The Secret Pool

In the car we established dogs have tails and hair. As do monkeys. POD extended her counting skills to include eleven although she thinks she has “three or four” legs. Having said “hello” and “goodbye” to almost every car that passed us, all blue allegedly, we witnessed two horses galloping across a nearby field. Weirdly reminiscent of ‘Champion the Wonder Horse’ I thought.

Our destination was a spring-fed lake in the North Downs, located a few miles from Guildford in Surrey. A more adventurous trip had been planned the day prior but I’d failed to check opening times. A sign with the words ‘Come back in May’ had greeted us when we arrived.

The Secret Pool, known as Silent Pool, is managed, together with the nearby Newlands Corner, by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. It’s located within the privately owned Albury Estate and runs into Sherbourne Pond, an adjacent lake created in the mid-seventeenth century.

I’d seen a photograph of the pool and there was something intriguing about it. Not least because it’s considered to be a sacred site and steeped in history. It’s linked to a folklore tale that states King John, on his horse, abducted a woodcutter’s daughter who was forced into the deep water and drowned. According to the legend, the maiden can be seen at midnight.

Not only that, it was initially feared that Agatha Christie drowned in the pool in 1926 after her car was discovered at nearby Newlands Corner. She never revealed the truth about her 11 day disappearance.

The Silent Pool car park was on the A25 so we almost missed it. Expectations were high but with a lack of recent rainfall, I really had no idea what we would see. Or whether it was suitable terrain for a toddler in a buggy and a Mummy with a particularly dodgy arm. It could just be a few trees and a muddy bog.

But it wasn’t. Having walked through a wooded area and passed a vineyard, closed sadly, we spotted a lake. It wasn’t particularly stunning but you could see up ahead there was an open area and a second lake that even from a distance looked mysterious yet inviting. Gut instinct is a funny thing.

The Silent Pool was utterly breathtaking. A little eerie yes but spectacular all the same. Crystal clear water was surrounded by woodland and footpaths entangled with ivy. There was a viewing platform and a walkway encircled the pool. Reminiscent of an unspoiled secret garden, it was silent and beautiful. The only noise coming from a nearby waterfall to our right.

The purpose of visiting the Silent Pool was to tire POD out so she had a nap in advance of a swimming class. We’d enjoyed two hugely successful terms and had a few month’s break (literally – I broke my wrist). Having recently returned, POD finds swimming pools utterly terrifying. I failed in giving her the run around she needed at the Silent Pool in preference for her safety. Too much water for an overly enthusiastic toddler.

The path around the Silent Pool seemed wide enough for our 4×4 buggy so we set off with gusto to have a look. Marveling at a solitary duck, it quickly became apparent our wander would be short lived.

The path decreased in size and before us was an old wooden footbridge bridge that although sturdy and fabulous to look at, really wasn’t buggy terrain. Least of all my one armed buggy ambling. I didn’t fancy losing POD, or the sacred Mulberry I’d unintentionally brought with me.

Back at the main clearing, POD was let loose and able to explore the lake and admire some amazing tree roots. She was absolutely fascinated with a small waterfall and some nearby steps. We then enjoyed a walk together back to the car, meeting a couple of excitable dogs along the way.

There is something truly captivating about the Silent Pool. Perhaps it’s the secrecy that surrounds it. Or it’s tranquilly. The feeling of utter peace was broken by the journey home which consisted of cow spotting and shouting “hip hip hooray” over and over again. The Silent Pool can be found in Shere Road, Albury, Guildford GU5 9BW.

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Boadicea, Bob and Rice

The naming of your toddlers soft toys can be a fun exercise. You may like to resurrect much loved bears and dollies from your own childhood. Try to compete with the Igglepiggles and Ninky Nonks, or be inspired simply by the toys appearance.  I remember being on a flight to the US, when the 4 or 5 year old American boy in the seat in front dropped his teddy bear through the gap. Having retrieved it, I handed it back to him saying “he’s nice, what’s his name?” to which he replied, in a tone and with a look that said, are you simple?! “Blue bear.”  Of course.

POD has dollies of various size and rigidity. These include the classic Tiny Tears type and Raggedy Anne type soft and floppy ones. With no discernible features to draw on and with limited dolly experiences of my own, I was more interested in garages and cars, we decided POD should name them.

