Now that winter is winding down, the weather is perfect for getting out and enjoying some of that sunshine! I’ve been anxiously awaiting this time of year. The snow is still out there, but the wind doesn’t have that bite to it anymore, and you feel energized because you can tell that Spring is on its way. This is the perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy a little more of that white stuff before it’s all gone.

There are so many things that you could be doing outside with your family right now. You’ll find that your little ones, especially, are more than happy to get out and stay out for longer periods of time. Most days my daughter is just begging me to let her go out! So, we’ve been VERY busy this last week. Here is a peek at what we’ve been up to:

Winter Walk and Ice Mobiles

Inspired by the book Nature’s Playground by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield

I’ve been wanting to do this project for some time now, only I haven’t wanted to go out to the woods to find materials what with the crazy weather we’ve had on most days. This week was great, though, so we donned our winter coats, found some hats and mittens and set off on  a woodland walk.

We are fortunate enough to have a wonderful little park near our neighborhood where the town sledding hill is. There is also a pond for ice skating and a trail that heads out through the trees. I figured this would be a great place to gather materials for making an Ice Mobile. We needed to keep our eyes out for leaves, small twigs, dried berries, and anything from Nature that looked neat. My daughter was all for this. She loves collecting leaves!

We managed to find some leaves and berries, and some very unique looking weeds that would work perfectly.

We gathered up our goodies, put them in a bag and wandered home. The next day we got to work building our mobiles. You’ll need to find several small plates, some string, and water.

I tried using some vessels other than the plates since I only had a few, but I found that once you add the water and it freezes, the lip on the tupperware lids and playdoh lids made it hard to get the ice out. You really need to use plates for this.

Mia’s brother Riley helped her sort out our goodies, then it was up to Mia to put them where she wanted them. These little goodies are what make the ice mobiles pretty.

Next, add the water.

You’ll want to run the string from plate to plate, envisioning how you want them to hang. You must make sure the string is submerged into the water so it freezes. This is how the mobile is held together.

We waited overnight for them to freeze. The next morning when we went to check on them, we found that the string had moved, and missed one plate entirely. However, with scissors and a new idea of how to hang them, we made do, and Mia was super happy with the results!

Her friend Ben came over to help us hang them!

The sad part is that they only last a day or so as the days warm up. I love the idea of this type of mobile, though, and would love to look for more “things” to freeze in it. Next time I think we will hang it in front of one of our windows so we can watch it melt!

Snow Castle

Even my husband has gotten in the mood to get outside. He normally avoids being outside in winter like the plague. I can’t blame him, I guess, since he is originally from Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Winter in Wisconsin just isn’t his thing. Yesterday, though…I could tell he had the itch to get out. He took Mia and her friend Ben outside, grabbed a bucket and got busy! I only wish I would have had the camera to capture them in action!

Oh, the fun of snow…when it’s not too cold to be out in it anyway!

Well thanks for stopping by for a quick little visit. I hope you and your family take the time to get out and enjoy some of this sunshine this weekend…granted there is sunshine where you live!

And don’t forget that The Renegade Farmer is holding a photo contest over on their Facebook page. If I can ever find the time, I’ll be adding my photos soon. I can’t decide if I want to upload ones of me as a little girl on the farm, or the ones of my daughter visiting a farm last summer…choices choices.

Also…if you can’t wait until next Saturday for more ideas, feel free to visit me at my blog  Barefoot & Breathless. Later today I’ll be posting pictures of our Winter Fire and a recipe for making Granola. See you all again soon!

Darcey