education

crafts, create, education, key stage 2

These skills your kids learn in school might surprise you

In the classroom, your kids learn about a range of academic subjects, and the basics like how to read and write. They gain the foundations for a fulfilling life through interactive classes at school and as you help with their homework. Children are also learning many soft skills, and you may not realise the many ways your child is developing to one day be a well-rounded adult.

children playing and learning

What are ‘Soft Skills’?

This term refers to general traits that help individuals relate better to and get along better with one another. These interpersonal skills can help them professionally in the workplace, as they get along well with coworkers, and personally, as they form friendships more easily and appreciate others. Below are four soft skills they learn in a quality educational environment.

Great Teamwork

Along with learning about numbers and spelling in school, children also learn from teamwork. They can learn how to problem solve in classes with group projects, for example, to help them become strong at critical thinking. They also learn how to work together toward a goal, such as completing a cake recipe or developing a class presentation together. Kids can also develop friendships with classmates who teach them about respecting someone else and having empathy and compassion. 

Strong Communication

There are many ways to communicate at any age. That includes verbal and written. A couple of other ways that you might not have readily thought of are drawing, reading and listening. Becoming good at communicating involves all of these areas, and it is important for students to excel in this area as it will help them form connections with others. That can prevent social isolation, sadness, hopelessness, and reduced self-esteem. Feeling more confident can help kids and teens do well in academic classes as they believe in themselves.

Science Sparks Book review

Leadership Skills

The beginnings of being a great leader can be seen in many children inside and outside the classroom. For example, they may try many sports and need to be resilient if they do not make the team or their team does not win every game. They may also want to volunteer from a young age and be great at managing their time. These skills are reinforced in quality state and boarding schools, where the focus is on personal growth and learning. 

The Basics of Manners

Good manners are important in social life; developing them can happen in school. That could be the words “please” and “thank you”, as well as keeping the door open for the person behind them, these activities show respect and appreciation for other people. Youth can also practice sharing with their classmates to teach them positive interactions with others as part of healthy development.

Summary of School Skills

Kids learn more than just academics at school. They also build soft skills, from teamwork and communication to creativity and leadership, which can prepare them for future school years and adulthood afterward. Ask your children what they are learning in class, and their responses are likely to pleasantly surprise you.

This is a collaborative post.

education, food

New Year’s Eve traditional craft ideas
KidsChaos-Calennig-Apple

When my sister moved to Swansea a few years ago, she discovered some intriguing folklore we’d not heard of before – Calennig.

So Calennig is the tradition of New Year gift-giving – Giving these little apple delights pictured, to friends and neighbours will bring them good luck!

My boys, aged 11 and 9 are intrigued by this tradition and we are duly planning to visit our neighbours with apples punched with cloves, and ever-green leaves, and three little stick tripod legs – they are strangely delighted by this, and are dying to add some googly eyes (this idea has horrified several Welsh people!)

New-Year-Tradition-Hangout-RedTedArt

Another fun tradition is the Spanish Las doce uvas de la suerte, or “The twelve grapes of luck” – where a grape is eaten by the New Year’s Eve party goers on every chime at midnight, that’s 12 grapes, stuffed into one’s mouth, so much hilarity and spluttering of grape juice is had! The boys can’t wait to try this one this year, so for the adults we’re going to freeze the grapes for three hours, and serve them with dark chocolate (Divine being my chocolate of choice) and some Grappa, and for the kids, the smallest seedless grapes we can find for safety!!

For more top tips for New Year’s Eve ideas, from Maggy, Anthea and Kellycheck out the round up over on redtedart.com and for a bit of fun, watch us in a google+ hangout where we showcase LOADS of ideas on your screen here.

