Posted on August 11th, 2017 - Fiona
We may not have cattle here on the farm, but that never stopped a good adventure. I was admiring a post from Little hearts Big Love on Country Kids a few weeks ago where the girls had a lovely time in a DIY garden teepee and it reminded me I’d been meaning to do something Wild West themed for ages. The forecast was dry and I had a crowd of eager children keen to get involved as cowboys and cowgirls.
I planned to take a few bamboo canes from the Welly Walk tunnel to make the frame, but I suddenly thought there might be something sturdier in the den building zone. Right over the entrance was the perfect wigwam of branches. I added a couple more to make our teepee larger and knew this would be stable and perfect for what I had in mind.
Cowboy and cowgirl costumes.
As everyone arrived and I explained the Wild West theme the children dug into my box of dressing up clothes, I had a few cowboy jackets and added some fairy dresses, there has to be a little poetic licence with little ones after all!
We set to work making our cowboys and cowgirls hats with sheriff badges. I was thrilled with the results just from cut up cereal boxes and the kids loved them.
Making the Teepee.
Our cowboys and cowgirls were all ready and eager to decorate the teepee I had prepared from a super-king duvet cover saved from our marked linen collection. As all our business bedding is plain white it was perfect for adding some paint. From cactus plants to cowboy hats, smiley faces to hand prints; the kids relished the messy play on a big scale.
We lifted the giant decorated cover and wrapped it around the frame I had embellished earlier, adding our Brug inside to make cosy seating. The kids soon piled in to listen to a story about the hungry beast of the Wild West.
Talking of food made us all a little peckish; I had anticipated this and was armed with a batch of freshly baked cookies from my oven for everyone which went down a treat.
Refreshed, the children spotted my musical logs and began to create their own cowboy music.
Back in the tent a caterpillar caught the attention of others as it climbed the trunk of the teepee.
We left the children playing in and out of the tepee to enjoy the rest of the afternoon together. I was thrilled to see one little boy still wearing his cowboy hat as he left Coombe Mill the following day.
When the cowboys and cowgirls came to Coombe Mill.
Posted on August 7th, 2017 - Fiona
Here at Coombe Mill we love a bit of fun and folk law. Recently we have been studying Cornish Pixies with the guests and the children loved the concept. I had a feeling the mythical yeti or abominable snowman would be equally popular in the fun game of yeti in my spaghetti from University Games. The Yeti is from the folk law of Nepal. He lives in the mountains and eats anything. In this crazy sounding game the yeti loves spaghetti. Read on to see how to play and win yourself this fun filled game.
How to play
Simply arrange the spaghetti over the plastic bowl in a messed up style and then balance the toy Yeti on the top. Each player takes it in turns to pull a strand of spaghetti out from underneath the yeti, being careful not to disturb him, or worse still see him tumble into the bowl and end the game.
What we thought
This game is fun and uncomplicated for children from age 3 upwards. That said it requires patience, dexterity and the ability to take turns. Our little ones thought it was great fun and played several rounds once they got the hang of it. It would be a good one to practice around the time of learning to write as it is great for developing fine motor skills.
Need to Know
| Suitable from |
age 3 upwards |
| RSP |
£19.99 |
| Pack contents |
Bowl, spaghetti pieces, yeti, instructions |
| Stockists |
Amazon |
| Created by |
University Games |
| Players needed |
2 or more |
Win your Yeti in my Spaghetti game from University Games and Coombe Mill
For a chance to win this fun filled game for your child to enjoy simply follow the instructions below. Good luck to all taking part.
Yeti in my Spaghetti
Disclosure
We were sent our copy of the Yeti in my Spaghetti game for the purpose of this review, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Posted on August 5th, 2017 - Fiona
Last week I shared the fun of the school holidays here feeding the animals. This week the age range is a little younger, at least in part as I have my gorgeous ‘great’ niece and nephew staying. Seeing the magic of the farm through their eyes and the play time with my children, their ‘big’ cousins, is wonderful. Despite my niece and her family living up in the North West of England, they love to come and visit us at Coombe Mill.
