To Valentine or not to Valentine… some heartfelt ideas to celebrate love with children
Here we are at the begining of our playgroup term, we are in peak summer and the energy is as high as the sun is warm. Valentines day falls within the first few weeks of term and is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the love between parent and child and for showing and modelling gratitude for the world around us. I know the commercial side of valentines day focuses on romantic love and lavish gifts, but, I cant help but feel that something gets lost in between? I have always celebrated love and kindness on valentines day with my own children and in
New beginnings…
Here we are in a new year, facing new beginnings and I am actually feeling very excited. The Harmony Tree House is launching Nature immersive play and holistic craft programs here in little old Port Lincoln and I cannot believe the series of events that has led me to this exact place. If you believe in divine timing, perhaps this is exactly what this is! So today is launch day and I just wanted to share a little bit about my vision for the year ahead. Almost seven years ago The Harmony Tree House Instagram was born. I actually started the
Mushroom Jam Jar Lanterns
A Mushroom Jam Jar Lantern - The must have table accessory for early autumn dinner time! Transform your autumn evenings with this simple yet beautiful cosy craft. You do not need much at all to make them and they are the perfect craft for tiny hands. All you need is: A recycled jar Kite paper Glue A doily for the mushroom gill! I used our @kitpasaustralia crayons to draw on the spotty-dotty's! however you can use white kite paper, paint or even a white pencil. All you need to do is to cut out your mushroom shapes and glue them on with a glue stick, and just
DIY Watercolour Bookmarks
My beautiful first born has started his journey through the wonder of reading. Books are life. I remember being exactly the same as a child. Reading transformed my life, and I am currently witnessing the same unfolding with my beautiful boy. What an incredible thing learning to read is. I feel his whole world is now opening up, purely thanks to the wonder of reading. He decided he needed a book mark, And also wanted to make some for the family and for his friends. So we decided to have a go at making some using our water colour paints
Earl Grey Tea Cakes
This week for poetry tea time, the children and I made a Earl Grey Tea Cake, and it was THE most delicious cake I have ever made and possibly ever eaten. That is a pretty big call but a truthful one! The taste was delicious, soft and moist and had the most wonderful flavours derived straight from the tea, rich orange, bergamot and a hint of a smoky yet lemony flavour, it was such a treat. We will absolutely be making it again. Ingredients Just over 1 cup organic milk5 Earl Grey tea bags200 grams of organic unsalted butter1 cup
Allowing Space For Wonder
A few weeks in to our home-schooling journey and we have already hit a few metaphorical bumps in the road. It turns out that home-schooling 'can' - but not always, seem a lot like normal parenting, yet magnified. The feelings, the house work, the love the laughter and the tears. As we slowly forge our way as a home-schooling family, I am beginning to open up to new ideals and ways of being. We are learning quickly that there are no right or wrong ways to do this, and the thing that will hold this ship together is and always
In The Beginning: How I Found Our Rhythm
When I was first arriving at the concept of daily rhythms in a more planned sense, it was just about five years ago, I was a mother to an energetic only just two year old boy and a new baby who liked to nurse, a lot, like around the clock, I can not remember him ever not attached. I was touched out, actually let's rephrase that
Morning Rituals for Children
The morning, the most important part of our day as parents. It seems, if I greet the morning unprepared the rest of our day seems to slowly fall a part. Especially if we have some place to be. I have made a conscious effort to really start our mornings with ritual. Rituals are acts that we come to with love and reverence. They are the foundations that hold our family close and are the memory seeds that stay with our children for the rest of their life. Father sun greets us for a new day after our long night in
Fun Bean Bag Games, to Play at Home!
Each morning before we sit down together for story or for our morning lesson, we start with a movement game or activity of some sort. Our bean bags are so absolutely beautiful, I love them. They are a mixture of home made lavender and rice bags and these beautiful handmade sand bags from a small etsy seller called Sandie's Sandbags. We keep them in a basket with the rest of our morning circle activity items. If I am honest, this is the part of the morning that our children absolutely love the most! Movement games and activities get our bodies warmed
Nurturing the Magic of Childhood
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it. Roald Dahl We are the gatekeepers of the magic, that sprinkles joy on each and everyday. Safeguarding the wonder of childhood, in a world that some times seems less than magical. It is a pretty big job when we really sit down and think about it. It is so easy to fall into despair over the latest news headline, to loose our footing and our will falling