Easy home-made pretend role-play food from every day items

Want to know how to make some quick and easy home made, pretend role-play food from every day household items? 

This post will show you how to make some fake Battenberg cake, pretend sponge cakes, fake ice cream, pretend spaghetti and meatballs, chips, crumpets and more....

The Day the World Stayed At Home | Poem

The Day the World Stayed at Home - Poem

How to make Needle Felted Number Hearts for Loose Parts

Needle felted loose parts are a lovely tactile resource for children to use within their play. These rainbow felted hearts with numbers 1-10 are great when used alongside numicon and other natural resources and loose parts on a play tray - adding in another sensory element with different textures and weights. They are SO easy to make, simultaneously calming and stress busting as you focus on producing something achievable with a repetitive stabbing movement to get rid of any internal angst!

This blog post will give you some step by step images and instructions for how to make your own needle felted hearts, as well as an accompanying video to demonstrate and a list of resources you will need in order to make your own felt hearts with numbers...

60+ Play Ideas for when you're stuck at home

Whether you're stuck at home due to a rainy day, feeling under the weather yourself or having to self-isolate due to a global pandemic (Corona Virus COVID-19 I'm looking at you!), you'll probably find that cabin fever sets in pretty quickly without some quick and easy play activities to keep your little ones entertained!

Most of these play at home, indoor activities are super simple to set up, and utilise resources that you will likely have at home anyway. Just in case you don't, I'll include some relevant links to order online for home delivery. (Some of these links may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a small amount of commission on qualifying purchases, but it wont cost you any more to buy them).

Cheap Carpets and Wipeable Walls - Preparing for life with kids

Are you currently looking to redesign your home, rethink your interiors or switch up your flooring? If so, then the first question I have for you is this: Do you have children, or plan on having children at some point in the near future? 

 If so, then I implore you - put away the expensive shopping list, ignore the calls of a luxury walkway and go and grab yourself a cheap carpet and some wipeable wall paint. I promise you will thank me for this later. 

AD: Paid partnership

There is nothing that screams 'unprepared!' quite like the chic and fashionable parents-to-be whose houses are adorned with mirrored tables, crystal vases, velvet furnishings and a fluffy, cream carpet that you dare not even breathe on. They haven't yet experienced sticky fingers. They don't know how a stream of wiped snot can make fibres clump together. Let's forgive them for believing that they won't mind Hinching the shiny surfaces every.single. minute....but the fact of the matter is, raisins get mashed into carpets and end up looking like something much, much worse. Save the luxury one for when they've left home and for the love of sanity - buy a cheap carpet for now.

Ikea Flisat Table | Skadis Pegboard | Desk Hack

Are you looking for some inspiration for the Ikea Flisat desk? Perhaps you would like to use this for smaller Tuff Tray activities, or maybe, you would like to combine the table with the Ikea Skadis pegboard, but are unsure of how to do this and which resources you need?

This post will tell you everything you need to know about the Ikea Flisat table / Skadis Pegboard desk hack...

(NB: Some of the links in this article are amazon affiliate links - it wont cost you anymore, but I may make commission on qualifying purchases.)

We have this IKEA Flisat table and Skadis pegboard in our Child-Led playroom at home, set up specifically for independent learning through play. This hack does not involve fastening the table to the wall and so this can be moved around the room easily...

Dietbon Diet Plan | Ready made meals for a busy lifestyle?

Sponsored PR sample

DietBon are a French company specialising in diet plan ready made meals, which are 100% natural, delivered straight to your door- tailored to your needs. The name, translated literally, means ‘good diet', and so we arranged for a weeks worth of meals to be sent to my husband to try out. He has a busy working life as a Leeds based Lawyer, which involved lots of travel, early mornings, late nights and office desk dinner dates! Ease of use and speedy preparation were key here, as well as a tasty meal of course!
 

First of all, DietBon make sure that their diet plan regime is right for you by scheduling in a call with one of their dieticians. Thomas had a call with an English speaking dietician based in France, who talked him through how the plan works and realistic expectations for the 7 day review plan. She explained that the diet plan is particularly popular amongst  Lawyers for its ease of use within a busy working lifestyle as the plan is made to be as simple as possible.  Weight loss expectations are roughly 3-4kg a month, depending on what his usual intake was like and how much exercise he does.

Gratnells Iconic Tray Challenge – Learning Rooms Play Activities

We have been busy setting up some tuff tray challenges on a smaller scale, using the iconic tray from Gratnells and taking inspiration from the Gratnells Learning Rooms project and What's in my Tray.

  

***Ad: We were gifted the iconic Gratnells trays in order to put together these activities, and compensated for our time*** 

The smaller Gratnells Trays fit perfectly into our Ikea Kallax shelving unit within our open plan, child-led playroom environment – allowing for a colour co-ordinated ‘iconic school tray’ challenge activity, by choice. The trays can be easily removed in order to access each individual activity, and then placed on the floor, table top or on a larger tuff spot tray. Similarly, the larger Gratnells trays can be placed on top of a stool, cable reel or an old tyre to create a tuff tray table at child height.

