Creating with Nature
Last weekend I ended up with a rare chance to spend some time on the farm alone with my daughter. The older boys were helping Dad with the train track, the middle one had a friend over and were playing out on the farm while the younger 2 were at a football match leaving Clio and I with time together. We decided to do something girly that the boys wouldn't enjoy. I remembered as a child spending hours collecting flowers and mashing them down to try and make perfume. Clio thought this was something she would enjoy too so armed with washed jam jars we set off collecting on the farm.
Surprised to find buttercups we had to hold them under our chin's to see if we both liked butter. Do you remember doing that one as a child? It was a definite yes for us both!
Having filled our jars with daffodils, primula, daisies, camellia, buttercups, snowdrops and some rosemary and sage from the green house we set to work.
I brought out a jug of water, chopping board and knife and some food colour. Clio separated the petals while I chopped then she had a go with the chopping, a good time to remind her how to hold a knife and which way to chop just the same as if it were vegetables in the house.
Then for the fun part: smelling the flowers and deciding which to mix together to make our perfume. Clio was in charge here organizing them into the jars. We added water from the jug and a drop of food colour for effect.
Clio took some sticky labels from the office and created names for her perfumes and graded them on smell and appearance out of 10.
A few days later we went to check how they were developing. We found that the mixed varieties were not so pleasant but the camellia on its own, which Clio had named "Red Joy", was really rather good. This was taken up to her bedroom. Now we are looking forward to the bright summer flowers to have another go.
Joining In
Please come and join in with Country Kids. It is all about having fun outdoors, from play to learning anywhere from the garden to the beach. Outdoor time is refreshing and good for us all, please grab the badge and take a look at some of the other lovely ideas linked up here.
These are some of the posts that I really enjoyed from last week: Wishing Rods from I'm a teacher get me out of here; I really want to make these at Coombe Mill. Mini Peppas from Nicola at Fab Forty Mum for the simple love of muddy puddles and The White Woods from Liz at Me and My Shadow which makes the latest snow fall look so magical.
