The 2014 Elderflower Fields Festival

A couple of weekends ago we decamped to Pippingford Park, near Nutley in East Sussex.

It was the much awaited Elderflower Fields Festival, one of the best family festivals around. Here are a few photos to get the feel...

The festival was set in a beautiful location:

A varied selection of bands played over the three days

All sorts of elderflower cocktails were served at the Drunken Botanist

There was an area of the park dedicated to all sorts of spa treatments.

And a woodland stage for story telling and bands

And Sam loved the music and Gaby's company..

Back at the tent breakfast and lunch were had under an awning; it was a little chilly, and had been raining quite hard during the night, but the sun came out and the mood lifted.

BB looking cool in his festival hat and glasses

One of BB's friends came along to have fun for a day

There were plenty of children's workshops and craft sessions going on throughout the 3 days

Lots of food stalls and curly chips!

There was a lovely atmosphere and a sunny Sunday almost ended up with a sunburn!

Camping with a broken shoulder was really not ideal, and we didn't stay the final night. It was a good festival with some fun music, plenty to do for younger children and a really relaxed atmosphere.

I came across this video on You Tube, it's from a previous year, but you can really get the feel...

The Bird's Nest

These days it really isn't easy tempting your child away from electronic gadgets. My boys are quite fond of both the iPad and the Xbox. I am not that keen that they should spend so much time playing on what is essentially a 2d square illuminated babysitter. It's bad enough that we as adults spent 9 years of our lives watching TV, with many of these programmes being pretty dire. But at least my generation grew up without all the digital distractions keeping us away from important social interactions, exploratory play, nature and friendships. Don't get me wrong, the internet surely is a good thing and has brought the world into our sitting rooms...but we shouldn't abandon the hands on, the creative, the discussion, the physical handling of materials, the glueing, the sticking, the getting hands dirty part of child development.

Here is a little report from a Danish child psychologist with 4 good reasons why you shouldn't let the iPad babysit your 3-5 year olds. I know it's in Danish, but it is based on the book "The Big Disconnect” by Catherine Steiner-Adair. And it makes sense. It tells of the need to explore in 3D and to touch, feel and rearrange, to discuss and ask for help from siblings and parents, to imagine, to smell, to use small motor skills.

The Blog posting provoked a lively discussion with a clear for and against electronic babysitters. Of course, it's a complex issue, and at the end of the day it's up to parents to decide what is best for them and their children. But I certainly know from my own boys, that, yes, they really enjoy playing on the iPad, but when they have their heads stuck 5 inches away from the screen, there is little interaction or communication between us and them.

I suppose a balance has to be reached between parents/carers and their children. With parents increasingly busy with work and their daily chores, it's all too easy to forget that children can become so engrossed in the digital world. I hope in future parents don't end up regretting how much time their children spent hunched over an iPad. After all, childhood is but a fleeting and precious time...

Last weekend I decided to lure BB away from digital distractions and enter the arty, sticky world of collage. Sadly I couldn't tempt no. 1 son, but at least he did watch the fun and see the mess we made....

BB initially made a lot of sighing and huffing, but quickly got into it and enjoyed seeing the progress we made. He started off by cutting strips of words in an old book, strips off coloured magazine pages, which we stuck on a map glued to a piece of card.  

We glued the eggs in place and continued layering it, scrap of paper after paper, including some torn  tissue. Then added a few old buttons...

And there you have it,"The Bird's Nest" by Mother and Son Alton...BB was quite proud. We debated colours, tones, how the glue affects different thickness paper, and how light would shine on the twig to give depth, when adding enough was enough, and all whilst we got stickier and stickier...

An iPad doesn't yet have the ability to tickle all the 5 senses, but on the other hand, looking at artists and their work on-line can perhaps motivate a child to have a go themselves.

This project was inspired by a representational collage in the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.

Gab is Fab!

So today was my lovely friend, Gaby's birthday. A group of friends headed off this morning for a little brunch in Hove. After the usual frantic phone calls and 'what's happening, Gabs?' we set off in Lisa's mega-car towards Hove and a small but yummy cafe called Treacle and Co. Both the food and the company were good. Gaby had great fun opening her presents too!

 A very nice take-home idea, a perfectly peachy way to hang one's utensils...

After the savory, a huge quantity of rather lovely cakes landed on our plates...but perhaps a little too huge!

After filling both our tummies and the rest of our bodies with teas, coffees, cakes etc we headed off home with a quick stop at a VERY nice shop by the name of i gigi. Oh, my word what a fabulous home store. I have rarely been in such a tactile shop...

The 6 of us got back home with plenty of time to play with families and pets. I headed out with boys and dog for a little fresh air and to walk off a few calories, and then created a lovely piece of artwork with my youngest  (Blog to follow!)

Much love and birthday wishes to my very fab friend, Gaby, and to my other party friends for a lovely brunch date, and thanks especially to Lisa for driving us chatty cherubs to Hove. xxx

<<Have a good week all>>

Winter sun amongst the rain and hail

We seized the opportunity to nip out for some fresh air as the sky had a few blue patches today. Needless to say it was incredibly muddy, but Zaf still enjoyed the run, we less so, as he had just been bathed yesterday! And true to form, we had barely stepped onto the path running along Ardingly reservoir when the heavens darkened and the hail thundered down. Luckily it was a short blast.

Here be fairy folk :o)

Let's hope the weather settles soon. Getting a tad fed up clearing muddy floors generated by cats, dog, and boys.

Have a good and hopefully dry week!