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I'm still here! How is it November already, and how is the big 'C' just around the corner? Needless to say, Big Bee's first half-term of school has absolutely flown by, but it's certainly taken some adjusting for us to settle into a new way of life and routine. However, Big Bee is doing us proud and she’s settling in well at school. I really hope that all the other little ones who started this September are taking their new chapter in their stride and enjoying their school journey. Anyway, onto things all conker related. As usual, we have gone bonkers for conkers this year, and we went on a little adventure in pursuit of these shiny brown balls. If you also went conker collecting then you may find this blog comes in handy for some extra ideas of what to do with your stash for the rest of autumn. Treasure Hunt – Using an acrylic pen draw some autumnal objects onto conkers and then hide them in the house or garden (weather dependent) for them to find and tick off a crib sheet. Counting – Do some learning through play with conkers and numbers. Two examples are: - Draw a tree and for the number that was rolled on the die (or dice) add the corresponding number of conkers to the tree. - Draw a caterpillars head on a piece of paper and pick a number from a tub and then add the corresponding number of conkers to create the caterpillars body. Necklace/Bracelets - Use a screwdriver or drill to make holes in the conkers and then get your little ones to thread the conkers onto some string (we like using pipe cleaners for the bracelets) to convert into jewellery. Caterpillar/Worm – Prep the conkers again by making a hole through them and then thread them onto a pipe cleaner. Stick some goggly eyes on the head and then you could decorate them with some acrylic pens. You could even make a little caterpillar or worm family! Alphabet – To help reinforce letter recognition draw some letters on paper, or mark out on the floor using masking tape, and then using the conkers create the letter shape. Emotions – Use the conkers to create faces expressing different emotions, and then use it as an opportunity to discuss each emotion. Pairs – We found a lot of flat conkers this year and so naturally a game of pairs was the perfect way to use them. Draw some matching pair images on the flat side of each conker, turn them over, mix them up, and let the matching commence. Colours – If your child is learning colours add some colour dot stickers or acrylic pen marks to your conkers. Then either draw a picture for them to match up, or for them to sort into coloured pots, or onto coloured pieces of paper. If you have some empty bottles like milk cartons you could mark them with a coloured pen and then get them to post them into the matching bottle colour. Ramps/Tunnels – Roll the conkers down a ramp or down a cardboard tube. If you don’t have a long one then you could use smaller kitchen rolls and tape them to either a big piece of cardboard, or another appropriate surface like a kitchen cabinet. Mud Kitchen/Water Play – Add the conkers to a water play or mud kitchen set-up for them to scoop, pour and plop around. Decorate – Use some acrylic paint pens and decorate your conkers. Magnetic Tiles – Build different houses out of magnetic tiles for the conkers, ramps for them to roll down or magnetic vehicles for them to go into. Rice Play – Add the conkers to your rice play and move them around with construction vehicles or perhaps make conker and rice cupcakes – delicious! Play-Doh – Incorporate the conkers in your Play-Doh play to make different structures, snails, caterpillars, etc. Small World Play – Include them in your small world play. We found them to be a perfect addition to our fairy house set-up. Painting – Find a cardboard box or tray and place a piece of paper in it and some different dots of paint. Add your conkers and roll them around to create your masterpiece.

For those of you who also have a little one starting primary school in September you may have already got their school uniform and shoes, and with the start of term fast approaching the realities of them heading into school for their first day are probably dawning on you. Big Bee is our eldest and therefore we are soon to be stepping into unchartered territory, but I've been thinking how best we can support her in the lead up to starting in September. I've listed some ideas below and hope that they come in handy for you and your child. Infographic - Some schools may provide parents with a 'transition booklet' for them to share with their child containing information about who their teacher is etc. In addition, you could always create a page with images, lots of colour and short sentences for your child containing details about their new school that you could like to share with the (as shown above), for example the type of food they will eat at lunch, the name of their class, the activities they will do etc. This could open up a conversation about what they are excited, concerned or anxious about. School website - You could show your child the school website and any images of the school or children doing activities on the website. The school may also have a video on there that you could watch with them. Family photos - Do you have a photo of yourself, your partner, any grandparents, uncles or aunts from their first day of school dressed up in their uniform that you could share with your child, and then talk about any positive memories from school e.g. what did you enjoy doing/learning, funny experiences, a teacher who left a lasting impression? Starting school gift - You could purchase a little gift before the big day for them to enjoy when they come back from school e.g. a book, or a Tonies audio character to listen to, or something for them to use at school such as some hair ties. School preparations - Giving your child some control before the big day can aid with the excitement of starting (or so we have found) e.g. picking from a selection of school shoes, trainers, or hair ties. School run - Doing the route to school just before you start in September to help familiarise (if not already) them with the journey could help reduce any pre-school anxiety. Playdates - If some class park dates have not already been organised, do you know any other families starting at the same school/class in September that you could meet up with before term starts? If not, could you ask your nursery or network with neighbours to find some? Nurturing previous relations or meeting new faces before starting the school year could be really beneficial for your child (and you). There is still time! Hug button - We have bought a little wooden disc off Etsy (shown above) inscribed with 'A little pocket hug. Love Mummy and Daddy x' to give to Big Bee on her first day. So if she feels sad, lonely or worried for example, then she can pick it up and rub it to know that we will be hugging her from afar. You can purchase brave buttons too. Books - There are a variety of books on the market that would be ideal to help with the primary school transition. We have picked two for Big Bee to read at bedtime - Tilda Tries Again, Tom Percival and The Colour Monster Goes to School, Anna Llenas. Tilda Tries Again is about a little girl whose life changes and she then finds that she can't do things that she was able to do before the change. She finds that she needs to keep trying in order to do them and not give up. With the big upcoming change for 'big school' and the new skills that Big Bee will be learning, we thought it important to encourage resilience and a 'can do' attitude to new situations. The Colour Monster Goes to School is a fun book and follows a girl and her Colour Monster friend on the first day of school. It goes through things that they will need take with them and what activities they will do at school. It's a positive and easy story to follow with bright illustrations. Role play - You could use little Happyland people, peg dolls, teddies for example to role play with your child different scenarios from school such as, playing on the playground, doing some art, phonics, numbers in the classroom with the teacher, eating lunch etc. Uniform - Show your child their new school uniform and practise trying it on. You could talk about the positives of everyone wearing a school uniform and link it back to what your school uniform looked like when you went to primary school. First day of school sign - This is another item I've purchased off Etsy (shown above). They can be used before each year of school and taking a photo of your child in their uniform with it could become a tradition. I'm hoping Big Bee will really buy into it and get excited to fill in the information on the board with me. Wishing all those families starting reception in September the best of luck. I hope that everyone settles in well and enjoys it.

