Yesterday afternoon, we went out to blow off some cobwebs with a walk in the woods. We took a few things with us on our walk this time.
Bug Hunting
A few weeks ago, I picked up a Bug Hunt Jar with 50% off in Wilko’s for £1.50. Seth saw it on the side as we left the house and asked if he could bring it along. Last time we attempted bug hunting as part of an organised event themed around Superworm at a local Nature Reserve, it was a total washout.
I guess an important lesson I have learned is, ‘don’t buy your kid bug hunting equipment if your not a massive fan of bugs!’
I put into practice a few tips the volunteers had shown us at the nature reserve. Picking up rocks and branches from the ground, and also pulling back any bark on the trees that is already peeling back. I was very jumpy whilst doing this, and wish our hunt had been more fruitful to make all the nervousness worthwhile. In the end we caught a couple of woodlouse and a dead spider. Daddy caught up with us after work mid-walk and helped us to add to our tally a centipede and a slug. Seth had a good look at them through the magnifying lid of the jar before we carefully emptied them back out into the woods.
Crafts
We also took along on our walk a few craft supplies. We used some crayons and chalk to make some tree and leaf rubbings with varying success! Seth had insisted on wearing his fireman hat on our walk, although he swapped it for his bobble hat pretty quickly when he nearly lost it to the wind. It came in handy for collecting up some Autumn leaves so we can dry them out and do something arty with them next week. I’m looking forward to using some brighter colours than the ones we’ve been using to do Halloween crafts. Bye bye black paint!
We crunched in leaves, said hello to our local horses along the way and spotted the last of this season’s blackberries. (Seth point blank refused my requests to use his fireman hat to collect these blackberries so there are no foraged fruits to add to my freezer stash!) All in all, it was a lovely Autumn walk to somewhere we go often. Just what we needed after a day cooped up indoors waiting for the Health Visitor.
at home with Ruth 
The black berries are yummy looking! I don’t think we would have it in us to hunt for bugs:( Looking at it from afar would do 🙂 The leaf rubbings is an innovative art too !
FarZain
@http://colorsofourrainbow.blogspot.ae/
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It’s spiders I don’t like so the fear I would actually find one was a bit too much! I suggested bark rubbings with crayons but Seth insisted on leaf rubbings with chalk – apparently he does it at nursery all the time – first I’ve heard of it! x
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Looks like fun! My children also love our bug hunting kit but I’m quite squeamish, ours has a pair of large tweezers that they use to pick up the bugs but unfortunately quite a few of the poor things end up squashed which I don’t like!
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I quickly sneaked the tweezers into my pocket! Didn’t want any bugs suffering from lost limbs or an early death! There are some scissor things with cups on the end with it which we opted for! At the nature reserve last time we did it, they just gave us plastic spoons!
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Looks like a lovely autumn walk, despite the bugs. I like the idea of taking art things along too.
#Whatevertheweather
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Anything to keep it interesting! x
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A lovely walk Ruth. You are a fab Mum!
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What a lovely thing to say. Thanks Katheine. I really don’t feel like I am for the majority of the days. We are having some behaviour issues at the moment which are so challenging! I’m sure it’s just a phase!
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Yep I’d be swerving the bug hunting too! Love the idea of the rubbings though, that’s something we need to try again this year!
#WhatevertheWeather
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I think the leaf ones will work better done at home with a table to lean on. We might try again with the leaves we collected. #whatevertheweather
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Woweeee you’ve been busy exploring! No so sure about the bugs myself, as they creepy me out. But it looks like a fun activity 🙂 #whatevertheweather
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It’s definitely the likelihood a spider will jump out that puts me off. I’m not too bad with other bugs, although I’m not a slug and snail fan as they eat my garden! #whatevertheweather
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That looks so much fun! We love going bug hunting too and now have some scissor things with scoops on the end that will be perfect for carefully scooping up insects. Both my boys love insects, last week A was in the garden and asked me to put a little woodlouse on his arm, he was literally squealing with delight!
The chalk rubbings are great too, it looks like you had a lot of fun!
Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂 x
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There’s something prehistoric about woodlouse isn’t there?! I don’t think I’d like one crawling on my arm! Eek! Brave kid! We have those scissor scoop things, they came with the kit. Seth loved using them. Thanks for hosting the linky. Hope we still get out next week even now the weather’s changed. #whatevertheweather
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I am terrified of bugs so you’re much braver than me but i’d love to go on a bug hunt. I think it’s time I got over my fear. I can’t wait to take Evie exploring for bugs. What a lovely adventure out! I must get one of these jars next time I’m near a Wilko. What a shame you couldn’t put the blackberries in the fireman hat. Hopefully they’ll still be around for another few weeks. I love that you take craft supplies with you, that’s such a brilliant idea. Thank you so, so much for sharing this on #whatevertheweather x
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Love the chalk idea. I hate bugs lol!! Thanks for linking up to #justanotherlinky xx
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Looks like you all have been busy!! I love the idea of doing crafts outside on your walks! My girls would be freaked out with the bugs haha!
thanks for linking up with #justanotherlinky
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[…] one of our walks in the woods, we took our craft supplies out with us. Read about it here. We used crayons and chalk to do bark and leaf rubbings. Here are our finished leaves that are on […]
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