Oh, by the way, I’m also on incredibusy.com too… Erm, funnily enough, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

First published December 10, 2013.

education, kids

Types of games we think kids could be encouraged to play

As someone who has kids, you may have always been told that it’s bad for them to game. Yes, they can become addicted, but it’s unlikely. It’s a lot more rare than you believe it to be, and it’s easily manageable, using time allowance, such as egg timers, and not having consoles in bedrooms for example. Mix this up with NHS recommended game activities for a great balance. In this post, we’re going to be looking at some of the types of online games that you could be encouraging your kids to play with you, or on their own.

Brain Games

Brain games are not something that you should discourage your kids from playing. Some of them are rated a little higher than for younger kids, but it all depends on the kid. You can look into things like solitaire and spider solitaire which is a variation of the same game. You can also look into things like sudoku and word searches to help them develop their number and letter skills. These are great to play on journeys too with a paper and pen.

Some people find that brain games help their kids to develop and foster advanced problem-solving skills and inspire innovative creativity, making them a great choice for the growing mind.

Board Games

Something that you can and should do together is play board games. There are so many to choose from, so try to get a variety so that they can all be tested out. Some will test balance, others will test knowledge and patience, where others are more strategy based. It depends on what games you find you like to play, but it’s good to spend this time together. They will be developing their skills while having fun and bonding with the family, what could be better?

Video Games

This is where we are going to lose most people, but you shouldn’t go just yet. Video games have their place in the world and it has been known for kids to improve their social skills. Now, we’re not advocating talking to strangers, but playing with friends can really lead to their leadership coming out in certain games. It’s worth letting them explore and come to their own conclusions, you just need to ensure that you stay on top of this and watch out for any signs of addiction.

If you do notice that something isn’t quite right, pull back on this. You should already have a limit for how long they can play and how much they can spend, but you can tighten this if need be.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and will now think about encouraging your kids to take up some kind of gaming in the future. You have to try and remember that the media have a habit of making everything look worse than it is, and that as long as you keep an eye on things, games are a completely safe and fun way for kids to pass time.

There are a couple of amazing films that might be interesting in terms of positive online gaming friendships – Grand Theft Hamlet. An award-winning feature film about staging Hamlet inside Grand Theft Auto, and The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is an emotional ode to connection and gaming. In this documentary, filmmaker Benjamin Ree and animator Rasmus Tukia honoured the life of gamer Mats Steen. Using World of Warcraft-style animation, this documentary tells the story of Mats, a boy with muscular dystrophy whose online popularity was only revealed after his death.

This is a collaborative post.

education, teenage reviews

If you like teaching consider opening a school

Teaching is one of the most fulfilling careers one can pursue. It offers the opportunity to shape young minds, inspire curiosity, and foster personal and academic growth. However, for those who truly love teaching, the thought of going beyond the classroom and creating an institution of learning can be a natural next step. If you’re passionate about education and leadership, opening your own school could be the most impactful decision you can make.

Starting a school is not just about teaching, it’s about creating a vision for education. By opening a school, you can establish a unique learning environment tailored to your educational philosophy. Whether it’s promoting hands-on learning, focusing on the arts, or encouraging innovative STEM programmes, owning a school allows you to design the curriculum, culture, and environment to reflect your values and ideals.

Why Consider Opening a School?

Opening a school provides the ultimate platform to implement creative teaching methods. It offers the freedom to craft a personalised educational approach, unbound by the limitations of larger, more rigid institutions. For teachers frustrated by the constraints of traditional settings, starting a school can be a way to experiment with modern pedagogies, embrace inclusivity, and cater to diverse learning styles.

Another benefit is the potential to make a lasting community impact. Schools often become the heartbeat of their neighbourhoods, fostering relationships between families and creating a nurturing space for children to thrive. Establishing your school can enrich your community and address specific local educational needs.

Additionally, starting a school is a chance to empower educators. Teachers often long for more autonomy and collaboration. As the founder of a school, you can create a supportive environment where talented teachers can excel, innovate, and feel valued in their roles.

