Games

Top Tip 27: Playmobil spare parts

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Mum "Top Tips", Toys 0 Comment

NHM: Most of you know that I LOVE Playmobil, and I share this love of Playmobil with Mr NHM too. 

I’m very excited about this post as it’s the very FIRST post Mr NHM has ever written on NHM.

The first of many if I have my way 😉

Playmobil spare parts

I recently bought some second hand Playmobil for Miss NHM for Christmas (got some big stuff and very cheap), however, there were some parts missing. Key parts I might add.

So I did a quick search on the interweb and found that Playmobil have a page for spare parts: http://www.playmobil.co.uk/on/demandware.store/Sites-GB-Site/en_GB/Home-Show

The system I used to find out the part numbers was:

1. Look on Google Images for the Product Number or if you have the original box it’s the 4 digit number on the front.

2. Download the Build instructions from Playmobil, found at the bottom of the home page.

Build Instuctions

3. Fill in the online form and sit back: http://download.playmobil.com/contact/ersatzteile/index_uk.php

Quote Form

The whole process took 30 minutes to sort out.  I had parts from 3 different sets to find.

I received an email with the cost for my quote, £5, and a Playmobil phone number, to call if I wanted to place an order.  It was a local number and took less than 2 minutes.

Eleven days later and the parts arrived from Germany, a breakdown of the costs was included and postage was £2.25, which I think was a bargain.

Playmobil Invoice

I’ve now placed the parts on the toys and have a feeling of completion and they look AMAZING.

So now everyone knows where to get your spare parts from.

Enjoy.

Stocking Filler Ideas 2014

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Toys 1 Comment

I’ve been adding to my Stocking Filler suggestion list throughout 2014.

It’s getting quite comprehensive now! lol.

I’ve mentioned before that I do my VERY best to avoid things that are going to end up in landfill.

Stocking Filler Ideas 2014

  • Bubbles
  • Satsuma
  • crayons
  • modeling clay or play dough
  • a Slinky
  • miniature Lego kits
  • travel games
  • decks of cards
  • mini jigsaw puzzles
  • wind-up toys
  • squirt guns
  • balloons
  • beach balls
  • high bounce balls
  • small stuffed animals
  • toy cars
  • fancy shoelaces.
  • Gift vouchers (clothing, restaurants, groceries, music download cards, new experiences).
  • Pocket or desktop calendars.
  • Pens
  • pencils
  • erasers
  • highlighters
  • color pens
  • notepads
  • Wristwatches or small alarm clocks
  • Torch
  • kitchen utensils
  • Try a favorite candy, jam, mustard, or ice cream sauce
  • Orange
  • Candy canes
  • toothbrush
  • toothpaste (travel sized)
  • Pretty stones or minerals
  • Music CDs.
  • New hairbrush
  • jewellry
  • hair clips, hair bands, hair toggles
  • hot chocolate
  • bar of chocolate
  • Christmas chocolate
  • Novelty chocolate
  • key rings
  • fun showergels
  • Bubble Bath
  • Colouring or Activity Books/Pencils
  • Post It Notes
  • Bubble Wands
  • Socks
  • Large Chocolate Coin
  • Travel Bag
  • Cookies in Christmas shapes, such as Santa or Reindeer.
  • Mince pies
  • Toy cars
  • Silly putty
  • Army Men or small action figures or dolls
  • Clothing for Barbie dolls or other dolls
  • School supplies
  • Books
  • Art supplies
  • a note promising a special activity that day
  • permission to download a new app to their ipads

Top tip: Six weeks before Christmas!

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Mum "Top Tips", Organising, Toys 2 Comments

(I know, I know, you don’t want to be reminded, but I was a Brownie and Guide so the motto “be prepared” is drummed in to me :-D.) 

In an effort to try to get organised for Christmas early this year, I thought I would put together a quick post about what to prepare roughly 6 weeks in advance of Christmas.

I have a Trello Christmas Reference board which I use every year and this really helps ease the pain.

I spent some time two years ago putting it together and now I don’t need to think about what needs to be done, I just refer to this board!

6 weeks before Christmas!

Do you know who you are buying for?

If not, time to make a list.

Once you know who you are buying for you can then start to think about what to buy them.

Look out for my Top Tip about CamelCamelCamel for saving money via Amazon.

I also keep a record against each person as to what I bought them in previous years.

This is especially important if you have friends with two or more children, so you don’t get a sibling the same gift.

Cheat: if you have to buy presents for several children of roughly the same age, buy them all the same thing! Then you don’t have to think about it! lol.

Are you doing stockings for people?

