Day 30 - Reflections

When I first set out to do 30 wild things I thought it would be easy but I found it  hard to fit in wild things everyday on top of things we would normally do.  We are lucky because we cycle to and from school, weekends are often spent walking in the country or playing at the park, but to do more on top of this was hard to fit in with homework.

I really enjoyed geocaching - that is something to do again! I also enjoyed the BioBlitz and am looking forward to that next year.

I would also like do more for wildlife in our garden but I think that is going to take planning.

Day 29 - Teddy Bear's picnic

Today we took out our teaset and teddies and had a tea party with recipes from Mud Pies and Other Recipes. 

Day 28 - Have a picnic

Today whilst E was at gym competition we found time to have a picnic outside.  We sat under a fab oak tree (sheltering from some a few drops of rain) to eat and the girls enjoyed playing on and around it.

Day 27 - look at trees

Today we looked at the different trees growing in our garden by comparing leaf shape and colour, height, fruit and whether they are evergreen or deciduous.  We also enjoyed feeling the different leaves.

Day 26 - bedtime stories outside

Today we read bedtime stories outside (just before it rained!).

Day 25 - look at bees

Today we went out and looked at bees in our garden.  Disappointingly we didn't see that many but it was late in the day (after school).  We saw a couple of honey bees, a bumblebee (I think it was tree bumblebee although the only photo I got of it was quite blurry so not uploaded) and what I think are Ivy Bees (but am happy to be corrected!)

Day 24 - examine a tree

Today we looked at the apple tree. The girls climbed it, looked at the bark and apples growing, saw ants on the bark and looked at the top and bottom of the tree. We tried to reach round its trunk and estimated its height. 

Day 23 - leaf rubbings

We collected leaves and enjoyed rubbing them whilst talking about their different shapes, sizes, patterns and features.

Day 22 - Read a book outside

We read outside today.

Day 21 - birthday party at Audley End Miniature Railway

Today we had P's 5 birthday party at Audley End Miniature Railway and Enchanted Fairy and Elf Walk.  The fairy walk is a delightful walk though the woods looking for fairies, animals and elves.  Then we had a steam train ride looking for bears! We had also hired a bouncy castle which the kids loved and had an Elsa cake made by husband and G. 

This is not strictly wild but it was outdoors!  

Day 20 - make a flower crown

For midsummer we made a flower crown by collecting petals, flowers and leaves from our garden and then glueing them onto a strip of card.  We then stapled it to the right size.

Day 18 - Watch some caterpillars grow

OK we did cheat as we couldn't see any in our garden although I am sure we must have some!  We bought some from Insect Lore.  They have already grown loads! 

day 17 - make a tumble trap

Frist we found an old jamjar and filled it with a piece of cheese and some banana (you could use any fruit and bacon as well).  In the garden, we dug a hole big enough to put it in and then placed a piece of wood on top, propped up with twigs (to keep the rain out).  We are looking forward to seeing what we have caught!

Day 16 - bounce on the trampoline

The girls had a bounce whilst listening to the birds.

Day 15 - look closely for signs of wildlife in the garden

Today we found webs, holey leaves, cuckoo spit and various bees and other flying other insects.

Day 14 - make a wizard's wand

Today the girls collected sticks and then painted them with acrylic paint to look like magic wands.

Day 13 - BioBlitz

Today we undertook some FREE activities at the Botanical Gardens as part of the Biobltiz.  I had booked them in advance.  We did owl pellet dissection, big hunting (not so good as the weather was inclement) and pond dipping where the highlight was seeing a caddis fly larvae in its woven home. 

Day 12 - BioBlitz bat walk

In the dark, as part of the bioblitz, the girls and Tim went on a bat walk round the Botanical Gardens.  Sadly because it was a bit cold and dark they only found a few - we will just have a try again on another walk later in the year.

Day 11 - Eat outside

Today, in the glorious sunshine, we ate tea outside!

day 10 - clay plant imprints

Today the girls collected plants from the garden. They then laid them on top of a small piece of clay and used a rolling pin to make the imprint.

Day 9 - Potion making

Today the girls went out in the garden and found herbs, petals, twigs and other plant material to mix with water to make a potion!

day 8 - cloud spotting

When the sun finally came out we lay on the trampoline and thought what shapes we could make in the clouds!

Day 7 - Geocaching

Today we went to Hatfield Forest for our first foray on to Geocaching... we didn't follow a trail but found some that were in fairly close together.  There was only one cache we tried to find and failed!  The weather was stunning, the buttercups were out looking like a yellow carpet and we even saw a herd of deer (of which there is a fairly rubbish photo!).

Day 6 - chalking in the sunshine

Day 5 - play at the park

Afters school today we went to play at the park.

day 4 - bike ride along the stream

Today we cycled back along Hobsons Brook listening to the birds.

Day 3 - rhubarb crumble

Today we harvested some rhubarb and made yummy crumble! 

Day 2 - Bug Hunting

Having been raining on and off most of the day, the sun has come out and we went bug hunting.  We found some woodlice, a worm, a caterpillar, lots of bees (not collected but observed), snails, and a large black spider, hiding under a stone, that spat white liquid from his rear end.

Day 1 - rain gauge

Today we made a rain gauge so we can measure rain fall over the month.  We followed instructions here on how to make it.We have dug it a little into the ground so it doesn't fall over.