I have put together four moveable, learning through play challenges using the smaller, rainbow coloured Gratnells trays, and a further challenge using two of the larger Gratnells trays which you can see below...

Furnishing a Pink and Grey Lounge

I absolutely LOVE a pink and grey colour scheme! Now that we have finished our playroom extension, and finally have our lounge back, I have recently started to furnish the sitting room to include some blush and pale pink accents to work alongside the grey and I will be giving more details of these in the post. Get ready to cosy up and create a soft and calm interior within your living room...

***AD: The Beanbag in this post was gifted for the purpose of this review and giveaway. This post may also contain amazon affiliate links which will be indicated by an asterisk. For full disclosure please see me About Me page ***

One of the key rules I have had to stick to when adding pink accents to this room is that nothing is permanent. Everything that I have added in to create a blush rose hue to the grey interior can be easily removed, changed or moved around. It is still a work in progress, but I am really happy with the pieces I have included so far...

A child-led playroom for open ended learning through play

Within this post, I am going to be telling you a little bit more about child-led learning spaces - what is a child-led learning space? Why is child-led learning so important? and, how we can make a start to setting up a child-led playroom, using simple but effective provision? I will be demonstrating how this can still be achieved in smaller spaces – such as our playroom at home - with open ended resources for learning through play.
 

***You can find many of the resources pictures and mentioned throughout this post over in my Arthurwears Amazon Associate storefront, (click here for the USA version) or on the 'shop' tab on the main menu (please see my work with me page for a full disclosure) *** 

It’s taken me a while to write this post, mainly because I keep changing everything around SO often, and its always well used, so always a mess!

You can see my previous posts about the actual building of the playroom extension, and then how we came to decorate and choose the right type of flooring for the playroom before finally adding in the furniture and resources. (Although I do use the term ‘finally’ very loosely here as this space changes and evolves constantly!)

My regular readers will know how passionate I am about good quality continuous provision, and although I did choose a primary school for Arthur, where I felt the ethos leant itself well to learning through play, I know that the current pressures within schools and increasing formalisation of learning meant that I would have to make sure I was providing him with additional opportunities for open ended play at home. My aim with this playroom has always been to create a space which lends itself to child led learning, through play, and I will try to explain a little within this post as to why this is so important…

(you can scroll down to the bottom for a video tour of the playroom if you would prefer to watch this first)

Role Play | Postman Mail Bag | TUTORIAL

Perhaps your little one has a strong desire to emulate Postman Pat...or maybe just your local Postie...but whatever the reason, this DIY role play Postman mail bag tutorial will have them playing messenger and delivering handwritten letters in no time! Better still, the bag only needs 5 key resources to be complete! Excellent for encouraging mark making in the Early Years and ties in well with the topic 'People Who Help Us'....

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post but all thoughts and opinions are my own

Children LOVE to role play and act out scenarios from real life. One of the most constant 'people who help us' figures in every day life will be the local Postman or Postlady. Enabling your child to re-enact this role by providing them with a Postman messenger mail bag and some resources inside to write and make marks is a fantastic way to encourage early literacy in a fun way! 

These Postman bags also make fab home made gifts, and are REALLY EASY to make yourself.

Here is what you'll need:

Ice cream role play tuff tray

If you're looking for some good ideas and some fab resources for your ice cream role play tuff tray and sensory play, then look no further! All of the items in this blog post can be found in my Amazon afilliate store front, within the ice cream role play section here. (USA followers you can navigate to the US resource info here)

This post includes images, ideas, recipes for home made ice-cream playdough and a video of our jelly (Gelli!) and ice cream sensory tuff tray...PLUS A FREE PRINTABLE

You don't need to spend lots of money on commercial products for little ones when it comes to role play scenarios such as this, this post includes images from different ice cream role play activities we have set up - including home made ice cream playdough, gelli play jelly and ice cream (AD - Previously gifted), and some good old ice cream parlour play resources...

Play for life | Using deliberate play to enhance physical development

Ad: We were gifted the microscooters shown in this post in order to take part in our own movement challenges alongside the Play for Life campaign. All thoughts, opinions and professional conclusions drawn are my own based on my knowledge as an EYFS Primary Teacher specialising in Early Years.

Micro Scooter Play for life | Using deliberate play to enhance physical development

When we are talking about child development within the early years, physical development underpins almost everything that a child learns to do. From those first moments of tummy time as a new baby, to climbing up a climbing frame as a pre-schooler – what starts off as those BIG gross motor movements eventually leads into the smaller, more refined, fine motor skills needed for things such as writing…or having the postural control to sit confidently on a chair or move with co-ordination around a room. If you miss out the big physical development skills, children will struggle with the smaller (but trickier!) physical development skills.

Of course, with small children if you want them to learn anything, it needs to be fun!! Scooting is a great introduction to harnessing some of those important skills because it requires such a number of different levels of planning and co-ordination!