The first to undergo our naming process was the largest of the ‘floppies’.  “What’s she called?” we asked POD after she’d been dragging her around for a couple of days, aged about 14 months. “Boadicea!” she replied with gusto.  Now I’m sure you know of Boadicea, warrior Queen of the Britons. And even if you don’t know much about her you’ll have heard the name. However, unsurprisingly she’s not a regular topic of conversation in the Dove household and although the POD Father enjoys a good historical documentary now and then it’s unlikely they’ve been on before bedtime. Equally, as good as POD’s nursery is I doubt the current curriculum covers British History AD 60-61. I should point out that Boadicea is 10 inches tall with light brown hair in bunches and ribbons, a flowery dress, pink cardigan, white socks and pink shoes. She used to have frilly white pants, but these were whipped off some time ago and have now disappeared. She’s not exactly the epitome of a fearsome Celtic Warrior woman. With this unusual and somewhat baffling choice we were intrigued to find out who else would be joining us.

We bought POD one of the Tiny Tears type dolls quite early on, after she showed interest during trips to The Early Learning Centre. Resplendent in a light blue baby grow and attached cap, he has ‘Cupcake’ embroidered on his chest. Not what we were ever going to be calling him. For the first few weeks this baby dolly was simply ‘baby’ but having named Boadicea we felt it only fair to christen him too. What would POD come up with this time….Shakespeare, Nelson, Wellington?

…..“Bob”, or Baby Bob. It trips off the tongue, but was quite frankly a disappointing follow up. So would her next offering be back on form?

Now up for nomenclature, the slightly fey and whimsical looking floppy ballerina dolly. More light brown hair and bunches, a pink dress (there’s a theme here, girl=pink) a sort of crispy tutu under skirt, pink pants (they too have been removed in the past, but this pair has managed to find their way home) and pink ballet shoes with silky white bows.  ‘Ballerina dolly’ had been a feature at bedtime for a while before this whole process began so she was definitely next on the list. Clearly there’s no logic or pattern to POD’s choice of names so we expected the unexpected. However, by this stage she was a firm Peppa Pig fan and was on first name terms with Susie Sheep, Rebecca Rabbit and Candy Cat. We wouldn’t have been surprised therefore if one of these had snuck into the equation.

That was probably the last time we’ll try and second guess our daughter’s imagination. ‘Ballerina dolly’ was duly dubbed ‘Rice’. Post rationalisation draws the inevitable blanks. The only connection we can come up with is that Hipp Organic’s wholesome vegetable & chicken risotto is one of her favourites so we regularly encourage her to “eat up all your rice.”

Having said that we’re yet to see her nibbling on her dolly.

 

Reasons to be cheerful

POD’s vocabulary is quite incredible considering she only turned two on Christmas Day. Her sentences and the continual  “whatsiss?”, “whatsatt?”, “whosiss?” never cease to amaze me.

We had a magical moment this week. I’m not sure if that’s the right turn of phrase but we were definitely in the right place at the right time. POD was sponge painting and as each blob of purple paint appeared on paper, she counted it. POD’s counting usually consists of one and two followed by eight, nine and ten or something similar. Not today.

“One. Two”. A pause. “Three. Four. Five”. Another pause. “Six. Seven”. Another pause. “Eight. Nine. Ten”. She has never counted to ten before. Least of all on her own. It generated an almighty cheer from ‘The POD Father’ and I. This was without doubt the week’s top reason to be cheerful and utterly brilliant to witness.

Had I still been working full-time in London I probably would have missed it. Although it wasn’t planned that way, I only saw her 3-4 times a week during that period. We founded Paloma, a marketing and new business consultancy, in December 2012. Now I get to spend quality time with POD every day. It’s inevitable there will be challenges ahead and it’s not going to be easy but it’s well worth the risk. My second reason for being cheerful has to be working to achieve a better work/life balance. Here’s hoping.

My final reason to be cheerful really shouldn’t be. I’ve just had confirmation that I will have surgery next month. It will be the second operation on my wrist since I broke it in November 2011. Really I’m very lucky, I was told it would be 18 months before my wrist and hand operated as they should. Hearing that news spurred me into going completely OTT with the physio and achieving phenomenal movement in less than 6 months.