Never mind the age gap
We see my niece at least twice a year and the bond developing between the cousins is a delight to watch. The family connection negates the significance of the obvious age gap with my kids taking on a nurturing role. I wish I’d taken more photos over the week, but that’s always the way when my focus is on enjoying the time together. Still we had a happy week which will keep the all important bond alive until next time.
Time out from animal feeding for a little play time by the goat field whilst modelling the new autumn range from Blade & Rose
Play time in the garden over the new series 4 Nom Noms making use of our handy Brug.
Hey cousins where are you?
Not the best photo technically but an endearing rescue of a tired little cousin at our lovely local pub at dinner time.
Learning through play time on holiday
The daily activities here on the farm mean it isn’t just my own children and their cousins benefiting from holiday play time and friendships. The morning animal feeding, various play areas and afternoon play areas are all opportunities for children to come together. Learning here isn’t just about the farm, it’s about friendship, play time and a whole range of social skills.
Becoming friends at play time on the pirate boat, a favourite play area while waiting for the evening train to arrive.
Posted on August 4th, 2017 - Fiona
Welcome to Country Kids from Coombe Mill
Country Kids is the original outdoor family fun linky designed to:
“Encourage family fun outdoors, in an age where technology and screens are such a draw to a sedentary indoor life”
Welcome back if you are a regular to Country Kids and if you are new please join in. You will find plenty of inspiration for enjoying outdoor space and please do share your own adventures. We support the National Trust #50 things along with all other ideas for family fun outside.
Bring back summer!
After a promising start at the beginning of the week with sunshine and beach trips, the weather certainly took a turn for the worse in Cornwall. I don’t often concede to indoor time but Wednesday saw the kids enjoying an indoor trampoline park and me taking the 17 year old for a driving lesson. Thankfully that was the only wash out day and the farm rides have been largely dry and the train able to run in the evenings. I hope you have a managed a few adventures too and will share on the link up below.
Guidelines for Joining in:
- Post must be predominantly outdoors such as in the garden, the park, the woods or the beach with crafting, learning, exploring or playing.
- Despite the title, both countryside and urban outdoor adventures are welcome.
- Unheated covered areas like a barn or tent count as outdoors.
- Please comment on my host post and a minimum of 3 others of your choice.
- If you use #CountryKids when commenting the post owner will know where your found them and hopefully come back to visit your post.
- Please take my badge, without it you won’t be considered for winning the lovely Rockfish Wellies.
- Linked posts should be written and made live within the last 2 months.
- I understand sometimes you need to do catch up posts and write about something from a couple of months ago but the publish date should be within 2 months.
- By joining in with Country Kids you’re giving me permission to email you weekly as a reminder.
- There is no restriction on the number of posts that can be linked up, however please be sensible, if you have more than 3 consider linking over a few weeks.
My top commenters from last week:
- Louise from Little Hearts Big Love & Michelle from Mummy From the Heart who commented on 12 posts.
- Sonia from Mummy Constant who commented on 11 posts.
- Mrs S from Otis and Us who commented on 10 posts.
A massive welcome to Lucy from Momma Mack, who joined in for the first time last week!
Thanks to all of you who joined in last week, you all put in the extra effort and we had no link dumpers so I’m thrilled.
Rockfish kindly sponsor Country Kids
Win a pair of wellies from Rockfish Monthly
I am delighted to have Rockfish as the sponsor for Country Kids. Rockfish are a local Cornish company specializing in stylish quality wellingtons for all the family. We have been offering their country wellies in our borrow room here on the farm for over a year and they are always popular for their style, comfort and durability.
Each week my favourite #CountryKids posts, which include my badge or a link back here, will be considered for a free pair of Rockfish Wellies at the end of the month; the perfect way to enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather throws your way. Keep your posts coming, it could be you winning next!
For more more information on the Rockfish Wellies on offer with us and terms and conditions to win see here.