Need some inspiration on what to buy a 3-year-old for an upcoming birthday party? To save you some time I've put together some ideas of presents that you could gift, or ask for your own toddler's third birthday. Hopefully you will find something that hits the mark for you. Tea set and biscuits - As the photo above would suggest these have been used to host countless tea parties and are a firm favourite. This tea set is from Sass and Belle, but purchased through Amazon and the biscuits were from Rex London. I love these biscuits, because not only do they remind me of the retro biscuits that I used to devour when I was younger, they also have numbers on the back of each biscuit (1-10) to reinforce number recognition. There are different tea sets out there for different needs and budgets, for example this one from George (ASDA), or alternatively opt for a kettle and tea cup set from JoJo Maman Bébé. Dress up clothes - Big Bee's outfits have been purchased from Home Sense, as the one local to us has a good dress up section. But there are currently numerous ones from the ELC, where you can take your pick from being a doctor, fairy, firefighter or pirate to name a few. We've also purchased them as gifts from Amazon and I've seen them in Tu Clothing, Sainsbury's. Kinetic sand - This is as fun for children as it is for adults (well, me anyway!). Big Bee and I were playing with it for ~40 mins the other day and I was served a worm soup...I've seen this being sold in a whole host of places, but we got the 'Sandisfying Set' from Argos. Ladybug memory game - A recent gift and a brilliant game to get the neurons in the brain firing. It has 10 different patterns and makes for some lovely bonding time with your toddler. I'm already looking forward to seeing Big Bee and Little Bee play this together. Binoculars - Not only educational, but also a great way to get a toddler outside and enjoying nature. Big Bee has been enjoying her ones a lot and was only inspecting a leaf with them today, oh and she's partial to some plane spotting with them too. Harmonica - Such and fun and underrated instrument (in my humble opinion!). Big Bee was given this one, and it's had a lot of love. Smoothie maker blender - We have the set from Melissa and Doug, and Big Bee has been busy blending all sorts of wonderful imaginary smoothies - the Happy Land people one bought about some amusement (and concerns! ;) ). Toniebox and audio figures (Tonies) - An audio system where your children can get lost in the world of audiobooks and music. It's on the higher end of the price scale, but certainly worthy of the price tag (in my opinion). The Toniebox comes in a variety of colours and there are numerous of hand painted Tonie characters to chose from e.g. Thomas the Tank Engine, Elsa and Winnie The Pooh. A massive hit in our household. Books - Big Bee is really into the Rachel Bright and Jim Field series that have beautiful illustrations and teach important life lessons like sharing, embracing change and being brave. Orchard Toys games - There are lots of different Orchard games to choose from and they are simple and colourful that are educational too. They are also good fun to play as a family. Reusable sticker pads - Anything that includes stickers and is reusable is sure to go down well with a toddler and the grown-ups. Melissa and Doug have a variety of pads, from habitats to fairies, with different scenes and are available on Amazon. Vet kit - Big Bee was gifted this kit from JoJo Maman Bébé by a family member, and it helps children discover their nurturing side and teaches them empathy towards animals. Lollies/Ice-cream parlour - Wooden toy lollies are another great one for developing creativity and fine motor skills. Le Toy Van sell these ones, and John Lewis stock these. Alternatively, you could purchase a pricier ice-cream stand like this one from GLT, or a cheaper version from Amazon. Both the lollies and ice-cream stand are used daily in our house and if you visit us you're more than likely to be offered at least one helping of something cold, and you're expected to 'lick' it in an animated way! Puzzle - A gift to develop a toddler's fine motor skills, problem solving and hand-eye co-ordination. Ravensburger are great puzzles and there is a wide variety available - Paw Patrol, Peppa, Thomas & Friends , The Gruffalo, Disney Princess etc. Train set - A classic for imagination stimulation and open-ended play - BRIO's railways. You could start their collection with a beginner's set or add to it with individual engines. Two of my current favourites are the farm train that comes with a horse and cow, and the fire and rescue train. Play jewellery - Big Bee all of a suddenly was really into wearing bracelets and necklaces. She was given this set off Amazon and it is rather sweet and charming seeing her load each arm up with 4 bracelets. It's not so charming when Little Bee and Big Bee are in stiff competition for them though! Garden kit - Any excuse to get the little ones out in the fresh air and connecting them with nature is a must. There are lots of different sets available and include all or some of the following - a little watering can, gardening gloves, hand spade, trowel, and rake. Big Bee has been given different items from different places and is a dab hand at watering the plants (very helpful!), but I did see a Briers Kids Toolkit + 3 tools set at the local garden centre yesterday that I thought I would mention. Balance bike - A balance bike can be on the pricer end of the budget and not all children will need to hold out until their 3rd birthday, but they are a good option nonetheless. Big Bee was gifted an ex-demo AIRO Hornit by us and her grandparents. We went with this because it has a lightweight frame, pneumatic tyres to make for a more comfortable ride, a footrest for putting feet on when you're going downhill for example (as to not wear out the shoes), and a cushioned stem cover. Alongside this it also had very good reviews. We found this advice page from Cycle Sprog very useful in helping us make a decision that was best for Big Bee. Janod camera - This camera was a gift from one of Big Bee's friends and it has been an excellent addition to the toy box. Both Big Bee and Little Bee love playing with it and seeing the flash and hearing the sound it makes when a 'photo' is taken. If you gift this then it's sure to be a hit! Playmobil - Anything from Playmobil is a safe bet. We have been given this rocket and astronaut as a gift and also received it, and both my toddlers enjoy flying it in the air. Dolls house - Another one with a higher price point, but worth every penny if you have a larger budget. We gave Big Bee the Le Toy Van bluebird cottage doll's house for Christmas, a short time before her third birthday and both children thoroughly enjoy playing with it. There are different Le Toy Van houses, but this one has got 2 large rooms, and the roof opens up for another room. The door opens and there are shutters and windows that open up too. It's beautifully painted and comes with lots of pieces of furniture. The dolls are sold separately. Craft - You can't go wrong with a craft kit that includes anything like coloured card, glitter glue pens, pom poms and such like. This giant box of craft from Hobbycraft would be just the ticket. Alternatively, I really like using the Little Brian paint sticks as they are much friendlier on the clearing up front. Carnival kit - This carnival set is one of my favourites. You can create lots of different age appropriate games and get the little ones to use their imagination to come up with some different ideas too. It's also great to take some of the bits to to the park with you as a source of entertainment post picnic. I hope that you've found this gift list useful and want to give, or ask for one (or more) of the ideas as a gift. Please let me know if you have any other ideas for a 3-year-old that you would like to share.