Practical Considerations for Starting a School

While the prospect of opening a school is exciting, it also requires careful planning and commitment. The process begins with defining your mission and understanding the needs of your prospective students and their families. What gaps exist in the local educational landscape? Are there underserved communities or specific educational models you can provide?

Securing funding is a critical step. Depending on your vision, initial costs could include purchasing or leasing a facility, hiring staff, and obtaining the necessary licences. Many educators find it helpful to seek partnerships with local businesses, charitable organisations, or private donors to offset these costs.

One innovative and cost-effective option is to invest in modular school buildings, which can be built quickly and adapted to various needs. These structures offer flexibility in design and can grow alongside your school, accommodating future expansion.

Finally, regulatory compliance is essential. Researching and adhering to local government requirements for school registration and health and safety standards ensures your school meets all legal criteria.

The Rewards of Leadership

Opening a school is not without its challenges, but the rewards are unparalleled. As an educational leader, you’ll witness the direct impact of your vision and efforts on students’ lives. The satisfaction of seeing children thrive academically, socially, and emotionally under your guidance is unmatched.

For those who find joy in teaching and dream of creating something lasting, starting a school is an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference. With passion, planning, and perseverance, you can turn your love for teaching into a legacy that shapes generations to come.

This is a collaborative post.

cooking with kids, crafts, create, education, gardening with kids

Make a Natural biodedegradeable Dream Catcher
Dream catcher natural and biodegradable

Making a Dream Catcher using natural, found objects and at the same time ticking the boxes of three STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and the Arts) practices:

The Science (making dough with salt, water and flour for the beads)

The Arts (designing and sculpting the salt dough leaves, and assembling your dream catcher)

The Maths (geometry of weaving a pattern with a single length of twine)

Dream catchers with organic cotton yarm and hand made salt dough beads
dream catchers, with natural cotton yarn and handmade salt dough beads

This is such a fun project. And one that you could do either indoors or outside in the warmer weather – we really love a craft that all ages can enjoy – and this three sides dream catcher can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to the weaving, so we will link some YouTube tutorials at the foot of this article so that you can get acquainted with the dream catcher weaving geometry at your leisure.

Before you get started, make sure you have everything you need for your beautiful natural dream catcher – go on a nature hunt, look for feathers, acorns, pine cones, and lots of sticks!

sticks

You’ll need some cotton string, or strong yarn, and we also made some colourful salt dough beads and ‘leaves’ so that everything is biodegradable – this means you can eventually hang your dream catchers outside in the garden or the woods, for them to let nature decay them – hey, that may even be a bit of a science lesson right there too!

Salt dough leaves and beads recipe

  • 1 part salt
  • 2 parts plain flour
  • half to one part water
  • optional – some natural food colouring (if you are feeling ambitious – you could go as far as making your own dough dye with beetroot! hey – experiment, have some fun)
home made salt dough beads

We mixed the dough into three bowls, and added three colours – subtle so that they would blend well with nature – and rolled small balls, pushing a skewer through to make a bead, we dried the beads by ‘stringing’ them onto metal skewers and propping up off the baking tray to harden in the oven on a very low 100 degrees temperature, checking on the beads after about fifteen minutes, and turning them on the skewers so that they didn’t stick.

The leaves we made by rolling the dough out to about 5mm thick, and used a leaf shaped cookie cutter and a knife to score the marks on the ‘leaves’ and push a hole at the top of the leaf to allow it to be attached to the dreamcatcher. Again, we allowed these leaves to harden, baking them at the bottom of the oven, for about half an hour to an hour, using a cooling rack from the kitchen. We made these beads and salt dough leaves in advance of our dream catcher construction to allow them to harden – word of warning – don’t let them get damp, they will go soggy!

The assembly of your dream catcher

Now you have everything you need, start to pull it all together. Make a triangle from three sticks of the same length, tying them tight in each of the three corners.

Make a ‘bobbin’ with one short stick, about 4cm long, wrap the yarn around and around until it’s full of yarn – (you’ll have to experiment, but you’ll need enough yarn to create the geometrical pattern on the dream catcher ‘web’).

