Out this week A Year of Nature Craft and Play is a brand-new activity book written by Becky Goddard-Hill and Catherine Hughes and published by Harper Collins.
It contains over 50 seasonal crafts, gardening projects, games, art and science activities for children aged 7+ and their families that are fun and eco-friendly.
This review is part of their blogging book tour to celebrate the of launch A Year of Nature Craft and Play.
You would pretty much have to have been living under a rock for the last couple of years not to have had a point where you stood outdoors, whether that be in your garden, on the street, on a local footpath or in the middle of the moors, taken a deep breath and gave thanks for nature and fresh air. It’s been a pretty horrific 18 months for so many of us and the signs are that lockdowns have made us stop and appreciate what we have around us.
Becky Goddard-Hill’s previous books have spoken about paying attention to the small things in nature and taking time be mindful and appreciate them, and she has now joined forces with fellow blogger Catherine Hughes to take this to the next level with their fantastic new book; A Year of Nature Craft and Play.
With an activity for every week of the year, A Year of Nature Craft and Play is packed with crafts, gardening, games, art and science activities for all four seasons. For each week you are provided with a list of what you need, clear instructions, useful diagrams and inspiring, colourful photographs.
Cloud Watching
With the weather being so all over the place at the moment we took at look at some of the summer and autumn activities as we reviewed the book. A sunny day at a local community event gave me and the youngest the perfect opportunity to do a spot of cloud watching whilst a football game was going on. Lying on a picnic blanket a the side of the pitch we stared up at the clouds and she took great delight in spotting a dinosaur, CBeebies’ Bing and a “scary monster” in the sky. Such a simple way to pass the time, but one that sparked so much creativity and laughter as we saw different things floating above us.
Making a Journey Stick
The typical British weather worked against us a bit in our attempts to create a journey stick as an autumn activity. A shame as I had visions of it being such a photogenic activity.
Used by Native Americans and Aboriginal people to record a journey this is such a simple way for a child to pick up “treasures” along a way and use them to remember their journey. They can be made using either a stick (as the name suggests) and string, or a piece of cardboard and double sided sticky tape. I thought the latter might be easier for a two year old, but I can confirm that cardboard becomes really soggy if it starts raining on your journey and your toddler tries to “stick the rain on the stick”. My only tip for making your own journey stick is to choose a dry day on which to do a cardboard one! Once the rain abates we’ll be heading out to try this one again.
Our planned year of nature craft and play
I’m determined that now the older kids are back in school, the youngest and I need to get into more of a rhythm with our days rather than just frittering them away with chores and kids’ tv. What better way to establish a rhythm than by following the rhythm and seasons of the year? I’ve made a list of the autumn activities in the book and stuck it up on the kitchen cabinet so we can quickly pick something before heading out once a week for an outdoor adventure. I’m even going to try to be organised and share what we get up to over on Penny Blogs. Fingers crossed we find our rhythm and that the weather cooperates.
A Year of Nature Craft and Play – Book Details
A Year of Nature Craft and Play by Becky Goddard-Hill and Catherine Hughes is published by Harper Collins and is available to buy online here, RRP £12.99.
Nature Craft and Play Book Tour
If you would like to visit the other Nature Craft and Play Book Tour bloggers you will find them here
1st October – www.emmaand3.com
2nd October – www.whattheredheadsaid.com
3rd October – www.mummymummymum.com
4th October – www.whatkatysaid.com
5th October – www.monkeyandmouse.co.uk
6th October – www.wemadethislife.com
7th October – www.thriftymum.com
8th October – www.rainydaymum.co.uk
9th October – www.goingonanadventure.co.uk
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of A Year of Nature Craft and Play for the purposes of this review. All opinions remain my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy anything through these links it costs you no more than if you had arrived at Amazon on your own, but I received a small commission. Thank you for any purchases that you do make.
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