It is almost World Book Day and as Ethan only had to dress in pyjamas for it last year, we wanted to do something really fun this year.  We went through a pile of his books looking for a character that he could dress up as (that took quite a long time!)



He loves all of Julia Donaldson books, so we had a look through them and came across The Highway Rat.  We decided that this would be the perfect character for him to dress up as, and we would be able to put the costume together quite easily.


Ethan started by drawing The Highway Rat, then listing all of the different elements of his clothes that we would need to find or make for the costume.  We decided that as he looks a bit like a pirate that we could start with a basic pirate costume and then add some other bits to it to make Ethan look just like The Highway Rat.



Our The Highway Rat costume:

• pirate costume set (includes shirt, trousers, boot covers, belt)
• pirate hat (with feather)
• rat tail (Ethan made his out of pipe cleaners)
• mask (the pirate costume came with a black belt which we cut holes in to make the mask)
• cape
• sword (Ethan made his out of some thick paper and a paper plate)

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It is almost World Book Day and as Ivy is still in preschool we wanted something really simple for her to wear, that she would be comfortable in all day and that she would love. 



She loves all of the Meg and Mog books, and she loves cats, so it was an easy choice for her to dress up as Mog (of course this could also work for any other cat books, like Mog from the Mog books) and the costume itself couldn't be easier.


We started by drawing Mog and designing what we would need for her costume.  Ethan was kind enough to draw this picture of Mog for us.  We decided that because she was stripey we would need striped clothes as well as a hat and a tail.

Our Mog costume:

• striped leggings
• striped top (Ivy loved this one with a reversible sequin cat, but of course plain stripes would do!)
• cat ears and cat tail set

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We were just sent this Look and Find Number Jigsaw from Orchard Toys to review, and we are loving it already!  It couldn't have come at a better time for Ivy as she is starting school in September and somewhat reluctant to learn in conventional ways (so we're doing lots of learning through play!)



The box contains two different puzzles, so the first step is to take out all of the pieces and turn them over so that you can sort them into piles.  Ivy took all of the red pieces and Ethan took all of the blue pieces.



Since doing this puzzle for the first time with Ethan after school one day, Ivy has asked to do it again with me every single day.  She absolutely loves it, and I love that we are reinforcing her knowledge of the numerals to ten, encouraging her finding and counting skills.  It's a fantastic puzzle, we love it!
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* This is a review post, we were sent this jigsaw puzzle from Orchard Toys in order to review it and write our honest opinions.*

It is hard to believe it, but my little Ivy has just turned four years old.  And as her current loves are mermaids and unicorns, we decided to have a double theme for her birthday party!  We chose to host the party at a local hall with lots of space, and we hired a fantastic dance party entertainer to come and play some games with the kids and get them all dancing around.



The children arrived and joined in with the dancing fun straight away.  I can not recommend Boundless Dance highly enough, Lee kept those children focused the whole time and they all had a blast.  There were games and prizes for everyone, lots of music and dancing.  Ivy got to lead a few of the games and loved being the centre of attention.




The main decorations for the party were on the lunch tables.  We had fantastic sets of partyware with Ivy's name on them from Personalised Parties!  It is such a wonderful touch and everyone commented on how fabulous it all looked.  We had the Personalised Mermaid Party Pack and the Personalised Unicorn Party Pack.  Each pack includes personalised party plates, party cups, personalised party boxes, party hats, party masks and food flags.




The other decorations that we had were:

• purple, turquoise and pink tablecloths
• napkins
• mermaid banner
• unicorn banner
• happy birthday bunting
• colourful bunting
• food labels (that we made)
• water bottle labels

I usually make the party signs myself on the computer as well, but this year Ethan wanted to make the signs for his sister, and they were so much better than anything I could ever make!


I have definitely decided that I prefer to focus on the decorations and just having fun, so I ordered most of the food rather than making it myself.  Most of it was regular party food of sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, sausages and breadsticks but I did also have some unicorn sweets, Rainbow Drops, marshmallows and Party Rings for a bit of extra added fun and colours (as well as vegetarian and Halal alternatives).  Of course we had to have a unicorn cake (this one is from Marks and Spencer and has rainbow layers of cake!) but we also had cupcakes because they are much easier to hand out rather than rushing to cut up a whole cake!





As always my very favourite thing to do is to prepare the party bags and fill them with things that I know that the children will love and that will keep them busy after the party is finished.  Ivy loves to paint, so party bags based around these unicorn money boxes to paint and decorate were the perfect choice.  



They included:

• party boxes from Personalised Parties
• unicorn money box
• small pots which I filled with two different paint colours each
• a paint brush
• unicorn or mermaid mask from Personalised Parties
• chocolate bar
• marshmallow
• and for our baby guests a unicorn rubber ducky

Ivy had such a fantastic time at her birthday party and loved all of the mermaid and unicorn touches.  She is very lucky to have such lovely friends to celebrate with and so many memories of a very special day.  She was also lucky enough to get some Mermaids and Unicorns gifts.  If you want to take a peek at Ivy's previous parties, she has had a Teddy Bear Party, a Miffy Party and a Frozen Party.


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* This post contains review items and affiliate links, we were sent the party packs from Personalised Parties to use and write about, all opinions are our own.*

It is almost Easter and we are already excited for spring to come and welcoming it in with some fun crafts.  These puppets are so easy to make, they're the perfect after school invitation to create.


