baby loss ·
Baby loss awareness week
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Baby Loss Awareness Week - Remembering Isabella and Rosie
Michelle
Michelle
Disclosure - Some of the books in this post have been previously gifted. This post contains affiliate links.
Last week we updated little J's book shelf with lots of stories perfect for Autumn. Each night he picks one for us to read before bed. Little J has a huge collection of books and I love that we are able to keep updating and rotating his books for all seasons and collections. These are some of our favourite children's stories for Autumn.
Alfie gets out and about in the garden with Dad, in this glorious book about growing, playing and sharing.
Seeds are planted; the carrots are going to be a gift for a special friend of Alfie's. But there are suprises in store...
Shirley Hughes is the creator of the bestselling, best-loved, Dogger.
When Weasel is caught in a big, angry storm, he builds a fortress to hide in. But then he meets Mole, who loves to play in the wind and splash in the rain. Can Weasel learn to overcome his fears and find joy, whatever the weather?
A perfect story for worriers big and small.
It was a dark and stormy night on Plum Street. In the little white house, Mrs. Bear was putting Sam to bed.
Outside, the wind blows and the rain comes down. Inside, it is Sam's bedtime. Mrs. Bear reads him a story, tucks him in, and brings him warm milk. "Are you ready now, Sam?" she asks. "I'm waiting," he says. What else does Sam need before he'll go to sleep? Could Mrs. Bear have forgotten a kiss?
When a shiny brown nut pops out of the ground, it looks so delicious that everybody wants to eat it. Badger decided that there will be a race ans the winner will get the nut. But the race soon turns into a nutty nut chase!
Have you ever wondered why the moon shines in the night-time sky? As the moon waxes and wanes above, the world below is full of busy night-time creatures; from turtles laying their eggs on white sandy beaches, to migrating birds using the moon to navigate their way to sunnier climes. Turn the peek-through pages to see the moon change shape as it goes through the lunar cycle.
Welcome to the wonderful world of animal homes, incredible habitats where creatures rest high above our heads, and where burrowing beasts dig deep into the earth below our feet. Lift the flaps in this beautifully illustrated book to uncover some astonishing homes and the animals that live within.
While Big Bear works, Little Bear patiently plays his bear games all by himself. What he really wants, though, is for Big Bear to play with him. Will his wish ever come true?
Tom Rabbit is Sammy's soft-toy rabbit. He is happy with Sammy. But one evening Sammy takes Tom Rabbit out to the back field to see the real rabbits - and leaves him on the wall. The sun sets and the moon rises, and dozens of wild rabbits appear. But just as Tom Rabbit thinks he's been abandoned for the night, Sammy appears and carries Tom Rabbit back home to bed.
Harris was a very small hare with very big feet. 'Why do I have such enormous feet, Grandad?' Harris sighed. So Grandad shows Harris how to hop high into the sky, to climb to the tops of the mountains, and to run very fast. Harris not only learns about the world around him but also the importance of finding his own feet.
Follow and join in the family's excitement as they wade through the grass, splash through the river and squelch through the mud in search of a bear. What a surprise awaits them in the cave on the other side of the dark forest!
The forest is full of life. As the seasons change, climb trees with Bear Cub, explore the night skies with Firefly, stay cozy underground with Mole and discover snowflakes with Fox!
“I’m a box monster!” shouted the box. Little Nutbrown Hare loves chasing the leaves in the autumn wind – especially when a big surprise blows his way. Seasonally themed and beautifully illustrated throughout, little ones will enjoy the light-hearted ruse that Little Nutbrown Hare plays on Big Nutbrown Hare, and seeing that two can play that game! This is one of a four-part series featuring the seasons – collect them all!
I love seeing all the Autumn stories and colours on his bookshelf. It won't be long before I need to update it to Halloween but for now we are going to enjoy this seasons stories.
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Little J has made it all the way to year 3 at school without being invited to a girls birthday party. He goes to all the boys parties but never manages to bag an invite to a girls party. When I asked him why he is very honest and says he just doesn't play with them. Being in a house and a family full of boys I would love to go present shopping for a girl for a change so here are some of my favourite gift ideas for seven year old girls.
Bath Bomb Factory
There is nothing better than relaxing in the bath with your favourite bath bomb. With The Bath Bomb Factory you can create your own bath bomb using your favourite colour or colours, maybe add sprinkles and choose from three delicious flavour scents strawberry, pineapple and vanilla or add all three together to make tutti frutti.
The bath bombs are fun and easy to make and will be ready in just 30 minutes. The Bath Bomb Factory is currently priced at £24.95 and is a great gift for creative kids.
