Matisse Workshop

It’s not very often I get to spend time one on one time with Isobel so I was really looking forward to the Matisse drawing with scissors workshop at the point. Although it is aimed at children 6 + I knew that Isobel would not have a problem using scissors. Ever since she first got hold of a pair of scissors she has loved to cut things out into tiny little pieces which can get annoying when you find them all over the house.

There was a big magnetic whiteboard in the space that we were working in with lots of matisse inspired shapes for the children to arrange and create their own artwork.

The first activity was to walk around the gallery looking at Matisse’s work and draw on a piece of paper different shapes.

We looked at the different shapes and also the way Matisse had used different layers of colour for his background in some of his work. After this it was time for the actual cutting.

And finally the finished piece. After the workshop we wandered across to the museum and art exhibition. There was an open art exhibition on. One of the members of staff admired Isobels work and said that it would be really nice for her to enter something in the exhibition next year. He then showed us a piece of artwork by a 7 year old girl which had been sold. I love the unique style of children’s artwork it’s not something that can be replicated. She really does love being creative so it’s definitely something I want to encourage her with.

Silly billy poem

by harry

Mystery Science: If you floated down a river, where would you end up?

It’s really easy to get Harry interested in science if its something he can see and explore for himself. So this week we undertook another Mystery Science topic this time the question was If you floated down a river, where would you end up.

So the first task was to think of some reasons why a river flows. These are some of the ideas which Harry came up with. I was very surprised that he didn’t get the answer correct from the start.

After this we then looked at a map and could see that all the rivers started in land and ended up out at sea.

Next following the mystery science instructions we made a test model of a mountain. It was simple to do scrunching up paper around a fist then taping it to another piece of paper.

A marker was then used to highlight any high points on the mountain.

For the rain we used an empty spray bottle.

The rain then created what looked like rivers down the mountain.

From the experiment Harry was able to explain that gravity causes rivers to flow and that rivers start from high up in the mountains until they meet with another river or eventually run to the sea.

For someone who is a visual learner experiments like this one are great, he really enjoys getting hands on. I love the way that mystery science asks a question, lets the child think about the answer and then conducts a hands on experiment to prove or disprove that theory.

 

 

Portal mortal

Green Fountains of Sheffield, Out of this World – 2017

On Sunday 29th October we attended Sheffield’s Out of this World Festival for the third time running. The event is free to attend and is a celebration of everything other worldly including sci-fi, magic and spooky halloween.

This year Isobel chose a vampire costume from Sainsburys whilst Harry specifically requested a Ghostbusters costume which I ordered from Amazon.

We got there quite late this year after dinner so felt we didn’t see as many cosplay characters as we had done in previous years. Also as the kids are getting that bit older they are more reluctant to want to have to their photos taken with the characters. I must admit there were plenty of characters who I didn’t recognise however Harry did as some of the characters are from comics rather than tv. The majority of characters tend to hang around in the Sci-fi, comic and gaming zone.

There are 3 main areas to the festival which are Magic & Illusion Zone, Sci-Fi Comic and gaming Zone and Little Monsters Halloween Zone. As we had seen some of the entertainment in previous years we didn’t see it again this year. What was new this year was story telling in the belly of a gigantic inflatable whale, where we met a mermaid.

A very popular source of entertainment located in the Little Monsters Halloween Zone seems to be the Mummy in a cage, it’s amazing how brave the children are when he’s at the other side of the cage but as soon as he comes close they freeze.

Other activities in this area included Childrens rides, face painting, storytelling, apple bobbing, stalls and craft activities.

As with previous years the water fountains in peace gardens were turned green to give the centre of Sheffield that overall spooky feel to it.

It was a very enjoyable day for all the family every year the kids really look forward to picking out their costumes to wear and going along to meet their favourite characters and tease the mummy of course.

 

 

The Wolfman.

This is Harry. I hope you like my first ever post and my Halloween story, if you do please comment below.

Our take on Jamie Oliver’s Hummingbird Cake.

This week it was someone very specials birthday, Grandma Gingerbread. The other day Harry mentioned he’d like to be a baker when he grows up, therefore we thought we’d take the opportunity to let him test out his baking skills and bake a birthday cake. Carrot Cake seems to be a very popular choice in our house however I wanted to try something different so decided upon a hummingbird cake as they are so moist and fruity I knew it would be a hit.

A quick search on the internet and I found a Jamie Oliver recipe. I really rate Jamie Oliver as his instructions are easy to follow and he doesn’t included ingredients you can’t pick up at your local supermarket.

First Stop Supermarket to pick up the ingredients

Ingredients

• 250 ml olive oil , plus extra for greasing
• 350 g self-raising flour
• 1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 350 g golden caster sugar
• 4 medium very ripe bananas
• 1 x 425 g tin of pineapple chunks
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 g pecans
• ICING
• 400 g icing sugar
• 150 g unsalted butter , (at room temperature)
• 200 g cream cheese
• 2 limes

Weigh out all the ingredients.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

Grease and line two 23cm round cake tins.

Sift the flour and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, then add the sugar and a large pinch of sea salt.

Peel the bananas and mash them up with a fork in another bowl. Drain and finely chop the pineapple and add to the bananas with the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until combined, then fold into the dry mixture until smooth.