Using the yarn on this bobbin, start by tying a knot next to one of the three corners of the triangle frame.

Get weaving that web

As you start to ‘weave’ your web the first row can be quite loose.
Evenly spaced, start to work the yarn around the triangle:

  1. Pass the end of your yarn around a stick.
  2. Bring the end under the straight part of the yarn.
  3. Bring the end up and pass it through the eye of the loop you just made.
  4. Pull it tighter to complete a half hitch.
  5. Tie the hitch the same at each intersection of the yarn.
  6. Continue around the triangle, to ‘row two’ in the same way, see diagram (and the video links below)
  7. The next hitch is made at the midpoint of the first loop in the first row.
Weaving the web on your frame of sticks

As you tie these hitches you start to pull each stitch in the web a little tighter. Continue around the web tying a hitch and pulling tighter on each row until you are down to a small centre hole in your web. Tie it off in a knot.

Now tie three strands of yarn from the ‘bottom’ of the triangle and attach the beads, feathers, leaves – And tie a hanging loop at the top of the triangle and you are ready to decorate the trees by hanging your wonderful dream catchers in the forest – or, if you REALLY want to catch those dreams in your web, hang your natural dream catcher up in your bedroom for a real conversation starter!

Sleep well, and sweet dreams.

We would love to see what you create – do tag us on Instagram where you will find our new account https://www.instagram.com/kidschaos_blog/ use the hashtag #31DaysofLearning as we are joining in with KiddyCharts creative STEAM project this month.

Ali also writes over on incredibusy.
Cotton yarn: Wool and the Gang.
Shoot location: fforest, during the fforest gather workshops.

Tap here for a YouTube tutorial of the weave

crafts, education, kids, travel

The Good Life Experience – family festival

The Good Life Experience

helter-skelter-good-life-experience
Helter Skelter na na na na na

We’ve had ourselves a full and active summer, we just didn’t want it to be over…

Youngest started at ‘bigger than ever’ school and we thought, that’s it, Autumn is on its way – And then, with great joy, we packed our tent into the back of the car and took ourselves off for a long weekend to North Wales. We were meeting my sister, husband and Gracie the dog, for an amazing family weekend at The Good Life Experience, and WHAT a wonderful family festival.

Located in the grounds of the Hawarden Estate, former home of Prime Minister William Gladstone and now owned by his great-great grandson Charlie Gladstone and his wife Caroline (they of vintage lifestyle brand, Pedlars). You may have seen us talking about Pedlars over on aGreenerLifeforUs.com too – as they’ve been one of our #sgiew (@sogoodineveryway) photo challenge judges.

It’s a stunning location, with a castle, rolling grounds, a lake… before you even start to take in the iconic helter skelter, the beautiful bell tents, and general loveliness that goes to make this such a fabulous spot for a family festival of Music, Culture, Food & The Great Outdoors.

andrew-berry-brui-good-life-experience-prints
Andrew Berry Brui good life experience prints

We bumped into so many people we knew from the world of Instagram, including the talented illustrator Lucie Sheridan, and sweetly lovely Ruby @RubyDiamonds and her family, the winners of our #sgiew_goodlife Photo Challenge earlier this year – you can read Ruby’s review here.

All of the workshops and stall holders were happy and enthusiastic, and a delight to meet bumping into a chatting to the nicest of people… nods at Amanda Banham ceramics, Ali Dover, Jennie Maizels (pictured below on the swing!), Beth from Decorator’s Notebook, Yuyo, Hepple Gin (yep, I might just have sampled the gin), Edward Carefoot Journeyman, Dorte from Lewes Map, Elinor and Michael, Beachhutcook, Helen from Nellie and Eve; who have I missed!

