Exploring track marks

My children love exploring track marks, it really appeals to there inquisitive minds. I was hoping to do this outdoors today so we could get a bit messier but the weather was a bit of a let down. Instead we taped brown paper to the top of the dining room table.

We then rolled the cars through the paint and pushed them across the paper to discover what kind of track they left.

When we do this outdoors we usually sent up a car wash using a tray of shaving foam, a ramp, a bucket of water, and a few plastic cups and funnels. Next time we get to do this outdoors I will share pics.

Sometimes we play detectives. I tell them a little story about a robbery or crime  that took place and the only clue is this track mark I found outside. I show them a picture of the track mark and their job is to find out who committed the crime by finding out which car has a track that matches the one from the scene of the crime.

Leaves glorious Leaves

Trip to the Nature Reserve

Equipped with wellies we set of to the marshlands to discover the creatures that dwell in the marsh, across the grasslands and beneath the rippling ponds.

Hiding in the murky waters are great crested newts and slimy frogs and toads. Swarms of tadpoles and the googly eyes of the stickleback. Unfortunately it was difficult to capture them with our camera.

Stickleback!

Tadpoles

We made it our mission to find as many of these creatures as we possibly could before the dark clouds erupted and the heavens opened.

Flower Detectives

We have recently moved to a new village and a nice sunny afternoon was a perfect chance to get out and explore our new surroundings. I believe that education should be made fun by incorporating it into normal everyday activities. On this occasion we used our imaginations and became super sleuths for the day and embarked on a adventure flower hunt. Before we set off we equipped ourselves with cardboard magnifying glasses which my children had decorated earlier.

I also printed a poster with pictures of flowers we may find to check off along the way and off we set with our cameras to explore our village.