Smiggle UK survey shows kids can’t wait to get back to school!

You know I love a quirky stat and new stationery, and Smiggle – the UK’s newest, boldest and brightest children’s stationery retailer – has just that for us!

A survey by Smiggle has revealed that far from dreading their first day back in the classroom, youngsters actually can’t wait. Of parents questioned, 66 per cent revealed that their child or children are itching to get back into their uniform, despite their virtuous efforts to keep them occupied for six weeks.

Two-thirds of primary school parents admitted that the prospect of seeing classroom friends, coupled with a new pencil case, would see their children (aged four to 10) running through the school gates! Having been a stationery loving child myself the idea of new pens, pencils and rulers and seeing what my friends brought in after the summer was an exciting prospect! Of those parents who admitted that their children were hankering after the classroom, 87 per cent said seeing fellow friends was the main reason for wanting to return, with the prospect of a new pencil case almost as compelling, with 80 per cent citing this as a secondary factor!

Seeing the Smiggle UK range made me hanker for a new pencil case myself, I love these pets ones!

smiggle uk1

Virtually all parents questioned (93 per cent) said that they would be purchasing a brand new pencil case and rucksack for the new school year, in an attempt to ‘set the tone’ and encourage learning, and 76 per cent of parents said that their child had a favourite pencil, pen and rubber, which they would not want to do their homework without.

smiggle uk

Smiggle is dedicated to creating original, fun and affordable stationery. The brand’s products are focused on bold colour, quirky graphics, good value, innovation and most of all – giving fans the tools they need to have fun at school!

For more information about Smiggle and its infectious stationery products, visit Smiggle today!

Disclaimer: This was not a sponsored post, I just like what Smiggle are bringing to the stationery market for kids!

5 ways to overcome common toddler fears

Common Toddler Fears

I recently did a straw poll of over 50 mums and dads with toddlers to identify a list of common toddler fears; the following were identified as common:

Hand driers

Dogs

Mannequins or people in fancy dress

Bugs and creepy crawlies

Public toilets

Lawnmower

Vacuum cleaner or hoover

common toddler fears

Not so common toddler fears

As this was an unscientific poll it did throw up some really interesting fears, some very specific and as a precursor to saying that we shouldn’t belittle our little one’s fears later in this article there are some that were too funny not to mention. These included:

“My daughter 2 year old is scared of the toilet because it has eyes on the inside of the lid…And she is scared of mannequins, especially the ones that don’t have any facial features… in a nutshell- if it has a face she probably won’t like it and if it doesn’t have a face she’s not happy either..”

“Fat men he doesn’t know. Not even joking. It’s embarrassing when he starts getting upset and hiding because of the big fat man”

“Oh and the wheat bag thing you stick in the microwave. He’s 2″

“The wobbly shed! PS it doesn’t wobble”

“Big mega poos until they come out”

5 ways to overcome common toddler fears

We had a spell recently where Joss started asking ‘what’s that noise’ and asking to be carried or hugged if we heard a hoover, lawnmower, loud roadworks, car alarm etc.

More concerning for us as parents though was a really tough time where she was scared of M.O.N.S.T.E.R.S (yep monsters, we had to spell it out to avoid using the word for a good month and a half).

From the scary – “there’s a monster in my bed Mammy, it’s purple and I don’t like it” – to the ridiculous – hearing “what’s that coming over the hill, is it a monster, is it a monster” by The Automatic in a charity shop and Joss needing to leave the store NOW to get away from it! – it wasn’t an easy time as it really disrupted her sleep and disturbed her.

The problem was, Joss was unable to say what a monster was or where she’d heard the word or got the idea to be scared so it was hard for us to tackle. Here’s what we found worked after some research, these form our 5 ways to overcome common toddler fears

1) Recognise the fear

Don’t belittle their fear, it’s very real for them however imagined or surreal it might seem to us big people. We acknowledged that Joss was scared of monsters and talked about them in a way she could understand, I said that I could understand how it felt to be afraid – “it’s hard when something is scary, I understand you don’t want to go into the living room, let’s hold hands and go in together”

