• Santa & the Elves Christmas Experience at Winchester Science Centre
    days out - Family Life - Hampshire - STEM activity

    Santa & the Elves Christmas Experience at Winchester Science Centre

    December 9, 2018 - By 

    Today we were invited along to Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium for a special Christmas treat. Advertised as a Christmas experience like no other, we were promised a live science show inspired by the classic children’s tale, Jack and the Beanstalk; an elf-led activity; Christmas planetarium show and a chance to meet Santa. Santa & the Elves Christmas Experience at Winchester Science Centre The Santa and the Elves Christmas Experience unites the magic of Christmas with the excitement of science, promising a fun-filled family day out during the festive season. The experience comprises two main events, an hour-long Santa and science experience…

  • Family Life

    The Benefits of Foster Care Training and Support

    December 7, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Brandon Wong on Unsplash When considering becoming a foster carer, it is imperative that you look at the different levels of support and training available. There is a huge variety in the amount of foster care training in the early days, ongoing professional development, and the support you will be offered throughout your role as a foster carer. We urge you to ask different local authorities and independent fostering agencies about their foster care training and support before you ‘sign-up’. Why is foster care training and support so important? We all want to do absolutely best by the children in the care system. However, children…

  • Personalised Christmas gifts for children
    Family Life

    Personalised Christmas gifts for children {Magic Santa Letter review}

    December 6, 2018 - By 

    Now we are firmly in December and *just* about juggling the daily excitement of opening Advent calendars, reading books from our Book Advent, listening to Christmas music, discovering where our Christmas elves are hiding and sleeping in our Christmassy bedding. Christmas can be pretty time consuming for us parents can’t it? However, I just love our Christmas traditions, especially when I see how happy the children are. Personalised Christmas gifts for children I’ve actually finished all our Christmas shopping so have been doing a few last minute things for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I love adding a few extra…

  • 20+ Gifts for Tween boys
    Family Life

    20+ Gifts for Tween boys

    December 5, 2018 - By 

    Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? I’m pleased to say I’ve *almost* finished mine, and then will be spending a few evenings wrapping. This is something I quite look forward to, especially if there is a Christmas film on and I have a glass of mulled wine. My son has most definitely turned into a tween and I’ve had loads of fun shopping for him. He loves Fortnite, Minecraft and Lego so he’s pretty easy to buy for. I had fun pulling this list of 20+ gifts for tweens. I thought I’d share it in case you find it…

  • Family Life - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    December 3, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend. Each week I start off by writing my Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things blog post. It’s a great chance to reflect on the things that made me happy in the previous week, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things Last week was especially busy as we celebrated my daughter’s 7th birthday. She was incredibly excited and I planned a Hatchimals theme as that’s her favourite toy at the moment. We had Hatchimals gifts, tableware,…

  • 20+ Stem Gifts for 5-9 Year Olds
    Family Life - Gift guide - STEM activity

    20+ Stem Gifts for 5-9 Year Olds

    December 2, 2018 - By 

    How are you getting on with your Christmas shopping? I love shopping for my children, and try to get a range of toys and books which will last them over the year. I particularly enjoy finding STEM gifts for them as I know they are challenging and help them learn. We have reviewed some wonderful STEM toys over the last few years so I thought it would be fun to pull together 20+ Stem Gifts for 5-9 Year Olds. 20+ Stem Gifts for 5-9 Year Olds Under $15 Shark Tooth Dig Kit Stomp Rocket Junior Tenergy ODEV Dynamo Lantern Educational STEM…

  • 20+ Harry Potter Gifts for Kids
    Family Life - Gift guide

    20+ Harry Potter Gifts for Kids

    December 1, 2018 - By 

    My 7 year old is just crazy about Harry Potter. Having grown up reading the books myself, I’m happy that she has fallen under the spell of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter too. Last month we were able to visit the special Harry Potter Wand Walk near St Paul’s Cathedral. The children loved seeing the different wands belonging to all their favourite characters. With Christmas fast approaching, I thought it would be fun to pull together a Harry Potter-inspired gift guide for kids*. I find it pretty easy to find things my children would love to open, I hope…

  • Playmobil City Life Children's Playground review
    Family Life - Playmobil Playologist

    Playmobil City Life Children’s Playground review

    November 30, 2018 - By 

    My children have always enjoyed playing with Playmobil toys. We were Playmobil Playologists for many years which means they have an amazing collection of Playmobil to play with. These are some of their favourite toys so they were delighted to receive the Playmobil City Life Children’s Playground, which is available from Smyths, to review. Playmobil City Life Children’s Playground The children have always enjoyed small world play and Playmobil is just brilliant for inspiring children. We have always found Playmobil to be excellent quality and pretty robust for little hands. The Playmobil Children’s Playground is part of the City Life range. You…

  • Something for the weekend with PlayStation
    Family Life

    Something for the weekend with PlayStation

    November 29, 2018 - By 

    A few weeks ago we took delivery of a fun box of goodies from PlayStation. My family are huge gamers, especially my 8 year old, so we were delighted to receive some of the latest games to try out at home. Something for the weekend with PlayStation Our special delivery was based around a box divided into 4 parts: In It Together, Pass & Play, Sofa Standoffs and All Back To Mine. The idea was to equip us with an arsenal of games which could be in a variety of situations: with friends, family and even on your own. Inside…