Finely chop the pecans and gently fold in, then divide the batter evenly between your prepared tins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until risen, golden and the sponges spring back when touched lightly in the centre.

Run a knife around the edge of the tins, then leave to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a free-standing electric mixer, add the butter and beat until pale and creamy.

Add the cream cheese, finely grate in the zest of 1 lime and add a squeeze of juice, then beat until just smooth – it’s really important not to over-mix it. Keep in the fridge until needed.

To assemble the cake, place one sponge on a cake stand and spread with half the icing. Top with the other sponge, spread over the rest of the icing, then grate over the zest of the remaining lime.

Now Jamie Olivers recipe calls for a rather sophisticated look decorated in pecan brittle and edible flowers. However as a child sophisticated was not the look Harry was going for. So was let loose with hundreds and thousands and sweets.

I may still be finding hundreds and thousands all around the house but the cake was delicious really moist from the fruit and the lime in the icing made the cream cheese frosting that little bit different. I don’t know if I dare say this but I think it’s moved into first place for me, even over carrot cake!!

Natures Recyclers – Fungi Fun

Why did the mushroom always get invited to parties?…  Because he was a fun guy!

Guess where we have been again? Yes that’s right Potteric Carr. This time the Home Education session was about Natures Recyclers. The first part of the session was spent in the classroom discussing who was natures recyclers. These were creatures likes insects and worms that decompose and break down things like leaf litter. Other nature recyclers include bacteria and fungi.

We then went outside in search of some Fungi. With Harry having ADHD he doesn’t like to spend time looking for things he would rather be running around which is why we enjoying being outside so much. Anyone who sees Harry would think he isn’t listening or taking things in however he only has to be able to told something once and he remembers is.  So when we find something (when me or someone else finds something) he likes to come across try and identify it and then he’ s off doing his own thing again.

We found a few common species of fungi whilst out and about. Here are some of the photographs me and Harry took of them.

In theses sessions we also do a craft activity. This time it was to make a collage of a natures recycler by recycling some old magazines. Here is what Harry made.

 

 

 

Doncaster Book Awards Launch

We were very excited that on Wednesday 18th October we got to attend the Doncaster Book Awards Launch with special guests Chris Riddell and Paul Cookson. The DBA website can be found here.

The Doncaster Book Awards aim is to: “create positive and enjoyable activities and events based on books and reading, give children a voice about their reading tastes and book choices and thus create a reading community”.

The 2017-18 Doncaster Book List was announced, with categories for primary, secondary and classic. The classic section theme is fantasy theme which is one of Harry’s favourite and he has already read a number of the books on it. The children get to vote for a book in each category and the winners will be announced at the Doncaster Book Awards in March 2018. We were informed that the awards take place on World Book Day and that it would be bigger and better than ever!!!

The first half of the morning was hosted by the fantastic poet Paul Cookson, he was fantastic he really got the crowd participating in the poems. Needless to say the ones that Harry enjoyed the best were the ones which involved burping or trumping. One of the poems discussed a bouncy Mr Springer, who bounces when he walks… The Chorus Boing, Boing, da-boing Boing, Boing! has been going around in my head for days.

I think Harry thought he was one of the funniest people he has ever listened to, he was belly laughing at him. So nice to see someone so passionate and engaging!

In the afternoon we were treated to the illustrator and writer Chris Riddell.

What was amazing is that Paul Cookson performed a few of his poems that he had in the morning and whilst he was doing so, Chris illustrated them. He then went on to discuss one his newest books out “Goth Girl” and revealed he’d been asked to illustrate one of J.K Rowlings new books, the “Tales of Beedle the Bard”

At the end of the launch everyone was invited to sit on a massive red sofa which had been provided by DFS to have their photos taken. There was also the opportunity to have books signed by Chris Ridell and Paul Cookson.

 

September Forest School

So as I’ve said before we love to spend time outdoors and around nature. We are very lucky in that Yorkshire Wildlife Trust supports home educators. They have been running for a while now Home Education connection sessions in which a different topic is explored each week.

I recently did a blog on the seed dispersal session; Seed dispersal and Japanese Art of Hapa Zome

In addition to these sessions which are run on a monthly basis Potteric Carr in Doncaster has now started a Forest School for Home Educators which we attended last week. The session involves learning a number of different skills and generally enjoying nature.

September Forest School

Building a shelter

The first activity was learning to build a shelter using tarpaulin and para cord. We were show a number of different knots including a timber hitch & quick release hitch. And a tauten hitch to peg the guy lines down and be able to adjust them.

Then they all made a wood cookie it was really nice to see Harry getting hand on using the palm drill he seemed to really enjoy this and be able to concentrate.

The activity after that involved making a paintbrush using a stick, some leaves and some string. After the paintbrush was made the children then painted a picture. It was interesting to see all the different effects that the leaves made or different styles the children adopted.

The final activity of the day was to make a stick star. We were taught to do a clove hitch, thread the stick through pull it tight and then bind two stick together. This continued until there was a w shape with an extra stick. The sticks were then manipulated in to place to make a 5 point star.

We had a great day and we are already looking forward to Octobers Forest School.