Peas and Pod

Sometimes it’s really hard to get my son to go for a walk, and on days like that I find things like this scavenger hunt really helpful! He was super excited to take this out with him. I stuck it on some recycled cardboard and made a slit to hold the pencil. We didn’t find many of the flowers but still had a really fun walk looking for them.

All these flowers feature in the 3-part Montessori classification cards in our downloadable Spring box too, which you could also take out with you to learn a bit more about each one.

Clementines are in season at the moment and are an easy citrus fruit for little hands to try to peel. Save the skins and you could use a cookie cutter to cut heart shapes out and then string together to make Valentine’s bunting. You could also dipping clementines into melted dark chocolate for a delicious Valentine's treat 🧡

We love a homemade Valentine’s Day and have a few traditions we do each year, like starting the day with heart-shaped pancakes. What about you?

Our boxes are perfect for half term - whether it's on-the-go play, or for quiet afternoons at home. And with our stock sale, you can get them for the fantastic price of just £13!

All the boxes have been tagged in the post or you can go to the link in our bio.

Here are our ideas for 5 fun things you could try in February. What have you got planned for this month? What have we left out?

1️⃣ Go stargazing 🌌The Dark Skies Festivals are held in National Parks across the country in the winter and autumn, and are all about discovering, learning and enjoying the dark and the stars. Coming up at South Downs (4-7 February), North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival (10-26 February) and Welsh Dark Skies Week (17-26 February)

2️⃣ Celebrate the lantern festival🏮The lunar new year officially ends on 5 February with the new moon, and in China, it’s traditional to take out and light your lantern, to see lion or dragon dances and to eat ‘tang yuen’, small glutinous rice balls, usually served in a sweet soup.

3️⃣ Have a homemade Valentine’s Day 💖 Instead of celebrating with commercial cards and gimmicks, why not create your own homemade Valentine traditions with your family. Some ideas include: decorate your house with heart bunting, make heart shaped pizzas and celebrate together by sharing a meal. Create paper heart love notes as a way of appreciating each other and expressing your love.

4️⃣ Forage for wild garlic and nettle 🌱 Usually appearing towards the end of February but you may find them growing earlier. Young nettles are perfect for making tea, and you can cook them as you would spinach. Wild garlic is easily identified thanks to its aroma, and can be used in soups, stews, sauces, salads and are great made into pesto.

5️⃣ Random Acts of Kindness Day 💗 is on 17 February and there’s lots of ideas on their website for things you can do at home and at school, like kindness bingo!

From science writer and author, Rodger Lewin. We couldn't agree more - supporting natural curiosity and learning is vital. What do you think?

We've been really enjoying the lunar new year celebrations this year and did lots of decorating, bought beautiful flowers that bloomed just in time for the new year, and made my favourite traditional foods.

Did you know that in the Chinese calendar, the new year celebrations go on for 15 days, and there are specific things to do on different days? Today is the 5th day of the new year and it's traditional to eat dumplings today. The 7th day is considered to be everyone's birthday, and the last day (Feb 5) is the Lantern Festival.

There's more information on traditions and other activities in our Lunar New Year box, which you can download from our website. Inside this box you'll find:

🌓 Montessori 3-part classification cards with the phases of the moon

🔢 Counting cards from 0-10 in both Chinese and English

🐀 The story of 'The Great Race'

🐅 A Chinese zodiac signs and dates chart

🌾 Life cycle of a rice plant with words to match

🐉 How to make a Chinese dragon puppet with dragon template

🌸 How to make tissue paper blossom branches

🌸 How to do blossom printing

🏮 How to make a Chinese lantern

🔥 How to make charcoal to use as ink

🥟 How to make vegetable dumplings

✍🏽 Mindful Chinese character tracing with charcoal ink

👩‍👦‍👦 Plus Positive Parenting inspiration

You will need some art and craft materials for some of the activities.

➡ This box is £9.50 and you can download here: https://peasandpod.com/product/lny-box-downloadable/

We are getting ready for the lunar new year over here, which starts on the 22nd January and ends on the 5th February. I grew up in Hong Kong and my mum’s side of the family are Chinese, so the new year has always been a very special time for us. This week we are going to make some dumplings and tong yuen (glutinous rice balls) as a practice run.