Hide and Seek Rock Painting
Last year we visited the park and whilst exploring in the woods we found a painted rock. I told little J that we couldn't touch it and that it had been put there by someone for us to enjoy. After that we loved looking and searching for rocks whenever we headed out. This Hide and Seek Rock painting kit is perfect for little artists who would like their masterpieces to be found.
The Hide and Seek Rock Painting kit is currently priced at £12.99 and includes 6 rocks, 6 paints, 2 fine paintbrushes and a 48 page booklet bursting with ideas for your rock creations.
100 Kids Activities - Scratch Off Bucket List
Every six to sevens weeks when half terms arrive and kids are home from school, parents across the UK hear the dreaded words 'Im Bored'. The 100 Kids Activities - Scratch Off Bucket List gives the kids 100 different ideas and activities to do. Every time they complete one of the activities they can scratch it off and it will reveal a pretty picture.
Currently £12.95 it's the gift that keeps on giving.
I used to love writing stories when I was younger and always had lots of ideas however if you need a little bit of inspiration you can used Imagidice. Imagidice includes 12 dice featuring 72 different pictures which you roll and then use to inspire your story.
Imagidice is currently priced at £15.95 and features over 10 million different picture combinations.
Dreams ans Secrets Lockable Diary
Every young girl loves having their own privacy and somewhere where they can jot down their thoughts and their secrets. The Dreams and Secrets Diary features over 100 colourful pages to write down all your secrets using the ball point pen which smells like candy floss and once you are finished you can secure your secrets under lock and key.
Currently priced at £8.95 and is perfect for seven year old girls.
These gifts are not only perfect for birthdays but also Christmas will be here very soon and would make the perfect presents.
Michelle
Disclosure - This is a paid collaboration
As you may already know there are 11 years between our two boys. At first I wasn't sure about having the big age gap but it has been amazing in so many ways and one is big J can now help out with looking after his younger brother. I do not miss the days of trying to arrange childcare for when I returned to work or if John and I fancied a date night, it was a nightmare. Not everyone has family or friends they can rely on so it can be tough knowing where to turn to. I recently found childcare.co.uk and it has amazed me how easy it is to find childcare in our local area with just a few clicks.
What Is Childcare.co.uk?
Childcare.co.uk is an award winning online social networking platform for parents, childcare providers and private tutors with over 2 million members.
Where Do I Start?
If you are looking for childcare then you have definitely clicked on the right site. All you need to do is register and create an account. This is free and super easy to do. You need to let childcare.co.uk know whether you are a parent/guardian or a childcare provider and pop in a few details such as where you live, date of birth and your requirements then you are good to go.
How Do I Search For Childcare In My Area?
You can search for childcare in your area without registering however if you did want to get in touch then you would need to be a member.
To search all you do is click on the search menu on the home screen and choose what service you are looking for. There are lots to choose from including babysitter, childminder, nanny or nursery. Next pop in your postcode and click search.
Choosing The Right Childcare For Me?
I was quite surprised that 133 possible child minders were registered within 5 miles from our home. This is obviously a lot of profiles to search through so you can then choose to browse all the possibilities or you can narrow down further by filtering your search results.
Once you have narrowed down your search results you can now view your childcare options in more detail.
The profiles of the individual childcare providers have lots of information about themselves, their experience, their qualifications, their availability and their fees.
My favourite part is the reviews section. You can read honest reviews from other parents which I think is really important, knowing what others think.
My Thoughts
Would I use it? Absolutely. Big J is heading to university soon so I have no idea how he can fit in looking after little J when we need him so we will be needing to look at the childcare options in the future. Also due to the current situation with covid19 we just never know when we may need emergency childcare and I honestly feel confident that with 133 results close to home we could find someone.
I think childcare.co.uk is an amazing tool to have to hand for all your childcare needs. It's free to register, easy to use and I am not surprised it has over 2 million members.
Michelle
Disclosure - We were sent the products below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own unless stated. This post contains affiliate links.
Over the past few weeks we have been racing around the world, visiting different countries and learning lots of facts as we go and we haven't even left the house. We have been playing Discover The World game, not only is it fun for all the family, it's educational too.
The Aim Of The Game
To be the first person to collect 10 destination cards.
Before You Start
Discover The World game by Fiesta Crafts is aimed at children aged 7+ up to Adult. You can play with 2-6 players and set up is very easy. All you need to do is open your map of the world game board, shuffle the destination cards, arrival cards and journey cards and you are ready to play.
How To Play
Each player takes a coloured token and places it on any country of their choice on the board, this is your starting point. Once deciding on your starting point is done each player picks up a destination card. The destination card is the country that you need to visit. You can show other players your card if you wish.