Listed below are some of my top toys to buy for a 1-year-old. So, if you are looking for some inspiration for a present for an upcoming first birthday, then hopefully you will find a gift from my guide that you think will be a worthy purchase. Admittedly, Little Bee turned 1 at the beginning of the year but I don’t think it’s ever too late to make a 1st birthday gift list. Personally, I am a fan of presents that children can grow into and that have some longevity. But I also appreciate that it depends on each child, and you have to find the one that will suit them. The list is obviously not exhaustive and there are many present ideas out there (my little ones are incredibly content with some tins of beans and some wooden spoons - if only it were appropriate to gift those!), but these have been favourites in our household. Spinning gears stacking rings - Little Bee was actually given this at Christmas last year, which is only a few days before his birthday. It has been a popular toy and gets used regularly by both Big and Little Bee (I may also have a sneaky play now and again), and it has been enjoyed by their older cousins too. I particularly love watching Little Bee's face when he plays with it and the level of concentration that is involved. You can encourage them to stack the rings based on size or colour. Activity cube shape sorter - You can either purchase an activity cube which includes a shape sorter, or a stand alone shape sorter. They are perfect for developing a whole range of skills - hand-eye coordination, problem-solving and fine motor. You can also discuss shapes and colours to help develop their vocabulary. Kitchen - We bought an IKEA DUKTIG kitchen for Big Bee when she turned 1 and then I spruced it up. I thought that it would be more affordable in the long run, but it turns out that I got a little carried away with the personal touches and let’s just say I conveniently lost track of the costings (sorry darling!). But, firstly Big Bee got a unique kitchen that her mother painstakingly sweated over, and most importantly she has, and continues to have, hours of fun with it. Little Bee is also a huge fan of the kitchen and has been since approx. 13 months old. I would say that to date it is the most played with ‘toy’ we have. Now, I'm not saying that you need to do the same as me (I just clearly had a 'moment') because there are lots of amazing kitchen's out there to chose from - you just need to find one that ticks the boxes for you. You can buy soft fabric fruits, pastries and vegetable from IKEA also. Big Bee's before and after IKEA kitchen Vtech vehicles - These are great and I dare you to not try and get the songs stuck in your head...“I’m a friendly bus, driving all around. Picking up passengers and dropping them in town’. There are many to choose from including a taxi to a helicopter. Little Brian paint sticks - These have been a fantastic addition to our household. What could be more enticing that painting without the usual mess or time spent cleaning all the paint brushes afterwards? Toy hoover - Little Bee was bought this hoover from JL by his Godmother and it’s brilliant. There is regular competition over it, and they love to copy me when I’m hoovering and give a helping hand (I just wish it actually worked for real!). The lights, moving beads and the realistic whirring sound are fun touches and you can change the blue stem for a longer version. Halilit musical instruments - There are different kits available, but you can purchase ‘The Baby’s First Birthday Band’ set that comes with a wave drum, bells, rattle, shaker and maracas. A wonderful gift to encourage creativity, and early music and sensory skills. Bath toys - There are so many different types of bath toys out there that it can be a little overwhelming when coming to pick something (or so I find!). But my favourites have to be this John Lewis bath time slide, any sort of bath mirrors, floating animal squirters (that usually come with a little net), bath books and Munchkin falls cups. The foam bath shapes that stick onto the side of the bath are great too, but maybe something for them to grow into. Baby Einstein musical instruments - We have the piano, drums and guitar, and the guitar seems to be the front runner in our house. Whatever your preference is, the Baby Einstein brand is a well made brand and you can’t go wrong with any of the instruments in my humble opinion. Melissa and Doug sound puzzle - A puzzle with a difference - an opportunity to work on both matching and listening skills. From farm animal sounds to musical instruments, the sounds play when you successfully match the correct piece to its hole. Balance Bike/Tricycle - A first birthday gift guide would not be complete if it didn't have either of these on it. Big Bee was bought a Beehive Toys balance bike and a Scuttlebug Beetle. Little Bee was bought the Little Tikes 4-in-1 My First Trike which has made for some fun trips out and about. Usborne sound book - These have been Little Bee's go to bedtime story book for a long while, and when he picks them I am always rather pleased because they are such wonderful books to read. They bring the different settings to life, with little peep holes, finger trails to explore and simple text to read. We have the jungle and bird sounds books, but there are lots to pick from such as; zoo, seashore, woodland and wild animal sounds. Hanging height chart - We started recording both Bee's height from their first birthday and my mum and dad gave them a personalised one each for their first birthdays. It is a lovely keepsake for them, and something a bit different. They are so beautiful that you can either leave them out hanging up and turn it into a decoration, or store away for when you next want to do a measurement. Train track Brio - Another investment gift for when they are older. Big Bee and Little Bee started their train collection on their respective first birthday's. We are slowly building up quite the set for them to enjoy over the years, and with supervision (currently) we enjoy building the track and creating different storylines. Pull-a-long toys - Hape do lots of different varieties from a snail to a dog. As do Brio with a bumblebee, sausage dog and giraffe to name a few. If you have a larger budget and want something a little different and more personal, then My 1st Years have this beautiful wooden pull-a-long train. Final note: If you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned walkers on here, it’s because when researching first birthday presents for Big Bee I did some on walkers too. There was overwhelming evidence (see references below) to suggest that they can be harmful to a child's safety and development, whereby they lose opportunities to learn important motor and perceptual skills. Therefore, we asked family to steer clear of them. This was obviously our choice, and I recommend you do your own research in order to make an informed decision as to whether you want one for your child or not. References: https://www.shb.scot.nhs.uk/departments/physiotherapy/Myths_About_BabyWalkers.pdf Garrett, M., McElroy, A. And Staines, A (2002) Locomotor milestones and babywalkers: Cross sectional study British Medical Journal Siegel, A. And Burton, R (1999) Effects of Baby Walkers on Motor and Mental Development in Human Infants Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Pediatrics

Planning a children's party is notoriously stressful! If you're stepping into new waters and throwing a large(ish) party with friends and family for your child, then here are the steps I went through recently for the first party we threw Big Bee. The bees, flowers and butterflies are out in force for the spring themed party Big Bee recently turned 3 (sob, sniffle, sob!). We decided to throw her a big party after a non-existent 1st birthday due to the first national Covid-19 lockdown, and then a ‘rule of 6’ outdoors option for her 2nd birthday. I’m sure many of you can relate. Other than planning a family gathering with the cousins for Little Bee's 1st birthday, this is my first larger scale toddler party...I was stepping into unknown territory. So, I picked the brains of some neighbours and family with older children, in order to get the lay of the land with expectations for little people's birthday bashes. Hopefully this blog will help those venturing into new seas like me. Here is a little overview of all the steps I took in preparing for the party: Booked the venue, entertainment and cake (if you are outsourcing) Decided on the theme Designed and sent out save the dates (Canva is great for this) I was asked from birthday present ideas from different people, so for ease I created an Amazon gift list to share with them. Designed and sent out the invitations a few weeks before the day (remember to specify a RSVP deadline) Purchased party bags and contents approx. 4/5 items, plus some treats which are up to your discretion and budget. Plan decorations - bunting, balloons etc. Finalised the guest list Planned and ordered the food and drink Remembered to pack a speaker for background music before the entertainer started and for when eating. Also packed up a camera, and some candles and matches for the cake! Made the food and prepared the adults drink station Enjoyed the party and got some photos Said yes to anyone who offered to help tidy/wash up Afterwards: put my feet up, drank a large glass of wine and basked in the glory of having survived a toddler's party :) Created a thank-you video, took photos of Big Bee opening/playing with her gift(s), or created cards to send to the family and friends. So, first thing first was to book the things that require advanced booking - venues, entertainment and cake. I heard whispers that these were booking up months in advance locally, so to avoid any disappointment and stress I booked the aforementioned in good time. It was then onto planning a theme - Big Bee was really into bees and butterflies at the time and as her birthday is in spring it seemed very apt. It was then onto sending out some save the dates because our family and friends have very active social lives. I used Canva to create a spring like theme design and then used a similar design for the invitation and other additional bits that I created for the party too. We booked a 1 hour premium little stars package with Captain Fantastic (who in our opinion were just this!) and arranged for them to start 15 minutes after everyone arrived to allow for any people who were delayed. We also had a chat with the entertainer before the day to discuss the morning and ask any questions I had and vice versa. We sent the invitation out about a month before the day and included the following details: - date, time, venue, and an RSVP deadline. I also specified that an entertainer was coming in the hope that people would attend promptly. We decided to go with a morning party as we find that our little ones are a little bit more chipper then compared to the afternoon, and we specified 2 hours as we felt that this was ample time for our toddlers. We carried the theme through to the cake and asked for spring with a white picket fence. It was a tall 7" one which is supposed to feed 16-20 people approximately, but we cut the slices in half as they were very large and found that we could do double this easily. Such an amazing piece of art, and yes, it was painful having to cut into it! (Baked by and image from Olli's Cakes) We couldn't not do party bags (there is something a little nostalgic about seeing children peer inside with excited anticipation, and then delve in as though they are going to rip the bag open) and purchased some from ASDA, and personalised them with a sticker that I designed and had printed through a store on Etsy. We added some little chocolate nibbles, cake wrapped in a napkin and things like bubbles, wall climber, colouring book, bouncy ball and stickers etc. For the babes in arms I bought a set of mini hardback books and then divided them up so that they had two each. Tied them up with some ribbon and attached one of Big Bee's personalised stickers. The design I created for Big Bee's stickers to go on the party bags For the party lunch we purchased some little cartons of orange and apple juice, had water and squash on offer too. For the adults we had tea, coffee, plain and fizzy water, squash and elderflower cordial. For the children's lunch we did platters of carrots, cucumber and peppers and bowls of grapes. We then had a variety of sandwiches - egg mayo, ham, cheese and avocado. We also catered for those with dietary requirements. I always want to eat when the children do, so in case I was not the only one we provided nibbles for the parents too (turns out I was in good company!). Pudding for all included some cupcakes, flapjacks and cookies. On the day we ensured that we allowed enough time to set-up the furniture, finalise the food, lay the tables, hang decorations and blow up balloons. We also displayed the balloon column we had made locally. Plan for everything to take longer than you think it will take as to try and minimise the stress. Party table ready with Big Bees spring balloons Now for the aftermath...tip number one, put your feet up and drink a glass of whatever tickles your fancy! Tip number two (suggested by an experienced friend) create a little 'thank-you' video that can we sent to the people who gave gifts. We did this with Big Bee and then I sent a photo of her opening or enjoying her new gift to make it more personalised. We continued to send cards to family and elderly friends, but now that Big Bee is old enough she designed the cards all by herself. Some other ideas given to me that I liked, but will keep up my sleeve for the next party are: - hot dogs for the children - sausage rolls and a glass of bubbles for the parents - books or seeds for the children as a form of party bag Happy planning your end!

