We're going to Walt Disney World!  We're so excited (you can read more about our whole planning process here in our We're Going to Walt Disney World post!) We decided on this trip years ago, as it's my big birthday this year and I wanted to go somewhere that made me feel like a kid!  So with all of this planning I have also been shopping for quite a while.  Some of these purchases are great to do before you go as you will save money by buying them before you go.  Some of them are just unique, instead of buying from Disney shops when you're there you're able to buy from individual makers and small shops and get something really special.

Disney Clothes for a Trip to Walt Disney World

I think it's nice to have character t-shirts for walking around the parks as they look great in photos and if you're meeting characters you'll get some great interactions if you can show them who you're wearing.  I have found a lot of inexpensive items for all of the members of the family at regular high street shops, some beautiful and unique tops from small shops and some serious bargain buys online.

The top row are all from Primark, bottom row L-R ShopDisney, Lularoe, H&M, Zara and eBay.

Disney Clothes from High Street Shops

Disney Ears for a Trip to Walt Disney World

For many people a Disney outfit just is not complete without a pair of mouse ears!  Again there are a few high street shops to buy some official Disney ears, some incredibly special ears from small shops and some very cheap ears to be found online.

Mermaid and Pom Pom ears from Primark, Pink Headband from ShopDisney, Snacks Knotband from Magic and Main Street Ears, Ear holder clip from Main Street Makes, the rest are all from eBay.

Disney Ears from High Street Shops

Unique Disney themed Ears (and accessories) from Small Shops

Jewellery and Pins for a Trip to Walt Disney World

An outfit can be topped off with a few accessories like pins and jewellery with a Disney theme, especially if you don't want to go all out with the Disney outfits.

Pins

• Primark
• Etsy - Bishop Please
• Etsy - Alice Vitrum

Jewellery

• Etsy - Neat Designs Store
• Etsy - Fish Extender Gifts UK
• Couture Kingdom

Travel Essentials for a Trip to Walt Disney World

Disney themed luggage is probably more for regular visitors to the Disney parks, but you may want to look at smaller character bags and backpacks to add to your travel gear or daily outfits.  We also do try to do our bit to be a bit more eco, so on this trip we will be bringing our own reusable water bottles and snack bags.

Bags on the left are both from Primark, Princess backpack is from Amazon and the Bambi bag is from Cath Kidston.

Luggage and Bags

Travel Cups, Utensils and Straws

Park Bag Essentials for a Trip to Walt Disney World

Fabulous Disney Extras for a Trip to Walt Disney World

Autograph books from ShopDisney, personalised autograph books from Etsy and click Sharpies from Amazon.

Park Tickets for a Trip to Walt Disney World

Hope that all helps with your planning and shopping for your big trip to Disney too!

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We have had a change of routine now that the children are back at school after a lovely and relaxing Christmas break.  We decided that for this term we wouldn't do any more after school clubs, towards the end of last term the kids were just so tired on those club days and we were walking home in the dark and it just wasn't working for us anymore.  So they still each have one lunchtime club that they love and they swim on the weekends, but we're taking a break for the after school activities.  That means that we get home earlier each day and have more time for homework and other activities.  So I thought that it might help us to have a bit of a routine each day that would give us a theme and make sure that we fit in a bit of everything each week.


It was important to me to have a simple theme for each day that would make it easy for me to find activities, even on days that we are short on time.  I am also very flexible and try to have a back up option just in case what I have chosen doesn't suit the mood or energy levels of the children when they get home.  They've already really taken to the new routine and are suggesting activities for each day as well, which is great!

Maths Monday

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🧮 Maths Monday! 📝 This term we have really cut back on after school clubs and we’re focusing more on fun learning activities at home like we used to do! Each day of the week has a theme, so on Mondays after school we’ll be doing maths! 📐 Today we finished up some maths homework, played Counting Mountain (an @orchardtoys maths game) and did some multiplication with these critter counters (from @learningresourcesuk ) 🐞 #mathsmonday #afterschoolactivities

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jan 13, 2020 at 9:06am PST

We start the week with a bit of maths while they're still well rested from the weekend!  Some ideas for after school that we will be doing are:

• playing a maths game (we love Orchard Toys math games)
• wipe clean maths activity books
• use counters to do maths questions (connected to what they are learning at school)
• play shops and make price tags for items around the house
• make patterns with shapes

Tech Tuesday

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💻 Tech Tuesday 📱 Our new after school routine continues (see yesterdays post for our Monday theme). So on Tuesdays the kids will take turns on the laptop and their tablets. They each have a little list of activities to do, once those are finished they can play a game. These will mostly be on the websites connected to their school. Today Ivy had to play a maths game and read a book and Ethan had to do his maths homework and a spelling game. 💻 #techtuesday #afterschoolactivities

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jan 14, 2020 at 10:16am PST

On Tuesdays we get to use our tech toys, so ideas for Tuesdays after school are:

• educational apps and games on the tablets
• taking turns on the computer (often to do homework or activities suggested by the school)
• coding robot toys

Words Wednesday

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📝 Words Wednesday 📖 All week we’re sharing our new after school routine, and on Wednesdays we’ll be focusing on words! So any reading, writing or spelling will do! 📖 Today Ethan wrote out words for his weekly spelling test onto little sticky notes and Ivy wrote some of the year one words (from a great @twinklresources printout) out too! 📝 #wordswednesday #afterschoolactivities

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jan 15, 2020 at 11:53am PST

On Wednesdays we focus on words, which can include any reading, writing or spelling activities.  Some ideas are:

• smoothies and books
• write out weekly spelling words
• write a letter to a friend
• spelling games (again we love these Orchard Toys games)
• wipe away writing activity books
• make our own story books
• write lists of things that we would like to do