If yes, check out my 2012 post on stocking filler ideas that don’t end up as landfill. (This post also has a link to the post office with a list of mailing dates).

Are you hosting Christmas dinner?

If yes, what food do you need to buy?

I have a Trello list for food for Christmas day and then a Trello list entertaining food for when people come to visit.

I start buying the long lasting items off this list from the middle of November.

It helps spread the cost of Christmas. I think! lol.

What traditions are you planning to hold for your family?

There are key people that we always catch up with over Christmas and it’s important to us that this happens.

I think at Christmas time you have to be intentional about the things that you do and the people that you see.

One of our traditions is to hand deliver Christmas cards to our friends who live in Reading.

This isn’t particularly environmentally friendly but it gives Miss NHM a great opportunity to go “oooh, ahhhh” at all of the Christmas lights near where I friends live.

We also have another tradition where we go for afternoon tea at a hotel in the New Forest, with friends who live in Dorset.

Do you have a December bucket list?

I can’t remember where I first saw this, but it’s a great idea.

Are there certain things that are important for you all to do as a family during Christmas?

Write them down and add them into the December schedule to ensure they happen!

This year I am going to try to add several of our December bucket list things into our advent calendar.

Do you want to give out handmade gifts?

Time to start cracking on these, if you haven’t already!

This year I am toying with making handmade Christmas crackers, but you can guarantee it won’t happen, even if I do buy all the kits from Baker Ross!!! lol.

Are you doing a personalised advent calendar?

If yes, time to get cracking now! You can get some ideas about advent calendars via a post I wrote in 2014.

Are you posting parcels abroad?

Time to start thinking about the parcels you need to put together and the delivery times as they are sooner than for cards abroad.

Are you posting cards abroad?

Also check out the delivery times for cards abroad to ensure they arrive in time.

Are you putting together a Christmas Eve parcel?

If yes, time to start buying those Christmas Eve pyjamas!

Are you making Christmas cookies in a jar?

I’m probably going to regret sharing this post, but we made Cookies in a jar  last year and it went down a storm.

They took MUCH longer to make than expected though, so schedule at least 3 hours to make 12 jars!!!

Please, to all my friends who read NHM, don’t give us all “Cookies in a jar” as I’m trying to watch my waist line! haha.

Are you putting together a Christmas newsletter for your Christmas cards?

I’ve never done this but I’m toying with it this year.

So much has happened to our little family this year and I know our extended families that we don’t see very often would probably like to know what is actually happening, rather than the version that my Mum and my in-laws tell them! lol.

I probably won’t get round to it though!

Things to check

Do you have enough:

  • Sellotape
  • Christmas wrapping paper
  • Christmas tags
  • Christmas cards
  • Christmas table decorations
  • Christmas movies
  • Booze 😉

and check this post out for 14 things you don’t want to forget for Christmas!

In a perfect world, I would do all of the above.

I never do though! lol.

What have I missed?

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Toddler Games: Outdoor Science activity – “Gloop and Flower Cupcakes”

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Games, Toddlers 0 Comment

I’ve “borrowed” this from Miss NHM’s old nursery.

You will need

  • Tubs filled with cornflower, salt, white wine vinegar, water and cream of tartar
  • Spoons for pouring and stirring
  • Whisks
  • Cupcake cases
  • Cupcake tray

Your children can collect fistfuls of dandelions and grass before they start their concocting.

Firs you can explore each ingredient together, think about how they feel, smell and taste. Then add the spoons and post and let the magic begin!

Children can mix, add and mix again until they feel it is finished. Help them to think about the mixture, how does it feel? what will happen when we put the dandelions in the pot?

Add the special dandelion and grass ingredients and pour the mixture into the cake cases.

These can be emptied and refilled, there can be dandelion arrangement, but the most important thing is to allow your child the opportunity to explore, enquire and experiment.

The recipes will just keep on coming with your very own garden kitchen, so have a go at some messy garden fun!

Top Tip: LeapReader

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Mum "Top Tips", Toys 0 Comment

LeapReader

I did a lot of research for what to buy Miss NHM for her 3rd Birthday in March. We only wanted to buy her one present for her birthday as she gets spoiled by friends and family. I’m also trying to adopt the philosophy that “more is less”.

Since we got Miss NHM the LeapReader she hasn’t put the pen down! It’s been fantastic!

It keeps her busy and quite for up to an hour at a time. We asked friends and family to get her vouchers for her birthday, so we also bought some more books and the map from Toys R Us (the map is cheaper on Amazon).