It's that time of year for many families with 3-4 year olds in the UK...the primary school decision. If you are in an area where there are a choice of schools to look at then you may have already visited one of their open days, or are planning on visiting. For us, this is our first time being in this position with Big Bee and it feels like such a huge decision and responsibility. Selecting the best school for your child based on a relatively quick drop in is no easy feat! Before our first school viewing I suddenly realised I hadn't given much thought on what to look out for, or the questions to ask. Below I am sharing the list of things that I have been considering just in case it is of any use to anyone else. Big Bee rocking her leaf crown...and why not! Before your visit: Speak to local parents/neighbours and hear their opinion of the schools. What are their experiences? Their main pros and cons? Understandably different families may have different priorities to you, but it can be beneficial to hear their thoughts. Do you know any teachers who work there? Are the teachers happy? Read the Ofsted report and look at the school's website. What to notice on the tour: What was the welcome to the school like? How many children are in a class? Are there any teaching assistants supporting? Is there recent artwork decorating the walls? Are they celebrating all children's work? (i.e. not just the work that is perceived to be 'perfect') Do the children appear to be happy learning? Does the teacher seem happy and relaxed? Welcoming? (Although I fully appreciate that we all have our bad days!) How are the teachers interacting with the pupils? Does the school look tidy? What is the building like? What is the outdoor space like? Questions to ask on the tour/the Headteacher: (N.B. Does the headteacher come across as a good leader?) How long has the headteacher been there? What is their vision for the school? How are new children settled into the school? How does the school communicate with the parents? How are parents involved in school life? What food is on the menu for lunch? Are there after-school clubs on offer? Breakfast club? How do they deal with bullying? What is the staff turnover like? If I have any concerns who do I liaise with? How is the outdoor space divided up? What support is offered to low and high achievers? How many SENCOs (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) are at the school? Ultimately, you need to make the best decision for your child and not be influenced by other people. The main question I have been asking myself whilst walking around the schools we have visited is "Can I see Big Bee here?", and for us this has been the most powerful question in our decision making. Wishing you all the best on your decision making process and for your application.

With Summer having arrived with a 'bang' recently I thought a post on beach games and activities to do with the kids was rather apt. We've just come back from the coast and spent much time building sandcastles and forts, so if you are heading off to the seaside then hopefully some of my other suggestions below will come in use. Collecting treasure (loose parts) with buckets - What sorts of treasures can you find on the beach - shells, rocks, sticks, feathers etc. When you've finished collecting you could encourage creativity by asking questions like "What is your most precious treasure?", "Why is this your most valuable treasure?", ""How much would it cost to buy your treasure?", "What do you use this treasure for?" etc. If you come across any plastic on the beach this would be a good opportunity to discuss the impact this has on the environment and animals, and discuss how we can reduce this. In the spirit of this, I would also recommend these books 'Clean Up!' and 'Somebody Swallowed Stanley' that introduce plastic pollution in the sea to young children. Sand people - Using sticks/shells/pebbles/rocks/seaweed etc. make your family into sand people. Become a mermaid/merman - A classic for the beach, and one that is guaranteed to get some smiles. You can then decorate with shells and other treasures found on the beach. Our little mermaid Musical towels - Clear the lungs and sing some of your children's favourite songs whilst they dance around a beach towel. The last one to sit when the music stops is out. If you are at the beach with a big group then use more towels (one less than the number of kids) and just remove a towel after each round. Scavenger hunt - You could prepare a list before you head to the beach to include items like umbrella, windbreak, seaweed, beach ball, kite etc. or you could create a list with drawings in the sand and then work together to tick off the items. Letter/numbers practise in the sand - Where is better to incorporate some fun letter recognition and mark making? When they identify the letter then could then jump on it and rub it out with their feet. Writing letters with stones Hopscotch - Draw out the frame into the sand and locate a rock to use. It's a great one for pre-schoolers to develop hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills. It also supports number recognition and counting. Relay race - Place the buckets whatever distance you want to run from the sea. Each team has a cup and has to run to the sea, fill up their cup with water, and then run back to the bucket to fill it up. The first team to fill up the bucket wins. Shell shop - Go hunting for the best shells to set-up a shell shop, and then let their imaginations take over. The shell shop trading Wave chasing - Run in and out with the tide, but who can stay dry the longest? Concentric circles - Draw a large circle and allocate it a number of points, then draw a smaller one inside it with more points, and keep going until you draw the smallest circle with the most points in it. Then take it in turns to throw either a shell/rock/ball into one of the circles. The person with the most points wins. Fly a kite - One of my favourite things to do on the beach with the children. We had a kite with tassels on it and they loved chasing them in the wind and running through them when it was at their level. Not only fun to fly, but also a perfect shadow chasing game! Chasing shadows instead of waterfalls :) Shadows - Whilst on the theme of shadows, an alternative game would be to try and step on each other's shadows. Frisbee - Either play between two people, make targets using things like towels and bags, or draw targets into the sand and allocate points if you hit them. Sand moulds - Take some different shaped moulds e.g. turtle, shell, crab, and then make up some stories that involve them and/or smash them up. Pebble throwing - A simple, but fun activity. Can you skim it? How far can you get it? Can you make the biggest 'plop'/splash? Pebble throwing Burying/digging up treasure - Turn full pirate and bury and/or dig up your precious treasures. Football - Make goals with bags/towels, or draw them onto the sand and enjoy a good kick about. Sticky catch pad and ball game - This game conjures up many memories from my childhood in the garden and on the beach, and we recently played it with the children and it was a big hit! Construction work - Take some toy diggers and get creative with rocks and shells to make roads. You could also add sandcastles along the roads and enjoy smashing them up during the demolition stage. Construction of a new town in the early stages Read some beach themed books - Take your favourite beach themed books to the beach for some chilled reading time. Tic-tac-toe - You could either play by marking the sand or use shells and rocks. Bubble wands - Wind and bubbles what could be more fun? Holes - Make it a game to see how deep you can dig the hole and then climb on into it to cool the legs off! Having a casual chat whilst buried in the sand! For any seasoned beach goers out there I would love to hear if I've missed anything that you think should make the list. Enjoy your visit to the beach!

