I've been following the story of GoldieBlox for a while. The toys for future innovators is the brain child of Debbie Sterling, who saw a need in the Pink Aisle of the toy store for an alternative, despite being told by leading toymakers that engineering toys for girls don't sell. As a parent of two girls I have been trying to find a balance between Barbie- and you should read Frog Mom's thoughts on the plastic phenomenon- and Meccano, which … [Read more...]
Dutch Store HEMA opens in Bromley
Hema is a huge brand in Holland. So huge that 50% of all babies born in the country will wear a Hema babygrow. There was a point when Woolworths could have claimed similar figures but since the store disappeared from the high street I have been looking for something to replace it. Which is why I was attended Dutch store Hema'sopening in Bromley last month. It was worth it. I can see why some articles have referred to it … [Read more...]
A customised Loom Hook made from Thermomorph
I was sent a jar of Thermomorph recently. It sat on the kitchen table staring at me whilst I looked online to find out what I could do with it. It's very easy to use: you simply tip some of the plastic beads into boiled water and wait for them to melt and coalesce into a gloop that you can mould and manage. If it gets too hard, dunk it back into the water to soften and carry on. I stirred a whole bunch of Hama Beads into one blob and … [Read more...]
Preventing Summer Slide with a #KidsintheKitchen summer pack
I am almost halfway through the summer holidays, and filling our #60DaysofSummer has not been too bad so far. We made a trip to Peppa Pig World, stayed with friends and visited Cadbury World as well as The Stratford Butterfly Farm and are just back from a few days in France with family: lots of swimming for small children and wine for Mamma. There's still another thirty days to go until 3rd September though so it's helpful that Betta Living … [Read more...]
Review: European Microscooter Vacation
I don't know a family without a scooter. It's the perfect transition from pushchair to walking and means that you can still get to places at a reasonable rather than painful walking pace. LBG has had her Mini-Micro Scooter since her second birthday. It probably took her a year to master the art of scooting but since then (and since her sister got one for her second birthday) they have lived in the back of the car. Wherever we go, they … [Read more...]
Five of the best: Hair Detangler Spray Review
My girls have what some might call "tricky" hair. It's beautiful and blonde and deeply photogenic. But it is curled and tangles easily and is the bane of my life every day at 7:20am when we are trying to get out of the door on time for school. And so I gathered up the five bottles I have recently bought at local supermarkets and chemists, and we declared that we would put them Head-to-Head - if you'll pardon the pun- to see which Detangler Spray … [Read more...]
A Global Adventure with Bear Nibbles
When I was growing up and we lived overseas, my tea-fiend of a Nanny (as in Grandmother not full-time child-carer) used to collect the cards from her PG Tips packets and send them out to us. She would send off for the books that PG Tips produced to secure your cards in, box it all up and ship it out to whichever part of the world we lived in. Having them in my life are one of my clearest childhood memories. Fast forward thirty years and I … [Read more...]