2) Talk about the fear truthfully, use books or other tools

Rather than saying that there’s no reason to be afraid or that monsters are not real we talked about them instead. She had some books about monsters, we talked about how they looked silly, what colours they were, that they made us laugh. She still had this dialogue of ‘monsters are scary’ but that slowly started to be replaced by ‘monsters are silly…’ We had some tough decisions about whether to start with monster spray or clear the room rituals that Id read about, I am glad we avoided these as I think they may have sustained or reinforced the fears instead, I think it helped more to be consistent and offer lots of repetition and praise. For slightly older children asking them to draw a monster or another fear might be a useful tool

3) Use lots of praise

I praised Joss’ efforts to overcome her fears, we had a spell where she insisted there was a scary monster under her chair, I encouraged her to point to the scary monster and say you’re not scary, you’re silly, and when she did I used lots of praise and encouragement, when she started to get scared of loud noises we did the same.

4) Use humour but don’t laugh about it if they’re upset

Children can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s imaginary so don’t laugh at them when they’re afraid, help them talk their way through the fear with you instead.

5) Make nighttime less scary

At the height of our time exploring monster fears Joss started to show signs of becoming afraid during bedtime, we did a lot of work to reassure her that Mammy and Daddy are here for her and we kept the hall light on for a few evenings. Over time her fears started to subside. Then we noticed that at times of change, my working away for a few days or her grandparents going on holiday and not seeing them for a little while seemed to unsettle her and bring back the fears again. With lots of praise and reassurance we have been helping her to understand change and prepare her for change by talking to her about where she is going for the day, what we are doing and building a strong sense of attachment.

As her fears decrease she has become bolder, sometimes shouting monster, run! She has also started to draw monsters and give them names so we’re moving away from something she’s too scared to speak about to her being able to be much more vocal about the fear and work it out for herself.

Do your little ones have any fears? How do you help them through?

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Eating out with kids in Newcastle

Very excited to have a guest post up over on the Tots100 site about Eating Out with Kids in Newcastle

Eating Out with Kids in Newcastle

Eating out with kids in Newcastle

BEST FOR PASTA

Serving up great Sardinian pasta with amazing customer service Panis Cafe is our gold standard venue for family food in Newcastle. The welcoming staff genuinely love kids, my two year old daughter Joss always gets a great reception and last time we popped in they remembered her order! The decor is a really interesting one for children too, a bit like a cave with decorative mouldings and lighting – it’s a real talking point! (We recommend trying the Malloreddus cun Sartizzu, coloured pasta with Italian sausage in a tasty tomato and garlic sauce. It’s a great one for kids to dig into, full of flavour and the bright pasta colours add an unusual twist.) Service is swift, ideal if you’re dining with little ones.

Best for kids’ activities

For a really special dining experience As You Like It offers a weekly Kids Club with characters and storytelling every Saturday and Sunday between 12 – 4pm. Pirates and princesses abound and the kids’ menu is pretty special too: £6.95 for starter, main, dessert and a drink. The small person’s Sunday roast is a hit here and the portion sizes are spot on. This is a great venue for a kids’ birthday party or for a special treat after a day out.

Best for a buzzing atmosphere

If you’re looking to add a bit of zing to your children’s palates head to Zapatista Burrito Bar. The food here is fast, healthy and tasty – and it’s served in a buzzing environment. Portions are big so we often share a burrito but there’s a good kids range too. It can get really busy here so, if the weather’s good, we sometimes head back out to sit on the grass outside Newcastle’s Civic Centre as the takeaway service is brilliant. The sweet shredded pork is to die for and if you’re feeling brave and not sharing with a tot try the chipotle sauce – smoking hot!

Best for culture

Newcastle’s museums are brilliantly varied, educational and child-friendly. Our favourite is the Hancock (also known as the Great North Museum). Once you’ve explored the natural science, archaeological and cultural exhibits head downstairs to the Street Cafe. This is somewhere we often stop for a simple sandwich lunch before heading back out to play on days where I’ve not managed to make a packed lunch.

BEST FOR ICE-CREAM

Who doesn’t love an ice-cream? If we fancy a treat we often head to one of the three Mark Toney venues in town. If staying for lunch you can get a child-sized portion of any adult meal and the home cooking is good too. But the real reason we pop in is for the phenomenal ices! The ice-cream parlour decor adds to the traditional feel, the knickerbocker glory is a big hit with us.

