LEAF RUBBINGS Now that Spring is on its way, why not take your little ones out to the park to explore the great outdoors and extend their understanding of the natural world.  These leaf rubbings are a simple but effective activity to enjoy together. Bring along a sheet of paper and wax crayons, and whilst…

Painting Outside This is a great activity for a sunny day and so easy to organise. Simply dress your little ones appropriately and give them a small beach bucket with some water in. Show them how to use a big brush (decorating ones are great) to paint just about anything! The path, the shed, the…

Paper Chains You can buy packs of ready cut paper (plain, metallic or patterned) to make these paper chains.  Alternatively, cut strips of paper yourself to stick with a glue stick. Strips of 2cm by 20cm are the ideal size.   Show your child how to make the first loop and then thread the next…

Snipping Snowflake This is a great seasonal activity that practices motor skills. You can add a little early years geography by talking about weather and snowfall. Scissors are often hard for children to master but this activity gives a nice result even if the cutting is a little haphazard!   Fold a square piece of paper…

Broken crayons can be a trauma for parents everywhere; we are sure that you will identify with it! The thin ones snap in little hands (you know the ones, the kind that you get for free when you visit a restaurant!); pieces break off and embed into the carpet, or, at best, the crayons languish…

Creating Egg Box Gardens Research has shown that in our ever-busy lives, children are spending less time outside.  At Bumpkins, we believe that fresh air and the great outdoors grows little minds and allows children to explore the world around them.  Gardening is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. We love this recycling idea…

There’s plenty of fun activities on over the Easter school holidays for young families in the area around Whaddon. Here’s our Bumpkins pick of things to do this Easter.  Click the title of the event to find out more details! The Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt is on every day this week until Friday 8th April,…

Children love spending time outdoors. At Bumpkins, we have Nature Ranger activities, which are about looking at the world around us and collecting natural resources. This Easter, the babies collected sticks outdoors. We made these wonderful baby hedgehogs out of the clay and sticks. ‪ We are sure you could try similar at home. We used air-drying…

This Easter holidays, why not try these cute little woolly sheep cakes? Cooking with your child teaches them about where their food comes from and making healthy food choices. Baking is the perfect way to get started – all that weighing and measuring, mixing, stirring, timing and even a bit of science as the cakes…

Science is fun – and small children love discovering the world around them. This simple science experiment is crafty too, to make your own wind-sock to test which way the wind blows. Of course this will work best on a windy day. Use an empty kitchen roll tube Cut up some strips of tissue paper…