July Welly Winner
|
Congratulations to Kirsty at My Two Mums who is our July Country Kids welly winner. Kirsty, Clara and Monkey love their outdoor adventures around Dorset and beyond. Do follow their journey over on their blog. We loved the fun and love of life in this National Trust post. Kirsty please email or DM me your choice of wellies showing in stock from the amazing Rockfish selection and a UK delivery address. |
|
Favourite posts from last week added to the shortlist for winning the August Rockfish Wellies:
Top Commenter: Louise from Little Hearts Big Love and Michelle from Mummy from the Heart.
Mad House Family Reviews went off the beaten track through some delightful Breton villages
Zen Baby Travel made the most of the beautiful Lost Gardens of Heligan, a Cornish classic I must revisit with my own kids.
Country Kids Communities
I’d love you to join me:
Pin on the Pinterest Board Just ask for an invite to pin and include Country Kids on your pins for me to stop by on your boards too.
Follow Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays’s board Country Kids from Coombe Mill on Pinterest.
Join the growing Country Kids Instagram Community with #CountryKidsFun.
I'll like and comment on all and share my favourites from the week with a tag on a Friday on Instagram and Twitter. With over 5350 posts this community is flourishing with outdoors photos.
My favourite photos from the week came from @mumfriendlyjo, @maria.migo.illustrations, @cheryltimetocraft & @mrs.chellebelle. Please do check out these lovely folk on Instagram if you are not already following
Loading InLinkz ...
Posted on August 4th, 2017 - Fiona
With a summer that has been characterised by sun and rain the bugs and insects are rife here on the farm. Rather than say “ew”, we have been embracing them and making them part of our activity hour studies and crafts. We had so much fun a few weeks ago despite a very damp day I decided to revisit the world of the minibeast on a sunny afternoon with frogs and some new crafts.
A Giant Minibeast Board Game
The make-believe bug pair’s game of last time was a big success so I built on the idea for this week with a giant minibeast game that the children helped to create. I had a worm board and a dice with some challenge cards and squares set out and the children added the rest.
They made coloured counters from milk bottle tops with fingerprint minibeasts on the top and decorated the playing board with lots of little creepy crawlies in fun colours.
When they were all finished we played a game. It was great fun with everyone joining in the challenge questions like “Leap like a frog” and “sing Incy wincey spider” to move up 3 places.
The game provided the perfect mix of jumping around and concentrating on counting on places together with painting fun. I’ll definitely be looking at DIY games more in the future but for now my discerning little ones had spotted my pebbles waiting to be painted.
Painting Bug pebbles
I collected and painted white a selection of bug shaped pebbles from a family beach trip the day before and the children couldn’t wait to get turning them into bees, ladybirds and centipedes like the ones in our fairy gardens.
Off on a minibeast hunt
Once everyone was cleaned up we left our pebble bugs to dry in the sun and headed out with magnifying glasses to find some real bugs down in the fairy gardens. Farmer Nick’s carved fairy toadstools always reveal a wealth of little beasties scurrying to and fro and the children were thrilled with crowing round to identify them all. We saw centipedes, beetles, woodlice and lots of worms. There was even a shiny unidentified bug that had everyone confused and fascinated in equal measure.
We progressed down through the bug hotel peering into pipes and dislodging logs where we saw spider webs and snails but no spiders in residence.
Baby Frogs on the farm paths
From here we headed over to the farm in search of baby frogs. We were rewarded with lots of little jumping frogs that leapt from our hands. The children laughed as it was just as they had practice leaping like a frog in our minibeast game right at the start.
Help the frog catch a fly
Back at our craft table we continued the frog theme with some fly catching frogs that made another great little game for the children to keep. I’m going to follow up with a tutorial on these for #Trash2Treasure as they are such fun and easy to make.
Mini beast crafts have so much millage and so many possibilities; I have a stack in my head I still want to try. They are great for normalising touching and investigating these little beasties in real life for kids.
Loading InLinkz ...
![](“"https://www.mrsmactivity.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/MMcCMilllogo-1-300x300.png”){kind=link}
