By Kate Hodges
08th March 2021
MONDAY: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
It’s time to raise a cheer for all those inspirational women; well-known or otherwise as well as a day to read, educate ourselves and review our privileges. What will you do to raise up ladies today? This year’s theme is #choosetochallenge; we can all choose to call out gender bias and inequality and create an inclusive world. Find resources including videos, author interviews, colouring sheets, animations and one-hour lesson plans here. Or perhaps search out a new-to-you intersectional feminist book for kids.
WOW UK has lots of inspiring, female-focussed, online events happening this March, including virtual big sings, grandmother workshop and radical childcare discussions; find the full programme here.
TUESDAY GO WILD GARLIC PICKING
The first, most tender shoots of wild garlic have started to burst from the ground. Our go-to recipes include wild garlic pesto, garlic bread, or just adding the leaves to everything we cook (they’re great in omelettes). Find some ideas – and ways to preserve your stash – here and here. This year, why not go off-piste and try making ice-cream, kimchi or a tincture to use as a spring tonic.
WEDNESDAY SUFFERING CEPHALODS!
The news that scientists have discovered that cuttlefish outperformed children between four and six in the Stanford marshmallow test – an experiment to determine children’s ability to delay gratification – is quite extraordinary. Cuttlefish are part of the Cephalopoda family, which includes squid and octopuses, both of which have shown remarkable abilities. Find more about octopus escape attempts, their deftness with tools, and their ability to recognise people (and pick on them!) Plus, read about the incredible self-sacrifice of the deep-sea octopus who guarded her eggs for 53 months. Appropriate for Mother’s Day!
THURSDAY FREE FOREST SCHOOL COURSE
Learn how to cook popcorn on a fire using a sieve, make crisps from nettles without getting stung, make a crown out of willow, a pencil from elder and create your own plaster of paris moulds from real animal tracks. The Outdoor Teacher’s free mini online course brushes up your forest school skills as well as teaching new fun activities. Great for home educators, or anyone who loves spending time outdoors as a family.
FRIDAY MOTHERING SUNDAY
Sunday is Mothering Sunday, a time to celebrate, remember and appreciate mums and grandmothers. The day has a somewhat complicated history both in the UK and the USA; read more about its UK story here, its links with the US peace movement here and its medieval origins here (warning, includes a story of a woman escaping from the bowels of a dragon!) Traditionally, Simnel Cake was eaten on this day; find a recipe for yours here.
Need some inspiration for home-made Mother’s Day gifts? Find pom-pom bouquets, recycled scarf cushion covers and adorable tin can planters here
What We’re Reading This Week
Here’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise
“At one point in her new book, the NPR journalist Michaeleen Doucleff suggests that parents consider throwing out most of the toys they’ve bought for their kids. It’s an extreme piece of advice, but the way Doucleff frames it, it seems entirely sensible: “Kids spent two hundred thousand years without these items,” she writes.
Doucleff arrives at this conclusion while traveling, with her then-3-year-old daughter, to meet and learn from parents in a Maya village on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico; in an Inuit town in a northern Canadian territory; and in a community of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. During her outings, she witnesses well-adjusted, drama-free kids share generously with their siblings and do chores without being asked.’”
Read more here
Found something inspirational to read that you’d like to share? Want to share your creations with us? Have an idea for things to do? We’d love to hear from you. Email Kate
