When LBG was smaller we spent a long time one day making her a progress chart or reward chart as a tool to encourage her to sleep in her bed rather than on the floor. It was a big success and we have subsequently introduced reward charts for good behaviour and so on for both girls as we have needed them. But they get tatty quite quickly from daily use so I have been looking for a better option. Wouldn't you know that Kiddy Charts … [Read more...]
When we went to Center Parcs Longleat
A long time ago I was selected to be a Center Parcs Blogger. If you follow the blog you will see that we have been taking part in monthly various challenges since last year, from designing a Water Ride to planting some sunflower seeds. As part of the package, I got to take the DG family to Center Parcs Longleat to give the Center Parcs experience our full and considered opinion. We set off on a beautiful day: the sun shone almost all the way … [Read more...]
{Indoor Play Bloghop} Indoor Camping
I often hear people talking about building memories, and I never really understood what they were on about, but used it as a convenient excuse whenever DH complained about the lack of housework that had been done. This is the story of my discovery of memory-building. We enjoy camping, but The Girls and I are most definitely fair-weather campers, so the camping gear spends about ten months of the year in storage. Recently however, we were … [Read more...]
Local Flavour: Lavender House, Bromley
If you came to Bromley- and why wouldn't you?- to visit me, you'd be in good company. Obviously the people that have come to visit me so far have been friends and bloggers and I have generally entertained them at home, but if you wanted to get a sense of the area, of why I love living in Bromley, then let me tell you where I would take you. We'd drop the Girls at school- you could stand bemused at the edge of a circle of Mother's banging on … [Read more...]
Why you should clean your teeth experiment
A few weeks ago I ordered a book about cleaning teeth after reading about it in a Sunday Supplement. I don't imagine I'm the only parent who has trouble getting my children to brush their teeth, so the concept of the book really appealed. Open Wide, What's Inside is written by a dentist who came up with the idea for a story about 'sugarbugs' as a way of encouraging children to keep their mouths clean. And it has enthralled my children. I imagine … [Read more...]
Papier-mâché Hen Challenge
A while ago Molly Moo published a picture of the most fabulous Papier-mâché Chicken/Hen that she had made at her Papier-mâché course. This precipitated a Hen Craft Challenge which I agreed to take part in, although frankly I was never going to match up to Her Craftyness's high standards. I used a cereal packet to do most of the work for me. Firstly, I took off the top third, and put to one side for the 'bits' < that's a tchnical term, by … [Read more...]
Earth Day activity: toilet roll planters, milk jug Earth scoops and planting sunflower seeds
It's been a dreadful year for growing things: the weather has put everything back. So it was only last week that we finally got round to dealing with our spring planting. In particular, we planted some sunflower seeds- provided by Center Parcs- as part of this month's Tots 100 Challenge whilst also incorporating recycling as an Earth Day Activity. The planting also has pertinence because 22nd April is Earth Day, something we try to mark each … [Read more...]