Stay at home Mum Poem

Why I didn’t return to Teaching after the birth of my first child

I loved my job as a Primary School Teacher. I had specialised in Early Years during my teacher training and landed a role teaching Reception in a one form entry school in West Yorkshire. Play based learning is my passion. Children and their development both intrigue and fascinate me. (Make me invisible for a day and I’ll spend it watching a child at play and analysing every little thing they do). I felt like I’d found my calling and I genuinely loved going into work every day and making lots of small differences to the children in my care. I felt privileged to be in a position where I was making a difference in those critical early years of life.
   

I’d just started to put plans in motion to further climb the rungs of the career ladder when I found out I was expecting. I’d been recommended for a position elsewhere, closer to home which felt perfect for me, but suddenly the moves I had been making in this game of life felt like they were being played for someone else. As much as I wanted to climb higher, I felt a huge responsibility towards any future school, or children, to place myself in a position which I knew I would be leaving shortly afterwards – albeit temporarily! I decided I had no choice but to stay put and continue to strive for inspirational learning opportunities and fun, worthwhile days within my current Reception Class. I had an amazing Teaching Assistant and Support Assistant who totally ‘got’ my ethos and did everything they could to help me guide my class towards the type of learning environment befitting of 4 and 5 year old children. I carried on...

Natural Lip Plumper that works | CODE LIP | Review

Are you looking for a natural lip plumper to make your lips look fuller without botox, fillers or a lip plumping tool?  In this blog post I give the CODE LIP 'Lip Intense Plumper' a try along with the CODE SSL Soft Smooth Lip Liner, along with a giveaway to win your own! Includes before and after photos. 

Disclosure: AD: Gifted.  I was sent the Lip Intense Plumper and the lip liner in return for an honest review and to host a giveaway.

Honest review, as always...

How to set up a Life cycle of a Frog Tuff Tray Pond

We have recently been learning all about frogs and tadpoles during a visit to my Nanna's house, so we decided to set up a life cycle of a frog tuff tray pond, including a quick video...

We were previously gifted a packet of the green 'slime baff' which we used for this activity (half a pack) to create the swampy, slimy pond. Have a read of what else we did to create this sensory, slimy, frog pond tuff tray....

The sleepless family - an experiment in better quality sleep

Disclosure: We were sent the Dream Pillow, JuveRest pillow and Sleep Master mask in return for an honest trial and review. 

Sleep. It's hard to come by as a parent of small ones isn't it?

When we have enough of it, we can do pretty much anything. When we don't have enough of it, the opposite is true. Lack of sleep affects our diet, our mental health, our physical health and the ability to be the best version of ourselves. Its the reason I've sat in front of this laptop many a time, unable to type a single word. Its almost certainly to blame for the extra lines on my face and probably a few bad choices I've made along the way.

If you are a parent you will understand the helplessness and lack of control you feel when you really want to sleep, but you can't because your child is awake. When they are small, things like Colic or Reflux can play a big part. As they grow, separation anxiety sets in and you may find yourself asking the question like I did here: Should I give in and try controlled crying?  Bigger still and nightmares can impact on the quality of their sleep.

Add in lighter evenings, lighter mornings, snoring partners and aches and pains - its a wonder we manage any sleep at all to be honest!

In order to help combat some of these sleep issues, we have been trying out some sleeping aids ( which will work wonderfully along side these three sleep solutions I have written about previously) for us and for the children. You may also be interested in learning this pillow manifestation technique.

The Dream pillow for children,  the JuveRest Sleep Wrinkle Pillow and the Sleep Master Sleep Mask.

Imagine that you’ve been planning the most amazing surprise party for months and months – the kind where you get to go home with an awesome party bag, the best present in the world and a happy glow that can only come from the most joyous of moments…the only caveat being that you probably wont know exactly when this ‘surprise’ is going to be sprung upon you so you have to be ready! Goodness you’re ready. You’ve got it all mapped out, written down, decisions made. You know exactly how you’re going to behave during and after the event. It’s going to be PERFECT!!

This ^^ is your life as a mum-to-be.

The day of the party arrives, and despite there being no alcohol on the premises, you find yourself shouting and slurring like a teenager in a park after a litre of white lighting. The music is SO much louder than you’d planned it to be and you spend most of the time feeling like you need the loo. The event goes really quickly, and before you know it, you’re back home in bed with a hangover, a boob job, the worst period in the world and an inability to remember your own name because you’re JUST SO TIRED. Oh, and tears. Lots of crying tears*

*Not always yours.

This is your life as a first-time mum.

It’s hard. It’s wonderful. It’s exhausting. It’s happy and sad rolled into one. Its feeling like you’re doing everything and nothing every second of every day. It’s the highest rollercoaster with the lowest drops. You smile for the cameras and then feel physically sick waiting for the next twist and turn. You get to the end of the ride and feel so goddam proud of yourself, sometimes you queue up and give it another go!

Dear First-Time Mum, here’s what you need to know: