About three weeks ago we finally reached a stage in our parenting journey that I've been looking forward to for years - in fact since even before I became pregnant with Little Miss C. Yes we now have a child who likes Lego! I have such fond memories of my sister and I spending hours and hours building Lego towns on her bedroom floor. I can even remember the strange biscuit tin with St Paul's cathederal on that most of our Lego was kept in. For years I have been creating Amazon Lego wishlists and watching eBay auctions of sets which I had as a child. I've picked up any sets that ... read more
A budding little scientist
Whilst out doing a spot of shopping with Mr C and the kids last week I happened to spot what looked like a children's chemistry set in a shop window. Not that uncommon a sight, but always good to see. Once in the shop I noticed that it was actually aimed at younger children that I'd expected with a recommended age of 4+. This attracted my attention and a lovely shop assistance happened to come over and ask me if I wanted to see inside the box. I am so glad she did as that was the start of my love affair with the Learning Resources Primary Science Set. Making a volcano What's ... read more
Review and Competition – WOW Toys
With two and a half years experience under her belt Little Miss C is becoming rather adept at reviewing toys now. Whenever she gets something new she will actually tell me what's good and bad about it without me having to prompt her and is quite happy for Mummy to get her to pose for pictures with things too - it might slow things down a bit on Christmas Day, but it's super handy when we're asked to review new things, and no one is quite as honest as a toddler! This time round I was asked by the lovely people at Cuthberts Toys to review a selection of toys from the WOW Toys range. Stood in ... read more
Review: Wigwam Play Tent
Even the recent bad weather hasn't stopped us from making the most of this lovely wigwam play tent that we have been sent to review. Admittedly all the wind and rain has prevented us from putting it up in the back garden, but Little Miss C's new bedroom is luckily large enough to accommmodate a wigwam in the middle of it and the novelty of having a secret den in her bedroom has completely delighted her. The wigwam comes boxed rather compactly but Mr C found it easy to assemble. No tools are required as all you need to do is slot together the two parts of the wooden poles with a plastic ... read more
For the love of Hama
It's fair to say that Little Miss C has become somewhat Hama obsessed since we were sent some maxi Hama beads to review recently. There hasn't been a single day where she hasn't been playing with them for hours. They've travelled up to visit Granny with us and on several occassions there have been tears at bedtime when I've said that she can't take them to bed with her. The Hama advantures don't just involve building pictures on pegboards though - Hama beads seem to have become a key component in all of LMC's imaginative play. They have been the foundation of pretend meals, made into ... read more
First adventures with Hama Beads
I must have seen Hama Beads mentioned on loads of parenting and craft blogs in the last year or so, but somehow I still hadn't quite worked out what they were - that may well tell you something about how poor my speed reading skills are! I had always assumed that they were something for slightly older children than Little Miss C, but then Merry from Craft Merrily told me about Maxi Hama Beads that are designed for children ages three and up and I realised that it was time to take a closer look. LMC has recently spent hours playing with a box of buttons, arranging them into colours ... read more
Review: Jingle Puzzle – Old MacDonald Had A Farm
Just the day after blogging about Little Miss C's love of jigsaw puzzles I was thrilled to be asked to review a Jingle Puzzle. What freaked me out slightly was that as soon as we arrived at the local sorting office to collect the parcel LMC somehow knew that it was a jigsaw for her without either of us even opening the package. She happily carried it to the car telling everyone we walked past that it was a jigsaw for her to do. More than "just" a jigsaw Jingle Puzzles are based on well known children's nursery rhymes and songs and each box contains a floor puzzle, a CD of music (with track ... read more
Review: Miniland Lacing Buttons
I've always been a big fan of educational toys and games and I was therefore really pleased to hear about a range of educational toys that I hadn't come across before - Miniland Educational. We were sent a couple of things from the range to review and I have honestly never seen Little Miss C jump on anything as quickly as she did the Lacing Buttons. Within mere seconds of me opening the big brown box they came in LMC had them out and had spread them across the living room floor as she excitedly started threading them onto the laces provided. For half an hour she sat there ... read more
BigJigs Rail – Record Breakers!
When I wrote about the planned BigJigs World Record attempt I was looking forward to going along with Little Miss C, but I have to admit that I had absolutely no idea what a fantastic day we were going to have, or just how much I was about to completely fall even more in love with the BigJigs brand. LMC and I have already seen two Guinness World Records broken this year thanks to this blog and as soon as we arrived and met the BigJigs team I was pretty sure that this was going to make it three. Having taken over one of the slips at Chatham Dockyard the BigJigs team started laying ... read more
Time for a puzzle
It's funny, but it was a while before I thought of trying to do jigsaw puzzles with Little Miss C. We had the typical baby/toddler puzzles where you get wooden shapes with little peg handles to fit into the appropriate cut out holes, but it was only when someone gave me a promotional jigsaw that she showed an interest in that I thought of looking for appropriate ones for her to do. Since then we've picked up several in charity shops as well as being bought a few as gifts and they have to be one of her favourite things to do. They are great for encouraging the fine motor skills required ... read more