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HELLO SUPERSTARS! Here's a fun task for this week about FABULOUS FLOWERS! (Lots of letter F for littlies in this task, can you practice writing the word flower and spot other words begining with F?) What's the weather been like for you? I think it's been windy and cold, lots of the plants which got so happy from all the earlier hot sunshine are now very sad and too cold, some delicate petals have wind burn (where they go brown) and some have got too cold. So I think we all need cheering up from the cold wind (flowers & families included). Your task is to all pick a bunch of wild flowers or plants, either from your garden or on a walk (make sure you ask permission before picking any really special ones, be careful, wash hands, ask parents first!) Have fun arranging them in a vase. Please do send in a photo, a drawing or some writing about them with the names of which flowers they are. These flowers are a gift to celebrate you, as you're all Snape superstars and are doing so brilliantly, but they're also a gift to your families and parents to enjoy and bring cheer to the household. It means you'll also get to learn about flowers while you're at it! Fun further things to do: can you count the petals and different parts or draw a labeled diagram of them? It was always one of my favourite jobs as a kid when my mum would send me to pick flowers and make an arrangement for the kitchen table where we all ate :-) I picked some forget-me-nots which remind me of my Dad and are such a lovely sweet shape and blue colour. For some inspiration, here are some photos of some amazing beautiful flowers which I planted for a friend over the winter. This time last year, in their garden, there wasn't even a flower bed and now there's all these beautiful flowers in full-bloom! It's so exciting. I made a design and planted them over the winter, so it was a total joy to see the plants doing so well and flowering beautifully. They smell AMAZING too! What other flowers and names can you learn this week? These ones pictured are rose, honeysuckle, sea thrift (the bright pink one) and thyme (shown together), my bunch of forget-me-nots and a fox glove :-) Bees love them all :-) What names would you give the flowers? My friend in Chile says that over there, honeysuckle is called 'Mother Jungle!' what a cool name! It can grow like a little jungle, have you seen it in the forest climb up trees? Which flowers can you spot and learn on your walks? How would you describe them? Write it as a list, it might make a fun poem :-) I wanted to take some pictures for you all of our beautiful trees with flowering buds and catkins. Can you figure out which trees they are? It starts off with the walnut tree (next to the wild bit by the veg garden). It has the most amazing catkins, I'd like to find out more about how they change into walnuts and look forward to tracking their growing journey. Can any of you find out and let me know? The grandmother tree was looking so beautiful with fresh bright green leaves. I'm amazed how quickly the horse chestnut / conker tree gets its chandelier of amazing flowers, can you find one and look at them close up? They are so beautiful! I highly recommend it! There is also the pretty purple vinca flowers which like growing in the shade, some of you picked them to decorate your fairy houses. There's our baby elder tree develping flower buds next to the trading centre tree trunk, there's some lovely fresh nettles, lots of alexander weed and it's all looking so wild and wooly without you all playing there every week but the plus side is that I think it's definintely meant more wildlife is moving in, though the weeds are going bananas. Maybe we can find more uses for our weeds!? Spot which trees are which from the photos :-)  Hello Everyone! I've got lots of posts for you today, but here is your task. Send me a wish in the comments below for me to sow with your velvet queen red Snape sundflower seed & find some hawthorn blossom to identify, these links will help you find hawthorn, you could pick some or make a crown (copy and paste links) - https://treegrowing.tcv.org.uk/identify/hawthorn - https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/hawthorn/ Today is a beautiful full moon, this one is known as the flower moon. If you'd like to know more about it, here's some great info and there's even a short video which tells you the best time to go fishing! https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-may We've just had the 1st May which was Beltane or May Day - it's an ancient Celtic celebration of fertility and life and traditionally marks the first day of summer. Have you noticed all the beautiful Hawthorn blossoms out in the hedges at the moment? Please go and find some, can you identify it? I love hawthorn trees, they're one of my favourite, traditionally they were known as the gateway to the fairy kingdom! Do you remember we have a beautiful one at school next to the pitch? Traditionally people would make crowns decorated with Hawthorn blossoms, (maybe you'd like to have a go!?) villagers would dance around a May pole with ribbons and celebrate and give thanks for life and nature. They'd make bonfires to bless and protect them and their livestock and crops over the coming year of growth. Here's some info if you'd like to know more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane This full moon is also all about celebrating the fertile soil, flowers, nectar and brings peace and joy to us all. It is an opportunity to think about what things you can do to bring peace and goodness into your life. What will you do? Let me know. Do you remember last year you all planted a sunflower seed and made a wish? Well this year, before lockdown, I found some special sunfolwers called Velvet Queen, I thought they'd be perfect for all you snape superstars as they're red like your uniform instead of yellow! Seeing as you can't be here in person to sow them yourselves I wanted to invite you all to send me your wishes that you'd like go with your sunflowers and I'll sow them for you :-) I thought this full flower moon was the perfect day to celebrate and do this if you'd like to. Please send your wishes in the comments below. I look forward to hearing them. Let me know also about anything else you make or do. I've got lots to do in the school garden today! Do you remember that full moon an especially good time for sowing seeds and planting because the pull of the moon draws the water closer to the surface of the soil. Here's a picture of the beautiful Velvet Queen! Send me your wishes and I'll sow the seeds :-)  Here is an old artwork from the V&A collections of children dancing around a May Pole with ribbons, do you want to make one with a stick and have a go!?  Below is a photo of lovely hawthorn blossom from the woodland trust to help you find some. This image is very close up, the flowers are small, in clusters on the branches both in hedges and on bigger trees. What insects do you see foraging the nectar? Are you going to pick some and put it in a vase or make a crown? Any other ideas? You can eat the young leaves in salad or for what's traditionally known as 'poor man's sandwiches' which is a funny name! They taste nice when they're new but get bitter and more leathery as they get older. Remember to be absolutely certain and check with a parent before trying, maybe you can pick some for a salad and sprinkle the flowers on top. Hawthorn berries are also used as a herbal remedy for the heart and you can collect them and make fruit leathers with rosehips for a healthy snack full of vitimin C. (Other Image credits: flowermoon; www.higherperspectives.com, sunflower www.organiccatalogue.com, maypole: https://collections.vam.ac.uk)  |
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