Getting Creative (and Messy!) with the Creation Station!

Both James and Evelyn have a keen interest in crafts, painting drawing and most of all getting messy! So when Evelyn was invited along to join in a session at the Creation Station I knew it would be something she would love!

Creation Station isn’t just about learning how to paint, model or collage along the lines of “Here’s one we did earlier”. It’s about having a go, being inspired by something quite simple and encouraging each baby or child to develop their own ideas and have fun doing it! 

Here is how we got on during our session at Creation Station -

We started the session with a fun welcome song which was relaxed and upbeat and got all of the children in a circle ready for the first activity. Next Sue got out a bag full of sensory items which were placed in the middle and left out for the children to explore. Evelyn was a little wary at first but Sue was fantastic at encouraging her to join in and showing her different sensory items which eventually took her interest. 

Next was the "Messy Play" activity and we were really excited to discover this week it was... JELLY!! 

All children are given red overalls to wear to restrict the mess on clothes although I would advice to wear your or your child's best clothes of course as mess spreads lol. The 3 tubs of different coloured/ flavoured jelly were placed in large tubs on top of paper and plastic sheeting and the children are let loose! They are free to squelch their fingers in it, wriggle there toes and splat it on to the paper, the messier the better lol! 

Evelyn loved this activity and after sussing out what it was really got stuck in. After a while Sue added white paint to the jelly giving it another texture for the children to explore, Evelyn loved running this through her fingers and Sue was amazing at showing her what to do and really getting her involved. 

After some time playing with the jelly we all cleaned up and went on to our final activity which was making hand/ foot prints in clay to bring home. 

Over all both myself and Evelyn loved Creation Station, Evelyn loved the Messy Play part and I don't think she stopped smiling and giggling the whole hour. I loved the session as it gave Evelyn a chance to get really messy without any worry which can be difficult to achieve at home. Sue is fantastic with the children she really encourages the children to get involved and you can really tell the passion Sue has or these classes and the children in them. 

We finished the class with a goodbye song and bubbles which were a big hit with all of the children. The atmosphere throughout the class was fun, upbeat and most importantly for us relaxed. The classes were small enough that Sue really interacted with each child and you didn't feel rushed or cramped at all during the class.

We loved Creation Station so much we have signed up to start classes in November and cannot wait! 

Sue runs creation station classes in Frampton Cotterell and the surrounding areas, as well as the weekly classes Sue also runs "special" craft sessions on certain dates such as Halloween and Christmas. If you don't live locally check out the Creation Station website (link below) to find a class in your area. 

If you want to find out more about classes or the Creation Station you can visit the Website, Facebook or you can contact Sue directly HERE for any queries or questions you may have. 

xXx

LEGO Dream Home competition with Ocean Finance.

If there is one thing that can keep James quiet and still except for a near miracle is LEGO! He can happily spend hours with his box of LEGO and his imagination creating weird and wonderful creations and then making up stories with them.

So when we were recently asked my the lovely people at Ocean Finance to let James create his dream home using LEGO we knew he would gladly accept the challenge! Armed with his box of LEGO and his Marvel superhero LEGO men James set about creating his dream home. Here is James dream home and the descriptions he has given me for the different bits of it -

James humble abode features a double diving board, water slide, bat signal, motorbike and even a baddie! When I asked James about why his house was striped he said its because "it looks like a rainbow and rainbows make people happy and smiley and he wants his happy to be a happy fun place that makes people smile". Very cute I thought and I love the thoughts he has put in to even the outside of his house like the colours and stripes representing a rainbow!

Apparently the double diving board is so that both he and his sister can play together in the swimming pool without having to wait for turns. James said the water goes under ground from the swimming pool to make the water slide wet!

The house also features its own red wheelbarrow, this is for collecting strawberries and potatoes from tea time apparently and these are grown in the garden of the house. The bat baddie protects the house and all of the fruit and veg we collect so that slugs don't get it!

So according to James this is himself riding on a motorbike! Apparently its the most coolest way to get around! (Mummy says don't forget your helmet James!).

Im pretty sure this is where the ultimate dream bit comes in to James house! This is the helicopter landing pad, its where we can fly on holidays but its also where Batman lands. Apparently the little black batman symbol you see is what we press if we are in trouble or we need some help and when you press it Batman comes and lands and helps you, the blue dish on the side of the house gives us good tv and also is how Batman heres our signal call apparently.

James had so much fun creating his dream home and loves telling people all about it.

Do your little ones love playing with LEGO?

xXx



James is aged 5 and created this Lego house, This post was created as an entry into the Ocean Finance LEGO dream homes competition. 

A trip to Paignton Zoo!

Every child (and most adults!) love a trip to the zoo, so when we booked our holiday this summer in Devon we knew Paignton zoo was going to be at the top of our list for places to visit.

Paignton zoo has over 2000 creatures and 6 animal habitats so more than enough to keep the whole family happy and amused for the entire day making it a great full day out. Habitats including the Savannah and the Primley give a real sense for the habitat the animals inside would live in which is great for children to learn about. 