For anyone wanting some reassurance and tips and tricks when it comes to training the toddlers in the loo/potty department. Writing has taken a back foot of late, because as well as dealing with the Easter festivities we have also been tackling potty training in our house. Or rather ‘loo training’. After a false start last spring (I mistakenly thought Big Bee was ready and I think there was some parental pressure and self induced anxiety at play), we knew that it was time as her nappies were remaining dry for 2 hours or more, she was able to pull her trousers off and she could now communicate verbally about her body sensations. A wee with a view Whilst I felt trepidation about tackling it all over again, I knew that she was ready so I just had to stuck it up and get on with it. Other parents had survived it, so could I! We decided to skip the potty stage as she was a little older, and we thought that we would just be creating another stage in doing so. We blocked off a week in the diary to ensure we could focus solely on it and we spoke a lot about the upcoming training with Big Bee. Whenever I would use the loo I would talk through the process too, so that she was familiar with it and she would would watch in fascination. We also picked a Peppa Pig themed loo seat for a Peppa Pig fan so that we could talk about going to see Peppa when we needed a wee/poo, and involved her in the process of picking her new knickers. We regularly talk about the different characters and animals on them. We started bare-bottomed and it wasn’t particularly warm when we started, so we layered up on the top and added long socks. A friend mentioned cutting some old leggings to create leg warmers which I thought was a good idea, but Big Bee seemed pretty content with her long socks. We had lots of new toys and activities to keep us occupied for the week - the mid-morning discos went down a treat! On day 1 Big Bee had 2 successful wees on the loo and they happened at the end of the day. Day 2 was a bare-bottomed day and she had a 100% success rate. On day 3 I introduced knickers (based on recommendations) and we had some accidents, and when I researched into it I came to understand that muscle memory was at play, and that there was some unlearning to do. So, for the rest of day 3 and 4 we went back to being bare-bottomed and we went back to having successful wees and poos on the loo. Knickers were then introduced on day 5 with success and then on day 6 she asked for her trousers, and they were introduced successfully. For the day naps we decided to leave off the nappies, as it made it much easier for her to understand that day time was for knickers and night time was for nappies. We have chosen to do night-time training when Big Bee is older as when researching she will not, at her age, be physiologically developed for reasons to do with bladder capacity, vasopressin secretion and sleep arousability . Peppa Pig making an appearance in our bathroom! I know that it's a huge achievement for children when they complete this stage, but oh my word, it has felt like such a big milestone for us too. Although it was exhausting and by no means easy, I weirdly enjoyed the uninterrupted time with both Big Bee and Little Bee and being completely present with no other commitments booked in and having to dash out the door to be here, there and everywhere. Below I have documented my top learnings from our 'loo training' experience, but fundamentally I feel that the most important thing for your child (and you) is to be consistent in your approach. If your child has successfully dropped the nappies during the day, then try not to revert back to them when it's of convenience to adults e.g. child care or travelling. This can understandably send mixed messages and be confusing. You may have a few extra accidents to clear up, but it will be worth it in the long run. You've got this! So, here are my 'Top Tips' before you embark on the same journey: Read a recommended book on potty training to equip yourself with knowledge and prepare practically. I read ‘The Gentle Potty Training Book’ by Sarah Ockwell-Smith, as suggested by a friend. My biggest tip is to block out a chunk of time in the diary (I would personally recommend a week to take the pressure off). Ideally for the week after don't travel too far away from home. Read books as a family to introduce the concept of potty training to your little one e.g. No More Nappies Involve your little one in the process of buying some new pants (buy lots!). We found the M&S ones to be good value for money and quality, but Big Bee picked some Peppa Pig ones from Next that she loves too. Purchase some puppy mats and towels for the sofa and carpet. If you are travelling not long after completing potty training then I would recommend some absorbent car seat protectors for your child's car seat. Make sure that you have some spare waterproof mattresses for the day naps. We purchased a travel potty, the penguin 'My Carry Potty', to have on hand for trips to the park and shops etc. But we also have a Potette plus 2-in-1 compact travel potty that doubles up as a potty and seat for the loo. Get yourself a cartoon character loo seat and step for the bathroom. It really helped with encouraging Big Bee to go to the loo to see Peppa (in our instance), and the step helps with reaching the loo and the sink when washing hands. The first couple of days can be rather intense and you want to be able to give them your undivided attention. If you have another little one in tow, I would recommend having some back-up to support you if possible. You're likely to be at home for some time, so I would have some fun activities to do during the first few days or have some new toys on hand. We set out not wanting to do a reward chart with Big Bee, but as we were struggling to get her to engage at first we resorted to using stickers as a reward. I quickly whipped up a personalised chart and a bag of stickers (including some new fancy Peppa Pig stickers) and 'hey presto' it worked a treat. So, after being initially hesitant in using them, I now feel that they have a place if they work for your circumstances. Purchase some long socks to keep their legs warm or buy some cheap leggings that you don't mind turning into leg warmers. Have some books by the loo when it comes to poo o'clock. If you don't have them already, some garden clogs work a treat for wearing in the garden because if they get wet then they can be rinsed and worn straight after. Next do a wide variety of them at an affordable price.

Kitchen roll - readily available at home and reasonably affordable, so what could be more perfect than to use it for a science experiment, crafting, magic and fun? Here are some paper towel activities that the kids have been doing recently and really enjoyed, so I thought it was worth sharing with you all. 1. Colourful caterpillars: x3 of our colourful caterpillars You'll need: - A piece of kitchen roll paper for each caterpillar - Felt tip pens - Pencil - Large dish - Pipettes - Water Steps: - Have your child(ren) draw a design on the piece of paper. - Roll it around a pencil and scrunch it up (the 'scrunchier' the better). - Remove the pencil by sliding it out. - Place your caterpillar(s) in a dish next to one another with space between. - Using a pipette add droplets of water onto the caterpillar (one at a time is best) and watch it wiggle and squirm. 2. Grow a Rainbow: The steps to growing our kitchen paper roll rainbow You'll need: - A piece of kitchen roll paper cut length ways - x2 glasses with water in the bottom - Felt tip pens Steps: - On each end of the piece of kitchen roll paper draw the rainbow in blocks of colour next to each other - purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Make sure to use lots of ink and try and line up the colours either side. - Place the glasses with the water in them next to one another. - Tell your child(ren) that you are going to put each end of the paper in the glasses of water. You could ask - What do you think will happen to the water? What do you think will happen to the ink? - Then place each rainbow end into the water. Ensure you don't fully submerge the whole rainbow into the water, otherwise it will wash out into the water. We had just under half of the rainbow in the water. - Then watch the colours move up the paper to create the rainbow. It won't happen immediately. Ours took about ~10-15 minutes. Times will vary depending on the absorbency of your paper. - Whilst watching you could ask - What do you notice? You can talk about how the water is absorbed through the kitchen roll and drawn up by a process called capillary action. It's never too early to learn scientific words! - Relating it to real life - You could also give a real life example of capillary action in nature, as it's the way that plants bring up water through the roots and stem to the branches and leaves. It is also important for moving water in and out of the cells in our bodies! 3. Rainbow Artwork: Creating our rainbow artwork You'll need: - Kitchen roll sheets - Felt tip pens - A dish of water - Pipette - Glue stick - Scissors - Card Steps: - Decorate a piece of kitchen roll paper with felt tip pens (we did x3 pieces). - Using a pipette add drops of water to the paper and enjoy watching the colours spread. - Let the paper dry. - Then cut out the shapes that you want to create your artwork. - Stick the shapes onto card and display. Or you could use your artwork as a storyboard. 4. Drawing Magic Trick: Some of our magic trick art You'll need: - x1 piece of kitchen roll paper for each magic trick - Felt tip pens - Dish/tray - Water Steps: - This one requires a little bit of prep depending on how many magic tricks you want to perform. - Fold the piece of paper in half and position it so that you could open it like a book. - On the front of the paper draw what you want your child(ren) to see initially with the felt tip pen. Press hard so that it goes through underneath. - Open the paper and draw over the outline of what was drawn on the front. Then colour it in and add anything else that you want to appear once it is wet. - For example, you may want to draw the outline of a flower and then on the inside colour in the petals so when wet it shows a colourful flower. Alternatively, you could do what I did above and draw the outline of one object and then when wet it will reveal a picture with lots of different objects and colours. - Once you are ready to perform the trick, fill up a dish or tray with a small amount of water (just covering the surface area) and gently place the paper in the water. - Warning: it is highly likely that your child(ren) will want to see more than one trick! 5. Dancing Paper: Our two little people having an afternoon boogie You'll need: - Kitchen roll paper - Scissors - Cellotape - Balloon Steps: - This will work best if the paper is really thin (with the paper that we were using you could tease apart the two layers on a sheet to make a thinner piece). - Cut out a shape in the kitchen paper of whatever it is that you would like to dance - a person, butterfly, ghost etc. - Cellotape the bottom of the shape to the table. - Rub a balloon on hair or a jumper to make it static, and then hold it above the paper to lift it off the table. Moving the balloon will lead to the shapes moving too.

