Things to do with kids outside in winter on school days. We put lights up in the garden; draw in the frost on the car; spot our breath; discover a mouse in the rubbish; plant bulbs for spring; look for full moon shadows; plant an amaryllis; trap air in a bottle in the bath; make bird feeders; take in some new friends; make a winter potion and have a fire in the garden.

43 – Putting lights up in the garden

Wednesday 19 November. Clear skies. 5°C

This one feels like a gift. I love putting Christmas lights up and B loves mucking about with them. It takes zero persuasion to get her out in the garden after school and she even helps untangle them… though she also mucks about a lot.

I’ll take that. She’s having fun and I am too. We spend quite a while untangling and then she gets distracted with the swing we put up a few weeks ago and I get the ladder out. While I’m wobbling about attaching lights to trees she’s mucking about climbing them. She gets right to the top for the first time (she’s grown) and to prove it brings a bit of the tree down to show me. We both admire each others endeavours.

41 – Drawing pictures in the frost

Friday 21 November. Clear skies. 3°C

It’s got really cold and this morning there was frost on the car. This is MUCH better to draw in than dew. We ponder gloves or no gloves. I point out that your finger is warmer than the glove but B opts for comfort. It turns out her woollen gloves work really well at scratching the frost off.

While she has fun illustrating, I get a bowl of hot water and put it on the roof. It makes a beautiful circle shape. She tries it on the windscreen. We could have done more of that. When she’s finished she asks if she can pour the hot water down the windscreen. I say ‘yes’ and then realise that’s probably not a good thing to do… it’s too late though. It’s washed the frost away and she’s loved it. Thankfully it’s a strong windscreen and the water is not as hot as it was!

36 – Spotting our breath

Wednesday 26 November. Clear skies. 4°C

How do you photo breath? With difficulty it seems. B and I have been having a great time, with new frosty mornings, breathing out and admiring our breath. We see if we can make patterns with it. Finally we hit on the best solution – we breathe on the window and make a number.

35 – A mouse made of rubbish

Wednesday 26 November. Wet. 10°C

Last Easter, staying near a forest, we spent quite a long time looking for one of those tree branches that looks like something else… and completely failing. Today we found a mouse on the pavement made out of rubbish. It was quite perfect and clearly totally accidental. It might not be the most natural of challenges but I think there’s something in the spotting things that counts. Plus it was really cute.

30 – Planting bulbs for spring

Tuesday 2 December. Damp. 10°C

I suspect the best bit of planting bulbs might be going to the shop to buy them. B had a lot of fun exploring the packets and checking the planting instructions. I chose snowdrops. She chose two others and wouldn’t let me see what they were.

At home, we dug out some of our plant pot and cleared them of weeds. We found some potatoes, randomly, which had been growing in the summer and we’d forgotten about. One of them was completely eaten out and was just a shell.

We dug some holes. B was very precise about getting hers the right depth and the right distance apart. I was quite impressed that she read the packet. We went inside feeling pleased with ourselves.

Then this happened…

29 – Looking for cold moon shadows

Wednesday 3 December. Cold and clear. 6°C

B’s just had her school conert and we’re walking home through the local park. We don’t have a torch. We own lots but they’ve all gone walkabout. I’m thinking we could do a ‘walking in the dark’ challenge. Then it turns out it isn’t dark. It’s full moon time again.

We find out later that it’s called the Cold Moon. It’s shining fully down on us and making lots of shadows. Some are faint (like trees) while the church shadow is strong and huge.

28 – Planting an amaryllis

Thursday 4 December. Cloudy. 7°C

My grandmother used to plant an amaryllis every year. I used to love watching it grow (there was less entertainment about in those days). I reckon it will work as a nature challenge very well.

B is enthusiastic. She’s definitely more into bulbs this year than last and things that come in present sized boxes are even better. What really excites her is the dried earth circle that you have to pour water on. She can’t believe how big it grows and has fun ‘breaking’ it (before I can get a photo). We plant the bulb and put it on the windowsill in my bedroom. Anticipating big things, we also put a growth chart on the wall next to it. So we can keep an eye on how it’s doing.

23 – Trapping air in a bottle in the bath

Tuesday 9 December. Rainy. 12°C

This really isn’t an outdoors challenge. It’s so consistently dark and rainy these days we give up for a night and settle for playing indoors instead. But we’ve got to the end of the shampoo bottle so B finds a perfect nature challenge for the bath.

