TODDLER ACTIVITY: Leaf Puppet People

Autumn is just the perfect time of year for crafting activities with toddlers due to the (what feel like) endless rainy days and variety of goods nature has to offer. As the leaves fall from the trees, as do a whole host of other beautiful parts of nature, including acorns, conkers and pine cones. All of these free gifts from nature can be used to create pieces of 'art', within games or as toys. This time last year I was in the early months of pregnancy and life was not all about crafting, in fact it was spent curled up in a ball of sickness and headaches. I have therefore really been looking forward to doing some autumnal crafts with Isabella this year, especially as she really understands now. Luckily, she's a pretty tidy/clean crafter so the mess created in kept to a minimal. 

TODDLER: Family Game Time with Orchard Toys Games Compendium

Getting the family together, turning off the television and having some nibbles...all while playing a board game, was one of my favourite ways to spend an evening as a child. We used to play board games quite a lot as a family, especially on holiday when life didn't get in the way. It was something I looked forward to doing with my own children, so when I fell pregnant with Isabella I dreamt about all snuggling up and playing games together in the evening. Fast forward nine months and I quickly realised it was going to be a long while until board games were going to be part of our day (kind of obviously, but my excited mind had run away with me). 

TODDLER: Micro Mini 2 Go Deluxe Plus

Isabella's latest obsession has been scooting around here, there and everywhere. She absolutely loves the independence it gives her and has been so determined to master the skill by herself. I've heard a lot of 'No mummy, do by myself' and 'No holding Mummy', but when Daddy is there she is begging him to push her around. Toddler's can be so fickle sometimes! Last week I wrote about how Isabella had been enjoying the Mini Micro 3 in 1 Scooter, which you can read all about here. Isabella's also been lucky enough to try out the Micro Mini 2 Go Deluxe Plus in Pink* (£124.95) too. The Mini 2 Go Deluxe Plus is recommended from 18 months+, which is six months later than the 3 in 1 and therefore ideal if you are looking to buy when you're child is that little bit older.

#LITTLELOVES: Building Towers, Wedding Anniversary & a Psychological Thriller

Happy Friday Everyone! What has the weather been doing this week? One minute it's bright sunshine, the next it is raining like it's never rained before. Luckily it didn't ruin any plans, as we had my auntie over on Monday to meet Poppy for the first time. It was such a lovely day, one of those days that really warms your heart. We also had Poppy's six week check from the health visitor; she's actually 8 weeks now but our usual HV was on holiday so a different one had to make a special visit to us. Poppy now weighs 12lb 2ozs, following her centile perfectly. Yay!

TODDLER ACTIVITY: Personalised Canvas Painting

This craft activity would be ideal as a special gift for any family member or friend and luckily it is simple, effective and takes minutes to make. There's also minimal mess made in the process. What's not to like? By using stickers you can create an image or word/phrase that will stand out once your child has done some painting. I've used a similar method before to create a daffodil out of masking tape, which worked really well.

ONE MUFFIN MIX: Two Flavours - Banana and Peanut Butter/Lemon Drizzle

One very blustery, miserable day recently Isabella and I turned our hands to a spot of baking. The problem was I couldn't decide what to bake, so headed to our village shop for inspiration. We came away with a bag of lemons, reduced overripe bananas, carton of eggs and caster sugar. This eventually led to us taking a simple muffin mix and creating two different flavours of muffin. Both are classics, there's certainly nothing ground breaking here, but it's a fun activity to do with children and a great way to experiment.

TODDLER ACTIVITY: Tips for Cooking Together

I absolutely love cooking and it brings a whole new level of enjoyment (and stress) when it comes to cooking with Isabella. She has watched me cook from a very young age, as we always have home cooked meals. I think this has contributed to her curiosity and desire to take part, as well as the fact that she's a toddler and they want to do anything us adults are doing! I thought I'd share some tips for cooking together with a toddler, unfortunately I don't have any tips for a completely stress-free experience though. Those toddler's just love emptying kitchen cupboards, making a mess and trying to eat everything they shouldn't.

CRAFT: DIY Story Telling Character Sticks

If your child is anything like mine then they'll love 'reading' books and having books read to them. Isabella really enjoys looking at the pictures, telling me what various things are and listening to us reading. A fun way of bringing books alive for children is to make these character sticks. They're easy and cheap to make, while being fun and educational. Though Isabella can't speak properly yet, she isn't far off and has really started to join in with familiar songs. It won't be long before she'll be able to join in with traditional stories and these character sticks are perfect for supporting that skill.

CHILDREN: 9 Rainy Day Activities in Autumn

Autumn is here and isn't it just beautiful? Nature changes so much and Isabella is loving watching everything change around her. Below are nine of our favourite rainy day activities, because although autumn is beautiful it isn't always filled with sunny days.

TODDLER ACTIVITY: Decorating Homemade Gingerbread Men

I can't believe Isabella and I have not decorated gingerbread men much earlier than this, she absolutely loved it. Well, she enjoyed eating the decorations before they made it on to the biscuits! As I still try to reduce Isabella's refined sugar intake I had a go at making my own gingerbread men, which are sweetened with natural sources of sweetness. They were really deliciously and slightly softer (think shortbread) in texture, which made them a lot easier for Isabella to eat. You can find the recipe here or just use your own favourite gingerbread men recipe.

TODDLER ACTIVITY: Apple and Blackberry Picking (plus a delicious recipe for your finds)

Picking blackberries reminds me of my Brownie days where we'd spend many evenings collecting blackberries from around the village. There's something so magical about being able to pick fruit yourself, for free and then cook up something delicious. As soon as autumn comes around I love to go on country walks and pick blackberries from the hedgerows. This year we also have a few large apple trees in our garden, as well as a blackberry bush. So Isabella and I spent an afternoon picking, collecting and cooking with them, the perfect autumnal activity.

TODDLER CRAFT: Egg Carton Flowers

Now that we're into winter flowers are depleted in numbers, that is until we all get our toddlers to make egg carton ones! This craft activity is a fun one for a rainy day - I've got into the habit of saving all toilet/kitchen roll tubes, egg boxes etc. so no rainy day is left without resources. You could make a few of these to create a bunch of flowers or use them to collect natural objects outside when the sun shines again. Isabella loved filled the sections with little pebbles, but then again that girl loves little pebbles.