When our eldest started showing an interest in letters we seized the opportunity to gently encourage letter recognition and lowercase sounds through a variety of playful activities. Although I appreciate she is going to be learning phonics from a professional when she starts reception this year (cue the uncontrollable sobbing coming from the grown adult!) we didn't want to simply ignore her interest. There are endless opportunities to incorporate it in play, but below I have documented some of ways we have experimented at home. Hopefully, you will find some of them useful for your child(ren). Understandably, recognising letters is a fundamental part of learning how to read. So, on our journey to help Big Bee learn the alphabet in general we first started with teaching her the letters of her name, because we knew that would hold a lot of value for her. This then lead onto her wanting to know the letters in her brother's name, mine and her daddy's. As mentioned in the blog post 'THE BEST WAYS TO PREPARE YOUR CHILD FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL - INTERVIEW WITH TEACHER, LUCY OLDMAN' - "By the time a child starts in Reception I would expect the majority of children to be recognising their name and be able to make some attempts at writing it." Naturally, we have then introduced the other letters in the alphabet. We have focused out attention on the lower case letters because most letters in written words are lowercase, not uppercase, and therefore the visual recognition of lowercase letters will be more useful. However, we have taught her to recognise the uppercase for the first letter in her name. With the different letter activities we have done my main emphasis has been on making it enjoyable through play and exploration. It's all on her terms, because learning HAS to be fun! So, here is what we have been up to: Object hunt - A game focusing on the sounds of lowercase letters, and involves finding different items from their toy collection/around the house that begin with a chosen letter. For example, 't' for train, tiger, troll, toast, tomato. Hunting for letters beginning with s, d and c Letters in the everyday - Encouraging your child to spot different letters on containers, packaging, boxes, road signs, shop fronts, car number plates for example. You could also adapt a game of I-spy to be about letters when on a walk. Roll and dab - I stuck white stickers and wrote the letters that we were focusing on onto each side of the dice. I then wrote these letters randomly on a piece of cereal cardboard. Big Bee then had to roll the dice, find the matching letter, and mark it with the paint. Rolling the dice and then finding the letter to dab with paint Mark making - Using a tray filled with either salt, flour, sand or shaving foam your child can practise making letters with their index finger. A great one for developing fine motor skills and getting a little messy. Alternatively, you could mark out letters and they have to rub out the letters (you could use a paintbrush if you have one to hand) that you give the sounds for, or that they have to recognise from a flashcard, magnetic/foam/resin letter. Alphabet post box - This was a big hit with both Bees! Using a recycled tub or cardboard box, cut a hole in the lid and add a simple decoration on the outside if you wish. Then by either making the letter sounds or presenting a letter on a flashcard, they have to find the matching letter and post it in the post box. Letter posting Matching up - A simple activity of matching the magnet/foam letters to the letters on the paper. If you felt that your child was able to, you could also do this where they match the lowercase letter to the uppercase letter. I have created a free simple letter matching sheet that you can print off to use (as shown in the image below), which can be found in the Resource Library. In the document is also a sheet with letters in hives, and on the next sheet are some bees that you can cut out and place on the hive when you have found the letter. Lucky dip and stick - With the magnetic, foam or resin letters in a box or sack your child can pull out a letter. They then have to find this letter on a piece of paper/card with all the letters of the alphabet on and cover it with a sticker. Matching letters up Puzzles - We have an alphabet Melissa and Doug puzzle that we bought where you have to match up the letters to a picture of something beginning with that letter. Although there are a couple of American objects, I like how both the lowercase and uppercase letters are shown (for when that becomes relevant) and it's nice to have a different resource to add variety. Bee and hive activity - You can print off the 'Letter Matching' document in the Resource Library and on page 2-3 (titled Letter Recognition) you will see some hives with a-z written on each one, and a page of bees that need to be cut out. You can then make the letter sounds of each letter e.g. ah for Annie Apple, b for Bouncing Ben, k for Clever Cat, and when your child matches the sound to the correct letter then they place a bee on the hive. Can they fill all of the letter hives? Books - Books are a wonderful tool for pretty much everything and there are lots on the market for introducing the alphabet. We have an old version of 'ABC Letterland' that I picked up at a jumble sale and I remember reading it when I was a child - A for Annie Apple, B for Bouncing Ben, C for Clever Cat and so on. Needless to say Big Bee is a big fan of it and the colourful illustrations are beautiful and captivating. Not only this, but if you read to your children day-to-day they will come to recognise that the print in the story contains letters, and you can begin to point out certain letters that you may have been learning about that day. Alphabet puzzles Playdoh smash - If your children love Play-doh as much as mine do then this will no doubt go down well with your little ones. You just need something to smash the Play-doh e.g. a wooden mallet. We then put balls of Play-doh next to different letter magnets and Big Bee had to either smash the correct ball based on the letter sound I made, or if recognising a letter when I showed it to her on a flashcard. Letter tracing - You can either write out the letters on paper, or mark them out with masking tape on the floor and have your child follow the shape of the letters with anything for example, pom poms, buttons, beads, gems or conkers. Tracing letters with buttons Bubble wrap popping - Using a black marker pen write the letters on the bubble wrap, and once they have found the letter that they need to find they then pop the bubble. We found that the bigger the bubble wrap, the more fun! Sounds of fruit and vegetables - Something a little different - Big Bee had to find the piece of fruit or vegetable that I had made the first letter sound for. We then matched the correct foam letter to each. It was a great opportunity to talk about each vegetable and fruit too, and how they are good for us. Spotting the 'b' for butternut squash Dot stickers - A fun game of find and stick. Write some letters on a piece of paper or card, and then the same letters on numerous dot stickers. Your child then has to peel off the stickers and match them to the same letter. A good activity when teaching your child the letters in their name and for fine motor development. 'Splat' - We placed foam letters on the grass in the garden and we played two versions of this game. 1) Big Bee had to 'splat' (with the fly swat) the letters of the sounds that I was making. 2) She had to do a lucky dip and pull out a foam letter from a bag and then find the matching letter on the grass and 'splat' it. These foam letters are also great fun to play with in the bath. Letter 'splat' Counters - Big Bee is a fan of technology, so I decided to make her some different pages with items beginning with each letter of the alphabet mixed with some items that didn't begin with that letter. She had to then use our counters and place them on the items that began with the letter by sounding out the words. She really enjoyed this activity and became more confident as it went on. I have uploaded the document for all 26 letters of the alphabet onto the Resource Library for subscribers to access for free. Paint tracing - Draw a letter on a piece of paper and then using a paint dabber your child can trace it with a paint dabber. This will encourage recognition and fine motor skills. Placing counters on the items beginning with 't' Salt painting - Using some PVA glue you can write lowercase letters and something beginning with that letter on cardboard. Then sprinkle some table salt over it and leave it to dry. Liquid watercolours are best for this, but we didn't have any so we just had to make sure that we used enough water with our palette watercolours. Make sure to gently apply the colour to the salt and watch it spread. You could also use pipettes and food colouring/water mix. A fun and different medium to paint on. Letter salt painting Magnetic sensory bin - Create a sensory bin with anything from rice, sand to cereals in it and scattered magnetic letters in it to fish out with a fishing rod. You could use a chalkboard for them to match the letters in a word like in the image below, or you could use flashcards for individual letters or all the letters in the alphabet written out. Alternatively, they might have to match lowercase letters with uppercase letters (if you are at that stage). There are many different options to explore! Magnetic letter fishing Play-doh stamping - We used our homemade Play-doh for this activity as we found it smoother to imprint, and after finding that our letter stamps didn't leave very good marks we opted for our magnets instead. Big Bee would ask for words she wanted and then copy the letters onto the Play-doh. Play-doh stamping Alphablocks - A children's TV programme on BBC iplayer under the 'Love to Learn' section. Described as "a show that’s helped millions of children learn to read through adventures, songs and laughter. It’s a ton of fun with letters and words – all built on a firm foundation of key phonics skills". Letter treasure hunt - Hide some foam letters around the garden or a room in your house, and let your child go on the hunt to find them and sound out the letter when they have found it. To subscribe please sign up on the 'Home page', and to access any of the free resources mentioned above then you can click the button below to go straight to the 'Resource Library'.