What you'll need to make Easter Stick Puppets:

• craft sticks / lolly sticks
• foam shapes / foam sheets
• scissors
• Bostik Glu Dots
• Bostik Tape Discs
• Bostik Clear Glu Pen
• Assorted buttons, gems, googly eyes, pom poms, etc

I like to set up a tray full of fun materials for the kids, then as soon as they get home from school I let them know what we're making and they can get straight to work.  They often end up adding a few more materials to the table or coming up with follow on crafts, it's such a great way to keep them creating after school.  They loved the idea of making Easter stick puppets and set to making straight away.


We had some foam shapes that were Easter themed, but I also put out some foam sheets so that they could trace the shapes or draw their own to cut out as well.  Ethan started by tracing our only bunny shape (and saving the pink one for Ivy, so sweet).  Then he cut out the shape that he had traced.


He was excited to try out the Tape Discs from Bostik as we haven't had these before.  They are just simple circle shaped pieces of tape that are easy for him to peel from the sheet.  He used these to stick his bunny to the craft stick.


Next he put some clear glue on his bunny and added some gems and other decorations to it.


He was on a roll after that, and just used his own creativity to make all sorts of different puppets.  He made a flower queen and one with a bee landing on a flower and started planning how he would make a puppet show already!


Pin this idea for later:

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* This is a review post, we were sent a box of craft supplies from Bostik in order to create these crafts.  All opinions are our own.*

Ivy recently turned 4 years old, and her two favourite things at the moment are mermaids and unicorns, so that made her birthday party theme an easy choice!  I also find that because her birthday is so soon after Christmas I need a little extra present inspiration to find things for her, and like to follow a theme, so this year I was on the lookout for all things mermaid and unicorn related!



I didn't have to look far, as I was lucky enough to get this Unicorn Mini Backpack from Rex London.  It is adorable and she is going to absolutely love filling it with a few toys for days out.  I love that it's not too big, so she won't be able to make it too heavy to carry!  It's got lovely secure straps and a big section at the back as well as a small pouch at the front.  It's adorable and perfect for a little unicorn loving kid.




I was also very lucky to be sent this Unicorn blanket from Contrado.  You can order it in a variety of different sizes, but this is the small one.  It will be perfect for snuggling up on the sofa to watch movies on cold winter afternoons, and for bringing in the car when she falls asleep on long drives.  It's made of really cozy fleece and it just ideal for keeping little ones warm on cold days.




This Unicorn Melamine Set from Rex London that they sent is also perfect, it's a little bit different (that unicorn is roller skating!) but also bright, colourful and useful!  Ivy is going to love having her very own matching set of unicorn tableware.  I love that multi section tray, I think it will be a great way to encourage her to try different foods at lunch time.



I have also got this fabulous Treasure Island Tuff Tray Mat from Early Years Resources which is going to be perfect for small world mermaid play!  With a variety of mermaid toys, little fish and boats this will keep Ivy busy for hours!  (I'm sure you'll be seeing this mat a lot through the summer when we've got our tuff tray out in the garden every day!)



If you haven't already got some, we love these small world toys from Le Toy Van, there's a Unicorn and a Mermaid and so many other lovely little characters.

Some other great mermaid gift ideas:

• Mermaid blanket
• Mermaid pillow
• Ariel Aquabeads
• Mermaid Cuddly Toy
• Barbie Mermaid

And even more unicorn ideas:

• Unicorn toy
• Unicorn light
• Unicorn stick pony

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* This is a review post and also contains affiliate links.  We were sent the tuff tray mat, the blanket, the backpack and the melamine set in order to try them out and write our honest opinions.*

It really in incredible how children can now play and interact with characters on so many different levels.  We are big fans of imaginative play and creating our own little worlds with small toys, but we're also very realistic users of screen time.  The kids love to watch their favourite shows on tv, and they love to play with apps and games on my phone or a tablet.  So it is fun when there are characters that they can have in all three ways!  The kids can watch Zak Storm on tv, play the app and play with the toys!


We were lucky enough to receive the Zak Storm Hover Vehicle to play with as well as a couple of packs of the collectible Treasure Coins to review.  The children were so excited to open up the package and see that they would be able to play Zak Storm at home!


First we took a closer look at the Collectible Treasure Coins, each of these packs contain 4 different coins to collect.  Ethan and Ivy love blind bags, so they couldn't wait to tear into the bags and find out which ones they got.


They were also really excited to play with Zak and his Hover Vehicle.  It's a great little board with wheels on the bottom, moveable parts and buttons at the front.  One button pops out parts to expand the board, and the other shoots a stick out of the front (this is Ethan's favourite part!) The package with Zak Storm and his Hover Vehicle also contained a very special coin.


Ethan was so excited to open up the app and figure out how to add all of the coins that they had collected into his game.


Once we navigated our way through, it was simple to place the coin in front of the phone and scan through the coins, which give them all sorts of extra features in the game.


Even Ivy was able to scan her coins through with a little bit of help to line them up.


It's a great combination of toys, I love how they all go together.  The children are really enjoying playing the app together, and also playing with Zak Storm on his Hover Vehicle along with some of our other small world toys which get to be the baddies!

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* This is a review post, we were sent the Zak Storm Toys in order to review them and write our honest opinions.*