Our Favorite Play Space

I have been following the blog "Childhood 101" for a while now and this week it is launching Come Play Together at Childhood 101 to share play ideas. Christie has asked her readers to blog about "a play space or play experience you have enjoyed at home, preschool, child care or kindy".
My boys spend a lot of time playing in their cubby house, sand pit and our local park but probably our favourite places for an outing are the playgrounds and open spaces along the Swan River.
Most weekends we visit the river to picnic, play in the many playgrounds, walk our dog, ride our bikes, climb and hide among the trees, or "fish" for jelly fish or seaweed.
Some of our favourite spots are Nedlands foreshore, Mrs Herbert's Park (next to the Museum) in Claremont, and Keane's Point in Peppermint Grove - but there are fantastic spots all along the river.
A great website for finding nice outdoor play spaces in Perth is A Coffee in the Park which lists some fantastic playgrounds in and around Perth. What are some of your favorite outdoor play spaces? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up” and share your ideas

Playing outdoors!

Earlier in the week I attended "An Evening with Richard Louv" - a free event organised by The Department of Sports and Recreation WA.
I had heard a little about Richard Louv and his book "Last Child in the Woods" through various parenting blogs but it was fantastic to hear him speak in person. Hubby and I try to get outside and active with the boys as much as possible, but sometimes it is difficult to fit all the things we want to do into a busy life. It was heartening to hear that every little bit helps and that a little unstructured independent play in an outdoor setting is just as important as all those "kids programs" which are promoted in every parenting magazine and paper.
Most of the ideas Richard Louv presented are familiar to parents but it was great to hear such a positive speaker and hear about the successes of the Children in Nature Network in the US. I was also very happy to learn that the Department of Sport and Recreation are trying to promote a similar program in Western Australia through the NaturePlayWA website. It is early days yet but I'm looking forward to seeing the program develop in WA and getting some new ideas for family outdoor play.
Given the glorious autumn weather we are having, I had no excuse but to take the boys for a bike ride along the Swan River this morning.

Junior Gardening

Recently Junior's favourite Aunt came to visit and she gave him a few Daffodil bulbs. Easter is the time to plant Daffodil bulbs in WA apparently.
We have been meaning to plant the daffodils for a while and the weather has been so nice that this morning Junior and I decided it was time for a spot of gardening.
We potted the bulbs and then made up a couple of pots of colour (one for Junior and one for Bub). I saw this idea over at Childhood 101 a while back and Junior loved this project.
He even decorate his pot with some toy animals to make a little farm yard. I also thought this was a great little project for Children and Nature Awareness Month.

Weekending

There is nothing like some fine autumn weather to make a lovely weekend.
And what better way to enjoy it that a trip to the river for some Jelly Fishing and a picnic!
Hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Junior's Quilt

Well Junior's quilt is finished! I think it was definitely worth my while doing a beginners quilting course because it made me do my "homework" each week to keep up with the class. 6 weeks later I have finished the quilt.
There are a few fudgy bits but on the whole I'm happy with it and now have the confidence to finish my "other quit" I started years ago but then put in the too hard basket!
I have even been looking at fabric to make a similar quilt for Bub - Oh those Kokka Novelty fabrics are so cute for little boys and girls!

Craft for two

Lately Bub has been very interested in joining his big brother for art and craft activities. He is much more interested in play dough after watching the big kids at Kindy.
He doesn't yet have the dexterity for shaping and rolling but enjoys clumping it together and sticking in straws or pop sticks.
We have also tried a little collaborative painting which both the boys seemed to enjoy.
Bub was just as interested in playing in the water while cleaning up ...
But Junior kept on painting with sponges, rollers, fingers and anything else at hand.

Happy Easter

Hope you all enjoy a very Happy Easter. I saw a tutorial for these cute little bunnies over at Purlbee and couldn't resist making a couple for the boys and our neighbours children for Easter - so cute. Enjoy the break but don't eat too much chocolate!