• Places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London
    Family Life - Local Review - London

    Places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London

    June 18, 2018 - By 

    With the Summer holidays looming here in the UK I have everything crossed for lots of sunny days. I like my children to get plenty of fresh air as it really helps to tire them out. Nothing beats water play in the open air but there are actually very few places you can go near where we live in West London. I thought I would share our favourite places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London. Places for outdoor swimming or water play in west London Ruislip Lido Our favourite place was water play is Ruislip Lido in the London Borough…

  • Family Life - mindfulness - Monday Happy List

    Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things

    June 18, 2018 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had a great weekend. It was our first weekend at home for a month and so lovely to relax and just go out for lunch and to the park. 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, as well as to record some of our family adventures – it’s a post I always enjoy writing. Monday mindfulness – 5 happy things My poor Year 3 son survived Assessment Week. He…

  • Mud and Bloom: a nature and gardening subscription box for kids
    Crafts for kids - Nature crafts - subscription box

    Mud and Bloom: a nature and gardening subscription box for kids

    June 17, 2018 - By 

    The other day I mentioned that I’ve been trying out subscription boxes for my children. As much as I enjoy crafting at home I also love a subscription box, which does all the hard work for you! Both my children love to make and create so as I bought my daughter the Unicorns & Rainbows box, I sent off for a Mud and Bloom box for my son. Mud and Bloom: a nature and gardening subscription box for kids My 8 year old is really creative and loves the garden which is why I picked the Mud and Bloom box.…

  • Win a We Love Sylvanian Families Town magazine
    competition - Family Life - Friends of Sylvanian Families

    Win a We Love Sylvanian Families Town magazine

    June 16, 2018 - By 

    Fans of Sylvanian Families will love the latest magazine – We Love Sylvanian Families Town. It comes with 7 free gifts and is packed full of puzzles, colouring and quizzes. My daughter loves playing with her Sylvanian Families but there is a distinct lack of toys and books from the range apart from the ones which come with membership of the Fan Club. Thankfully she loved reading the last issue of We Love Sylvanian Families which came out last year and was excited to get her hands on this new magazine celebrating the Sylvanian Families Town range. We Love Sylvanian…

  • Star Wars Force Link 2.0 Kessel Run Millennium Falcon with Han Solo Figure
    Family Life - Hasbro Toy Tribe - Star Wars crafts - toy review

    Star Wars Force Link 2.0 Kessel Run Millennium Falcon with Han Solo Figure

    June 16, 2018 - By 

    Have you watched Solo: A Star Wars Story yet? The idea behind Solo: A Star Wars Story is that through a series of daring escapades, young Han Solo meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian. We had a rare date night and were able to go and watch it *without* the children. They are both huge Star Wars fans so I know we will go and see it again with them soon. It was a great film, so much fun, and we loved finding out more about how Han Solo got the Millennium Falcon! Hasbro kindly…

  • rainbow scrape painting
    Crafts for kids - subscription box

    Unicorns and rainbows {Squidgydoodle subscription box}

    June 15, 2018 - By 

    It’s been a while since we’ve tried any kids subscription boxes. My 6 year old loves unicorns and rainbows so I was pretty pleased to find a box all about, you’ve guessed it, unicorns and rainbows from Squidgydoodle. They make all sorts of subscription boxes for kids. Unicorns and rainbows {Squidgydoodle subscription box} I ordered one for my daughter and it arrived super quickly. I couldn’t wait to show it to her and see what was inside. We waited until after school when we had a free evening to open it up. I paid £12 for the Unicorns and rainbows box.…

  • How to make your own bird feeder
    Crafts for kids - garden crafts - Toilet roll crafts

    How to make your own bird feeder

    June 15, 2018 - By 

    This month we’re taking part in the 30 Days Wild challenge. My children are pretty wild and outdoorsy so this seemed like a great challenge for them. This week we had the added bonus of taking part in a family litter pick to mark Blue Peter’s 60th birthday. Be Plastic Clever 60 or #BPC60 is the brain child of Kids Against Plastic who are running a competition to find the best litter pick photos. CBBC presenter Naomi Wilkinson came along to my daughter’s school to talk to them about the impact on the environment and our health caused by continued use of single use plastic. My daughter…

  • Low-cost Summer activities for kids - i-SPY books
    Crafts for kids - Summer

    Low-cost Summer activities for kids – i-SPY books

    June 13, 2018 - By 

    Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing some low-cost ideas for keeping the kids busy over the Summer holidays. I’ve already written posts about painting and hiding painted rocks, and playing with bubbles. Today I wanted to share our love for i-SPY books! Do you remember them from when you were growing up? They are A6 pocket sized books, each one on a different subject. Pick a topic and I bet you will find a book for it. Then find the objects and tick them off as you go along. You score points for each spot and…

  • Mindful sewing and the Spring Craftpod
    Crafts for adults - sewing - subscription box

    Mindful sewing and the Spring Craftpod

    June 13, 2018 - By 

    I am so terrible at making time for my hobbies. Sewing and paper cutting are two of my favourite things to do, yet I rarely make time for them. I subscribe to the Craftpod subscription box and the Spring box arrived months ago. It included two hand stitching projects which were lovely but it’s taken me weeks to get round to actually making them. We did a lot of travelling over half term so I made sure to pack my Craftpod box. Everything fits nicely in a slim box which makes it perfect for carrying around in a handbag. The…