Best for a brilliant cuppa

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay and play whilst you have a good brew The Basement Coffee House is a hidden secret in the centre of town. Huge squishy sofas, a fab selection of drinks, paninis, bakes and snacks and a smashing playroom at the back for tots – this is a great place to meet with friends and chill out. The service could not be friendlier and, as the coffee shop belongs to Cornerstone Church which runs a lot of youth activities, it’s also project that does a lot of good too.

Best for cake

Afternoon tea in the city centre is a fave of ours and Tea on the Green is the place to come for mouth-watering cakes, tasty sandwich combos and a truly great cuppa (the scones are amazing too!). A family-run and welcoming gem in the city, the vintage china is pretty special and adds to the experience – as does the loose leaf tea.

Best for quality ingredients

Finally, Bill Quay Farm Cafe over the river in Gateshead deserves a special mention. The Farm was recently voted top North East outdoor play venue and the cafe does a cracking range of local food, varied specials and home baking. Our favourites are the soups and curries, like this World Cup Special – so good they don’t last long! If you’re lucky, you can pick up some fresh farm eggs or some Bill Quay sausages to cook at home too!

Ripening tomatoes and thinking ahead to next year’s yardening

Next year I really want to make this little space sing, we’ve had a big success with transforming the yarden this year but there’s a way to go to make it really do all of the things I want it to.

Yarden update

Namely I want to grow more to eat!

This year the herbs have done superbly and have been a lovely addition, so much so that I’m sharing my lemon balm tea recipe again!

fresh lemon balm tea recipe

And these ripening tomatoes are coming along so nicely I thought a little photostudy was in order, now I’m off to ponder and plan…

ripening tomatoes

Toddler Printable Library in a Box!

If like me you have a child that absolutely adores libraries, stickers, stamps and books then I have the perfect Toddler Printable Library in a box for you!

Joss loves our local library and asks to help stamp the books when we pop in on a Saturday, I wanted to recreate this as a play activity we could do during her quiet time at home. She’s really into role play so this will make a nice change from playing ‘shops’ for a while!

I made Joss a little Library Box with bookplates, a date stamp, library cards and stickers and other stamps so that she can play ‘librarian’ at home, and now you can too!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

These Toddler Printable Library cards and labels are free for you to download and print as many times as you like! Just paste the label onto a shoebox, cut out the cards and bookplates and fill your box with stamps, ink, pens, stickers and hey presto, your little one is a Librarian!

Library label

library cards Printable cards

I’d love to see what you add to your own library boxes, if you print them pop back and let me know how your library play goes!

 

Playmais toddler review!

Playmais toddler review – The Lowdown

PlayMais® is a natural, versatile craft material for children, made from 100% biodegradable maize, water and food colouring it’s an environmentally friendly play material which sticks together with a tiny dab of water and can be shaped easily with the fingers.

Suitable for ages three plus it looks temptingly sweetie-like but is totally safe if eaten, as Joss is under three we played under supervision but to be honest it was such fun that I loved joining in too! This scores big eco points and big fun points in this house!

Available from Crafters Companion Playmais comes in a variety of forms, from small boxes to create one-off pieces, to big packs for learning colours, shapes and forms, they’re really versatile and would make a great gift whatever your budget as prices start from just £2.99 for smaller sets.

We received a mosaic set, colours and forms set and princess to review from Crafter’s Companion.

play mais sets

Playmais makes play fun!

I’m always interested in toys that can help develop Joss’ fine motor skills and which encourage creative thinking. As I said in this post on toddler schemas Joss is really into small fiddly bits to play with, look at all these pieces of Playmais, I love the vibrant blue!

Playmais pieces

We set to work with the Little Friends box, whilst Joss explored I created a few pieces to collage with, big kid that I am, it was great fun and super easy!

A dab of water from the orange sponge enclosed in the pack held these pieces together and they were so easy to mould too!

Playmais toddler review

Joss got really interested in the colours and quickly got the hang of sticking them together! As you can see it’s easy to make pictures with the mats included in the pack. The colours really appealed to her and the characters are really sweet!

Playmais toddler review!

What we liked about it!