She loves using the books and we’ve had a lot of fun with the map already. You can also download story books to the pen and Miss NHM will happily just sit and listen to the pen when she doesn’t want to “read” the books anymore.

I totally recommend this product!

Our favourite books

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Books, Toys 0 Comment

Books have always been important to us. We’ve made a concerted effort to read to Misss NHM as much as possible. Mr NHM read the Gruffalo to Miss NHM on the day she was born.

When Miss NHM was very tiny I borrowed as many of the “That’s not my…” books from the library and purchased them from Nearly new sales and read them to Miss NHM. She also had a black and white book that a friend bought for her birth present which Miss NHM loved. Black and white books are supposed to be good for small babies.

I have always been a huge fan of our local library and going to the library when I was on maternity leave and after was a regular activity for us. They have a great selection of books of wonderful variety. Plus, you can order books online for the bargain price of 50p which is much better than paying full price for a book. I’m very conscious that we have a small house and as much as we love books, they sometimes turn into clutter!

It’s no secret that I absolutely adore Usborne books. When Miss NHM was six months old I bought the Apple Tree Farm box set from the Basingstoke NCT Nearly New sale (normally in March/April and October)) for £5 (total bargain!) and read them to Miss NHM every day. By 13 months old she could spot the usborne duck on most pages. I was amazed that she could do this as such a young age. The first page of each book in this box set is always the same and “Rusty” is still the name for all dogs for Miss NHM! Lol.

When Miss NHM was 15 months old I purchased another Usborne box set called the Phonics Readers from the Basingstoke Original Nearly New Sale (next one is this weekend!).

I also continued to read the Gruffalo to Miss NHM and have perfected the voices of the characters. Lol. When Miss NHM was 17 months I purchased “Monkey Puzzle” by the same team as the Gruffalo and this has also been a favourite book. Mr NHM has some favourites that he reads to Miss NHM such as Bear Snores on.

In Miss NHM’s bedroom she has a bookshelf with books that are hers and that she can “read”. She went through a stage of tearing the pages in her books which really irked me, but that stage didn’t last long and the books were repaired. I now often find her asleep in her bed surrounded by her books. She reads them our loud to herself and to her bedroom toys. It’s very important to me that she has access to her books in her room so she has control over what and when she reads.

When Miss NHM was 2 3/4 I persuaded her paternal Grandparents to get her the Very first Reading boxset from Usborne for Christmas (her only present from them). It was on special and priced at £30 for 50 small books. She absolutely LOVES this box set and is now “reading” the stories on her own. She memorises them so fast it amazes me. The books are very simple stories that progress in difficulty but range from classic stories to ones from around the world. Miss NHM’s favourites at the moment are “The Phoenix and the Dragon” a Chinese story and “Old Mother Hubbard”.

I recommend finding your local Usborne book lady and asking her to email or give you a copy of the promotional leaflets that are released every season. You can find some wonderful bargains on these leaflets.

The other evening I caught Miss NHM with her monitor in bed, with the light on, using it to read one of her books to her teddys. I was SO proud of her! Lol.

I’ve tried to read to Miss NHM every day for at least 30 minutes, I know this is a perk of not having a TV and of Miss NHM being an only child, but if I do anything for my daughter, I want her to have a love of reading. A love of reading opens up a world of education and possibilities.

Below is a list of other favourite books that we have, that you also might enjoy reading to your little ones. I encourage you to read to them as soon as they are born. You never know what they will absorb and where it might take them when they are older.

  • Hairy McClary books
  • Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes Boxset
  • Wow Said the Owl
  • The Gruffalo
  • Monkey Puzzle (same people as The Gruffalo)
  • The Hungry Caterpillar
  • Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars and Five Tiddly Widdly Tadpoles
  • Usborne Phonic’s Reader collection
  • Usborne Apple Tree Farm boxset
  • Wendy the Wide Lipped Frog
  • Usborne Very First Reading boxset – 50 books
  • Bear Snores on
  • Dogs don’t do ballet
  • Stories for 2 year olds/Stories for 3 year olds

What are your children’s favourite books?