Here are some pictures from our day - 

A Family Day Out at Castle Combe - Grand National

James is a huge fan of motorbikes, largely helped I am sure by the fact his grampy owns one and regularly lets him sit on it, help him wash it and do all the checks etc. He is adamant he wants his own bike when he is older (much to grampys delight I am sure!) but he has quite a few years before that can happen just yet! 

So when we heard there was a Grand National Motorcycle race meeting being held at Castle Combe racetrack just a short car journey away from us we knew James would love it! Saturday morning the sun was shining and of we headed to the Castle Combe circuit. Prices were really reasonable at £10 per adult for 1 day admission (or £15 if you visit on the Sunday), under 16's were free and parking was also free! 

There were lots of different types of motorbikes racing much to James delight including the classic bikes, F2 sidecars, solo classes and also parades of some of the bikes! We found a great place to sit right on a bend so the bikes were slowing down so that James could get a good look. Did you know Castle Combe is the only race track where you can walk the entire way around and still watch the race the entire time!

Half term fun - Using up old wallpaper.

This week I have been searching for ideas to keep James entertained as he is home all week for half term. 

We were stuck indoors today thanks to some pretty heavy rain and no car to venture anywhere. So I had a rummage round and found some old half used rolls of wallpaper from when we decorated our living room. 

I simply got out a selection of pains, pens, pencils, stamps and glitter pens and placed them on the floor.

I then unrolled a part of the wall paper but so it was plain side up and tah-dah a massive plain space for your little artists to let their imaginations run wild! 

James absolutely loved it and had great fun painting all of his favourite super heroes on it and then creating a trail of "foot prints" on another part of the paper. It kept him happy for ages and it cost next to nothing! So if you have some old part rolls of wall paper laying around then this is a fab fun way to use them up. 

Here is part of James masterpiece
. 

Do you have any low cost ideas to keep children entertained? Please do share with us below!

xXx

Making Bath time more fun!

James and Evelyn love bath time the sheer mention of bath sees them both heading up the stairs quicker than Usain bolt of the starting line!

Evelyn loves to splash especially if mummy or daddy are close enough that she can get us wet too with the end result usually being our bathroom looking a tad waterlogged. James seems to think our bath is a miniature swimming pool and pretends he's a shark or spends more time with his head under the water than above!

Tonight, I wanted to make bath time a little more fun and so I made them both a special bath a "glow bath". I simply ran the bath as usual with lots of bubbles and then popped several glow sticks into it then switched of the bathroom light to surprise them. James' face was a picture when he saw it and he couldn't wait to get in.
If you didn't want to use glow sticks, you can buy a bath disco light too!

This got me thinking about different ways of making bath times more fun and here are some of the ideas I found.

Bath Crayons.

Do you have a budding little artist or a child who likes to doodle? then this could be a great way to make bath times fun. Children can use these bath crayons to draw on the side of the bath/ tiles and their doodles are simply washed away when they are finished.

Bath alphabet letters

Since starting school James has been really enthusiastic about sounding out and spelling everything so we purchased some bath alphabet letters like these from Nuby to use at bath time. They are not only fun but educational as well. We try and encourage James to spell his name or his sisters name and he has great fun. 

Bubbles!!

Most children love bubbles so a bath time with extra bubbles is sure to be a big hit right!? How cute is this penguin bubble blower from Munchkin. The one above features suction cups on the back so you attach it to the tiles and fill the bathroom with bubbles and let the children try and pop them and they come down. 

Bath toys.

There are so many bath toys on the market now that you are sure to find some that your children will love. James's favourite is the type that squirt water (these are not my favourite as I am usually the one getting sprayed with water lol!) These are a great addition to any children's bath and can provide lots of fun and entertainment for children of varying ages. Here are a few of our favourites above. my personal favourite is the Mega bloks Build 'n' splash set which we found on the Toys R Us website.

Do you have any fab ideas to make bath time more fun or do your children have a favourite bath time activity or toy? 

xXx

Easter Sunday visit to The MSHED! (Bristol)

Hello everyone, I hope your all having a lovely easter? 

Well today in true bank holiday style it rained lol! So we decided to check out the Mshed in Bristol. 

The Mshed is a museum based in the centre of Bristol and it is all about the history of Bristol itself!

"For the first time, Bristol has a museum dedicated to telling the amazing history of the city, through the objects and stories of the people who have made the city what it is today.

Located on the historic dockside, Bristol's flagship museum has been designed to retain the unique character of the former 1950s transit shed.

Three galleries reveal the fascinating story of the city and its unique place in the world. From prehistoric times to the present day, explore the history of Bristol through the objects and stories of the people who made the city what it is today.

See amazing film and photographs, listen to moving personal stories, encounter rare and quirky objects and add your own memories of the city through the interactive displays."

With James only being 4 and a half I wasn't sure how much he would enjoy it but he loved it! There was plenty for him to at and plenty of interactive screens all at kiddy friendly level so easy for little ones to use.