  • Playmais is really versatile, we took some out and about in a ziplock bag, a dab of water from a bottle onto the sponge is all you need to create on the go!
  • It encourages creativity
  • It teaches colours and shapes
  • It’s natural and environmentally friendly
  • It’s great value for money with loads of pieces and would make a great creative gift
  • It’s something for all ages!

Thanks Crafters Companion for introducing us to a great new craft, eco and fun for everyone!

Blackberry recipes and crafts!

I’m sure they’re early this year, they’ve inspired me to blog about blackberry recipes and crafts this weekend, this mumslist is all rolled into one, real life, blog life and inspiration brought together by berries! Though not quite ready for a mass picking they’re definately on their way to being ripe.

Blackberry recipes and crafts

Joss has been enjoying the Bill Quay Blackberries on our daily walk for about a week now, a little tart still but she will eat them anyway, sharing the odd one with Toby dog along the way! This pic was before pink stained fingers

Joss with berries Blackberry recipes and crafts

Lately we’ve been turning to her Usborne A First Book of Nature to read about the changes in the seasons so we looked at the Blackberry Picking pages today. It’s a great book and a lovely way to frame chat around the activities we’ve been doing lately.

I have been making these little crochet face scrubbies to take off my favourite cleanser, it’s a really stubborn one to remove but a gorgeous treat for the skin. If you’d like to make your own I used this pattern (very simple for beginners!) with some lovely berry coloured cotton yarn, they wash really well and scrub off all the cleanser without a need for a face scrub, so thrifty too!

crochet round face scrubbies Blackberry recipes and crafts

And finally, a recipe from the book which inspired our pudding!

Blackberry recipes and crafts

crumble1

We also had a treat this week in the form of the Back to School with Dr Martens blogging event in their Newcastle store, comfy, stylish and long lasting we had a great morning out and these are on our Autumn shopping list!

dr martens for toddlers

Natural ice lollies for babies with Nuby Fruitsicles

Nuby Garden Fresh

Nuby’s new Garden Fresh range gets a big thumbs up for promoting home cooking, designed for less waste so that home prepared food can be stored and frozen it prides itself on supporting Mummy Made Goodness.

We try to avoid processed foods where possible and I’ve always made home cooked meals for Joss so this range has big appeal taking you from preparing and storing through to serving up foods for your little one. New products like the Fruitsicles for making fresh ice lollies at home join old favourites like the Nibbler and weaning spoons, the range is really versatile and comes in lovely bright appealing colours for kids.

We often meet with friends we met through the baby led weaning group I co-run, we get together once a month or so to share food with our little ones, we sometimes get joined by new mums who are interested in baby led weaning and share recipes and ideas for home cooking that the whole family can enjoy (it’s where the idea for these potato pancakes came from, saving leftovers to make something totally different!).

Natural ice lollies for babies

As we’ve been having a spell of good weather I prepped a big batch of Fruitsicles for our meeting last week, as well as our famous fruity pack a punch toddler flapjacks! In keeping with the all natural theme we had bowls of blueberries and raspberries, yogurt smoothies and homemade houmous, yum!

The fruitsicles I prepared were jam-packed with fresh strawberries and two oranges that I had whizzed up in my blender, I kept it to a fairly thick pulpy consistency and then popped spoons of the mixture into the moulds. Each Fruitsicle is filled with two teaspoons of pureed fruit and so they’re great for portion control for babies and toddlers, and the soft grip handles are perfect for little hands.

fruitsicles

We met in the park and started with the Fruitsicles before they melted, they were a big hit, I had one too (for taste test purposes of course!) and these all natural ice lollies were really fruity and naturally sweet! I later made up a batch using some of the leftover yogurt smoothies but they were so popular they were gone before I could get the camera out (natural yogurt, banana and raspberry if you’re wondering how they were made!)

fruitsicles 2

Giveaway time!

Nuby have kindly given me a bundle of Garden Fresh products to give away including:

  • Fruitsicles

  • Nibbler

  • Suction Bowls

  • Coverall Bib

  • Grip N Sip Cup

win a nuby weaning bundle

If you’d like to get your hands on this huge bundle of goodies simply enter via the Rafflecopter widget and leave a comment on this post

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT – WELL DONE EMMA!