A video posted by Ali Clifford (@incredibusy) on

The Good Life Experience was founded in 2014 by four friends Cerys Matthews, Steve Abbott and Charlie & Caroline Gladstone, and they’ve crafted a festival that is wonderfully entertaining, based around themes of slow living, hand crafts, and the great outdoors, with a bit of poetry and live music thrown in for good measure. Fabulous guest speakers, art & craft workshops, swing bands and lindy hop dancing, coffee stops, ceramics, archery, axe throwing, Jennie Maizels‘ sketchbook clubs, Alex Pole forge kitchenware, plasticine stop motion animation, bushcraft,  a dog show(!) and so much more!

the-amazing-scene-machine-goodlife-experience-2
Plasticine dogs for the Amazing Scene Machine

the-amazing-scene-machine-lea-and-spike
Lea and Spike’s Plasticine dog for the Amazing Scene Machine

the-amazing-scene-machine-goodlife-experience
Looking forward to seeing the finished animation Jim Parkyn!

Between the six of us, we managed to cram a LOT into the weekend, listened to the amazing (and hilarious) Doctor John Cooper Clarke, adventurer Ben Fogle talking about his life, DJ78 with his classic wind up gramophones,  and John Higgs, talking KLF and the spectacular Swing Patrol swing dance class… yes, I’ve looked them up on the internet, there IS a class near me!

ali-clifford-and-ali-dover-good-life-experience
Amanda Banham has us hard at work – the two Ali-s – Clifford and Dover

We marvelled at Neil from the Harwarden Estate and his amazing pumkin carving, we danced and cheered for the amazing Stealing Sheep.

stealing-sheep-good-life-experience
The wonderfully polka dot Stealing Sheep

As Tim at Gather Outdoors said, it’s great to meet up with so many like-minded people all in one place (and many that we follow and interact with on the ‘gram!)

We’re already planning our visit to The Good Life Experience next year and there are some Super early-bird tickets on sale here for 15-17 September 2017. We seriously can’t wait!

vodka-good-life-experience
Black cow vodka

tent-and-bunting-good-life-experience
Roll up roll up – the academy awaits

neils-amazing-pumpkins
Neil’s amazing pumpkins

moonlight-good-life-experience
That moonlit sky though…

jeremy-vine-good-life-experience
Jeremy Vine in full flow…

jennie-maizels-tent-at-the-goodlife-experience
Jennie Maizels brings the blue skies

gill-meller-gather-good-life-experience
Gill Meller and his smokin’ fish…

forest-bar-good-life-experience
The forest bar

Adam Stanley, Welsh seafood pit bake
Adam Stanley, Welsh seafood pit bake

fire-pit-seafood-good-life-experience-chef
Adam Stanley, Welsh seafood pit bake

fanfare-ciocarlia-cerys-matthews-good-life-experience
FANFARE CIOCĂRLIA and the wonderful Cerys

dj78-good-life-experience
dj78 – we like his style!

diabel-cissokho-good-life-experience
Diabel Cissokho wowing the crowds

clover-field-good-life-experience
A field of clover for Gracie the dog to bounce around in

climbingthewalls-good-life-experience
Instagram Stories came into their own! @incredibusy

cerys-poetry-good-life-experience
Cerys reads Sue Boyle – ‘a leisure centre is also a temple of learning’

cerys-in-conversation-good-life-experience
Cerys gets us all singing ‘let’s go fly a kite’

caught-by-the-river-good-life-experience
Caught by the river

apples-and-glitterballs-good-life-experience
Apples and Glitterballs

 

ali-clifford-jennie-maizels
Jennie Maizels and me, Ali Clifford on the best swing ever

xx

Words and photographs, Ali Clifford
Also writes over on aGreenerLifeforus.com

charity, create, education, gardening, gardening with kids, key stage 2, kids, life

Q&A with a community gardener

Q&A with a community gardener

Hannah and Kevin

Community gardener and founder of yourspace.sutton Kevin Plicio runs local community garden nursery Seears Park Nursery in Sutton. This nursery runs on pure volunteer manpower and community spirit, running training courses and therapeutic activities in a calming and peaceful environment. He has been running the beautiful non-profit nursery for almost six years, transforming it from a run-down nursery to a social and stunning community hub which has just recently been opened to the public.

