wanderers – Page 2 – Tracie's Treasures

bug hunt, childminding, frogs, Garden Classroom, Honey Bees, Bees, Great British Bees, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers

Bug Hunting

Posted on 28th May 202328th May 2023 by Tracie Dowling

Today the little seedlings decided they wanted to be explorers and look for bugs.

Jacks first area of interest was the barrel pool which has a solar powered floating fountain. he quickly realised if he moved it into the shade it stopped working. he liked slapping the to of the water and splashing himself.

Elsie soon caught up with Jack and wanted to have a go but she couldn’t quite fit, she started pushing Jack out of the way. Jack edged her away, I explained to Elsie if she moved back a little Jack would be able to turn around and move to give her some space to have a turn. It was a bit tricky because by then Ruby had decided to join the children which caused a traffic Jam.

While we were looking for bugs a Ladybird flew onto Jack. He froze and looked down at it. I carefully moved the ladybird off Jack so we could all have a better look. We counted the Ladybirds spots to see how old it was. we counted 8 spots George said “its like a spider with eight legs!’

Next we found a nest of tiny baby spiders, Elsie turned and fled, shes not a fan of spiders! George and Jack where fascinated watching them scuttling about the nest until Jack decided to poked the nest and made all the spiders run in different directions, this made Jack and George feel itchy like they were crawling up their body. Yuk!!

Next on the hunt we found a buzzy bumblebee going from one yellow poppy to another. Tracie explained he was collecting pollen from the poppies. Grace said ‘ to make honeycomb’ Tracie explained that bees make Honey which can be made into honeycomb. (Good activity idea! To extend learning) George said he loves honey and asked if we will have Honey sandwiches for snack time. Nom nom

Elsie decided to go back and look in the barrel again while the others went to the pond. We were so lucky because as we got there (very quietly) a frog was having a swim. Tracie very carefully got her net and caught him so we could have a closer look!

What a busy, fun bug hunt we had today!

childminding, family, frog Spawn, frogs, Garden Classroom, hydroponics, outdoor play, rangers, Seedlings, The Theatre, wanderers

A Walk Around The Garden

Posted on 1st Apr 202321st Apr 2023 by Tracie Dowling

Today we walked around the garden to look at all the changes we made last year and to make notes on what we want to plan for this year.

The winding footpath we made last year is ideal for walking and running about avoiding the messy mud. The children love how they can run around and peep through the planting bug hunting, plant spotting and watching everything grow. They love the bug pile and saw some worms and ants.

We have sown all our bedding plants this year to save money, we also used peat free compost to help save our planet. The seeds have now grown into healthy young plants so we potted them on, ( put into bigger pots) and put them into the cold frame to wait for the last frost, we will then put them in our living wall.

This years project is to make the decking area into a nicer living ‘Outdoor Classroom’ We have chosen

Petunia, Lobelia and Fuchsia’s to have trailing, ground cover in the vertical wall garden. We will add the Herbs (growing in our greenhouse) for tasting and smelling into the wall as soon as they have matured.

We have Roses, Honeysuckle, Jasmine and Passiflora for climbing up the trelliss and giving off a floral fragrance. Our aim is to make the ‘Outdoor Classroom stimulate all our five senses. To make the decking more accessible for the babies we are going to add Astro turf so it’s safer for them to crawl and play on.

We were so excited to see our frogs while out and about, they were keeping an eye on their spawn, this will soon turn into tadpoles and frogs. Tracie taught us how to carefully remove some of the water weeds and she added some bunches of watercress to freshen up the pond to make the water less Murky so we can see the pond life without disturbing them.

Our Big Plans For This Year 2023:

We have decided in our living classroom we are going to:

Lay artificial grass to make the decking completely baby friendly.

Make a toy box storage area for outdoor equipment

Pot up the Herbs and make labels.

Make a water feature for relaxing sound and to have water play

In the Greenhouse we are going to grow:

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Loofa , Chilli and start off our Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Broccoli

Sow winter flowering plants to give out Garden all year color and edibles.

In the front garden:

We want to encourage more wildlife in, so we are thinking about making a new pond, putting in more hedging, and adding some hidden bird feeders.

So we have BIG plans, so keep watching our blogs to see how we go….

childminding, Garden Classroom, greenhouse, rangers, Seedlings, Uncategorized, wanderers

Spring Additions To Our Kitchen Garden

Posted on 24th Feb 202322nd Apr 2023 by Tracie Dowling

We’ll finally after wanting one for years we have a Green house! Whoop Whoop

However it was not easy to put together. Gemma came around to help, it took us three days of total frustration to get it together.

We had to start with the base, we soon found out we needed a wooden base for the metal one to sit on!

We tried hard to follow the instructions but they didn’t make sense! we finally got the sides up then found the window fixers wouldn’t fit!

We had to take everything apart and start again making sure the ridge was on the outside for the glass.

When we finally got it up (Chloe helped too!) we realised it wasn’t suitable for the area we had erected it, so had to take it down and then put it up AGAIN!

Finally its in place and is full of growing plants.

childminding, family, Seedlings, wanderers

Martie Starting School

Posted on 12th Jan 20237th Mar 2023 by Tracie Dowling

Our Martie has grown up so much since starting with us as a baby. She is now starting school and we will be minding her baby sister which we are looking forward too. We will look forward to seeing Marty in the holidays and catching up with all her stories from school.