Do you / how do you celebrate the lunar new year?

Our downloadable lunar new year box is now back on our website and is filled with activity ideas and resources. Link in our link tree.

Anyone else often end up with a bunch of brown bananas? Here’s our super easy 5-ingredient vegan and gluten free banana bread that your child can make (with supervision of course).

Mash bananas in a mixing bowl then add all the other ingredients. Sometimes we add walnuts or pecans, or some chopped up chocolate or 1/4 cup of cacao powder. You can add an extra banana thinly sliced on top if you’d like.

Bake at 180c for 35-40 minutes, and then this is the hard bit - leave to cool for at least 30 minutes so it firms up.

Let us know if you try this recipe out! Should we share more recipes?

NEW YEAR TRADITIONS 🎊 How do you celebrate the coming and arrival of the new year? Do you have any special traditions or rituals you practice with your family?

We have had a little farewell and gratitude ceremony the last few New Year’s Eves that we always enjoy.

Over dinner we talk about our memories from the year - both good and bad. Then we each write, mark make or draw a picture on some paper.

Some ideas for what that could be:

🌟Something special that happened during the year

🌟Something you did that you were proud of this year

🌟Something you would like to do next year

🌟 Something you’re ready to let go of

🌟 Sending a message to someone you miss

🌟 Your wish for the new year

Fold up your notes and pop them in the fire. As they burn, you could sing, play an instrument, sound a singing bowl, cheer, clap, or sit in quiet contemplation… whatever feels right! This could be a mindful ritual or a joyful noisy farewell, whichever you prefer.

However you celebrate, we wish you all a very happy, healthy and heart-filled new year!

Love and blessings,

Helen and Paula x

CORK AND STICK REINDEER 🦌

Some sweet last minute decorations to make together. These can be hung from the tree or become a part of your Christmas seasonal display

You will need:

🦌 2 corks, one cut slightly shorter for the head

🦌 4 thin sticks for the logs

🦌 2 twigs for the antlers

🦌 berry or pom pom for the nose

🦌 glue

🦌 Bradel or a tool to make holes with

How to do it:

1️⃣ Assemble and secure using a Bradel or other tool

2️⃣ Stick on the nose

➡️ For more activities, our digital Winter Celebrations inspired December box is available to download now, and is packed with creative, fun and educational activities to keep you and your family busy in the winter holidays.

Download here: https://peasandpod.com/product/winter-celebrations-downloadable/



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MAKE A WILLOW STAR ⭐️ This is a beautiful natural decoration that could go on your door, in your window or you could place on your table with some candles inside.

You’ll need:

🌟 6 pieces of willow, each cut to the same length
🌟 twine
🌟 natural decorations like ivy, rosehips, or whatever you can forage

How to do it:

Swipe to see how we put it together step by step

➡️ For more activities, we have a bumper Winter Celebrations downloadable box, packed with creative, fun and educational activities to keep you and your family busy in the winter holidays. 🌟 https://peasandpod.com/product/winter-celebrations-downloadable/ 🌟

WALNUT SHELL CANDLES 🕯 These candles make great homemade Christmas gifts, and are quick and easy to make.

You will need:

⭐️ Walnuts
⭐️ Beeswax
⭐️ Candle wick

How to do it:

1️⃣ To open the walnut, creating a perfect half with one side completely closed, carefully insert a knife into the side where it grew on the tree and twist. You can then easily remove the nut to eat, or store in an airtight container.

2️⃣ Melt the beeswax. We used a tin can and punched holes on each side to thread string through to make a handle - this makes it easy to remove from the pan and pour. Carefully place the can into boiling water.

3️⃣ Cut about 1 inch of candle wick for each walnut and place inside and pour in the wax to the brim - the cooling wax will hold the wick in place and they set quickly.

4️⃣ Fill a decorative bowl with water, trim the wick before lighting and you can float your walnut shell candles ✨

For more activity ideas, our beautiful Winter Celebrations downloadable box is available now, and is packed with creative, fun and educational activities to keep you and your family busy in the winter holidays!