She pushes the empty bottle straight down, neck first, into the water, trapping the air inside. Then she plays with letting it out. She’s fascinated with the bubble at the neck of the bottle, and how long it takes for all the air to find it’s way out. We used to do this with a big plastic hair washing jug. The bottle is MUCH better.

20 – Making bird feeders

Friday 12 December. Rainy. 11°C

We’ve been reading a book of Enid Blyton Christmas stories and got inspired by one about a class of kids making a Christmas cake for the birds. It’s really detailed about the seeds they used and the fat they used to bind it together. I remember reading it last year and thinking it was a good idea for when we started our challenges. Now we’re going to do it.

There’s a few issues. B isn’t overly excited about making bird feeders. We did it back in January and had an argument at the same time and now she’s dragging her feet. She likes getting all the ingredients out. We have a tub of bird seed in the garage so we use that and add in some walnut bits from the kitchen. We find cardboard tubes and cut them into bits. Then get some string and put it through. Then we hit the real issue.

Last time we ground peanuts to make a clunky butter and glued everything together with that. B liked the grinding. This time, after a bit of research over what’s best for birds, I’ve managed to find a pack of lard. B is vegetarian and not keen. We melt it in the microwave and the whole kitchen suddenly stinks of animal fat. At this point B disappears and doesn’t come back. I can’t really blame her.

I finish making them anyway. We want to make them into a Christmas present for the birds so we need to have them. It is VERY stinky and slimy and icky. Next time, we’ll do the peanut butter thing again.

18 – Bringing two new friends inside

Saturday 13 December. Cloudy. 11°C

We’ve been outside making our Christmas tree for the birds and B gets diverted. Hanging from the garage window on a thread is a teeny tiny little caterpillar. Unlike the worm last week she has no problem picking this one up.

“It’s so cute! What is it?”.

I’m about to answer that I think it’s a caterpillar but she’s reaching for the phone. She trusts AI more than me these days. Google thinks it’s a moth larvae.

“What does it eat?”

As we don’t know which larvae it’s not clear. Looking round the garden there’s not a lot of options. There are a few evergreen plants so we head towards those. B’s about to find it a new home when there’s another squeal of excitment.

“There’s another one! It can have a friend! Can we keep them?”

A few weeks ago, turning out the garage, I found B’s big insect box so it seems like a plan. We pick a selection of leaves and grass and hope there’s something in there they like. I’d love to say B then checks up on them regularly but no. A few days later and I reckon it’s time to quietly release them back.

15 – Making a winter potion

Wednesday 17 December. Rainy. 11°C

B has got her potion kit out and is heading into the garden for ingredients. We did this back at the beginning of the year a few times. I’m not optimistic she’s going to find much but I’m wrong. There’s a rose, some lavender leaves and a fabulously spooky black hollowed out conker. Then she starts chasing the kitten and the rabbits for fur. They don’t appreciate it but she gets a bit.

Back inside she’s digging out bath salts to make it fizz and cornflour to make it white. She also finds some old dried flowers we locked away in the spring. She cuts everything up very small and makes up spells to say. It’s messy but there’s worse things to do on a rainy December afternoon.

3 – Having a fire in the garden

Monday 29 December. Clear skies. 0°C

It’s been a while since we last had a fire in the garden. We did quite a few in the early days of the challenge. Then B worked out it made all her clothes smell and she went off the idea. We’re having a final go, this time with overcoats which we’re prepared to wash.

Last time B burnt lots of different types of plants and made a lot of smoke. This time we’ve got some dried leaves and sticks from tidying up the garden a few weeks ago, a pack of sparklers we found at the back of the cupboard and some marshmallows. Also firelighters, kindling and lots of charcoal.

We have a go at making a fire in the shape of a number 3 with the leaves and the twigs but it absolutely refuses to light. B then has a go at making one out of kindling, which also won’t light. In the end we go for chalk for the ‘3’ and a firelighter, which does the trick immediately.

B has fun with the sparklers, drawing pictures in the air and we both have fun burning marshmallows. B doesn’t like the taste so will happily destroy. I do, so go for a middle ground. It’s a lovely evening and we stay warm outside, which is a big plus at the moment. When we finally leave it and go inside we find our coat strategy worked and we’re not too smelly.