30 Days Wild - Twin Style

Our 30 days wild challenge with 18 month old twins.

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Day 30 - Bird feeders

Yesterday we didn't have time to do anything but as today was the last day I made an extra special effort to make time. I had actually saved this idea for a rainy day but it wasn't needed and as this weekend has been too hot to go outside too much it worked out perfectly. I got the idea for cheerio bird feeders online and although I have no idea if the birds will be interested in them it was a good exercise to do with the boys. We had some garden wire in the shed so I cut some lengths of that and folded one end so the cheerios wouldn't come straight off again. A loved threading them and really got into it, getting really cross with me if I stopped holding the wire for him. R did well at the threading but was more interested in eating it all! The feeders are hanging in the garden and although we have had a flock of sparrows having a dust bath in the flower bed for the last hour none of them have gone near them. Hopefully they just need a while to get used to new food.

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Day 28 - The sea wall

Today I picked up a second hand double running buggy so our act of wildness was a jog along the sea wall. The boys weren't especially happy but it was nearly dinner time so it may have just been hunger! It was gorgeous weather so the breeze was pretty welcome and the view was lovely. At least to me.

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Days 23, 24, 25, 26 & 27!

These days were really busy and although we have dont outdoor things every day there werent that many "wild" things. The boys went to the blackwater country show, played in Colchester castle park, went to the zoo, played with the wind streamers I made from the sticks we collected earlier in the month and had some sensory time with a mint plant!

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Day 22 - Swans

Today we headed to Black Notley country park. This was mostly for the play equipment but they have a circular walk around the park that is wide enough and flat enough for a double buggy so it was certainly suitable for us! On arrival there were a pair of swans and 4 cygnets by the picnic benches so we stopped and had a nice long look at those. The play equipment itself was mostly geared towards older children but the boys had fun in an area with little wooden houses on a platform. The weather was gorgeous and it was a nice little walk.

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Day 21 - Lavender

Today we headed back to prom park where they have a sensory garden/park and a little wildlife garden. After a demo the boys had a go at smelling the lavender and had a walk through the wildlife garden as well as spotting some ladybirds on the ground with daddy.

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Day 20 - The Zoo

Today we headed to Colchester Zoo as it is pretty close to us. They have a boardwalk around a nature reserve type area so we headed there first. The boys had a nice run around on the board walk with me and their dad chasing after with the buggy and trying not to let them fall into the wetland area!

The rest of the day was spent going around the animals. We had a lovely encounter with the otters as they were being fed while we were there and A & R loved watching the weaver birds.

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Day 19 - Bird watching

Today we tried some bird watching in the garden. The boys like to watch birds when hey come in to the feeder but they don't stay for long so we thought we would try coaxing them in with other tasty morsels. We picked up a bag of meal worms at the weekend and also put out some bread crusts. It took about an hour before anything came down to feed but fortunately the boys were eating their dinner by then and I had put them facing the garden.

We had a handful of sparrows, a couple of collared doves and a blackbird which is pretty standard for our garden. A & R definitely enjoyed having a something to watch with their dinner!

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Day 18 - Grass

Today we went for a barefoot play in the garden to feel the grass between our toes. R & A are always up for playtime outside but they especially liked it without shoes today.

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Day 17 - Trees

Today was going to be hug a tree day but A & R were more interested in looking at and touching the bark than going in for a cuddle. It was easy to find some trees as there are plenty of them bordering the village recreation ground so this was combined with a trip to the play equipment. It was a really nice way for them to learn about new textures as well as nature.

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Day 16 - Paddling

As it's father's day today I gave the boys dad the choice of what act of wildness to do today and he chose paddling. As it was due to rain all afternoon and we had all been up since 7 we made an early start and had the place to ourselves. It was a bit chilly but not so much that we couldn't get away with shorts.

The boys enjoyed the paddling but were much more interested in making sand castles with daddy. It made for a really nice start to the day.

Bonus picture of the photo frame I made for their dad out of the pebbles they collected on the beach on day 6.

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Day 15 - Picnic

I don't normally get to eat lunch with the boys as I'm at work so it was lovely to have a picnic with them today. We went to Prom Park and took a walk around to see the estuary first. It was quite windy and with the tide in it meant there were lots of boats out. That was followed by a play in the park and then our lunch. A & R have never had a picnic before so I wasn't sure if they would sit down for any of it but they were actually pretty good. They got a bit distracted by the play equipment but some grapes tempted them back to the blanket again!

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Day 14 - Sticks

Today we went collecting sticks at Tiptree Heath which is a local Essex Wildlife Trust site. I had planned to take the buggy as a backup in case they refused to walk but I threw caution to the wind and left it in the car. They were both really good to start with and walked almost to the best stick collecting area without complaint but then A got a bit whingey and I ended up carrying him for most of the rest of it. Fortunately R was happy to walk the whole thing! We met lots of dogs, collected some sticks and spent some time playing on a bench made out of a tree trunk. All in all a success.

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Day 13 - Ducks

Ducks are a favourite animal in our house (and I suspect with a lot of toddlers) so today I took them for a little visit to a pond in a nearby town that has loads of them. You don't actually need to feed the ducks here to get close but I may have taken a little bit of bread with me just to make sure!

A & R had lots of fun watching and pointing at the ducks and I was chuffed to see some ducklings that I wasn't expecting.

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Day 12 - Sowing seeds

Today was a day for another little act of wildness as we didn't have much time to fit anything in.

The information pack for 30 days wild came with a little pack of oxeye daisy seeds so we sowed them in one of our flower beds.

The boys love throwing things so it only took one demonstration for them to get it and they enjoyed picking the seeds out of my hand and lobbing them in the general direction of the soil.

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Day 11 - Open gardens

Not much to say today as the boys had a day with Granny and Grandpa. They visited an open day at a local estate where they had a walk around looking at the gardens and spent some time watching the geese and goslings on the lake.

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Day 10 - Birdcams

Another full day of work for me and a full day of rain as well. The boys watched some wild bird webcams with daddy so they could stay inside in the dry. I don't think they found it as interesting as watching real birds or real tv programmes but now we have found them I might have a look at them instead!

Live wildlife webcams featuring birds, foxes and other mammals.

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Day 9 - Farming

Today is Open Farm Sunday so it was a great opportunity to have a look at where some of our food comes from and support local farmers.

Our closest open farm was at Tiptree Jam Factory so there were plenty of freebee samples of jams and fruit to keep the boys happy. The local pig farmer had taken some piglets along as well which kept them both occupied for quite some time.

We went on a little vintage bus tour of some of the areas of the fruit farm and orchards where we got through an entire bag of snacks trying to stop A screaming. It didn't work. 20 minutes is a very long time it turns out! Hopefully the lovely fresh strawberries and cherries for dinner tonight will make the trauma worth it!