The radius bone is now fully healed and still happily housing some pretty impressive metalwork. The ulna bone was left to mend itself but it never did. It’s got progressively worse over the past few months. Whilst the prospect of more surgery, 3 months in plaster and 6 months physio doesn’t fill me with joy, I know I’ll be much better off in the medium term. So, my third reason for being cheerful is gaining a bionic wrist and playing tennis again.

Reasons to be cheerful

 

 

 

 

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Parrots, caiman and Godfrey

IMG_8801“Hello my name is Poppy” is not how you expect your toddler to introduce herself to a parrot. She was fascinated with it too. Until it squawked. Then she was off pointing and shouting “whatsatt?” excitedly at flamingos as their heads disappeared from view.

Before we ventured to Birdworld, in the Alice Holt Forest, we visited the adjacent Underwater World in search of  ‘Godfrey’.

Underwater World is described as a magical journey from a tropical mountain stream, through jungle swamps to the colourful world of marine reefs in warm seas. It didn’t disappoint, we saw an array of beautiful fish. POD IMG_8712was able to stand on a portable step so she could see all the displays and ask “whatsiss?” at every available opportunity.

Although she found the catfish and piranhas a little intimidating, she requested fish get out of their tanks on more than one occasion. I’m not sure how the fish felt having a two-year-old peer at them through the glass.

Godfrey, a soft shelled turtle, is an intriguing creature that uses its nose as a snorkel. I wish I’d been able to get a better photograph of him before he turned his back.

GodfreyPOD’s enthusiasm increased dramatically when we reached The Crocodile Swamp where young caiman and turtles were clearly visible. She would have been in there with them given half the chance. We had much “crocodile” and “snap snap” chatter. And “feesh”, not that you’d ever find fish in a crocodile swamp.

POD loves spotting “peegins”, “seagulls” and “backbirds” so Birdworld was a good call. She greeted nearly all the parrots. They weren’t graced with the full “hello my name is Poppy” welcome but they were spoken to or waved at. Understandably, those that answered back caused a bit of confusion.

Birdworld has over 160 species of bird from around the world with many part of an international IMG_8760breeding programme to ensure the survival of their species. We saw ostriches, owls, ducks, geese, swans, pelicans and softbills plus an unnamed bird whose head resembled that of a dinosaur.

At penguin feeding time we were lucky enough to witness a visit from a heron after a spot of lunch.

Also located in the 26 acres of Birdworld is the Jenny Wren Farm where, after a brief visit to a toddler’s play area, we saw reindeer, pigs, chickens, rabbits, lambs, cows, goats and ponies. A fabulous looking peacock strutted up to us and spread his feathers providing the perfect opportunity for some pretty impressive photos.

IMG_8752POD continued her ongoing questioning at the farm with much “I see the this”, “I go there” and “whatsatt?”. She struggled to say goodbye to the reindeer. Mind you her only real memory of them is in Stick Man and the ‘goat’ ornament she rode round on at Christmas.

All in all it was a successful morning out, especially after chicken pox and the subsequent Sudocrem incident. Perhaps next time we visit Birdworld we’ll be able to check out the flying shows, encounter some more animals and Safari Road Train ride.

Further information about Birdworld, Underwater World and The Jenny Wren Farm is available on the Birdworld website.

Birdworld
Holt Pound
Farnham
Surrey
GU10 4LD
  
 
 
 

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Getting the balance right

I will never forget the day I got the call to say POD had had a fit. I will always be thankful ‘The POD Father’ was working from home that day. He was able to get to nursery before the ambulance arrived and travelled with her to A&E.

I always hoped I wouldn’t hear the words “Poppy has had a fit”. I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1983 following an eventful seizure in a swimming pool. For years the words “you’ve had a fit” have always haunted me. To hear almost the same said about my baby made me feel sick to my stomach. And I wasn’t there for her. I was in London.

Although it felt like a week had passed, I managed to get back to Guildford in an incredible 50 minutes. At the time I was appalled with myself for not keeping it together during the journey. Looking back I think it was my body’s way of setting free the much stronger character beneath  the tears.

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the hospital. Whatever it was, I didn’t anticipate seeing POD lying naked on a bed completely motionless. I thought she was sleeping but she wasn’t. Her eyes were open but there was nothing behind them. She was limp and lifeless. Her breathing was wrong but not in an asthmatic kind of way.

