• Duck Tape bracelet tutorial - the gingerbread house
    Duck Tape crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Simple duck tape bracelets

    January 23, 2015 - By 

    I love crafting with Duck or Duct Tape. I was in my local craft store at the weekend and spotted some really pretty colours, and on mini rolls too. My 4 year old really likes the Galaxy Duck Tape so we made bracelets together. They are so simple but kept him amused for a good half hour. Then my 3 year old discovered what we were doing and we made some in her favourite colours too! Materials needed to make simple Duck Tape bracelets: Paper or plastic straw Roll of coloured Duck Tape Scissors Pipe cleaner or twine How to…

  • KDUK Mumbassadors - playing - toy review

    Peppa Pig Fun Phonics

    January 22, 2015 - By 

    Last year I went to a workshop at my son’s school to learn how they were taught Phonics. Reception is a really important year and I have seen my son learning so much, his reading, writing and letters are coming on in leaps and bounds. I’ve mentioned before that we’re currently working with KD UK and they kindly sent us a Peppa Pig Fun Phonics toy to help him learn. This is a lovely bright toy with a handy handle which makes it easy to hold and carry. My 3 and 4 year old have both been enjoying playing with…

  • book review - Kids crafts - tutorial

    The Scarecrows Wedding

    January 21, 2015 - By 

    My children adore any book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.  They were so excited when we got our hands on their latest collaboration – The Scarecrow’s Wedding. This is a great story for any time of year but especially around Valentine’s Day. The Scarecrows’ Wedding is a fantastic love story. Two scarecrows, Betty O’Barley and Harry O’Hay, are planning the perfect wedding. But wicked scarecrow, Reginald Rake, has other ideas and almost ruins their special day. Harry must become a hero before he and Betty can have the wedding of their dreams. We love this story and we came…

  • YEAR OF THE SHEEP craft for kids
    Chinese New Year crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Year of the Sheep sun catcher decoration

    January 20, 2015 - By 

    My 3 year old loves to make sun catchers as much as I do. This afternoon she said she wanted to make another sun catcher so I whipped out a ready make kit I had bought from Yellow Moon (my sons’ school receives a small amount of money on any purchases I make). I love ready make craft kits and I adapted this one slightly to make it easier for her. Materials for a Year of the Sheep sun catcher decoration: Year of the Sheep stained glass kit Scissors Contact paper How to make a Year of the Sheep sun…

  • days out - sewing

    Monday happy things

    January 19, 2015 - By 

    Yesterday I spotted my first snowdrops of the year whilst we were out visiting the Watts Gallery in Sussex. I love snowdrops and it always makes me happy to see them poking out of the frozen ground. I seemed to have reached some social milestones this week. Yep, I’m celebrating 5 years on Foursquare and a whopping 8 years on Twitter. I reached over 100000 followers on Pinterest too. I’m not sure how I feel about this, in fact I’m trying not to think about it too much! It may seem from reading my blog that all I’m doing at…

  • book review - mindfulness - parenting - What I'm reading

    What I’m reading: Mindful discipline

    January 18, 2015 - By 

    Today I wanted to share two new parenting titles from Scribe with you. They aim to help parents solve two of the most commented on, despaired over and debated about parenting dilemmas: sleep and discipline using Mindful discipline The Happy Sleeper by sleep experts Julie Wright and Heather Turgeon offers an alternative sleep training method to ‘cry it out’ or ‘attachment parenting’. Using an approach rooted in making children feel safe, secure and happy in their bedtime routines, The Happy Sleeper offers practical advice for parents wanting to create good sleeping habits, or undo poor ones. The fantastic thing about…

  • Sheep sun catcher for Chinese New Year
    Chinese New Year crafts - Kids crafts - tutorial

    Sheep sun catcher for Chinese New Year

    January 17, 2015 - By 

    I have to admit that we don’t celebrate Chinese New Year but that doesn’t stop us having fun with crafting around the theme. We’ve already made a Chinese lantern sun catcher but did you know that 2015 is the Year of the Sheep? We thought we’d make a sheep sun catcher. Our windows are full but there’s always room for one more, right? Materials needed to make a sheep sun catcher: Black paper Contact paper White tissue paper Scissors How to make a sheep sun catcher: I drew a sheep on a piece of paper and used this as a…

  • Kids crafts - playing - tutorial

    No sew bean bags

    January 16, 2015 - By 

    As much as my children love their toys I’ve found we can often have just as much fun with toys which cost pennies. This week my 4 year old has spent hours on his cardboard box city and today I wanted to share our no sew bean bags with you. Materials needed to make no sew bean bags: Duck or duct tape Craft seal-able bags Lentils Scissors How to make no sew bean bags: I bought a bag of lentils from my local health shop and divided it into three craft bags. I did this just in case my no…

  • competition - playing

    Win a Peppa Pig Hide and Seek game

    January 15, 2015 - By 

    Everyone knows how important play is. My 3 and 4 year old love to play games and this year Father Christmas brought them a few good ones, ones they can play on their own, with each other or together as a family. One of their favourites is the Peppa Pig Hide and Seek Game.   The Peppa Pig Interactive Hide and Seek Game is great for even the youngest of Peppa fans. This fantastic interactive game for 1 – 4 players of varying ages – means that every fan of Peppa Pig can enjoy it. The game includes a ‘talking’…