As his daughter, Hannah, I’ve grown up around the transformation of the park, seeing it go from overgrown and slightly wild, to open space and inviting. Perfect for family days out and picnics, the nursery offers scenic and photogenic open areas, free for the public to utilise.

13118933_577749772401247_5145497625308435159_n13119073_577749822401242_8007960149422514965_nQ- So, tell us about what made you want to run a community project?
Well, the idea originally stemmed from me working at other projects, but these projects were all tailored to one specific group of people, or had one specific service, and I wanted to do something more socially integrating and open to all users, regardless of their background, age, or ability.

Q- What is there to see?
Honestly, there’s so much! We have this really great pond that’s just teeming with life, frogs, fish, newts, and even in the evening we get the occasional duck family coming to stay – it’s such a sight! We also have vegetable patches, some art display inside the main classroom from a local artist Santiago Plicio, the polytunnels have a great plant selection, including a great cactus area. We’re also in the process of making smaller gardens as part of the garden nursery, where 6 out of the 16 planned are complete. We also have this really stunning willow circle, which is just beautiful.

photo-1465405269228-024e4723a8d9
thanks to Stephanie Krist for this photo

Q- Tell us about your volunteers, and who helps run the nursery.
We have quite a large group of volunteers here at the nursery, and without them, there would be no way that the place could be running. Some people volunteer for a month, and some have been volunteering for years, and we appreciate every bit of help we get. Their generosity and time is something I’m always going to be so grateful for.

Q- You’ve just opened to the public for the first time in almost six years, how does that feel?
It feels amazing, we’ve been getting this place ready for the public for so long and now it feels as if our work is finally paid off, and we can do what we’ve always set out to do, create a community project that everyone can benefit for. We’ve been running training courses and school placements for years which is so amazing, but now we can finally make it open to everyone, which was always the plan. We now run a plant sale every Saturday from 10:00am until 4:00pm, and the nursery is otherwise open Monday-Thursday from 9:30 until 5:30.

sale

Q- Got any last words or comments that you want everyone to know?
I’d just love to see you there! Bring your friends, family, dogs, come and experience and enjoy the nursery, see what’s here, and if you want to contribute in any way then we’d love to hear from you too!

 

Seears Park Nursery is open to the public from 9:30am-5:30pm Monday to Thursday, and 10:am-4:00pm on a Saturday for the plant sale and general public use. Follow them on Facebook for events and updates here

Note from Ali – Thank you so much, Hannah, for introducing me to your dad’s amazing community project. Here’s a picture of a pond that my 13-year-old son made, with the addition of the Junctus that he bought from the Nursery!

13652431_980345098746058_2050378783_n

Written by Hannah Plicio-Keattch

education, Uncategorized

BritMumsLive 2016 Instagram Panel

So, this year I’m back at BritMumLive…

BritmumsLive Instagram workshop

And at 14:50 in the afternoon of Saturday 25 June 2016 I shall be joined in stage by some rather lovely friends – we’ll be talking about Instagram,

Our team:
@incredibusy – that’s me, Ali 
@redtedart – Maggy  www.redtedart.com
@coldatnight – Sian www.coldatnight.co.uk
@paintsewgluechew – Diana  www.paintsewgluechew.com

I’ve known Maggy for a long time, we are good friends and neighbours with similar creative and social media interests, and we also curate a craft blog together, click here.

Our instagram feeds are similar, yet quite different – I think this is perhaps due to the age gap between our families? And Maggy crafts and creates a WHOLE lot more than I do… Plus, I spend time creating and curating content for my clients’ instagram feeds too, so we perhaps don’t dedicate the same time to to our accounts as each other! (I’ll be wearing a couple of them – www.Po-Zu.com and www.BryonyandCo.com so make sure you follow their instagram feeds for me!!)

