Lunch Box Story Friends – Woodlands

{Click the picture above for the PDF file}

Back to school. Back to busy mornings. Back to organising bags. Back to making lunches.  I was thinking at the start of the year about how to inject a little fun into the process (without it being hard for mum), and I came up with cute little story cards with a simple inspirational message. They are like lunch box notes but with an open ended story/imaginative component.  I took my idea to Emma (who did my website branding) and here it is! A gorgeous whimsical woodlands scene! We had a lot of fun doing this!

The idea is to print the woodlands scene at the beginning of the week, and pop a new character in the lunch box each day. They can be printed on regular paper, or on photo paper for a gorgeous finish. I will bring out a new series each month.  Just a bit of fun for the lunch box 1 week out of the typical 4 week, and there are many fun ways you can use these gorgeous illustrations outside of the lunch box too (see further below). This means mum can have a few fun tricks up her sleeve if she needs it!

{Print, Cut & Fold}

Ideas

• Collect one each day and make a play scene at the end.
• Great for travel and car trips. Include in a travel backpack (I like the Lopees LOP-NSP reusable envelopes for this type of thing).
• Tell a continuous bedtime story. Use one card each day and build on a story. Just make something up! Could be about a deer who is looking for his mum, friendship and foe, a magical forrest!
• Stick the characters on paddle pop sticks and create a shoebox puppet theatre (or even just hide behind the couch).
• Make a shoebox scene. Google a ‘woodlands desktop wallpaper’ scene (like this one) stick it in the back of the box and add the figures. 
• Look up more information about each item. Here are some prompts:
  • How high can deer jump?
  • Research the tallest/oldest/widest tree.
  • Do fox have whiskers on their feet?
  • What are rabbits face whiskers used for?
  • Can mushrooms glow in the dark? 
• Cut and glue them on cardboard to make a cute card to give to someone.
• They make adorable gift cards! Simply print it out on photo paper (matte paper works best), cut the front section only (not the words) and punch a hole in the top for a length of ribbon. Write on the back. These look beautiful with brown paper and coloured twine.
• Cut, and use 3D double sided mounting tape to stick to cardstock. Then frame. Gorgeous in a nursery with deer sheets like these.
• Scrapbooking.
• Make a scene in a jar. Follow the general instructions here. 
• Post to friends.

The next BAFM Lunch Box Friends Series (think mermaids and dolphins!) will come out in the May newsletter before it hits the blog, so if you want to sign up, you can do so here.