Even though the Christmas decorations are up and we've been playing Christmas music on repeat, I still can't quite get my head around the fact that the first week of December is almost over! It could be due to the fact we have contracted enough viruses this autumn/winter to write a short novel about it, and therefore I feel completely on the back foot! One year I will feel as though it hasn't just been sprung upon me, and I'll be prepared. Possibly when we have developed immune systems on par with ostriches (who have the best)..interesting fact for you there. Following on from my last post, I wanted to share some of the Christmas activities we enjoy doing as a family, or ones that are on our list to try out. I hope that you find some things that you will enjoy doing with your children this time of year. Make a bird feeder - Food is harder for birds to come by on winter, and with needing to maintain their fat reserves to survive the cold nights they will definitely appreciate some food. So why not make a DIY bird feeder out of a orange peel, apple, pine cones, plastic bottle for example. It’s a great way for your child to take an interest in caring for nature. You’ll also be able to monitor you feeder together to see what birds you’re attracting - noticing their coloured features, and any noises they make. You can take photos of the birds and then create another activity whereby you try to identify them from a book one on a website. Christmas light painting - Lay out some craft paper and draw a string of Christmas lights with sockets along it using a black Sharpie or black paint stick. Then let your children add the different coloured lights either using their finger or potato stamps where the sockets are. Pom Pom straw blowing game - You'll need some cardboard, a Sharpie, coloured pom poms, a straw, and some coloured felt tips/wax crayons. Draw the outline of a Christmas scene on the cardboard using the Sharpie, for example: - A tree: Add some holes for where the lights will go and the draw a colour around the hole. Then find matching pom poms to these colours and your child then has to blow (using a straw) the right coloured pom pom into the matching hole. This is great for reinforcing colour recognition. Or, just use a yellow pom pom to act as a star, and make a hole at the top of the tree. - Santa: Make a hole where his mouth is and then you have to blow the brown pom pom (mince pie) into his mouth. You could time 1 minute and see how many pom poms your child could blow in his mouth in that time. - Rudolph: Blow a red pom pom into the hole where the reindeer's nose is. Photoshoot - If you’re as obsessed as I am with documenting precious moments with your little ones, then this is for you! You can’t beat a little festive photoshoot in front of the tree. If they are open to dressing up or wearing Christmas hats/hair bands then that adds to the festivities. Christmas cards - Make some Christmas cards for close family and friends. You could use some paint, stickers or sparkles, or make it more personalised with some footprints/ handprints that have been changed into Santa, snowmen, angel, or reindeer for example. Below is a photo of some of the Christmas cards I’ve made with the Bees for inspiration. The Bee's cards over the years Bake Christmas cookies - Sure to be a fun, messy and delicious activity. Make sure you have a selection of Christmas cookie cutters and find a recipe that tickles your fancy. We love this simple vegan recipe that was recommended by a friend, and then we add some little chocolate drops. Well, the chocolate drops that make it past the creation phase! Watch a Christmas movie - Pick an age appropriate movie for your little ones and then pop on some Christmas PJs whilst enjoying some babycinnos/hot chocolates (and maybe some of those Christmas cookies) together. Snuggling under a toastie blanket tops it off nicely. Acts of kindness - A perfect way to role model giving back to others. Examples could be writing a thank you card for the postman or bin men, write a kindness stone and leave it in the park for someone to find, collect litter locally, offer to run an errand for a neighbour or friend, or a charity donation (food bank, toys to a hospital or charity shop, pet shelter). Buy a yearly decoration - This is something that we have started this year in our household. I took both Bees shopping to Home Sense to purchase a tree decoration each. They could pick whatever decoration they wanted (because they were all reasonable priced!). They absolutely loved this little outing (much more than I expected them to) and they were so excited to add it to the tree this weekend just gone. Big Bee picked a colourful bird and Little Bee and Koala wearing a Santa's hat. I'm going to label them with their name and year and then when they are older they will be able to see what their tastes were like/what they were into at that age. They will also have some decorations to start off their first tree as adults or potentially pass down to their own children. Decorations galore! Christmas gratitudes - As a family discuss and write down what you are each grateful for/what makes you happy. You could store them away for next year and enjoy reading them in December 2023. I'm sure when your children are older they will enjoy hearing what they came up with, especially in their earlier years. Exercise plan for Father Christmas - Big Bee is currently really into creating little exercises for us to do using our mats and her carnival kit (mentioned here in THE 3RD BIRTHDAY GIFT GUIDE THAT YOU NEED TO READ). You could come up with a family Christmas special and recommend it’s sent to Santa before he starts squeezing down those chimneys. Play a game or do a puzzle - Get your favourite games (we are big fans of the Orchard ones) and puzzles out, and have an afternoon playing together under the Christmas tree. Christmas colouring - The Bees designed some Christmas colouring sheets that they wanted to colour in this year. I have uploaded the x5 different designs that we created on the resource library for others to download for FREE, print and enjoy too. Head of the Hive Christmas colouring sheets - FREE to download! Salt dough decorations - Capture the size of you child’s hand, fingerprints, or their artistic abilities with some home made salt dough decorations. Add some festive ribbon and enjoy each year for years to come! Snowflake number recognition - Create some scenes on paper, card or cardboard that could incorporate some snowflake stickers (I purchased mine from The Range) e.g. a snowman, a pair of mittens, a dress, a Christmas tree, a gingerbread house. Then using some dice, roll them and add the number shown onto the scene in question. Sound out the number and extend the play/learning further and draw out the number to encourage number recognition. Make a Christingle - A way to do some crafting and incorporate the meaning behind the festive season. The Christingle represents God's light and love for everyone. You will need an orange, (birthday) candle, foil, ribbon to go around the middle of the orange, x4 cocktail sticks with the sharp bits cut off, dried fruits or jelly sweets. Magnetic tile tree puzzle - Magnetic tiles are all the rage in our household and the creations that Little Bee comes up with are rather impressive! If you have these at home too then you could create an outline of a Christmas tree, base and some presents using masking tape on the floor. Then ask the children if they can fill the shapes with the magnetic tiles. A great problem solving task! O (magnetic) Christmas tree, O (magnetic) Christmas tree... Make a Father Christmas or snowman - Make Father Christmas' beard or a snowman’s body using either cotton wool or foam styrene that you get in packaging. You’ll need to draw the outline of each on some card, use PVA glue, and either crayons or paint to add extra detail. Christmas stories - Snuggle up under a blanket again next to the tree and read some Christmas stories, such as The Jolly Christmas Postman, The Snowman or a nativity story. I would love to hear what your favourite Christmas stories are to read together. Make a wreath - Create an arts and crafts family wreath with festive colours. You could do hand prints, finger painting or freestyle and add stickers. Bake a birthday cake for baby Jesus - This is something I plan to do with the children this year. We have family staying on the 24th, so it will be a perfect opportunity to tie in the meaning of the festivities and enjoying their creation with family. Paper plate bauble - This is a simple and fun craft. You’ll need a paper plate, some paint and decorative bits e.g. festive stickers, glitter tubes, sprinkles, card, wool and glue. Once the plates have been decorated then