How to Clean, De-Bug and Open Pine Cones for Crafting and Decorating!

Hi everyone, today I wanted to do a quick little video to share how we clean our pine cones. This turned out to be a fun activity for the kids. And not only was it fun, it was also fantastic for developing fine and gross motor skills, concentration as well as their ability to follow directions, since it's a multi-step process.
Note: we usually have the temperature at 100 degrees Celsius or 200 degrees F when baking. It does take a long time in the oven to open up at this temperature and I keep a close eye on it too because sometimes some open up sooner than others.

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Thanks for watching!

Who are we?
We are a bilingual family living in Australia, following secular homeschooling curricula.
I'm an archaeologist (PhD) and I'm currently homeschooling full-time. My husband Paul is a moral philosopher (PhD). We have two kiddos – a little boy and a little girl.
Mindfulness and minimalism are central themes in our home and in our personal lives.

Our approach to parenting:
At base, we use a hybrid-style that incorporates principles from both the Montessori and Waldorf schools of thought. Invitation-to-play is an important part of this, as are hands-on activities and lots of time in free play. We don’t use drill and kill methods for teaching. Our strategy involves watching for which activities or subjects draw our children’s focus and then working to cultivate those interests further—a child-led approach.

We also believe that a child's self-esteem and their ability to be kind to others are infinitely more valuable than any one skill or set of skills, which is why mindfulness takes centre-stage in our home. So, although we place importance on academic skills, they are not at all our primary concern (and it's not our intention to promote competitiveness among parents or children).

An uncluttered space is necessary for effective focus. So, minimalism is key in our approach and part of that is a screen-free environment.

Our philosophy:
In their first and second 1000 days, children have the unique opportunity to learn exponentially faster than they will for the rest of their lives. We were inspired when we first learned this. We can't waste this enhanced ability to learn skills and, importantly, to build on them in the initial phase of life and beyond. So we've invested in our children's early education and in giving them the affection and time that they need and want for their thriving. Join us as we review the books we've acquired, the unit studies we've created, and in discussing the developmental toys and resources we use and our views on what we find to be some of the trickier topics in parenting. We'd love to have your company, and we'd love to hear what you think or any questions you may have as we move forward in our CuddlePot Bootcamp.

Soundtrack:
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Track: Maarif — Soyb & Amine Maxwell [Audio Library Release] Music provided by Audio Library Plus Watch:    • Maarif — Soyb & Amine Maxwell | Free Backg...   Free Download / Stream: https://alplus.io/maarif ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––