POD had a febrile seizure at nursery. This type of fit typically occurs when a child has a fever and their temperature spikes too quickly. If they do happen they generally occur at around 18 months until the age of 5. This day was exactly 18 months after POD was born. Often a child’s body will become stiff, they lose consciousness and their arms and legs twitch. Although febrile seizures can be frightening, they don’t normally pose a threat to a child’s health.

Unless it might be something else. Like Meningitis. Unbeknownst to us, POD had several symptoms including clusters of minuscule red spots. They were difficult to see and a far cry from a recent skin infection. But these spots didn’t fade when they were supposed to. Factor in fever, sickness and the seizure, the situation was getting more frightening by the minute.

In the hours that followed, POD showed improvement. She sipped some water and had a wee whilst lying in my lap. Fetching a nappy from a room that displayed the Meningitis poster was a stark reminder we weren’t out of the woods.

Blood tests were necessary to rule out Meningitis, Septicemia and some other nasties. POD was going to be admitted to hospital then she wasn’t. Someone was hoping to take blood but found they couldn’t as her veins were so tiny. After three failed attempts at obtaining blood, it was left to a consultant who had just come on the night shift. His solution was to turn out all the lights and shine a torch underneath her wrist so he could see her veins. It was heart wrenching to see POD being held down again amidst her “dada dada” cries. The nurse trying to be helpful insisted on asking if I was alright. I wasn’t but it’s that age old scenario. Don’t ask me if I’m alright and I’ll be fine. Ask me again and I will bawl like you’ve never seen an adult bawl before.

It was 11.30pm when they admitted POD for the night. She was put on a drip that was bandaged round the entirety of her tiny arm. And there she lay. Poorly and exhausted. The consultant said he hoped she’d not have another febrile seizure overnight but it was a possibility. With our car locked in the nursery car park, an amazing friend kindly took me home to collect some belongings. Then, when I was done faffing around, drove me to a 24 hour Tesco to buy some food. We’d obviously not eaten.

In the room at the hospital, The POD Father and I took it in turns to rest on the single bed. We were both shattered but one of us had to stay awake to watch POD. It was a long night but the morning saw a much improved toddler. She was walking around again and her personality began to return.

By the time the consultant arrived to see her, she was attempting to pull various tubes out of the hospital walls. She was deemed far too well to stay in the hospital. Her initial test results revealed nothing sinister so we returned home. Although POD declined a bit that afternoon, she was back to her perky self a couple of days later. Never have I been so relieved to see those sparkly blue eyes and that cheeky little smile.

At that point in time, and until recently, the work/life balance was most definitely wrong. I was catapulted from seeing POD all the time to hardly seeing her during the week. If it wasn’t work, there would be a journey delay of some kind. Now I have my own business and although it brings it’s own new challenges, at least I get to see POD every day. And that’s what matters.

I haven’t got the balance right yet, as I invariably find myself staring at a computer screen into the early hours, but I hope to achieve that sometime soon. What about you?

 

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom Live

One minute you’re in a shop buying a sledge. The next you’re choosing seats for Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Live.  I don’t know how that happened either. Spur of the moment is a wonderful thing.

POD loves her “bellyolly” book and DVD, but a live show? Really? The potential for disaster was monumental. She’d not been to a live show before. It could go one of two ways. Either she’d sit still and enjoy it or she’d wriggle like an electric eel in a bid for freedom. Visions of the time we unwittingly gave POD sugar on a flight back from Turkey came flooding back.

We needn’t have worried. POD was given chicken pox from a nursery chum. A superb gift. Thank you.

We were resigned to the fact we’d have to relinquish our tickets but with a no refund policy, we decided to suck it and see. Thankfully, POD’s spots reached their scabby phase the day of the show. We were super excited. POD was totally oblivious to where we were going but grateful for a trip out having been cooped up in the house all week.

Even the venue was exciting to POD. We could have just wandered round looking at the promotional merchandise and she would have been happy. A look of total excitement and utter astonishment gripped her little face when we arrived in the theatre. Having secured our own area, we settled into our seats. We needn’t have worried about POD. She instantly recognised the music and the familiar sound of “Somewhere, hidden amongst the thorny brambles is a little kingdom where everyone is very very small…”.

