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{Making Our Mark in the Garden}


Well, we finally moved to our new house! Yay!!!

One of the things we're most excited about is having our very own garden to do with as we please.
So one of the first things we did this week after moving in was to make our marks in the garden!



We each picked a rock from the many that surround the house and marked them as our own.

Princess Pea, Daddy, and I used permanent markers to write our names on the fronts and the date on the back. Sweet Pea picked several rocks and, since I wasn't ready to put a permanent marker into her hands just yet, used the window crayons to scribble her own marks on them.


Drawing on rocks in the garden



Then we put them back into the garden to find on another day.



How many can you spot?


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Sharing at: Link 'n' Learn and The Kids' Co-Op, TGIF
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{Alternative Painting 38 Different Ways!}




My kids LOVE painting, and the easel is usually always set up. If I'm not in the mood for clean-up (e.g., am in the middle of making dinner or we're getting ready to go out), I give them a pot of water and brushes to water-paint the chalkboard side of the easel instead, which will usually appease their desire to paint for long enough to finish a task.

But what we really all enjoy best is finding fun and alternative ways to paint! Here are a few of our favourite ways we've tried and shared here before:










And here are loads more alternative painting ideas from around the blogosphere!




Lily finger paints through a gallon ziploc freezer bag










Painting N 3















Printing with toy animals to create foot prints




Bubble wrap printing with Red Ted Art (I've done this with my 1st graders and it made the most beautiful art! Have promised Princess Pea we can do it together, too, but haven't gotten to it yet.)
four seasons autumn craft

Painting without a brush - prickly ball



And if you're looking for some oversized art ideas (the bigger the better, right?), check out Jamie's fabulous BIG ART round-up over at Hands On: As We Grow!



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I receive a small percentage of sales made through this link.


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{Outdoor Play Party: Welcoming a New Cohost!}

I'm very excited to be welcoming a new cohost to our Outdoor Play Party - Rebekah at The Golden Gleam!

The Golden Gleam

Rebekah is mom to a preschooler, Miss E, and writes a wonderful blog about play and learning activities for preschoolers, with lots of focus on outdoor play. She is also a regular participant here at the Outdoor Play Party. In case you missed it, be sure to check out her recent post, Take Play Outdoors, in which she includes some fantastic tips for getting your kids playing outdoors more.

This week we've had more snow (just in time for our move this weekend - with, of course, more snow forecast ALL WEEKEND LONG! How perfect!). That said, it has been really fun to play in, and the girls are loving it! Sadly, Princess Pea's preschool doesn't seem to be as into the snow as we are, as they kept them indoors :-( So we've had to try to squeeze in some snow time in the short time between after school and dinner time. Just long enough to make some snow angels and throw a few snowballs at Mummy!

"Snowballs on Mummy!"
"OK, but I'm in my work clothes, so only on my jacket please." 

"Poof!"
"Hey, that's not my jacket!"




Last week's party included 24 brilliant ideas for playing outdoors, and I particularly enjoyed this Watercolour Painting with the Rain, shared by Make Do and Friend.

PAINTING IN NATURE


This is an outdoor art activity that I've been meaning to try for quite some time now, but still haven't. What a great way to make the most of a rainy day and enjoy playing outdoors in all types of weather! (I wonder how it would work with snow, which is what we're getting lots of this week!)

Now, are you ready to party?!




  • Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1. Here are just a few guidelines for sharing:
- Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!
- If you'd like us to further share your post (e.g., on Facebook/ Twitter/ Pinterest), please just include a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play!
- Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back.
- Each time we will feature an activity from the previous party. 
- By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished. (If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the 'featured' button from the sidebar.)




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