Center Parcs March Challenge: Painting Flowers

CENTER PARCS MARCH CHALLENGE: Take a photo of your child's flower painting in a blog post and tell us the story behind it.  We were keen to take part in this month's Center Parc challenges.

Before I go into the details of our project, I should mention that one of our favourite places when we visit Center Parcs is always the Pottery Cafe.  My children and I love painting together and so this challenge was great because it allowed us to think of ways to make our paintings that little bit more interesting.....

For the March Challenge we were given a host of helpful tips on painting from Creative Crafter Emma Hull, you can see them here: http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/blog/challenge/march_2014.jsp

We were inspired by Emma's tip to find things from around the house to make a 3D painting.

"Find materials around the house to add to the painting, giving it a 3D effect. Why not paint an old bottle cap and stick it in the centre of a flower, really bringing your painting to life?"

There were two parts to our project.  The first being:

Fruit and veg painting

Tools needed: 

Fruit and veg past its use-by date

A selection of rainbow paints

We used all the fruit and veg for various printing techniques, but we found the celery to be the best tool.  It was possible to apply the paint pretty accurately with and also it made a good inscribing tool to add extra detail to the painting.

Simply apply the paint to the ends of your celery stick.

Paint; and then swirl round for added detail.

Using a rainbow of colours the results are beautiful!

Finished result: perfectly detailed flowers.

When the flowers were dry we cut them out and used them in step 2.

Cake case painting

For the second part of our painting, inspired by Emma's tip to look for household objects to give your painting a 3D look, we used cake cases.

Simply swirl the cupcases with the colour of your choice

An easy and effective way to paint flowers for little hands.

Then, simply glue to another piece of paper.

We used glitter for grass and stalks.  Paint for sky and clouds.  We also added the flowers that were made in Step 1.

A simple project for kids that is great fun and produces great results!

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 March challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit Longleat Forest.

For more info please visit http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/blog/challenge/march_2014.jsp

#WalesforKids - Super South Wales (competition entry)

Britmums are running a fabulous competition to win a £1000 holiday in Wales!  To take part in the #WalesforKids blogger competition you simply need to blog about your child's holiday learning experience and submit your entry to the linky before 17th March 2014.



I am lucky enough to live in South Wales; and it is truly amazing!  We are never at a loss for things to do.  Visiting the many castles is one of our favourite things to do - from Castell Coch (where so many movies have been filmed) to Caerphilly.  We also enjoy the many beaches that are here; our favourites being Porthcawl and Aberavon.  And if we wish to go a little further Mumbles is always a nice day out, with the arcades and pier.  And when it comes to holidays, we don't even need to venture out of Wales for a great time; we just go to Bluestone in West Wales for a change of scenery.

In summer we love nothing better than taking a fishing net and bucket and spade to the beach at Rest Bay, Porthcawl to build sandcastles and explore rockpools.  The children love seeing what creatures they can find in the rockpools.

Finding Limpets in the rockpools

Wow!  What is that?

Father and sons enjoying exploring the rockpools at Rest Bay, Porthcawl

If we want a flatter beach for running round on to burn off energy, we head to Aberavon Beach.  It's glorious!

Enjoying the view at Aberavon Beach

If the kids want to get a real feel for history, we head to one of the castles.  Our favourite being Coity Castle; we love having picnics there.

An educational picnic at Coity Castle

There's so much to do here from exploring the many forests to the country parks and nature reserves, there's so much to explore that you barely need to go on holiday.  It's just one big holiday!

Exploring Bryngarw Park

Doing a spot of reading at Afan Forest

When my littlest was starting to walk we often took him to Kenfig Nature reserve to explore; you can see the video here:

SO what do I think my children learn from this holiday experience?  I believe they learn every day to be at one with nature.  To be able to breathe in sea air every time we fancy is something we always appreciate.  We can bring history to life by visiting the castles and we teach them geography everytime we explore the glorious mountains and forestry.  I LOVE Wales and would recommend it to anyone!

If you want to find out more about Wales you can visit the Visit Wales website or visit www.facebook.com/visitwales or @visitwales on Twitter

This post is an entry for the Visit Wales #Wales4Kids Family Holiday Challenge. Wales is the perfect place for a fun-filled family break

Remember you can enter the competition here: http://www.britmums.com/2014/02/kids-learn-holiday-join-wales4kids-family-holiday-challenge/