pens which Sir N thoroughly enjoyed applying to this volcano.

The instructions say to mix paint, vinegar and dish liquid for red coloured eruption.  I was disappointed with the chemical reaction this had. (I have since learned that you need to mix food colouring, dish liquid and baking soda then add vinegar for a red eruption, we had mixed the paint, dish liquid and vinegar) So we tried again this time with baking soda and vinegar and that was much better. You could hear the bubbles forming and popping.  It was so much fun.

Baking Soda, poster paint (it's better to use food colouring)
dish liquid and vinegar.

Sir N's volcano and city.

Adding vinegar to the baking soda.

1*2*3 Success

We had lots of fun doing this.  You do not need a kit to do the same with your children.  You can accomplish the same thing using a water tight jar of some kind (plastic, metal or glass).  Put it down build up some soil around it, make your city etc then add baking soda, food colouring and dish liquid and mix in the jar.  Slowly add vinegar and watch the eruption. 

Blessings

Our Alfalfa Sprout Head

Last month we attended the local Sustainability Expo where Bunnings had a craft table for little people so they could make a Alfalfa sprout head to take home. 

This is the process we followed:

Each child was given a small plastic cup to decorate.

Sir N used pva glue with a brush, glitter, pompoms, wiggly eyes, pipe cleaner and foam cut outs.

Next we took our little Alfalfa pottle to the lady who added one teaspoon of Water Storage Crystals to the cup and filled it up with water.  She then asked Sir N to stir and see what happens.  His face was priceless!  Once the crystals were fully hydrated another lady sprinkled the Alfalfa sprout seeds over the top.

We took our Alfalfa head home and put him onto the window sill to watch and grow.

Beginning to germinate.  Look carefully and you can see little roots ...

Next day and we can see the beginnings of leaves

Sprouting forth and leaves still encased in seed covers.

There we go our first two leaves open !

1-2-3 Success !

We are planning on growing Alfalfa sprouts this summer to have in our salads.  There are many health benefits and they are easy to grow in a jar.

The seeds did not all sprout together and we ended up with only a few germinating at a time.  From the reading I have since done you need to soak the seeds over night in water before spreading them over the top of the gel to grow.  I am planning on growing some beans and sunflower seeds this spring with Sir N.

What have you grown with your children in the past ?

Blessings