• The Petrie Museum with kids
    days out - Family Life - Local Review - London

    Hunting the Egyptians at the Petrie Museum

    February 13, 2018 - By 

    Last term Big Brother was learning all about the Egyptians at school. He’s finding Year 3 really interesting and I wanted to see if there was anything we could do to encourage him. I know we could have visited the British Museum but it’s always really busy at the weekend. Instead we planned a visit to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London, part of University College London Museums and Collections. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology in London After an exciting morning spent queuing for photos at Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station we walked down to the…

  • book review - competition - Family Life

    Win a copy of We Are Family by Patricia Hegarty

    February 12, 2018 - By 

    Start the year as you mean to go on with WE ARE FAMILY, a timely reminder that love trumps all. Spanning 24 hours, follow the lives of eight families as they go about their different daily routines, wrapped in Ryan Wheatcroft’s vivid and diverse illustrations along with Patricia Hegarty’s much-loved rhymes. WE ARE FAMILY promotes the idea of empathy, love and acceptance, and gently prepares children for times in life where family will be needed for support whilst also kicking a ball, flying a kite, and playing games of chase. Family should not be taken for granted, and kindness should…

  • Family Life - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    February 12, 2018 - By 

    I love starting off each week 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. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things Last week my husband took a few day off work so we could re-decorate my daughters bedroom. It looks amazing and didn’t take as long as we thought. We painted the whole room white and put up a patterned wallpaper on one wall. I love a freshly decorated room and my daughter is happy too. We took the opportunity to…

  • toffee hammer votes for women badge museum of london
    Family Life - Local Review - London

    Votes for Women at the Museum of London

    February 11, 2018 - By 

    Last week I managed to visit the Museum of London before I went to Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium, London’s first cat cafe, for the launch of The LEGO NINJAGO Movie. I really wanted to go and see their new Votes for Women exhibition. This year marks the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act which extended the vote to some women. Votes for Women display I used to work at the Museum of London and love going back to visit. I was really excited to see their new exhibition. The display forms part of the national commemorations marking the centenary…

  • Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium
    competition - Family Life - film review

    Win a The LEGO NINJAGO Movie bundle

    February 10, 2018 - By 

    Last week I visited Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium (London’s first cat cafe) to celebrate The LEGO NINJAGO Movie which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on the 12th February. You may wonder what the link is between cats and The LEGO NINJAGO Movie. If you haven’t been lucky enough to watch the film then let me tell you a little bit about it: The battle for NINJAGO City calls to action young Master Builder Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are also secret ninja warriors. Led by Master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat the evil warlord…

  • Project Mc2 Ultimate Spy Bag review
    Family Life - Netflix Stream Team - STEM activity

    Project Mc2 Ultimate Spy Bag review

    February 9, 2018 - By 

    Project Mc2 ’s geek-chic heroines are back with a mission – to make sure girls (and boys) know that it’s cool to be smart and love all things S.T.E.A.M (that’s science, technology, engineering, art and maths). Project Mc2 is a team of super-smart and seriously cool girls who use their love of science and spy skills to undertake missions for top-secret organisation, NOV8TM (that’s “innovate”!). 2016 saw the launch of two new seasons of the Netflix original show, new products, and two exciting new characters – Devon D’Marco and Ember Evergreen. Last year the girls returned with a host of exciting new S.T.E.A.M focused products as seen…

  • Family Life

    Don’t neglect your living room any longer – fall in love with it again instead!

    February 8, 2018 - By 

    Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash For most of us, the idea of completely redesigning a room is one usually left for those make-over shows we see on the TV in between changing nappies, running errands and being just generally too busy. It’s common for living rooms to become old and tired. We spend most of our time in there – whether it’s during the day or on an evening. So arguably the living room gets a lot of traffic and is the busiest room of the house. We’d all love a new floor – check out discountflooringdepot.co.uk for a little inspiration, but…

  • The-Highway-Rat-DVD_cover
    competition - Family Life - film review

    Win 1 of 3 copies of The Highway Rat on DVD

    February 5, 2018 - By 

    From the UK’s best-selling author, Julia Donaldson, The Highway Rat arrives on DVD. This beautifully animated film, seen on BBC1 this Christmas is a swashbuckling adventure of bandits and biscuits which is now available to take home and own on DVD from today, courtesy of Entertainment One. From Magic Light Pictures, Oscar© nominated creators of the hugely successful The Gruffalo and Stick Man, The Highway Rat is a delightful story based on the richly imaginative book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The Highway Rat tells the tale of a ravenous rat who craves buns, biscuits and…

  • Family Life

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    February 5, 2018 - By 

    I love starting off each week 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. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things We started the week with my daughter gaining her first Beaver badge! She was awarded the Disability Awareness badge for learning about people with Disabilities. She’s settled in really well at Beavers so I’m hoping she’ll stick with it longer than she did Rainbows, especially as I’ve been sewing badges on her Beavers blanket for what seems like forever. My…