Seashore Sensory Table (Learning Through Play)

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A few weeks ago we went to Oxwich Bay with my brother and his family for a day on the beach. It was a brilliant afternoon, and one that will definitely go up there as a highlight of the Summer due to the relaxed free-range play that The Boy and his cousin enjoyed, while my brother searched my cockles on the water's edge. However, for me the best part was exploring the rockpools with my sister-in-law who works in outdoor adventure activities and has received training in 'Beach Schools'.

The lesser known 'Beach Schools' don't seem to have the recognition or accreditation that 'Forest Schools' do in the UK, which is a particular shame as the entire country is surrounded by the most wonderful coastline. My sister-in-law was eager to pass on her training to us and show The Boy all about the wonderful creatures which live in rockpools. He was fascinated, as was I, and so I decided to take our learning home with us.

I half filled a bucket of water, collected a variety of shells and seaweed specimens and set them up in our trusty Step2 water table which has two tiers. Into the bottom I placed sand and the shells, the top level had seawater and the seaweed.

Then I invited The Boy to play, and learn.

Seashore sensory table

The cockle shells completely fascinated him! He compared them to castanets and tried to play music with them. He noticed that one hadn't opened properly and examined the creature inside (brought home in error!). Then he made imprints in the sand with the cockle shells and noticed the ridges, and how they joined together perfectly.

Next I presented The Boy with a shell identification sheet and he started trying to match up the shells to the animals which have them as homes.

Seashore sensory table

The sheets which my SiL gave me are aimed at older children (who can read), however the illustrations are so clear that it's easy for younger children to use them with an adult to read to them. The Boy was fascinated with the identification sheets, and quickly noticed the one for seaweed trying to work out which seaweed was bladder wrack etc.

Seashore sensory table

This was an excellent learning experience for him, and one which will be easy to repeat in situ next time (as we've laminated the guides) we go to a beach. We happened across one last week while on holiday, and he was fascinated with the limpets and muscle shells we saw covering the rocks.

Seashore Sensory Table

Identification Sheets:

365 #32

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We're all going on a Summer holiday…

The 365 linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts via comments. I can't emphasise this enough, it's the whole point of the linky!

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
365


Days 216-222 of Project 365

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216-222 of 365

10th August 2013 (Saturday)

216. Swing Low (The zip wire at Coombe Mill is one of the big draws for children, and I can't begin to tell you how many times he's been on it this week. Sunday was an incredibly rainy day, and I'm so glad that we brought his red all-in-one waterproof, it was very much needed on the feed run and for outdoor play. This was also the last photo taken on my much-loved Canon EOS 300D before it died; one of the mirrors inside broke and every photo was black from a third of the way down. Having just been presented with a brand new 55-250mm lens by Mr. TBaM as an early birthday present, and so I could photograph the wonderful location we were staying in, I was left with little choice but to order a new one and await Tuesday morning's delivery eagerly.)

217. Sodden (I rarely include photos of Mr. TBaM but I want to illustrate exactly how wet it was: we had to peel our clothes off after the feed run and wring them out; The Boy even cried because he was so wet and fed up. Luckily, by mid afternoon the skies brightened and we were able to indulge in a stroll around the farm.)

218. Hero ("Ah, there you are Guy!" was one of the most heard phrases of the week. The Boy adores Guy, one of the Coombe Mill triplets, and was keen to chatter to him about anything he could. We found him in the goat enclosure and he spent a great twenty minutes with us, accompanying us up to see the deer before continuing his game of 'Manhunt' with his friends while The Boy looked on wistfully! Oh and my new camera came: this was taken with it and my new lens.)

219. Farmer The Boy (Need I say anymore? He adores driving the tractor with Farmer Nick!)

220. Wrong Way (We ventured off site today to visit Lappa Valley Steam Railway. I will confess that I wasn't overly impressed with it for the price, but The Boy's eyes lit up when he saw the crazy golf course. Looking at the sky, it's hard to believe the monsoon that plagued us on Monday!)

221. Country Kids Go Rafting (Earlier in the week, we had made stick rafts and Fiona was very taken with the idea of having a competition at the end of the week for organic rafts. It was great seeing people gathering their sticks together on the Thursday and walking along the main path, there was a vast array of designs waiting on the patio tables outside the lodges. It warmed my heart to think that a simple activity I'd done on Tuesday with The Boy, sparked such comradery and good-natured competition. Even Fiona's children made rafts, and families waded down the river watching their rafts from the wooden bridge to the stone bridge.)