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom was a enchanting production. From the makers of Peppa Pig, it tells the story of a young Fairy Princess who’s learning how to fly and hasn’t quite got to grips with her magic. Her best friend, Ben Elf, doesn’t have wings or do magic but does run very fast. He also flies on the back of a woofing ladybird called Gaston. They all live in the Little Kingdom, a tiny land where flowers and grass rise high above them and every single day is an adventure.

The stage show sees Ben and Holly have fun playing games and helping Gaston clean up his messy cave. The gang also goes on a trip to The Big World with the tooth-fairy Nanny Plum and plan a surprise birthday for King Elf.

What made Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Live an incredible experience was POD. Seeing your two-year-old look completely mesmerized and her face light up with such joy was just fabulous. That and the POD Father (not a fan of the pantomime type joining in) singing and doing all the actions to the songs with her. At the end of the performance we even enjoyed some aisle dancing because we could.

Despite saying goodbye to all the characters a meltdown of some kind was inevitable when the show ended. Thankfully it was short lived and we made it out relatively unscathed.

Then we were off. Chasing pigeons down Guildford high street.

Tickets to Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Live are available on Ticketmaster at various locations across the UK. You can also sign up to the Ben and Holly mailing list here.

 

 

 

 

 

Wot So Funee? “I made a mess”

Truth be told I didn’t think there would be anything humorous to share this week. POD has chicken pox and as such has relinquished her usual sparkly charm with an endless stream of “no’s” and stroppy teenage like behaviour. You can understand her frustration, she’s covered in painful looking spots and she’s not been allowed out.

POD & sudocrem 2She rarely sleeps during the day but we thought today might be an exception as she was exhausted. After an initial protest, you could hear the sound of her happily entertaining herself with her toys.

Since she learnt how to scale the bars of her cot like an Olympic gymnast, and we had to take them down, playing is inevitable. With luck though, she gets sleepy and carts herself off to bed, protected by a door gate that keeps her safe. When it went quiet I didn’t think anything of it. I was delighted we’d been successful in our quest for POD to have a daytime nap.

Then came a little voice through the monitor “Daddy I’ve done a poo”. The POD Father made his way up the POD & sudocremstairs expecting to tackle a nappy, instead he was met by bottom cream carnage. POD had pulled down the change mat and in doing so grabbed herself a large tub of Sudocrem.

The POD Father: “Who did this?” POD: “I did, I made a mess”. Well at least she’s honest. Sudocrem was everywhere. And when I say everywhere I mean EVERYWHERE!!!

The gate. The door. The wardrobe. The carpet. Her face. Her jeans. Her feet. Her hands. Her bed. And one of her ‘babies’ had been de-clothed and mercilessly splattered.

IMG_8709Our only option was to strip POD and give her an early bath, followed by a monumental clean up operation. As Sudocrem is designed not to be water soluble this was no mean feat. Although mostly a success, her carpet will be a constant reminder for some time to come and her baby’s eye sockets will never be the same again.

The entire house now smells of Sudocrem, but of course it’s an odour we’re familiar with so we can live with that. Given there’s a Nappy Disposal Tub full of dirty nappies next to the change mat we’re counting our blessings!

If you’d like to join in with ‘Wot So Funee?’ then head over to Actually Mummy to find out what it’s all about.

WotSoFuneeBadge

 

 

 

 

 

The Gallery | Girl

POD was born following an eventful pregnancy which included an ultrasound of her brain and heart cavities. It was a nerve wracking yet utterly incredible experience. We’d met a wonderful lady at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in St Thomas’ who was calm, kind and knowledgeable. She had a genuine love for what she was doing and took great pleasure in showing us POD’s organs. Including her brain in her skull. That I will never forget.

Amazingly despite endless scans throughout my pregnancy we managed to avoid finding out POD’s gender. We wanted to keep it a surprise.

POD arrived at 10.46am on Christmas Day 2010. Her appearance was marked by the sound of the Salvation Army singing ‘Good King Wenceslas’ outside the delivery suite. I think I will remember that moment forever.

We had a shortlist of names but we had’t been able to choose one, so we  decided to meet he or she first for inspiration. When the midwife asked us what we were going to call POD, something really weird happened. At exactly the same time and without hesitation we both said “Poppy”. You’d think this was because it was the top girls name on our list. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t even top five. But there she was. Poppy Olivia Dove. The perfect name for a perfectly formed tiny person.

