Climbing Rainbows | Children and Parents Having Fun From Tots to Tweens

Posted by Chris on Apr 18, 2012

How to Make Fairy Houses – Or a Whole Village!

This post first appeared on my family blog last spring, it is an activity we really enjoyed doing and the fairy houses still sit just outside our back door making us smile every time we see them! My daughter and her smallest brother are stone collectors and this activity uses some of them up nicely, since we made these last year they now look for stones which are ‘the right shape’ for a...

Posted by Chris on Mar 28, 2012

Organising an Easter Egg Hunt

There are lots of commercial Easter egg hunts over the coming weeks but organising one at home or out and about on a family walk is much more fun. picture credit It can be as simple as hopping around the garden with a basketful of eggs and hiding them under bushes, on walls, in trees or you can make it more interesting by leaving clues for the hunters. Here are four ideas to get you started with your own...

Posted by Chris on Mar 27, 2012

Making Easter Decorations

We make cornflour decorations throughout the year, the children have always loved playdough and this is one step on from it! Our Easter decorations are colourful and cheery and they really make us smile! You will need: 200g Cornflour 400g bicarbonate of soda 360ml water Easter biscuit cutters Acrylic Paint Scraps of wool Pom poms (we used them for the bunnies tails) Mix cornflour and bicarb in a...

Posted by Chris on Mar 14, 2012

How Do Things Grow?

Another offering for National Science and Engineering Week and today we are looking at plants and asking ‘How do things grow?’ We want to find out what conditions plants need to grow and we want to have a really good look at what happens when they are growing. First of all we had a look at some seeds. We talked about the similarities and differences between them and we were amazed how many...

Posted by Chris on Mar 13, 2012

Back Garden Safari – Investigating Bugs and Beasties

Our second offering for National Science and Engineering week sees us investigating the world around us with a look at some minibeasts Investigating bugs and beasties is a hit with children of all ages and it is something which can be repeated throughout the year. It enables children to see clearly for themselves the cycle of life. This activity involves the sacrifice of a white sheet or pillow case. Lay...

Posted by Chris on Mar 12, 2012

Making Easter Bonnets (for boys, girls, tots and tweens!)

With four children aged from six up to nearly sixteen I have made more than my fair share of Easter Bonnets over the years. I like to get the children involved as much as possible as it is they who have to wear them. My big boys are too old for bonnets now but have come up with some corking ideas in the past! This year my twelve year old daughter, her six year old brother and myself have all been...

Posted by Chris on Mar 12, 2012

Making Music and Exploring Sound – Science Starters

As promised, here is the first of our science posts for this year’s National Science and Engineering Week. Today we are exploring sound waves and vibration using musical instruments, yoghurt pots and gloop! If you are not sure how to explain sound to children this is a very clear explanation. Don’t explain anything until they have experimented and had a guess themselves, ask lots of questions...

Posted by Chris on Mar 9, 2012

Why Don’t You…?

9th to 18th March is National Science and Engineering week this year exploring ‘Our World in Motion’. To celebrate this Climbing Rainbows will be running a series of Try This At Home science and engineering experiments throughout next week. Have a look at the British Science Association website for more ideas and to find an event near you. Science Sparks is a really good website devoted to...