Play begins once every player has chosen a starting point and has a destination card. You can decide amongst yourselves who goes first, we usually each take a roll of the dice and highest roller wins.
On your turn you roll the dice. If you roll a 1,2,3,4 or 5 you move that number of countries from where you are starting. For example if you are in France and roll a 2 you can move your piece to two connecting countries in the direction of your destination card country. Play continues until a player reaches their destination.
Journey Cards
If you roll a 6 on your turn you do not move that number of spaces you have to pick up a journey card. Each card has different instructions to follow. It may let you add moves on to your dice roll or it could send you on a detour to a different country.
Arrival Cards
Once you arrive at your destination you have to pick up an arrival card. There will be instructions on how to claim or not claim your destination. You may have to challenge another player if so whoever wins will get your destination card.
Win The Game
Once a player has claimed 10 destinations the game is over and the player is the winner.
You can adapt the game to the ability or attention span of the players. We started with a player just needing to claim 3 destinations to win. Also the destination cards are full of fun facts about the countries which we enjoyed reading too.
You can find out more about Discover The World Game by visiting Fiesta Crafts or you can buy online at Amazon.
Michelle
So we managed seven days back at school before we received a phone call to say little J had been coughing in class and that we needed to pick him up. Little J seemed fine in himself however he was coughing. We had two choices. We could try and get a Covid19 test to rule out Covid, or we would all self isolate for 10 days and hope he improved during that time. Luckily we managed to get a test the next morning and received our results the morning after confirming a negative result.
We were all quite nervous getting the test as we didn't know what to expect but it all went well so I thought I would share what to expect when having a Covid19 test.
When Should You Book A Test
If you have coronavirus symptoms, you need to get a test done as soon as possible. Ideally you need to get the test done in the first 5 days of having symptoms for the test to be most accurate.
The main symptoms of Covid19 are a high temperature, a new continuous cough or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
Booking A Test
Trying to get a test is proving quite difficult at the moment depending on where you live. You need to visit the gov.co.uk website to book a covid19 test. You need to be prepared to answer lots of questions and once completed you will be offered a choice of walk in or drive through test centres. Most tests are available from 8am-12:30pm.
After Booking Your Test
You will be emailed and also sent a text to confirm your test details. You will need to bring the QR code and photo ID with you when you arrive at the test centre.
Arriving At The Drive Through Test Centre
When you arrive at the test centre you stay in your car and leave your windows closed. You will be asked to confirm your identity by showing your QR code, photo ID or text message. They will also check your car registration. Once your identity has been checked you will be shown where to go.
Staff will be there to show you which way to go. We reached a cabin and a man told us to wind down our window just enough for him to slide through the grey plastic bags. Each bag was open with contents inside, numbered with a bar code and receipt attached. We were told to keep the contents inside the bag until instructed to open.
We joined the queue of cars and waited to enter a numbered tent which we drove in to once it was our turn.
A staff member approached our car window and confirmed our names and checked our car registration again. He told us we would be performing the Covid19 test ourselves and that he would give us instructions on how to perform the test on adults and then on children.
Performing The Test
Once you are ready to perform the test you open up your plastic bag.
Inside is a tissue and some anti bacterial hand gel. You must blow your nose before the test and use the hand gel provided to clean your hands afterwards.
Next you will open up the swab. At our test centre we were told to swab each of our tonsils for 5 seconds each and then use the same swab up one nostril for 10 seconds. This seems to vary at test centres.
Swabbing the back of the throat isn't a nice experience especially if you have a strong gag reflex but if you can try and not let the swab touch your tongue.
Once you are ready choose one nostril and push the swab as far up as you can until you feel some resistance.
Once finished remove the swab and place in the liquid filled tube inside the bag. The swab is to big for the tube so you have to snap it at the line on the stick.
Ensure the lid is placed on the tube tightly and wrap in the soft pad provided and place in the clear bag.
All your rubbish goes in to the grey plastic bag just make sure you remove your receipt beforehand that is attached to the bag.
If a child is to be tested and is under 11 you will need to do the test for them. The process is exactly the same however we did not swab the back of the throat inside we had to swab both nostrils for 10 seconds each. It was harder to gauge when the swab was high enough but I just used my own judgment and also the look on little J's face.
Thats it. You are done and the member of staff will scan the bar codes on the bags and link them to your name. They will do this through the window.
You then drive to another tent where you will place your swabs in one bucket and rubbish in the next.
What Happens Next?
Most test results will be delivered via text and email within 24hours however you should allow up to 72hours.
Everyone in the household should isolate until the results have been received.
Once you receive your results you must follow the appropriate guidelines based on the outcome of the test.
The experience wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and it's so important to get tested if you have symptoms. It can save lives.