This photo was taken when POD was one hour old. Considering she’d just been through a 47 hour labour, got stuck on the way out and endured a vacuum extraction, she was in rude health. We stayed in the delivery suite for some time afterwards as I chundered my way through the hospital’s supply of cardboard hats, got to grips with breastfeeding and wondered if I’d ever walk again. The remainder of Christmas Day was spent feeding POD and watching her sleep through the sides of the transparent cot. Astonishing that two people can create a human being when you think about it.

On Boxing Day morning, we had a visitor. A smiley faced chap clutching a camera. He was a photographer from the local paper taking pictures of all the Christmas Day babies. Little did we know not only we’d end up in the paper but we’d be front page news. It’s the worst photo. We look about 102 and jaundiced. It’s not going to win us any modelling contracts, but it’s a fantastic memento for POD to have when she’s older I guess.

There are plenty of old wives tales about how to tell whether you’re expecting a boy or a girl. According to most of them we were having a boy. I was carrying low and out front, I didn’t suffer from morning sickness (all day nausea instead) and I craved salty food. Her heartbeat sounded like a train. She was nicknamed ‘baby Jesus’ because of her Christmas Day due date.

We genuinely didn’t mind what sex baby we had providing it was healthy. But given all the above it was difficult not to make plans for the impending arrival of a Master Dove. The POD Father enjoyed most sports growing up, but notably rugby so I know he was looking forward to kicking an oval ball in the park. However, I would challenge anyone to find even an ounce of disappointment at having a daughter. They couldn’t be closer. To the point that I must admit I sometimes feel like a third wheel!

POD is a truly astounding little girl with an enormous personality. Although she’s only two, her range of facial expressions, hilarious dance moves and the way she  flicks her hair from her face have already cemented her as such a little female person. Its amazing how some things just seem to be pre-conditioned.

At the moment she’s definitely sugar and spice and all things nice. Ask me again when she’s a teenager…!

 

The theme for The Gallery this week is ‘Girl’. To find out more and join in, please visit Sticky Fingers

The Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy Animals

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After the excitement of an empty doctor’s room playing with Russian Dolls, opening drawers and plant slapping, POD’s amusement levels nose dived. Understandably so. For the fifth time since Christmas she has a skin infection. And chicken pox. She’s itchy, uncomfortable and irritable.

Back home we painted, beheaded Peppa Pig and doodled on the table. We made Cinderella’s coach into a hat, filled Mummy’s pockets with Lego flowers and watched “bellyolly”. In the garden we saw “no” fall, then “leet” and we spotted a “girrell” hunting for nuts. For the first time ever, POD not only wore a hair clip, she kept it in for a whole two hours. When boredom struck once more, the clawing continued as POD attempted to remove the mini volcanoes causing her so much angst.

IMG_7963It seemed as good a time as any to create some Crazy Animals. They’re really easy to make. All you need are scraps of paper in various colours and glue. You can also add tissue paper and spare pieces of material into the mix should you wish. We made a lion, a dinosaur, a tortoise, a fox and a giant fly. For the the purposes of this post, the fly will remain invisible.

The basic shapes of each of the animals were cut out and glued onto an A4 sized piece of paper. The lion comprised of a circular shape for the head with a smaller circle attached to that to form the face. The mane was brought to life by gluing strips of paper and tissue around the face. Having broken my wrist in the past, I found this quite challenging. Paper strips disappeared only to return once re-cut. Attached to clothing, fingers and somehow POD’s face. IMG_7971The body and legs of the lion were decorated with pieces of paper and some spare gingham material.

For the dinosaur, we cut out a sausage like shape for the head and neck. Two further pieces of paper were used to form a body shape that wasn’t square. The legs, hat and feet were cut out and decorated with pieces of paper and glittery card. We had to re-cut some of these when POD tried to eat them.

The fox was made with a rectangular shape for the body and a triangular end for the tail. The legs and whiskers were added afterwards. Gingham material was used to make the ears.

As we’d used shiny paper for the lion’s face, we decided to use black and white paint to create the animals eyes. You could just as easily draw them on.

Crazy Animals was taken from the book ‘365 things to do with paper and cardboard’ by Usborne Activities.