I was late to instagram, well, two and a half years ago I didn’t have a phone that supported the app, and experimented with my iPad – if you scroll back through my account, you’ll see I was having fun with filters and frames, and although I cringe at some of these shots, I’m loath to delete photos, as each tell #littlestoriesofmylife – and my family’s life.

This garners a couple of questions – do you delete old photos?? and do you feature photos of yourself and your kids??

Maggy and I both share an interest in themed photo challenges – we co-host #KidsCrafts101 and #SGIEW – two weekly hashtagged instagram challenges which we’d love you to join in with – go find the hashtags, and see what this week’s challenge is, we’d love you to join in!

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/kidscrafts101/

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/sgiew/

For me, this has been an amazing way of finding new accounts to follow and connect with, it’s also been a wonderful prompt for me more recently, to be creative, as my own boys have grown older, they are less inclined to ‘craft’ yet have really enjoyed creating stop motion animation – so we’ve been experimenting with that too!

It’s about evolution – your own evolution, perhaps as your kids get older, or indeed, just looking back at how your feed has developed and changed. I don’t particularly have a theme or a style, and neither does Maggy – however, if we turn to our other panelists, and look at their instagram feeds, you will see that both @coldatnight and @paintsewgluechew have definite styles, and consistent feeds…

I’ve invited Diana and Sian along to #BML16 to share their own experiences of instagram, so if you’re lucky enough to catch them ‘live’ on Saturday, you’ll find out more about them – needless to say, I hadn’t met them before the introduction of instagram in my life, and now have a little look at their feeds every morning, to see what they’ve been up to, and to say hello, good morning, and sometimes good night too! I’ve been to stay at Sian’s amazing place, Fforest {luxury camping and outdoor living at its very best} and would recommend it, an amazing space – and great for the kids….

So – at BritMumsLive we’ll be focusing on:
How each of the panel have grown their channel, their instagram philosophies and working practices
How they make their feed look fantastic plus any photo styling tips/props
We’ll be asking the panel to share their favourite instagrammer/s…
Their best tips on gaining followers. When they were growing what strategies did they use?
What they use to edit pictures
Their use of hashtags, and favourites
Which Instagram communities they love

Here’s a link to each of our panel’s most recent photo:

[ so good in every way ] #sgiew theme… #sgiew_BISCUIT ☕️ Oh we are LOVING a bit of baking at the moment, so we thought you might like to join in with this week’s #sgiew theme to join in with is “BISCUIT” – some comfort in this the first week of summer, yet we’re wearing wellies and grumbling about the clouds… 🌧🌧🌧Join in by following your hosts, @incredibusy @redtedart @willowdaygram and tagging #sgiew #sgiew_BISCUIT – PLUS, biscuity-bonus, we’re delighted to welcome an old friend to be our guest judge – @NikkiMcWilliams! Nikki will select x9 at the end of the week, to feature on the @sogoodineveryway grid – and you have until Midnight Sunday to join in, so whether it’s a cookie with your coffee, or a biscuit with you breakfast tea we want to see them! Oh and we might just have a little prize this week too; more on that later in the week☕️ can’t find the tea cup emoji but it’s something to do with that!! Thank you @teapigs 💛. . #littlestoriesofmylife #cookies #biscuits #mymonthofsundays (if you are following me on snapchat you’ll know we made these on Sunday morning!) #aquietstyle #coffeelover #string #coffeecam #coffeeandseasons #flatlaylover #flatlayforever

A photo posted by Ali Clifford (@incredibusy) on

More reading on Fforest:
fforest-gather-2016

fforest-and-welsh-woven-blankets

switch-off-enjoy-fields-silence

crafts, create, education, key stage 2, kids, monster

Piper – a Minecraft toolbox for anyone to create and invent with technology. Build electronics. Invent power-ups. Create the future.

