Having Fun with Water

When it comes to looking for fun activities over the summer, or indeed at any time there is no resource more freely available (or cheaper unless you are on a meter and use A LOT) than water.

It doesn't matter what the weather is doing as when it comes to water play there are plenty of activities to enjoy both indoors and outdoors. Here are just some of our fun water-related activities for you to consider. Do you have any to add?

Water Painting
On a sunny day give your little painters house painting brushes and water in buckets and let them paint! They may redecorate the fence, the shed, the walls, anything really. What's best is that there's no tidying up as the water will simply dry up in the warmth.

Sail a Boat
Sailing a boat is one of the most simple activities and yet offers a great amount of fun and laughter. Boat races and more are all part of this type of water-related activity. Our Skipper Wooden Pond Yachts are very popular for obvious reasons!

Water Fights
Fill water balloons and buckets and just let them soak each other, be it a fun activity with siblings or friends.
Top tip: Remember to bring your washing in off the line first and close nearby windows!

Measuring
Children love to fill up jugs and measure out set amounts, refilling and sharing water amongst other containers. How complex you make this activity will depend on the age of the children. This is as much a learning activity as it is a source of enjoyment.

Tea Parties
You don't need a fancy tea set, just beakers, a pretend tea pot, saucers and the like. Gather up friends, sibling or dolls and teddies and enjoy pouring, sharing and drinking "tea" while having a good chat. This is a great fun role play idea.

Bath Fun
Whether it's to cool off, clean up or just because we all love bathtime why not fill up the  tub and play during the day for once? Pour, splash, enjoy bubbles or get really creative with bath chalks and the like.

Splish Splash Splosh with Skip Hop Ducks!

A Big Water Table
Whether you buy a water table or make one there is something very special about letting your little ones enjoy simple water fun by filling the water tray with sponges, using ice cubes, floating items such as milk bottle lids and a number of different easy to find yet very interesting materials.
Little ones can play for hours with these things!

If you have any more ideas for fun water play do share them!

Gifts for Older Children

Looking for inspiration when it comes to buying presents for older children isn't always the easiest of tasks, especially if you are buying for someone else's children. Your own are usually quite happy to tell you what they'd like and what they are currently into and yet still finding something as a suprise or something a bit different may require some extra help.

Buying for young children is fairly easy as toys and games are the order of the day and we have plenty of these to choose from. When buying for older children try some of these gift suggestions out for size....

Educational Fun
Children starting school or already enjoying the experience often benefit from more educational gifts, as long as these are fun and not boring. Help them learn and practice the fundementals of maths and literacy with magnetic fun from Fiesta Crafts perhaps?

Cool Accessories

When it comes to being out and about you have to look cool (this awareness of coolness seems to start at around 4 years old!). Choose brightly coloured accessories such as water bottles, lunch bags and backpack which will be useful as well as being fun. Our Stephen Joseph and Skip Hop ranges have proven extremely popular with children from tiny tot age upwards.

Bedroom Decor

Older children love to personalise their own space and how better than with decorative items such as shaped mirrors, wall stickers and more? With a wide range of themes to choose from, from alphabets to fire trucks or fairies, as well as some seriously cute Babyface gingham bedding in a range of colours there are plenty of gift ideas here. 

Many gift buyers struggle to find something new or different when buying on the high street which is why we put together ranges full of fun and quality items all in one place for you to choose from. This makes buying presents much easier when you are trying to find something cool or useful and yet don't want to  try and work out what the latest "thing" or trend is.

Do you have any ideas or advice for buying for older children? If so please do share! 

The Big Spring Clean

The clocks have gone forward, the sun peeps out every now and then and there are tulips and daffodils everywhere. It is most definitely time for the spring/ early summer spring clean. 

 The most time consuming section of the house is always the children's bedrooms however these handy hints should help keep you on track. 

Declutter 

Children seem to have so much "stuff". Once they start nursery and school there is artwork and junk models, and of course nine times out of then they have boxes and bags full of toys to wade through. Decluttering is by far the best way to start the big spring clean process.  

The time comes when children outgrown certain toys and games. At this point you have the option to store them for if you plan to have more children, gift them to someone else, bin them or make good use of them. If parts are missing, they are shabby or they don't work the bin or recycling box is the best option. If they are complete but simply aren't suitable for your children anymore you could sell them (NCT sales and local Facebook buy / sell group as well as Ebay are great for getting rid of unwanted toys) or you could gift them to a local charity. 

