can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. We’ve always kept it really simple and just dipped the rounded end into some good red acrylic paint.
6 Leave this to dry, which does take a little while. Perhaps it’s now time for dinner!
7 Finish it off by turning the little red ball on the end of the stick into a ladybird. All that’s needed is black paint – or even a black Sharpie – to give you a line straight down the middle, some small eyes and a load of black dots.
A ladybird looks really great on the end of the stick, turning the walking stick into something even more special, something cut, carved, painted and cared for by you and your child. As an after-school activity it’s perfect. It doesn’t take too long, it’s engrossing, and there’s something at the end of it all that will be used and treasured for a long while to come.
If the stick gets damaged, broken or lost it’s no problem. There’s barely any cost and it gives you the opportunity to do it all over again. I promise you your ladybird artwork will improve in time too!
We’ve given these simple hand-crafted products as presents to people in the past. Without fail, people love the design and the thought – and they use them! Whether you’re an adult or a child, if you receive one of these walking sticks you’ll be dead chuffed. Of course, it doesn’t have to be a ladybird on the end; it could be anything, although the simple ball shape is easy to carve out. Have a go at carving other things from the wood and adding carved designs down the stick too. The options are limitless, and as your carving skills are practised and developed your sticks will only get better. Before long, like at ours, there will be a whole collection of sticks of different lengths, thicknesses and questionable designs at your front door.
Read somewhere unusual
If your lives are anything like ours, getting the evening school-book reading done is not the easiest thing in the world. We’re finding more and more that reading is left until the last moment before we walk out of the house in the morning. It always seems to be done in a rush, with a toothbrush in the mouth and everyone scrambling around to find what they need for the day. This is not conducive to good concentration and therefore enjoyable reading time. It’s certainly tricky with three children, giving each one the time they need and deserve. It’s something we’re always battling with and trying to figure out.
Daisy and Daddy sitting under a hedge reading, by Daisy. Notice the smile – they are genuine from us both.
What you need
A reading book/homework
Warm clothes
A rug or coat to sit on
Tarpaulin or plastic sheet to shelter under
What to do
1 Take your child to read or do their homework somewhere unusual after school, anywhere that isn’t home.
2 Stop somewhere with a good view – run up a hill or climb a tree, walk to the middle of a field or clamber into a den you’ve made.
3 Take a large plastic sheet or tarpaulin and shelter underneath it in the dry and read together when it’s bad weather.
Despite being outside with plenty to look at and with it being a strange situation, it’s actually really easy to concentrate. For some reason, taking yourselves away from the everyday distractions of home concentrates the mind and enables you to focus on what you’re doing. I’ve found that Jasper remembers the books or parts of the books that he’s read in unusual places far more than he does when at home. If the book doesn’t get read, then at least you’ve spent some time together outdoors that you wouldn’t otherwise have done. So it’s a win-win!
Climb a beanstalk
The story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ has grabbed all our imaginations at some point in our lives. We’ve all been nervous for Jack as he climbs skywards towards the land of the giant at the top of the beanstalk, and yet more scared when he hides from this behemoth of a man, shouting weird and scary words at the top of his lungs. What does ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum’ even mean? There have been many versions of the story written over the years, with various different illustrations, all creating fear and excitement in those who hear it. After school, to use up that last bit of energy in your young person, why not climb to the top of the beanstalk and encourage them to catch the giant!
Climbing a beanstalk, by Jasper. Sometimes the giant is scary, sometimes he’s nice, but he always makes us laugh.
Suitable trees aren’t always available at short notice with limited time, but if they are, then great. Helping your child escape and create a game in an imaginary world is stimulating and hugely beneficial.
What you need
A climbing tree with plenty of branches low down, so your child can get off the ground.
What to do
1 This activity is like a game of hide and seek, but it’s more exciting. Have an idea of a tree you can climb into and be prepared to run.
2 Ask your child to count up to an agreed number.
3 As with hide and seek, quickly make your way to the tree and climb to a point that’s just out of their reach. If they can climb, then the higher the better. If they’re too young to climb, it’s no problem. Just get slightly off the ground. This could be on a stool, a garden bench, a big rock or a tree stump. Once they finish counting and start looking, the fun begins.
4 When they spot you up in the tree, start acting like a giant, growling ‘Fee-fi-fo-fum’ and swinging the branches.
5 The game stops when they reach you and touch your feet.
It’s such a simple activity but incorporates so much. It gives you and your child the chance to be free, run and climb. I guarantee there will be a lot of laughter when the game is in full swing.
Please do take care, as an excited child climbing a tree can pose dangers. In the excitement to catch you they can forget to hold on. Please be aware of this as you play the game.
Challenge
Change the character who has to be found. You could be a pirate, dinosaur, monster, alien or an escaped wild animal from the zoo.
Guarding treasure is a great game. Take a piece of cloth that is the treasure. Tie it loosely at the place you have climbed to. Once you’re caught, they’ve won the treasure and get to go and hide and guard it themselves.
Cloud spotting
Much of what we do involves looking down. We look down to read, write, watch animals, find insects, build dens, carve wood, start fires and cook. When you think about it, we don’t spend much time looking upwards into the sky. But the sky is ever-changing. It’s a dynamic space of swirling particles and molecules. Skies change colour and shape all the time, and so to have a very basic knowledge about the sky can mean that looking at it is much more interesting. If you know what you’re seeing you’ll notice things more. When you notice things more, you’ll become more