Here is a compilation of photos from her amazing time with us. Good luck Martie see you at Easter xx

childminding, family, rangers, Seedlings, Uncategorized, wanderers

Christmas At Tracie’s Treasures 2022

Posted on 25th Dec 2022 by Tracie Dowling

Our Christmas Photo Collection From All At Tracie’s Treasures

childminding, Garden Classroom, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers

Halloween Fun

Posted on 3rd Nov 20216th Mar 2022 by Tracie Dowling

Everyone had fun for Halloween this year, Emma and her family looked amazing. They were very scary and got up to lots of mischief.

Poppy chose not to be scary but join in by wearing her favourite Anime costume. Her jacket stands out on a dark night, which keeps her safe when out and about trick or treating.

Alfie from the seedlings was such a cute bat. He even tried to sleep upside down on the soft play!

The Rangers all helped each other to carve the pumpkins. They were very careful while using the vegetable knives. I am so glad they carved them outside, the mess was phenomenal!

The Rangers and Wanderers enjoyed the carving and apple bobbing the best. The Seedlings enjoyed the hunting for buried spiders, Tracie put a few treats in the sand for them to find for a surprise.

childminding, family, Garden Classroom, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers

Garden Challenge 2021: Phylis’s Garden

Posted on 17th Oct 20216th Mar 2022 by Tracie Dowling

We have had ups and downs during this year with our gardens. Here is a round up of how Phyllis’ gardening went..

These pictures are from Phyllis’ front garden, it gets full sun most of the day. The lovely well planter was made by Frank, he has hung bird feeders and hidden bird boxes in the roof. He also made the wooden tiered planter where the vegetables are growing for their yummy, fresh Christmas dinner.

Phyllis had a bumper crop of fruit and vegetables this year, here are a few pictures to show how well she did!

It’s been a hard year and being in the garden has given Phyllis a project which she has thoroughly enjoyed. Next year Phyllis is going to focus on flowers, including a wildflower patch to encourage wildlife.

No better way to prove how amazing it is to grow your own, a delicious fresh Sunday lunch! Where’s mine?

childminding, family, Garden Classroom, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers

Grandad And Rosie’s Garden

Posted on 8th Oct 20216th Mar 2022 by Tracie Dowling

Over the summer holidays Poppy went to Grandad Smith and Nanny Rosie’s to see how their wildlife garden and beekeeping were coming along.

Poppy’s sister Chelsea came along for the trip, she loved learning all about the wildlife and the bees in her grandad’s garden. We all talked about nature, looked at the bird houses and saw some footage of the baby birds learning to eat while still in the bird box via a webcam. Never too old to learn!

We brought along some tadpoles from our pond in Liverpool and set them free in Grandad’s pond, hopefully he will have some frogs next time we visit. Do you think they will croak in a scouse accent?

We sat and watched the tadpoles swimming around settling in their new environment. While we were watching them we saw dragonflies, water fleas, snails, hoverflies and lots of beautiful butterflies.

We looked around Grandad’s vegetable garden, he has grown lots of lovely vegetables and fruit this year. Poppy went hunting and found cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes and lemons in the greenhouse.

In the main garden we saw Sweetcorn, Beetroots, Green Beans, Cabbage, leeks, strawberries and lots of Raspberries.

Poppy picked so many Raspberries we had them for tea, snack and breakfast!

childminding, Seedlings, wanderers

Exciting Transitions

Posted on 14th Sep 20216th Mar 2022 by Tracie Dowling

Today was an emotional day when our Georgia, Fearne and Sophie moved up to Anfield School.

They all looked so cute in their uniforms, Emma and I are so proud of them, they have grown into confident and well-mannered young girls. They have all been with us from babies and have been a pleasure to mind.

Wont be long and they will be coming back in school holidays!

childminding, family, rangers, Seedlings, wanderers

Summer Holidays: Week 5

Posted on 20th Aug 20216th Mar 2022 by Tracie Dowling

Wow the summer holidays have gone fast. We have all had so much fun going on walks, rides, parks, beaches, farms, play centres and this week we have loved the indoor fun fair at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre.

Jack, Mason, Poppy and Chloe were so excited when the doors opened at the funfair. They ran straight to the Fun House and all we could hear was laughing and screeching.

Next stop the Swing Carousel, Tracie had to lift everyone into the seats because they were so high, she strapped everyone in securely and the man offered her a job of Health and Safety Operator!

Next we all ran to the Waltzers and we span around and around so fast when we got off we all nearly fell over we were so dizzy!

The Maze was fun, Mason came out saying “that maze is amazing!” Poppy got lost and couldn’t find her way out and ended up coming out via the entrance!

Tracie, Poppy and Chloe went on the carousel while the boys went with Emma over to the bouncy obstacle course.

Chloe was very brave and went on the Freestyler ride, how she wasn’t sick we don’t know! Poppy took it a little safer on the mini hopper.

The Haunted House was fun, Emma and I could tell which children were ours through the screams. Poppy closed her eyes the whole way around, she then said “that was fab!” Bless.

Everyone loved the bouncy slide and the mini Caterpillar Roller Coaster.

We had so much fun and all the children were all so well behaved. It was a perfect end to our Summer Trips. Now its a well earned Holliday time for Tracie and Emma! See you all in a weeks time!!