At four and half it's already starting to happen, Ethan has friends that are into Star Wars, so it's about time that we start figuring out what it's all about!  He's already into robots, so the perfect place to start seemed to be making some droids of our own!



What you'll need:

• paper plate
• white card
• foam shape stickers
• gummed shape stickers
• markers

This post is part of a Star Wars Day Blog Hop check out all of the other great ideas!




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We are always using items from the recycling bin to make crafts with, we have loads of egg carton and cardboard tube crafts, but I haven't used glass jars before because of the risk of the glass breaking.  But I decided to give it a try under supervision, and just use the lovely finished chalkboard lid jars myself!




What you'll need:

• a selection of empty and clean glass jars
• Rust-Oleum Magnetic Chalkboard Paint
• paint brush
• electrical tape
• scissors
• chalk or chalk pen

This post is part of a Project Recycle & Create blog hop of ways to reuse jars, check out all of these great ideas!

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* This is a review post, we were provided with Rust-Oleum Magnetic Chalkboard Paint to use and write our honest opinions about.*

We were lucky enough to be invited to see the new Great Little Trading Company Showroom in London over the weekend.  If you're not already familiar with GLTC they're a fantastic online shop full of great toys and children's furnishings.  We are already huge fans so were very excited to see their new showroom.


The showroom officially opens on Friday, but we got a sneak peek at it and know that it's going to be very popular!  It's fantastic because it's huge, they've got all of the toys out and a real welcoming feel that it's ok for the kids to start playing with everything (and mine certainly did!)


All of the furnishings are set up in different bedroom areas, so that you can really visualise what the beds and bedding will look like in your own home.  It's perfect for kids when they're old enough to help choose how to decorate their rooms, as they really get to see and touch everything for themselves to be able to choose.


Of course we loved the toys, the kids could have stayed and played at the little shop area and the little kitchen area all day long!  Ivy also loved the dolls house and Ethan really liked the little desks, I think that the next addition to his bedroom is going to have to be his own little desk.


I loved the little touches, the little sayings on the walls and friendliness of the staff who were more than happy to answer any questions about the products and the brand itself.  We would definitely recommend a trip over there to have a play and to plan out any children's rooms that you're decorating.

We had a lovely afternoon at the new @great_little_trading_co showroom! Had to drag the kids away from all the toys #gltcshowroom

A photo posted by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Apr 24, 2016 at 9:03am PDT

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* This is a review post, we were invited to a sneak preview of the Great Little Trading Company Showroom in order to write this review.*

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Thank you so much, all you lovely readers of Play & Learn Every Day, thank you for all of your support in getting me to the finals of the MAD Blog Awards in the Best Craft Blog Category.  I am in absolute shock to be in this position and just feeling so very grateful to everyone who nominated me to get this far.


I started Play & Learn Every Day in order to share the crafts and activities that we do at home, so that other parents could see how easy it is to do educational activities that kids will have lots of fun doing.  The crafts that you find here are not picture perfect and polished, they are truly made by Ethan and Ivy, with only a little bit of help from me.  One of our favourites is this Gold at the End of the Rainbow craft, which I've still got up on a shelf on display.  Ethan was able to make this from start to finish, and was so very proud of the finished product.


We also love making crafts that we can play with, rather than just leaving them sitting on a shelf.  This Fire Truck Box craft was perfect for holding all of the party bags for Ethan's fire fighter themed birthday party and then came home with us and was used for imaginative play!  We also make lots of crafts like these Bee and Ladybird Shakers that use recycled materials and can be played with by the kids any time for making beautiful music.


If you would like to vote in the MAD Blog Awards I would of course appreciate your vote and maybe you'll find some other fantastic blogs to read as well.

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We love doing crafts together, raiding the craft cupboard and putting together all sorts of wonderful things.  But even a crafty bunch like us do sometimes like a craft kit for inspiration and the simplicity of having every single thing that you need.  So when we were approached by Trunkaroo to review one of their craft trunks that they send out as part of a monthly subscription service we jumped at the chance.


My first impression of the Trunkaroo creativity trunk was that it was very professionally made, opening up the box you immediately see that it is beautifully presented and has very clear instructions for the activities as well as all of the supplies that you'll need.


The box that we received is called Curious Colours and includes two crafts that are not only fun and colourful to make but are also about the process, teaching using the STEAM principles (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) about colour mixing along the way.


The first craft that we made was the Rainbow Butterflies, the materials for this included not only the cut out butterflies, markers, googly eyes and water spray bottle but also the mess mat which truly means that you have every single thing that you need.  The instructions are incredibly clear and not only tell you what you have to do, but also why you're doing it and what you can learn from it.

The second activity is called Let's Spin Colours in which you make your own colourful spinning tops.

Then they both had lots of fun spinning their spinners and watching the colours go together and try to describe what they were seeing.


Overall we really enjoyed the whole Trunkaroo experience and were so impressed by all that was included in the box and how thorough the instructions are.  Fantastic for playing and learning at home each month.

If Trunkaroo sounds like it's for you, I'm excited to be able to offer you a discount code and a chance to win one!
Click here to receive your special discount from Trunkaroo.

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* This is a review post, we were sent a Trunkaroo kit to try and write our honest opinions about.*