Autumn has officially arrived in North-East Scotland. Did you know that autumn begins officially on September 21st? We spent that day in the “Duff House Woodies” as our local forest is known.
Malika and Ameenah loved collecting conkers, leafs and a whole host of other Autumn goodies such as oak tree leaves and pet worms!
We decided to get crafty with out Autumn Goodies and used this 10 minute craft book for inspiration.
These bookwork caterpillar leaf bookmarks are easy to make and really really beautiful!
Although our bookmark turned out rather large!
Last week I ran an art class for adults with learning disabilities in our local Banff Castle. They all loved this activity also and really enjoyed all the stages from gathering leaves to choosing their favourite buttons for decoration.
Malika learned this Harvest song at school and I think she sings it beautifully with help from her wonderful assistant Ameenah!
Did you know in Scotland children get two weeks holiday in October called the “Tattie holidays.” “Tattie” is Doric (our local dialect) for potato and this holiday was originally given so that children could go and help harvest potatoes to keep Britain fed in the 1940’s!
From first light children as young as primary age were out in frosty fields doing back-breaking work, but they and their families were happy for the money — and a hard worker could make a decent day’s pay.
At its post-war height in 1949 nearly 44,000 Scottish school children flocked to the country’s potato fields to take part in a crucial harvest that helped keep Britain fed.
Thankfully times have changed and now the “Tattie holidays” are really about having time off school and having fun…We are going to Belgium this Tattie holiday to stay with my best friend, and Malika’s god-mum Pammy, who is a Michelin Star chef! We can not wait and are grateful that we don’t have the spend our holidays digging potatoes anymore!
“Enjoy these beautiful Autumn Days wherever you are in the world”
Love Malika and Ameenah xxx
Thank you Leanna at Multicultural Kid Blogs for asking us to join the Autumn Blog xxxx
Emma Afif-Watt is a mum of two half-Moroccan daughters, Malika and Ameenah. She is currently studying for a Masters in Social Work and has spent the last five years working with adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues. Emma and her family recently lived in Finland for four months whilst she was on social work placement. Emma blogged about their experiences over at Family in Finland which offered insights into family life in Finland, travel, crafts and much more…..
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Really enjoyed reading this, in particular because I’m from the east of Scotland myself.