So – the kids were pretty excited last week to hear from Mark at Piper all about their fabulous new toolbox for budding engineers who happen to like Minecraft!
As a family we tend to use ‘screentime’ as a reward at the end of the week, for best behaviour, and finishing homework without it being an excruciating teeth-pulling exercise. Minecraft is their favourite ‘go to’ game, and without further ado, read what our 10yo thought of Piper, and then watch the video!

In short, my son, 10yo RB says this:

“Minecraft toolbox – Build electronics with Piper. Piper is brilliant for seven and ups. I think it is really awesome because the instructions are in the game so it would make children and adults interested in making things outside of the game. Minecraft is a good way to get people that like Minecraft to play it. It will make a brilliant Christmas or birthday gift. It will entice people to play because it is easy to build so you can get started really quickly.  Raspberry Pi is what all of the software runs on. Raspberry pie is a mini computer if you’ve got all the right equipment and gadgets luckily all of that comes in a really well made wooden box. The screen comes readymade and all fits in.

There are ten action-packed levels to complete in the game. You have to make your own buttons and fit the wires in the right places. The mouse comes with the box so you can look around.

There are lots more interesting exciting things about the game but they are for you to find out.”

RB Age 10 says – “NOW watch this video!”

How it works:

– First you assemble the wooden toolbox and connect it with the Raspberry Pi 2, a 7 inch LCD display, a power bank, and an assortment of electronics.

– Once assembled, you enter a Minecraft adventure map viewable on the LCD screen.

– Your Mission: guide a robot to rescue astronauts on a foreign planet. The robot’s hardware is damaged on the way over, and you have to build it in real-life to control the robot in the game to save the day!

How this educates kids:

– Each gadget you build gives you a special power-up and progresses you through the game

– First build the controller to navigate your robot. Add switches to activate hidden bridges and doors. A row of lights to serve as a proximity sensor and more.

If you want to find out more, click here. Piper are on facebook and twitter.

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and FunCraftsKids.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

crafts, create, education, key stage 2, kids

Papier Mache Disaster Meteorite

So, we decided to make some Papier-mâché hot air balloons… that’s how it started out, all good intentions.

So 7yo being the possibly more crafty of the two (yep, the 5yo is crafty in other ways, say no more) got stuck right in….

KidsChaos PaperMache age 7 bowl1) We made the glue: mixed one cup of flour, and two cups of water, and a teaspoon of cinammon (that way it smells nice too)

KidsChaos PaperMache newspaper age 72) We ripped the newspaper into strips

3) 7yo took off his brand new hoodie as he didn’t want to get it mucky

KidsChaos PaperMache planet age 7KidsChaos PaperMache disaster age 74) We pulled each strip through the ‘glue’ and let it drip back into the bowl (AND all over the garden too, much to SAHD’s delight)
5) We layered and layered until the balloon (Oh, I didn’t mention that bit did I? – blow up a balloon, and balance it on a bowl to stop it blowing or rolling away) was covered in paper mache.

Then we had to leave it to dry for a day (which is where 5yo lost interest, so I’d say stick with one layer if you’re not bothered about keeping the masterpiece for ever!)

KidsChaos PaperMache disaster meteorite age 7We learnt an important lesson here, on Day 2 when we went back to add another layer, 7yo’s balloon had shrivelled, but we layered on some more paper mache…. MISTAKE, with no balloon inside to hold it’s shape this happened…

Not to be out-witted by the wilted balloon, 7yo spun it round (phew, was waiting for a tantrum) and said he would make it into a meteorite – which is what he did! Job done…

Thanks to Maggy at RedTedArt for continuing to encourage us to ‘get crafty!’

For a more successful foray into papermache check out our post here on Paper mache seed pots – using the blender! and using pulp from cereal boxes … this time it worked!paper mache seedling pots

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Ali also writes over on AGreenerLifeforus.com