Primary Times North London Easter 18

Spring
it on!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not the end of the
school holidays when you can send the kids back to school, but
Spring time! There’s loads of amazing things about Spring,
but here are just a few of our favourites...
1
IT’S WARMER OK, so it snowed in April a
couple of years ago, and there are April
showers to deal with but when Spring
arrives, it’s finally time to start putting away the
Winter clothing. It’s also socially acceptable to
start wearing sunglasses again. If it rains, you can
always play in the puddles or head to a museum
or library for the day. It’ll be a blip – hopefully!
2
…BUT IT’S NOT TOO WARM Summer’s
wonderful obviously – who doesn’t like
blazing hot sunshine and wasps? – but
sometimes the Summer heat can be unbearable.
Springtime gets the temperature just about right.
3
IT’S
LIGHTER Officially Spring starts on
March 20th and that’s when the days
start getting brighter in the mornings and
the evenings start to stretch on forever. More
sunlight means that you naturally produce more
serotonin, which makes you feel happier and
energised. You might find you sleep better too, as
the melatonin in your body starts to decrease.
4
GREEN
Remember green? Autumn
might have trees on fire as they start to
lose their leaves, but there’s something
comforting when they get their leaves back again!
5
FLOWERS
It’s not just the return of a
single colour of course, with Spring, the
world’s colour palette starts to go wild.
Flowers and blossoms are everywhere as plantlife
wakes from its winter slumber. There’s nothing
quite as breath-taking as walking through Bluebell
woods or finding freshly bloomed wildflowers.
6
BABY
ANIMALS Spring is officially the
cutest time of the year, with the chance
to see newborn lambs, bunnies and fluffy
chicks. If there’s a farm or petting zoo near you,
they might be having a lambing weekend, which
is a really exciting experience. If you’ve got a pond
you might see tadpoles too. OK they’re not fluffy,
but they have a certain charm! It’s not just the
snow and ice that melts in spring – it’s hearts too!
7
GETTING OUTSIDE Now it’s warmer,
there’s no excuse not to get outside.
Whilst you’re out maybe try and spot a
few animals and birds. When Primary Times
chatted with Springwatch’s Michaela Strachan
about her upcoming tour with Walking With
Dinosaurs, she also had time to suggest how to
make the most of the wildlife.
“I think the best thing you can do for kids is to buy
them some binoculars – because then they can
go and really see what wildlife looks like. I don’t
know about you, but I find it very frustrating when
I see a bird in the distance and I’ve no idea what it
is, but then get your binoculars out and you can
see it much closer.
Another good way to get kids into wildlife is to
feed your birds in the garden – which a lot of
people in this country do – because then you see
birds close up and you get used to birds. The
most important thing for kids, is to connect with
the outdoors, and whether that’s going to look for
wildlife or playing outdoors or walking in the
woods.”
8
FRESH
AIR The Spring Clean is, for
some reason, not quite so much of a
chore as a clean at any other time of the
year. Being able to fling open the windows and fill
the house with a fresh breeze is one of life’s small
but rewarding pleasures.
9
FESTIVAL
SEASON STARTS When
Spring starts, that’s when the festival
season kicks into gear. So if it’s books,
food, theatre, or music – there’s a festival for you
and your family.
10
EASTER Apart from all the customs
and chocolate eggs (where can
we find one of those special
chickens?), the Easter break gives us time to
relax, spend time with the family and enjoy all
the great things about Spring!
Bring a little spring
inside with these
Cress Heads!
OK, so sometimes it is a little bit too
wet to go outside in Spring, but you
can still enjoy seeing plantlife come
to life indoors and make some funny
faced Cress Head characters too.
The added bonus is that you’ll have
some cress to add to your
sandwiches at the end!
You will need...
An egg (or more if you want
to make a whole family!)
A cotton wool ball
1 tbsp cress seeds • 1 egg cup
Felt tip pens
What to do...
Crack the top of the egg and tip out
the inside (maybe make a fried egg
before carrying on).
Wash the empty shell with cold water
and leave it to dry.
Wet the cotton wool and put a
piece inside the egg.
Put the egg in an egg cup then
sprinkle the cress seeds onto
the cotton wool.
Decorate the outside of the egg
with felt tip pens.
It won’t be long before your egg
sprouts green hair! When it needs a
trim, snip the cress and enjoy!
www.primarytimes.co.uk/north_london | EASTER 2018 Primary Times 23