Well we have finally made it to Christmas. What a year! If you’ve suddenly found yourself almost at Christmas, with no idea what to get the kids, I’ve got you! Here is a list of the most popular toys and activities this year. I’ve organised it into ages to make things easy for you. If you prefer experience gift’s we have that covered in our Experience Gift Guide. Good luck with your shopping!
I don’t know about your family, but ours is drowning in STUFF! This year especially, we have acquired so many more belongings. It was all those things we bought to keep the kids occupied during lockdown. But I much prefer experience gifts for kids at Christmas. I think it creates amazing family memories and can spark new hobbies and passions. Some of our favourite family activities are weekends away, boat trips, visiting wildlife parks and exploring new areas.
Bestselling author A.L Tait shares her top 22 mystery novels for tweens.
When you’re a mystery reader, there’s no such thing as too many books. Take it from me.
My love affair with mystery novels began a million years ago with The Secret Seven and The Famous Five, through Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew, and continues today with Ian Rankin’s Rebus, Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk, and countless others.
Super Mario Brothers 1 and 3 were life when I was a teenager. My sister and I spent hours playing on the second hand Nintendo that she bought from a garage sale. More recently, I bought a Nintendo Switch and a new version of Super Mario Bros and I’m enjoying introducing the kids to it. I’m especially loving that its the only game I can still beat my gamer son in!
We all need quick meals up our sleeves for those busy weekday nights where the kids are hungry, we are running late from work or activities pick up and everything is in a shambles.
This 5 Ingredient sausage and vegetable pasta bake is a favourite in our house. It only takes about 30 minutes to make and the leftovers make a great work lunch the following day.
At our place the kids really are having the hardest time of anyone with social distancing and isolating. They miss their friends, their classes, their routine and school. They miss playing and creating with their friends, especially over important milestones like birthdays. Tully turned eight a few weeks ago, Mylo turned six the other day and some of their friends have had birthdays too. We have been trying to get creative with ways they can stay in touch with friends. Here are five of our favourites!
Hello! How are you all feeling at the moment? Now that we are basically in lockdown, I’ve had some time to play with my Cricut. I’ve even been taking classes at Spotlight (well until they were postponed along with everything else). One of my favourite projects is these Easter bags I made for all the kids we camp with every year. However, camping has been cancelled as well so I’ll hold on to them until next year. This Cricut for Beginners project is almost as simple as the library bags we made before, but with an extra layer of vinyl.
Ok, so right about now we are all collectively freaking out, right? Most of us are now home schooling for the foreseeable future, and we aren’t teachers, for a reason! Most of us will be receiving some work from school, to keep the kids on track, but we are going to have a lot of time to fill. Add on top of that, juggling working from home and multiple kids, and we are going to need some structure!
In this time of Caronvirus and self-isolation I can’t tell you how valuable having our Vuly Ultra trampoline is. We were sent it a few weeks ago for review and we are using it way more than I even expected, now that we can’t go out.
On lockdown, self isolating or social distancing? All this means you’re going to have a lot of time on your hands. Yes… you could be productive, but let’s face it, we only have so much motivation. Besides, all this enforced home time gives us the perfect excuse to binge watch excessively. So, to get you started I’ve done a survey of mums and asked what the best TV shows are right now. Here are the results!