• Christmas - crafts - days out

    Woolly Wonderland at Westfield!

    December 4, 2013 - By 

    We had the most wonderful time at Westfield Stratford City today where we were invited to a very special storytelling session of The Gruffalo. The children were sitting quite happily and listening really well. Woolly Wonderland at Westfield! And then the special guest turned up! My children’s faces were priceless 🙂 They both love The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child so it was a real treat for them to meet him. We even managed to squeeze into a photobooth with him for a cheeky snap. The event was organised by Save the Children in their pop up shop at Westfield…

  • Christmas - competition

    Win a Swizzels Matlow Sweet Treats Tub

    December 3, 2013 - By 

    You may remember a couple of weeks ago I reviewed a range of sweet for Halloween from Swizzels Matlow. Well, brand new for Christmas 2013 is the Sweet Treats Tub also from Swizzels Matlow. Available from Asda it brings together their most popular sweets and lollies, which are loved by all ages. We were sent a little tub to try for ourselves and my children quickly fell in love with the lollies. In fact Little Sis’ favourite word is definitely sweeties right now! Although the tubs are small they’re a great size to treat anyone with a sweet tooth and…

  • Toilet roll angels
    Christmas - crafts - handmade - Kids crafts - Toilet roll crafts - tutorial - upcycling

    Toilet roll angels

    December 2, 2013 - By 

    Have a plethora of toilet rolls in your house? We seem to go through lots so are always on the look out for some crafts to help use them up. Our latest one is very seasonal – toilet roll angels! Toilet roll angels craft for kids What you will need: cardboard tubes white paper silver paint scissors sticky tape yellow pipe cleaner The great thing about toilet roll crafts is  that they come together really easily. The first step was to paint them silver and when they were dry we added a face. Then we drew around both children’s hands…

  • Advent crafts - Christmas - crafts

    Gingerbread house advent garland

    December 1, 2013 - By 

    We’re all very excited that Advent has started in our house. Advent calendars have been opened, Advent candles lit, and our Elf on the Shelf has taken up his position in our house. We’ll be opening the first book in our book advent today too. This year I also made a little advent garland, each one features a small activity to keep us busy during this festive month. I used brown paper bags (which I bought from Lakeland) and folded each one roughly into four equal parts, then cut them apart, turning over two corners on one side to make…

  • competition - film review

    Win one of 3 copies of Disney’s ‘Frozen’ soundtrack

    November 30, 2013 - By 

    Walt Disney Animation Studios, the studio behind “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph,” presents “Frozen,” a stunning big-screen comedy adventure. Fearless optimist Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) sets off on an epic journey—teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff) and his loyal reindeer Sven—to find her sister Elsa (voice of Idina Menzel), whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf (voice of Josh Gad), Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. For more information, check out Disney.com/Frozen. The “Frozen” soundtrack, set for…

  • Advent crafts - book review - Christmas

    Book advent for preschoolers

    November 29, 2013 - By 

    Last year we experimented with a Book Advent where you basically read a book every day during Advent. This was additional to our bedtime reading and we concentrated on Christmas books, with a little help from our local Oxfam shop! It was a great way to spend some quiet time together every day as December can be slightly crazy. It was so successful that we’re doing it again this year. We’ll be re-reading many of the books from last year although we’re looking for a couple of new books to add to the ‘tree’. Fortunately we were sent Little Robin’s…

  • days out - playing

    Little Tikes ‘Play Personalities’

    November 27, 2013 - By 

    Last week Little Sis and I were invited to hear more about Little Tikes ‘Play Personalities’. Little Tikes and play expert, Maggie Redshaw, have devised four play personalities that they feel children may take on during their development: Little Learners, Little Movers, Little Builders and Explorers and finally Little Grown-ups. We all know how important it is for our little ones to play but it’s particularly essential for little ones as they grow and develop. Well-designed, safe and appropriate toys help to assist as children change and grow throughout their most formative years. Little Tikes organised a brilliant Christmas Play…

  • book review - competition - toy review

    Win Tickety Toc products for your little Chime Timer!

    November 26, 2013 - By 

    Inside an old clock shop is a wall full of clocks. And right in the middle is one very special clock. This is the Tickety Toc Clock! My two pre-schoolers adore the adventures of twins Tommy and Tallulah. Did you know there will be a special Christmas episode of Tickety Toc which will premiere this Saturday (November 30th) at 12:30pm on Nick Junior. There will also be an after show twitter party between 13:00-14:00 so don’t forget to follow @TicketyTocUK to find out more. My daughter has been really poorly lately but the one thing that has cheered her up…

  • Christmas - shopping

    Getting Ready for Christmas with Topcashback

    November 25, 2013 - By 

    As I sit and write this there are only 30 29 days until Christmas. I’ve bought presents, eaten mince pies and watched that silly John Lewis Christmas advert ad nauseum. In fact, I’m already tired of all those supermarket Christmas ads. At Christmas I feel a bit caught between trying to buy handmade, support my local high street and not pay over the odds for anything. When my son sat me down and asked me to help him with his Christmas list I began to worry what he was going to ask for. Although he’s only 3 his toy list…