Play and Learn Every Day

Back to School 2020

4:43 PM

It is almost time for our children to return to school! I know that this is a sensitive topic to talk about as every family is in their own unique position and is choosing to do what is best for their family, but I thought that as all children will have to return to school after a long break at some point I would put together a post of things to remember and things that we are finding helpful to prepare us for this change to our routine that we have become so used to for the past few months at home. Both of our children had a least a few days / weeks at school in July so we did get into a bit of a routine that we will continue. The main areas that we will focus on are being prepared, having good hygiene, keeping healthy and being kind to those around us (and ourselves) through this difficult time.

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Reminders about social distancing for returning to school:

I have come across some nice resources to help remind children about social distancing as a way of preparing them to go back. It won't be easy to see their friends but not hug them and play closely with them, but it is so important, so we will have a few talks about this before they go to school. I also have a few books about worries and positivity to read them and reassure them that everything will be ok, even with all of the changes.

social distancing posters and resources

social distancing videos

books about worries

Ruby's Worry
Sometimes I am Worried (*gifted for review)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Back to School Shopping:

Uniforms

check information sent from the school to see if there are any uniform / dress code changes (eg. at our school one child should now wear sports shoes every day and does not require a PE kit as they will not be changing for PE, while the other just needs one set of PE clothes to wear into school for the whole day once a week.)
washable uniforms / school clothes (some schools are advising against wearing blazers and other items that require occasional dry cleaning instead of regular washing)
masks (if necessary for your school / child's age)

School Supplies

simple (preferably washable) school bag
washable lunch bag
dishwasher friendly lunch containers
water bottle (labelled)
wipe clean or washable pencil case
simple stationery (easy to clean with disinfectant wipes regularly)

Wearing masks:

At our school masks will not be worn by the children (as they are both under 11), however I do have a few tips as we have been wearing them to go out to other places.

try out different styles of masks in advance to see which ones they find the most comfortable

disposable masks (not the best choice from an eco standpoint, but they often seem the thinest and most comfortable, and of course don't require washing or replacing if lost)
reusable cloth masks (our personal favourite choice, can be chosen in favourite colours or characters that the children like to encourage wearing)

folded style
arched over nose style
adjustable ear strap style

ear protectors / strap extenders for any style of masks to make them more comfortable

prepare a bag to put dirty masks in as soon as the children can take them off

I have labelled some zip bags as clean and dirty to separate our masks when we're out and about

wash masks in a mesh bag at a high heat to sanitise them regularly
send in a spare mask in a bag in case the first one gets lost / dirty
consider using a mask lanyard to keep the mask clean when not in use (eating / drinking)
colour code / label masks for different family members for easy sorting after being washed

Hand washing and other cleanliness:

We are back to our extra efficient hand washing routines and reminding the children how important it is to wash hands for at least 20 seconds each time (and not to touch their faces so much!)

making hand washing fun

hand washing is more important than ever, so it's a good idea to reinforce those hand washing rules before the children go back to school

use Childs Farm hand wash and hand moisturiser at home to keep hands from getting too dry from all the washing at school

Childs Farm have recently sent us a back to school pack including a full size hand wash and moisturiser for home as well as a travel sized hand wash and hand cream to bring with us on the go. This is so good for children with sensitive skin and hopefully will prevent their hands from getting too dry and cracked with the frequent washing and sanitiser use. (gifted products)

hand sanitiser in school bag

I like the refillable bottles that can clip to the school bag

hand wipes in school bag
wash school uniforms / school clothes after each wear

we use Dettol Laundry in the wash as well as our regular laundry detergent
for non washable items (shoes and coats) we use Dettol Spray and Wear

New additions to our daily routine:

There are a few things that we'll now be doing and carrying with us each day that are different to how they were, I have got my bag ready already!

take multi vitamins and immune boosting supplements daily
eat foods to help boost immunity / keep healthy

citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, Greek yogurt, etc

avoid sending in extra items to school (send in just a water bottle and other essentials that can be easily cleaned)
send in an easily washable sun hat and rain coat each day (wash these at the end of each week, spray daily)
if sending in a packed lunch,

choose a washable lunch bag / box
choose containers that can go in the dishwasher for easy daily sanitising
include these lunchbox notes from Eats Amazing

bring hand sanitiser and / or anti bacterial hand wipes to pick up (I carry these in a big bag that I can throw all of their end of the day things into and wash weekly as well)

clean hands throughly before having an after school snack

get changed out of school clothes as soon as we're home

bath / shower straight away if possible

Keeping up with some of the good parts of staying home:

We have picked up a lot of good habits whilst we've been at home together and we do want to keep these going as much as possible, especially if school isn't quite how they remember it, I think that it will be comforting to have home as their familiar place for family time.

Have you got any tips to share if your children have gone back to school already?

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* This post contains affiliate links, I receive a small percentage of the cost when items are purchased through these links at no extra cost to you.*

Playmobil EverDreamerz Comic City Toys Review

5:44 PM

We are very excited to have received a package from Playmobil with a selection of the new series of EverDreamerz Comic City toys to review. We received 2 of the surprise boxes and all 5 of the character boxes.

We opened the surprise boxes first, each of these contain five surprises, including one of the 12 possible characters from Everdreamerz Comic City as well as their accessories, a sticker card, a trading card and a pencil charm.

Ivy was the first to open hers and discovered that she got the baddie, Lady Nightmare! As well as her umbrella and crow sitting on top. She will be perfect for playing out the whole story with the other characters!

