Category Archives: playing

April 26, 2013

Small world play and the Little Poppets

My children are really lucky to be sent some lovely new books, the latest is Little Poppets which is a new series of board book first stories following the adventures of four friends: Mole, Rose, Pippin and Mouse (the Little Poppets). These gently humorous stories and the intricately conceived detail of the world in which they live will delight children and adults alike.

The stories are sweet and comical, with little mysteries for the Little Poppets to solve, such as where on earth the socks on Mouse’s sock tree are really coming from!

Both my children have been enjoying Mouse’s Sock Tree where Mouse wakes up one morning to find his tree is growing socks! He can’t wait to share his discovery with his friends Pippin and Rose, but they’re not quite so convinced. I’m pleased to say the flaps are robust enough to withstand two little hands which helped the Little Poppets find out where the socks were really coming from!

We loved the little felt characters and the magical world they live in which are full of expression and detail. Mouse’s reading lamp is made from a birthday cake candle in a bobbin, and his bed is constructed from postcards.

The book is great for inspiring small world play and I’m embarrassed to say it’s a very long time since we tried that. Anyway, we dug out a vintage wooden box and set to work creating our own little house. I graciously let the toddler pick from my fabric stash and he chose the beautiful chevron rainbow by Riley Blake Designs which we cut to size and PVA-ed on to the inside of the box. We added some washi tape bunting, a postage stamp picture in a washi tape frame, a rug made from a vintage blanket label and some vintage Scrabble tiles.

The children had lots of fun exploring their new little world. I have to admit that Peppa Pig and friends quickly took over but I think they felt very at home, how could they not?

Little Poppets created by Susan Mitchell and written by Paula Metcalf are printed by Campbell Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, priced £4.99

William Morris Gallery Walthamstow

A friend told me about the William Morris Gallery and Lloyd Park in Walthamstow, not far from us. Perfect (i.e. dry) weather was forecast this morning so we headed there. The building was beautiful and behind was a hidden gem, a huge public park with formal gardens, a moat, children’s park, cafe and much more.

First of all we let the children (and daddy) run around the park. They loved it, everything was new and shiny and they had fun on the slides, trampoline, swings, slide and sand pit. The shiny paths were perfect for scooting along and there was even space for the toddler to play with his radio controlled car.

When we thought we had tired them out we headed inside the gallery which has recently been refurbished with a cafe and temporary exhibition space added. The downstairs told the story of William Morris and was full of beautiful exhibits. In my old life I was a curator so was excited to see how the item were displayed. I thought it was stunning and was able to read a lot of the captions as the toddler was kept occupied by the interactive elements of the exhibition.

The gallery was seamlessly designed to be completely adult and child-friendly. The toddler practically ran around trying to find each touch screen or dressing up box.

He tried brass rubbing, making a stained glass window, holding a puppet show and building a wooden cathedral. He sat in chairs listening to oral history interviews and did funny things on sofas. In one room we were approached by one of the volunteers and I thought she was going to tell us off for being noisy but she just wanted to tell us something!

I love taking the children to museums and galleries but it’s not often we feel totally relaxed and able to enjoy ourselves. ~~I would~~ we all would definitely recommend the William Morris Gallery!

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Filed under days out, Local Review, London, playing

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February 13, 2013

Magic Wand review and giveaway

I don’t know about your children but my toddler doesn’t stop. From the moment he wakes up he’s talking, playing and jumping around non-stop until he falls into bed 12 hours later. I’m very thankful he goes to bed easily but I do have 12 hours to keep him entertained every day.

We have a great stock of puzzles, books and toys but were recently sent a new toy which has clearly been designed just for him. Called the Magic Moves Wand, it is aimed at 3-7 year olds and has been designed to get children moving.

It is really easy to operate, simply switch on, adjust the volume and press play – one of 90 physical commands will play, along with a tune and light show.

My toddler really enjoys playing with the Magic Moves Wand and his little sister loves it too, even though she is too young to understand it! It’s been designed to develop gross motor skills, creative expression and listening skills and I can’t wait to see these skills develop over the coming months, especially those listening skills! His favourite is jumping like a rabbit and the handy repeat button means he can keep doing this command until he gets tired

If you would like the chance to win a Magic Moves Wand yourself then pop over to Learning Resources Facebook page where they have 5 to giveaway. Simply ‘like’ their page and answer a couple of questions. The giveaway ends March 1st 2013.

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Filed under playing, toy review

Tagged as playing, toy review