Thinking Thursday

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🤔 Thinking Thursday 💭 We’re continuing to share our new after school routine this week, and on Thursdays we’ll be doing some thinking activities. As we get more tired as the week progresses it seems fitting to have a day where we are just thinking; being creative or mindful. Today I put out some story cubes (we have this set from @flyingtiger as well as a set of @rorys_storycubes ) and the kids just rolled them and made up some silly stories to spark their imaginations. 🤩 You can bet that they were most excited when they got that 💩 one! 🤣 #thinkingthursday #afterschoolactivities

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jan 16, 2020 at 11:17am PST

On Thursdays we are winding down from a busy week, so I chose a thinking theme which can be interpreted in a variety of creative and relaxing ways to suit the children on the day.  Some ideas are:

• story cubes to come up with our own creative stories
• Cosmic Kids yoga and relaxation videos
• imaginative play with their toys
• sensory play activities 
• science experiments

Fun Friday

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🎨 Fun Friday 🧸 It’s finally the end of the school week! We’ve been sharing our new after school routine all week, and of course we’ve got to end with fun! So Fridays after school will be all about crafts and toys and playing together. Today the kids were very lucky and they each got a new @lego minifigure. They also did some craft kits that they got for Christmas. Our first time doing melty beads, Ivy absolutely loved them! #funfriday #afterschoolactivities

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jan 17, 2020 at 11:53am PST

On Fridays we celebrate the end of a very full school week!  Some ideas are:

• playing with toys
• crafts (craft kits if I don't have the energy to come up with a craft)
• board games
• movie and popcorn
• dance party
• baking
• play outside / go to the playground

And that is our new weekly after school routine.  I hope that it might inspire you to do something similar if you think it might suit your family.  So far it is working really well for us!

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If you're looking for a bit of Disney magic right here in the UK then you're going to have to book yourself some tickets to see Disney on Ice!  And if you want to keep that magic going at home, then you're going to love these Fit to Dance resources.  We were invited to see a Disney on Ice show a few weeks ago here in London and to try out the Fit to Dance resources from iChild and Disney so that we could tell you all about them, and I am so excited!



First of all, we had a fantastic time at Disney on Ice and we want to thank Disney and iChild so much for the tickets.  We were lucky enough to be given seats that were very close to the action, but I have to say that when we have been previously and sat further back it was still a magical experience.




The show that we saw was Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic, and it starts with the Mickey Mouse march!  Then the basic storyline to this one is that Donald and Goofy want to make a movie and Mickey and Minnie help them to find lots of great stories to go in it.  




We get to then see some fabulous performances from some of our favourite Disney movies.  First up is a quick look at Pinocchio, then we had a full story from Finding Dory with all of the most loved Nemo characters!




Up next is Beauty and the Beast, with a marvellous castle backdrop.  This one really took our breath away.  The dance between Belle and the Prince at the end is fantastic with some very impressive figure skating moves.




After that a selection of the Princesses and their Princes each come out as a couple to do a short dance.  I have to tell you that Ivy was on her feet at this point, she was so excited to see all of those Princesses at the same time!




Next came Frozen!  This was probably the longest portion of the show, it had the full story from the first movie and featured all of the main characters.  The way that they had the Arendelle Castle in the background, then created the ice castle with these stairs and special effects was just incredible.  There was even snow falling all around us!




After a short interval (perfect time to buy popcorn!) next came Aladdin, complete with a chorus line of Genies!  Then there was Toy Story, which quite impressively featured some of the newer characters from the most recent movie, like Forky and Bo Peep in her new outfit.




After that came Mulan, on of our favourite movies, which was also performed beautifully!  The transformation of Mulan from a young girl, to a warrior was very cool to watch.  And we got snowed on again!  Finally we had the Lion King with an absolutely incredible performance from Simba and Nala, they are very talented ice dancers.



They ended with the finale when all of the skaters came out and waved to everyone.  It was magnificent.  I've made a short video of the experience, but I have to say that it is nothing compared to being there.



Now that we're home from the show it is time to dive into the Fit to Dance resources.  There are resources for schools and for families.  We're looking at the resources for families which will help us to create our own stories and some dance moves to go along with them.



We started with the activity booklet, which includes colouring sheets, puzzles, puppet making and activity sheets to get us thinking about the characters and stories that we might find in Disney on Ice.



For the story making they have some great worksheets to get the creativity flowing.  We love the Story Ideas to get us started with our own tales.  They suggest that younger children can make up a story about just one character and older children could come up with a quest, like you would see in a full Disney on Ice show.  I also love the settings and character sheets and the masks that come in the resources pack, which are useful extras.



After the children have created their stories it's then time to get active!  There is a Dance Ideas sheet to get you started with tips on how the different characters might move.  Then a Dance Steps sheet which actually breaks down the moves that different characters might do.  This is a great warm up to get the children thinking about how their character might move and how to put a few dance moves together.



There are also some fantastic videos to watch featuring some of the ice skaters from the Disney on Ice shows, which give you lots of extra insight in how to create your story and dance steps.  And there is music that you can play straight from the website that you can dance to.  There are plenty of different pieces grouped into categories like 'big entrance', 'upbeat' and 'slow tempo' which can be used at different parts of your story.



Overall we had a fantastic experience at Disney on Ice and we were so excited to keep the fun going at home.  Ethan and Ivy came up with some very creative stories about their characters going on adventures and meeting up with their favourite Disney characters too.  They also loved dancing around and being silly making up their own dance moves.  We highly recommend it!

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* This is a collaborative post, we were provided with tickets to see Disney on Ice in order to write this post with Disney and iChild.*