Ethan opened his surprise box next and found that he got the Grafitti Skater along with his paint cans, skateboard and face mask.

Ethan was thrilled with this cool dude and will happily play with him along with any of his other Playmobil toys.

Next we moved onto the larger sets, Ivy opened up Viona first

The whole process of opening up the larger boxes is so well thought out and full of so many surprises.

When you open up the largest box you find smaller gift boxes inside, you just slide these and unfold them to open (which makes them perfect to reuse them again and again).

Inside each box are a few different accessories, a trading card and sticker card, a character, a special pet, a bracelet with a charm and beads and a water pen.

There are sheets of stickers to stick on to the different accessories in the set.

Then you fill the water pen and use it to colour in the stickers and reveal the pictures underneath. Then the water dries and you can do it again and again!

Ethan opened up Edwina first.

He really enjoyed the process of finding all of the different boxes inside as well.

And putting all of the pieces together was his favourite part, with all of the stickers and using the water pen too.

Then Ivy opened up Rosalee and Ethan opened up Clare and we took a video of the whole opening process.

And as there are an odd number of characters in Comic City and I'm not one to start a fight between my children, it meant that I got to open up our last character Starleen!

Of course I did have a helper, and a little someone who quickly picked up Starleen and all of her accessories for herself! We have quite a collection now and the children can't wait to play with all of them together and make their own Comic City!

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* This post contains gifted items.*

Dixit Game Review

4:01 PM

This month as part of the Blogger Board Game Club with Asmodee we have been playing Dixit. It is a really unique storytelling and guessing game which is unlike any of our other games and was very interesting to play with the children.

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The Dixit game comes with picture cards, numbered guessing tokens, coloured rabbit figures and a scoreboard.

Each player starts with a chosen coloured rabbit figure, the corresponding colour set of guessing tokens and six picture cards. The first player is the storyteller and chooses one of their cards to make up a sentence about. The other players then look at their own cards and decide which one matches that sentence the best. Each player (including the storyteller) then puts down their card face down and the storyteller shuffles them together then places them face up in a line.

The other players then use their number guessing tokens to guess which card in the line was the storytellers original card, placing their guesses down at the same time. Points are then awarded to the players who guess correctly and to the storyteller as well. The points system is somewhat complicated to explain (but is clearly detailed out in the instruction booklet) and the players move their little rabbit on the scoreboard to show how many points they have received.

Each player then picks up a new card from the pile to add to their hand and the next player is then the storyteller, and play continues as it did in the first round. The winner is the first player to reach 30 points.

It was interesting to explain to the children the complexities of how to make a good sentence for the game, it should be broad enough that other players can find a card to suit it, but not too broad so that no one can guess which card is yours. There is a real art to coming up with the ideal sentence and that makes this game fantastic for creative thinking. I wasn't sure if the children were enjoying it or if it was too advanced for them, but when we finished they asked to play again straight away! It would be an ideal game for a family games night.

* This is a review post, it contains a gifted item and affiliate links, I receive a small percentage of the cost when items are purchased through these links at no extra cost to you.*

Cutetitos Fruititos Toys Review

4:30 PM

We have just been sent the most adorable new series of Cutetitos to play with. They are the Cutetitos Fruititos! If you aren't familiar with them already, they are the sweetest little collectible soft toy animals that come in a rolled up burrito, so you are surprised as you don't know which one you are going to get until you unwrap it.

The new Cuteitos Fruititos are extra special because they come in a fruit wrap and they are fruit scented! There are four different collections within the set; fruity, berry fruity, extra fruity and super fruity (which are the super rare ones!) Altogether there are 12 different Cutetitos to collect in this series, three in each collection. You can buy them Smyths Toys for £7.99 each.

The first one to open their Cutetito was Ivy, she just couldn't wait to see which one she would get. She chose the pink burrito wrap (which is the only part that you can see through the package).

She ripped open the package and straight away you could smell the fruity scent, she then pulled out her burrito, which is also wrapped in a cute fruit printed paper wrapper and she could see the cute little face of her toy straight away. She opened the burrito (which is also soft like the toy and has velcro on it so that you can easily wrap your Cutetito back up in it over and over again) and was so excited to find Sherbitito the cutest little lion with a rainbow mane! He is from the Berry Fruity collection and his burrito looks like a slice of dragon fruit.

Next it was Ethan's turn to open his which came in a green burrito and had the most wonderful smell of watermelon come wafting out as soon as he opened it!

He was very surprised to find that he got Flamito the dragon from the Extra Fruity collection. It was the perfect one for him and he happily wrapped it back up in it's watermelon burrito very easily.

Now because we were very kindly sent three Cuteitos and I'm not one to start an argument between children, the third one was for me to open! Mine was also in a green burrito with a watermelon scent, but I was surprised to find Melonito the toucan who is also from the Berry Fruity collection. (I am sure that he will promptly be taken by one of the children when I'm not looking, don't worry.)

Each Cutetito Fruitito also comes with a little identification card which tells you it's name, birthday and which collection they are from, which is also shown on your actual Cutetito by its Fruity Spot, a sparkly little fruit symbol which you will find down by its tail.

The children both absolutely love their Cutetitos Fruititos and have been snuggling up to them ever since they got them. They're the perfect little cuddly comfort toy to take out and about and are so much fun to collect, I don't think that these will be the last ones that we get from this series!

* This post contains gifted items and affiliate links, I receive a small percentage of the cost when items are purchased through these links at no extra cost to you.*

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