222. Birthday (36 today! Driving 5 hours back from Coombe Mill was not the best way to spend my birthday; a) because I had to leave Coombe Mill, and b) because my numpty of a husband forgot to look up directions until after we'd driven past the right road, and then sent me off on country A or B roads, which were little more than lanes, for 40 miles. 40 miles which took 90 minutes. I was pretty cross! Nonetheless, we finally made it to my parents' house for my family birthday tea! )

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Country Kids Of All Ages At Coombe Mill

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We've been having the time of our lives this week in Coombe Mill. It is one of the most magical place I've ever been to. One of my happy places; all of us have it as our happy place. The photos and the words of those who write about it can never do the farm or grounds justice. Coombe Mill is more than just a farm holiday, it's about re-engaging with each other and enjoying time as a family, re-engaging with nature and the wonders of the world that we live in, and re-engaging with our lost selves during the chaos of everyday life.

Until you've experienced it, it's hard to understand Coombe Mill's magic.

That's why I was really eager to have the motley crew from Mummy Mishaps down for a day during our stay, and the fabulous Fiona was only too happy to agree and welcome them with open arms.

And we've had the best day of our holiday so far because we have stayed on site and done nothing but play. That goes for the 'grown-ups' as well as the children, even Fiona said herself that she had done nothing all day but "rediscover my own farm through the eyes of others!"

We started with the 9am feed run where the deer behaved themselves wonderfully and showed up out from the forest, and then progressed onto one of the adventure play parks having refreshed on cake and drinks at Fiona's house.

Country Kids of all ages at Coombe Mill 1

Once the zipwire was exhausted from the boys' efforts, we enjoyed a picnic on the green in front of our lodge next to the River Camel, before taking our scraps up to Dotty and Piglet. The poor things were fast asleep in their sty until I clanged the bucket at them and the promise of orange peel, bread rolls and egg shells was too great for them to stay dozing.

Following our own mini feed run, it was time to indulge in a spot of wood craft where we made our own stick rafts to sail down the river, and forest faces to adorn the trees of Coombe Mill before heading into the river to sail our rafts in a competition between Jenny and Mr. TBaM.

Country Kids of all ages at Coombe Mill 2

Once we'd retrieved the rafts from the river, it was time to explore the more shallow parts of the river and Coombe Mill's very own little island (in the stream). Both The Boy and Burton had a go on the rope swing hung from the tree, while we all enjoyed throwing pebbles and seeing how far they could go in the rapids!

A quick snack and shower saw all the boys dressed in clean and dry clothes with one more treat of a train ride before the Mummy Mishaps bunch had to head home. It was a marvellous day, thanks to our wonderful friends and the idyllic setting.

Country Kids of all ages at Coombe Mill 3

Jenny won by the way!

Raft Races On The River Camel! (Country Kids)

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Sometimes an idea for an activity pops into my head and I don't realise how much fun it is going to be until it evolves organically.

And this one definitely evolved organically!

Several months ago I read on Coombe Mill about the Easter raft race that some of the guests had organised. Knowing that we had a break coming up in August, I filed the idea somewhere in the depths of my mind, and it was jolted out when I bought a book about sticks a few weeks back. All of a sudden, the one activity that we had to do when we arrived was build a small wooden raft.

I packed lolly sticks and natural string just in case, ever prepared for all eventualities!

At 5pm, we tootled over to have a ride on the train and I was joined by Fiona to watch her little boy drive my little one around the lawn. We chatted about our day and I explained that at some point I wanted to make a raft to sail on the river. A few minutes later and distracted by a climbing child who wanted to go in the castle, I found myself joined by the lady herself who wanted to have a go at making a raft. Bang went the theory of using string, as Fiona suggested we use grass reeds to join the sticks. This is the raft that I made.

However, we were also joined by Mr. TBaM who was determined to make one as well. His first raft was smothered in mud and he was instructed by The Boy to leave it in the sun to dry. As it had rained for two days, that was never going to happen, so he ditched that raft and they joined forces, deserting me!

Making a stick raft

Then once we'd made our rafts, we went back to the lodge to change; swimshorts and beach shoes for the boys as they were going to wade in to release the rafts. The river had been rather swollen so The Boy stood on the side holding my hand while Mr. TBaM valiantly ventured into the murky, freezing depths to release the rapid-riders!

Making a stick raft

Much hilarity ensued as we competed for the best raft. Despite mine being the most beautiful and well put together, his actually sailed the best down the river. We climbed back up the banks, running alongside it to see how well they were both doing, where we were rejoined by Fiona and Clio who wanted to see our rafts in action, and another couple of guests who were curious as to what was going on. Needless to say, my beautiful raft became caught in the overhanging growth, while Mr. TBaM's sailed merrily under the bridge, once he'd set it straight again.