T&Cs – UK entries only, there is no cash alternative, winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter and informed within 24 hours of competition close

Fabric transfer paper gift ideas

These 5 fabric transfer paper gift ideas were inspired by some great tutorials over at Wolves in London, Sabrina’s blog is a great resource and so I have to start this post by thanking her for introducing me to a great new craft addition! If you’re of the crafty ilk I urge you to check out her tutorials

I have been beavering away with making gifts for a while now, part of my moneysaving plan for birthdays and ahead of this Christmas I have been trying to make as many cards, gifts and wrapping as possible. I sort of hit on a slow period this Summer and decided to look around. When I saw Sabrina’s lovely fabric transfer projects I had to have a go and made a list of fabric transfer paper gift ideas. As I was going for a low cost base I picked up transfer paper in Poundland. Two sheets for a quid made all of these projects plus I have made a further ten tags, five mini cards and countless fabric drawstring bags! Essentially I pasted all the images I wanted to print into a Word document and adjusted the sizes til they fitted on two pages, then I printed them and cut out the images ironing them onto my projects as and when needed.

I sourced my images from a range of places, including by searching for ‘free vintage printables’ on Pinterest.

Here’s my rundown of 5 fabric transfer paper gift ideas

Five fabric transfer paper gift ideas

1 – Vintage sweetheart print gift tag with lace and pearl embellishment

Ironed onto some plain calico and then cut out and layered onto fabric this sweet tag was then embellished with a piece of lace from my stash and some pearl braid which I use for so many projects but picked up from my local fabric store for a bargain 5p a metre in their fantastic sale. I have since made oodles of these little tags, they make simple presents look really special!

2 – Children’s party favours or travel storage bags

I made this little calico bag in about ten minutes to store Joss’ farm puzzle pieces which kept getting lost. She loves this simple pig print and I think it would look great on a tea towel too! These would make cute party bags filled with sweeties or a little colouring book and crayons

3 – Fabric cards

This does what it says on the tin, I have loads of fabric samples and often stitch them freehand onto card but don’t always have complementary Happy Birthday stickers, instead I typed and printed up some Happy Birthday motifs to add to my cards!

4 - An Axolotl’y Fabulous Tee

Joss’ favourite word is axolotl, for those not in the know an axolotl is a ‘walking fish’ and there is one at our local museum. Joss loves them, she also loves printed tees but the chances of me ever finding an axolotl tee were pretty slim, now she has one! I know this won’t be for everyone but it’s made a Mama and her Girl very happy!

5 – Fabric drawstring storage bags for shoes, undies, you name it!

These become an altogether nicer gift for the addition of a little ironed on motif, this beachcomber print is perfect for my seaside loving girl and stores her precious cuddly toys, I made myself one with a print of a pair of special shoes and another to give as a gift with the recipient’s name printed on.

I hope you like these fabric transfer paper gift ideas, if you have a go yourself do let me know what you make!

Toddler pinwheels for picky eaters

Real Life

I’ve been re-blogging this post about how to handle not being able to breastfeed for World Breastfeeding Week 2014 which comes to an end this weekend.

Joss has been a bit off colour lately and consequently has eaten very little. My toddler pinwheels for picky eaters are great for lunches and Joss usually plays with them, then eats a bit. If she is involved in making them and sprinkling the cheese then even better, she’ll be more interested in eating them as she had a hand in making them!

toddler pinwheel fussy eaters

Ingredients

Sheet puff pastry
Grated cheddar
Ham
Tomato puree or two tablespoons of passatta

I cut my puff pastry sheet in two and freeze half, the other half makes eight pinwheels. Unroll the pastry and spread the tomato onto the base, then top with slices of ham and then with grated cheese, my trusty cheese sprinkler Joss likes this bit!

Don’t overfill as the next stage is to roooool the sheet of pastry like a swiss roll, then slice into eight chunks, lay each out on a greaseproof papered baking sheet.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes then cool and serve, or store for the next day or two for packed lunches.

Blog life

I had tea with Beth from Betty and the Bumps and Hannah from Mums Days yesterday and they got me thinking about where my blog is going. I have a new list of questions and some things I am working on, like my blog traffic. In the short term I have posts coming up on handling toddler fears and a competition coming up too.

Inspiration

I have been reading some inspiring ideas on writing as posted by Beautiful Misbehaviour and giving some thought to a challenging post I’d like to draft

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