Michelle
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Intelino Train ·
review ·
Technology ·
Toys and Games
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Intelino Smart Train Review
Disclosure - We were sent the products below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our unless stated. This post contains affiliate links.
We have always enjoyed playing with train sets. From when Big J was little we still have both the wooden and plastic Thomas the Tank Engine sets that come down from the loft from time to time. Of course times have moved on and although the classics are usually the best there is also room to add and innovate these days with technology.
Intelino have developed the 'Smart Train' which looks to build on the classic set with a number of add-ons that can help children's development in STEM and in coding, which is really popular at the moment.
The starter set itself contains the Train and Wagon, 20 pieces of track, 40 colour snaps and some stickers to decorate your train. You can also buy extra packs containing track, snaps and there is also an adaptor set that you can buy that will allow you to add the intelino set to your existing wooden train track.
Set up is easy. The track pieces snap together easily and you have enough to create a reasonably complex track if you wish. The train requires a charge before first use, but does last a long time before needing charging again. The snaps, which are the coding instructions for the train to follow snap into the track really easily and come out again just as easily.
The Smart train offers two different ways to play. You can choose to use a device such as an Ipad to control everything, or you can use the snaps alone to code instructions onto the track that the train will then follow. its good to have an option that is device free to give some time away from the screen.
To use the Snaps, you first start with a white snap piece that tells the train an instruction is coming. Next you use a combination of colours from the instruction sheet to give instructions. You can choose the speed from three settings, tell the train to go left, right or straight on at an intersection, make the train stop, make the train drop off the wagon, make the train make different sounds and also change the lighting on the train. You can even put the train into reverse. Its amazing to see how the train reacts quickly to the snaps, especially when you put a sequence of instructions one after the other.
When in device mode, you need to download the intelino app, pair the train within the app via bluetooth and then you have a very simple control panel to control everything. You can control the same things as you can with snaps all at the touch of the screen. The added benefit of pairing with the app is the ability to design your own snap instructions. This gives an extra layer of complexity for the child, and we loved the idea of choosing our own instruction for the train.
Overall, the Intelino Smart Train is great on its own, or when combined with your existing wooden set. We haven't added the wooden set in yet as we wanted to explore everything that the set can do before hand. Little J has really enjoyed playing with the set and creating his own tracks, and it's been good to see him using his imagination with the snaps and coding and develop an understanding of how programs work in a simple way.
If you would like to be in with the chance to win your very own Intelino Smart Train Starter Set then all you need to do is complete the entry form below. Make sure you pop back every day after 8:30pm and check the entry form for extra chances to win.
John
Disclosure - This is a paid collaboration
If you want your child to succeed in school, it’s important that you monitor their progress at regular intervals throughout their academic journey so that you can uncover any areas for improvement, while also giving them the praise and reassurance they need to encourage them to continue trying their best. In other words, if you don’t pay attention to your child’s education, you won’t be able to help them make the most of their experience in school and reach their full potential. But how do you go about monitoring your child’s progress? A pre-prep school in London has shared some advice below.
First of all, it’s important to arrange frequent catchups with your child’s teacher, even if this is just via email, to find out how they’re getting on in class. By the time you receive the once-a-year feedback at parents’ evening, it might be too late for you to make a real difference in helping your child improve in certain areas. It’s crucial that parents and teachers have this sort of relationship because it means that you can keep one another updated with anything that might be happening to interfere with your child’s academic or personal wellbeing, such as friendship problems, moving house, a death in the family or another major event.
However, bear in mind that the teachers have tons of kids to look after and it would be impossible for them to know every tiny detail about your child, especially if they are fairly quiet. With that said, try and encourage your child to open up to you about school as much as you can so that you can hear directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, how they’re getting on. Let them know that you support and love them no matter what so that they feel more comfortable sharing things with you. If you reprimand them or judge their decisions, they might be more reluctant to talk to you about any issues they’re faced with.
When your child is doing their homework, try and make yourself available to them so that they can ask you for help if they need it. Without that support, your child will be more likely to give up in frustration. If they don’t ask you for help, be sure to offer instead, as they may be afraid to bother you. Getting involved with your child’s homework will give you an indication of how easy or difficult they find the subject. If they seem to struggle time and time again with the same subject’s homework, this is a clear sign that it’s not their strongest area and you may want to consider hiring a private tutor.
So, monitoring your child’s progress is as simple as getting yourself as involved as possible in their education. Not only will this help you grasp how they are performing, it will also show them how much you care, which may encourage them to try even harder as a way to impress you. So, be sure to attend school plays, sports day and other events, while also enriching your child’s education with activities at home so that you can develop a better understanding of their growth.
Michelle
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