Be ruthless, keeping special keepsakes yet working hard to cut the clutter while you're motivated! 

Rotate toys 

If you find your children have far too many toys, books and games in their rooms take some of them away and store them safely. Every so often bring out these forgotten toys (which will be fallen on in delight by children who see them as "new") and choose more to put away. This reduces the clutter in a room and offers a great opportunity for fun during a wet weekend! 

New Bedding 

Nothing spruces up a room quite like new bedding. Many choose bedding to suit an existing theme or as part of a new one and we have plenty for you to choose from. 

Wall Stickers 

Sprucing up a room doesn't necessarily mean having to re-paint or put up new wall paper. There is actually a much easier and considerably cheaper approach; wall stickers. Removable and reusable wall stickers for children offer an exciting way to add colour and interest to a room with ease. 

Get the Kids Involved 

Children are much more likely to keep their rooms and tidy and more so to enjoy the time they spend in there if they truly feel the room is theirs and that they have responsibility for it. When it comes to choosing wall stickers, new bedding, decluttering items and more let the kids help. 

Storage and Organisation 

Once you've had a good clean and decluttered it is time to look at your storage and organisation options. Choose storage that will adapt to your children's needs so choose storage solutions that may store a variety of different things yet won't look out of place with the theme you've created in the room. Visit the website to see the number of storage and organisation pieces we have on offer, all of which focus on the practical as well as the fun factor. 

Frame It 

The amount of artwork and clever sculptures that come home from childminders, nursery and school is staggering. Parting with them is hard however unless you have an extra room or three to store them it sometimes pays to be ruthless. A great tip to avoid tears when recycling art is to let your child take a photograph of it so that it may be saved forever (and make room for the next fab piece they create). Why not choose a few really nice pieces of art and/or print off some of the children's photographs of their models and frame them, adding the personalised touch to the room? 

Having a big clean and sort out, although tiring is actually a great way to greet a new season (as well as to find the carpet in a child's bedroom once more). Good luck! 

Making Mealtimes a Fun Learning Experience

There has been a lot in the press over recent years about how the British are losing their grip on the meal time traditions that were once considered the norm. Sitting together as a family is so important as not only is it a great opportunity to get the whole family sitting down together at least once a day, it also offers the opportunity for children of toddler age and up to see and mirror your eating habits. 

From Pinterest

Feature picture credit

Learning new skills and doing things for themselves are both extremely important. Making mealtimes as fun and as grown up as possible certainly helps when teaching little ones to be big boys and girls at the table. 

Picky Eating 

There are few thing as frustrating when it comes to parenting than having a child who will eat everything and anything one week and only red food the next (how many of you are smiling and nodding or gritting your teeth at the memory of this stage just now?). There are a number of ideas for how to get past the picky stage, from hiding vegetables in sauces and other foods, taking a firm stance or not forcing the issue as your little one will dig their heels in prolong the "I don't like any of this" stage. 

Regardless how you and your family have decided to tackle this fun stage many report that injecting fun into the mealtimes often helps. Food arranged by colour, to make faces, or patterns and more turn boring grown up food into something kids want to try. Many parents find that allowing your child to help shop for ingredients, to choose and to help prepare food also breaks down some of the barriers they've put up. 

The Right Utensils 

A large part of learning to eat with the grown up is all about using the utensils right. These rather lovely Zootensils from Skip Hop are brilliantly designed, making it easy for little hands to grip them properly and over time practice and develop their gross motor skills enabling them to move food to mouth properly with ease. 

They also look great! 

It's Only Mess 

Easy to say I know but it doesn't matter how quickly our children are going to get to grips with eating like big boys and girls, there is going to be a fair but of mess along the way. Bibs and aprons are a must and a great idea for saving time and effort when it comes to clearing up is to place an opened bin bag or messy mat under the highchair or grown up chair to catch the majority of anything dropped. 

Sitting Up at The Grown Up Table

It is very exciting for children being able to sit properly at the table with their family. Swapping a highchair for a booster seat signals the next stage of development. Setting a place for the children with their own dinner mat, own special plate, cup and utensils will go a long way to encouraging them to practice their eating skills. 

As with anything, the more fun and interesting we as parents can make learning something new, be this eating like a big boy or girl or even sleeping in a big bed for the first time, the more likely the transition will be a smooth one. 

Happy mealtimes!