And because my darling husband loves me, he waded back up the river to find my raft and saved it from overhanging branches not once, but twice, sending it on its way to join its companion over the rapids of the River Camel!

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Learning for Life

How To Make A Stick Raft (#43)

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Making a raft is an easy activity to do with children, although their age determines exactly how much input you give. The Boy is four years and two months old and quite good with fiddly and intricate things, but making this raft was more about him helping me, than me helping him. Now he knows how to do it, the situation will reverse.

This activity is completely organic, both in the way that it happened, and the materials we used!

How To Make A Stick Raft

You'll need:

  • 4 sticks of equal length for the frame
  • around 8-10 sticks of the same length as those for the frame to create the bed of the raft
  • long grass reeds/stems
  • 1 large leaf or a frond of leaves for the sail
  • 1 stick for the mast
  1. Lay the four sticks for the frame on top of each other to judge size. Carefully wind a long grass reed around each of the join, overlapping and winding from one corner to the other. This will hold them in place. Complete for each corner.
  2. Once the frame is completed, fix each stick to the frame to make the bed of the raft, winding the grass over in a cross fashion as above. Continue until the base is covered, there will be gaps in between each stick.
  3. Use one stick as the mast and a large leaf as the sail. Make two small holes to push the mast through. We actually tied a large frond of leaves to the mast instead.
  4. Insert into a gap in between two of the sticks, carefully wrap grass around to fix it into place.
  5. The raft is ready for sailing!

How To Make A Stick Raft

  • This activity is great for:
    • fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination; winding the grass around the sticks.
    • design skills; How can we join the sticks together?
    • problem-solving; Did the raft float or sink? Why? Did it get caught on anything?
    • communication; questioning and discussion.
    • self-esteem; achievement!
    • having FUN!

It is also one of the activities on the National Trust 50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾ list: #43: Build A Raft!

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Country Kids

 


365 #31

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The Summer is racing by and people are enjoying their holidays I hope?

The 365 linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts via comments. I can't emphasise this enough, it's the whole point of the linky!

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

  1. Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
  2. Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
  3. If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!
365


Days 209-215 of Project 365

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209-215 of 365

3rd August 2013 (Saturday) for web

209. This Is New (We went to Oxwich Bay with my brother and his family for the day. The Boy's aunty is an outdoor adventure instructor working in a variety of fields and she has been trained in 'beach school' education, so was keen to share her knowledge. We had an amazing day finding anemones, urchins, cockles, and crabs!)

210. Perspective (Off to Parc Play, one of our favourite places to go and far better than soft play! Wooden forts, zip wires, slides, sand pits, pirate ships; all outdoors or under cover. We were meeting up with a friend and her little boy who is a year older than The Boy. We haven't seen them in some time and it was interesting to see how The Boy, who was left behind physically last year, was capable of doing things that his friend couldn't. Well he could by the time we'd finished with him!)

211. Friendship (We visited Yeo Valley HQ in the Mendips today with a bunch of other bloggers to see how they are working with the Woodland Trust. It was great to meet up with Jenny and Burton again, and The Boy and he got straight up to mischief with a tempting pipe.)

212. Workspace (We've borrowed a tuff-spot and stand from the nursery at work for the Summer, definitely The Boy's new work space!)

213. David Bellamy (On Tuesday we did a leaf hunt at Yeo Valley and The Boy has been fascinated with finding different leaves ever since; he spotted the silver birch in our garden and ran to get the sheet to identify it.)

214. Focus (Today my special treat to myself arrived: a fixed focus 50mm lens for my dSLR. I have been quite sceptical about it, not really understanding what the difference would be between my 18-55mm and this. Now I get it! The depth of field is far more pronounced with this lens, as you can see from the photo above which was taken in our local nature reserve. We nipped down there to feed the swans and have lunch with my mum. I actually love this lens, and I adore this photo; it's going up on the wall.)

215. Heaven (And we're finally here! I wanted to leave home at 9am to travel down to Coombe Mill but a late night and sleepy heads this morning meant we left late. It took 3.5hrs to do the 2hrs down to Trago Mills, where we had good fun on the rides, steam train and shopping, and then a further 1.5 hours to get here. It then took thirty minutes to wait for our fish and chips before we could actually arrive at Coombe Mill. But oh my, it's all worth it!)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

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