add a rectangle at the top with some string or wool as a loop and either add them to the tree or decorate the house with them. Our paper plate baubles in all their glory! Nativity story stones - You could use some acrylic paints and paint the nativity scene on stones and then act it out with them, or using stones create the shape of Mary for example and tell the story. Pottery painting - Visit and support a local pottery café, and paint a festive themed object. Otherwise, places like Hobbycraft have a range of ceramic designs you could take home to paint. Make a key for Santa - If your house doesn't have a chimney then this would be a lovely activity to do together in preparation for Santa's visit. You could create it out of some cardboard and decorate it, write a message and then leave it outside the house on Christmas Eve. Christmas stamping - A really simple, but effective activity for little people. I picked up some Christmas stamps from The Works, but I've seen them in Hobbycraft and The Range too. You could make Christmas cards with them, or just create some artwork on paper to hang up and enjoy. Pom pom painting - Cut out some festive shapes such as snowmen, Father Christmas, holly etc. and loosely secure onto some paper. I've added the document that I created into the resource library for you to download for FREE. Then using a pom pom and a peg, paint around the outline and remove them at the end to reveal your Christmassy painting. Festive Pom Pom painting in progress Shopping - Take your little one out shopping to pick up either a present for Mummy, Daddy, teacher, grandparent or sibling. Take it home to wrap together and enjoy watching them gift the present that they selected. Paper chain decorations - You could either use some festive paper (from Hobbycraft, The Works, The Range for example) or make some of your own with Christmas stamps, and then use it as an opportunity for little ones to practise their cutting skills and then glue together (recommend using glue dots) to make the chain. Alternatively, you could purchase the ones that are pre-cut and have adhesive already added. Make a snowflake - You could create a snowflake from some lolly sticks glued together and then decorate with paint, glitter and gems, or alternatively you could draw the outline of a snowflake and then use bits of blue and white card, tissue paper, glue, glitter etc. for them to apply onto the lines. Letter to Father Christmas - No list would be complete without this! We are yet to start writing letters to Santa, but there seem to be many templates online to print out or you could create your own. A friend has also recommended 'Polar Post'. Make an advent calendar - I appreciate the 1st December has past now, but you could play catch-up, or make something for next year and be VERY organised! Last year I made a tree template with numbers on and then Big Bee added a pom-pom each day to represent the baubles. You could make a Father Christmas template and add a ball of cotton wool for each day to build up his beard. This year I made a nativity calendar to teach the meaning of Christmas and reinforce number recognition/matching. The template for the nativity scene advent is in the Resource Library to download for subscribers to Head of the Hive. Or why not check out how I made it on Instagram. Admiring their nativity advent calendar I'll be back in the New Year for some more bi-weekly blogs - I have lots planned and I'm looking forward to sharing ideas and resources with you. Thank you to everyone who has supported Head of the Hive this year - particular shout out to my husband, baby Bees and sister. I've really appreciated those who have given me feedback, words of encouragement and sent over photos of HOTH activities that they have completed with their little ones. It means so much! I'll be posting a few bits on the Instagram page in the lead up to Christmas, so head on over there if you would like to see what we are getting up to. Wishing everyone a restful and healthy Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Over and out for 2021...

With Easter just around the corner I have been focusing my energy on getting excited about Spring (and vocally wishing away the cold and ill ridden months of winter) and the upcoming celebrations. Easter bonnet hats are rather nostalgic for me, and take me back to being a little girl proudly wearing mine. Both Bees will be wearing them to do their nursery Easter bonnet parade, and then the family Easter egg hunts at home. Below I have detailed how I made each one for the children. (L): 'The Picket Fence' Bonnet Hat, (R): 'The Meadow' Bonnet Hat I got all of my supplies from Hobbycraft (except for the sheep and chicks, which were from Poundland). Both of the hats that I purchased from Hobbycraft were too large for their heads. Therefore, using a needle and thread you can pinch together some of the material at the back, and then sew it together to tighten it. The Picket Fence Bonnet Hat Materials: Boater hat White wooden fence Faux grass roll Yellow shredded paper x3 yellow pipe cleaners Felt decorations Sheep decorations Scissors Glue gun Steps: Measuring the height of the hat I cut two strips of the faux grass so that it was slightly above. Using the glue gun I then affixed the strips around the hat and made sure the two pieces met at each side rather than at the front. I then measured the fence around the grass and using wire cutters removed the excess fence. Using the glue gun I then glued this on top of the faux grass and made sure the ends met at the back of the hat. Then I cut different lengths of the pipe cleaners and curled them around my finger. I then made sure that the sharp end of each that was being glued onto the hat was bent flat. I used the glue gun to affix the pipe cleaners to the top of the hat. I held each in place whilst the glue hardened. Using the yellow shredded paper I filled in the top of the hat. I glued down small handfuls at at time until I reached the look I wanted. Little Bee then came and gave some direction on the final design. I followed his instructions and glued the decorations onto the hat, and onto the end of the pipe cleaners. To ensure the bonnet hat stay in place on Little Bee's head I glued a piece of ribbon on inside of the hat in line with where his ear would be. I then repeated this on the other side in the same colour ribbon. I can now tie a bow under his chin using the ribbons. Both Bees parading their Easter bonnet hats The Meadow Bonnet Hat Materials: Boater hat x2 green foam A4 sheets Flower decorations Green shredded paper Felt decorations Mini bird nests Sheep and chick decorations Small plastic pastel eggs Pencil Scissors Glue gun Steps: I cut both pieces of foam in half along its length. You will now have x4 pieces of foam. Using a pencil then draw out the grass blades onto each piece of foam making sure you leave about 1cm gap along the bottom. Then cut along the pencil marks for each, and you will be left with your grass blades. You will use x2 grass lengths to act as the back blades and x2 grass lengths will act as the front blades - so that the heights look staggered. Using the glue gun stick one of the foam grass sheets onto the hat making sure the middle lines up with the front of the hat. Also, make sure that it is glued a little higher off the base (as the back blades will be higher). Glue the second back strip of grass on. The front and back strips will meet at the side. Then stick on the first front grass strip and position it so that it is sitting flush on the hat. Line up the centre of the strip with the front of the hat. If step 4-6 have been followed correctly then it will be lower than the back blades already in place. Glue on the last strip of grass around the back. The ends of each will meet at the side of the hat. Add glue to a small area on the top of the hat and place a small handful of green shredded paper. Do this until all of the hat is covered. Glue the desired number of chicks and pastel plastic eggs to each nest. Then glue the nests onto the green shredded paper. Decorate the rest of the hat with felt decorations, flowers, sheep and chicks. As with the other bonnet hat, I glued pieces of matching ribbon in the inside of the hat (on each side) so to keep the hat in place on Big Bee's head. I had lots of different pieces of ribbon in different colours and I wanted to make a feature at the back, so I glued these in place and then glued x2 flowers on the top to tidy it up. Hopefully, you find the steps above easy to follow. If you decide to give one of the designs above a go, then I hope that you are you and your little one are happy with the final masterpiece. Wishing you all a wonderful Easter - may it be filled with much love, light and hope.