20 Spring “Bored Jar” Ideas – for a toddler

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Games, Spring, Toddlers 0 Comment

(If you want to find out more about what a “Bored jar” is, then please read the post at the bottom of this post, called “Winter Bored Jar Ideas”)

1. Feed the birds in the aviary in the War Memorial Park

2. Go on a Bluebell walk. Micheldever Forest is supposed to be lovely for bluebells, but I’ve not been there yet.

3. Take a ride on a train – Viables or Exbury Gardens and Steam Railway

4. Be King or queen of the castle. My favourite and the one closest too us is Odiham Castle

5. Discover something new: Museums

6. Paint some pots at Pots2Paint

7. Make some jewelery

8. Draw an animal

9. Make homemade bubbles

10. Do some painting

11. Make and decorate paper airplanes

12. Join a baby ballet class (this doesn’t have to be just girls!)

13. Go Swimming (Check out this post HERE for local swimming pools)

14. Create a dressing up box and pretend to be Princes or Princesses

15. Make some DIY coloured sand

16. Find shapes in clouds

17. Go to the Playgym at the Active Life Centre

18. Play with water and food colouring

19. Make a village out of all your toys

20. Make an Easter Egg hunt!!!!

Related Posts

Winter bored Jar Ideas – 40 ideas

Summer “bored sticks” jar 

Don’t miss out on future posts like this – you can receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow NorthHantsMum onTwitter,Google+,Facebook Page, Facebook Profile, LinkedIn and Feedly. I hope to see you there! 

Treasure Baskets

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Games, New Parents, Newborn 1 Comment

I’ve been trying to write this post for nearly three years! It was one of the reasons I started NHM, but I was too inexperienced at the beginning to use my own words. I know this is the cardinal sin of blogging, so I’ve finally got around to putting this down in my own words!

I discovered the joy of Treasure Baskets when my little one was very small and I joined a Baby PEEP class at a local Children’s Centre. The PEEP class was by far the best class I attended and I learnt an awful lot.  I’m so disappointed to see that baby PEEP is no longer on the Children’s centre timetables.

Treasure baskets and boxes are such a simple idea, but so effective. Miss NHM was 10 weeks old when we were both introduced to treasure baskets and I was amazed at how enthralled she was with them, even at 10 weeks old!

I still remember vividly how absorbed she became with each of the items and how she was leaning into the basket, at 10 weeks old, to see what she could find. It was one of the defining moments for me, of the first few months of her life.

Apparently Treasure baskets have been used for decades by childcare professionals as a means of teaching young babies how to select, touch, taste and feel. They are closely linked to the Montessori teaching method.

You don’t need to spend any money on your treasure baskets and boxes. After the PEEP class, I remember getting home and going through the house finding things that I thought would be suitable. I found things that were too big for Miss NHM to swallow but had lots of different textures.

The items in the basket changed over the months as Miss NHM’s understanding grew. She still plays with several of the items now, including a plastic hand held juicer that I’ve never actually used!

Over the past three years, I’ve read a lot about treasure baskets and spent a lot of time putting them together. Below are some ideas for treasure baskets that I’ve used. I hope you find them useful, especially if this rain continues!

Ideas for Treasure Baskets

Natural objects

  • Pine Cones – make sure all the seeds have been removed/shaken out
  • big shells
  • Large walnuts
  • Pumice stones
  • Fruit

Wood

  • rattles
  • spoons
  • bowls
  • napkin rings 

Metal

  • Spoons
  • tea strainer
  • bunch of keys
  • garlic squeezer

Here are some tips to enhance the experience:

  • Place the basket close to your child so they can reach each object and move things around easily
  • Pick a time when they are well fed and alert – their enjoyment will last longer.
  • Whilst it’s really an experience for them to indulge in by themselves, it’s important to be close by so you can step in if they need help.
  • Change and move the items around in the basket to keep the activity fresh.
  • Check the basket regularly to ensure all of the items are still intact and therefore, not dangerous for your child to play with.
  • Once your baby becomes mobile, place baskets on shelves low to the ground so they can help themselves to different objects.

Treasure Box Resources

Etsy treasure baskets (you can buy an already made treasure basket from here…but where’s the fun in that!)

Treasure Basket Play (American website but still has some good ideas)

Netmums: treasure baskets (a great list for treasure baskets with themes)

Do you have any other suggestions for treasure baskets for other Mum’s to use?

A Toddler Box of Tricks: Things To Always Have On Hand With A Toddler Or Two

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Games, Toddlers 0 Comment

This is a really hard post for today. I’m conscious that it’s half term and have loads of posts I could have finished but none felt appropriate for Half Term.

Recently I’ve noticed that Miss NHM isn’t as interested in her toys as I think she should be (given how much they cost!). She seems to have much more fun playing with things that are either free or relatively cheap.

I’m saving up for a plastic drawer set system (4 sets of the drawers in the link) for under our stairs. We already have one set of drawers which have different things in, like a dressing up drawer, a playdoh drawer with cutters, and a colouring and pens drawer.

Miss NHM enjoys these drawers under the stairs more than any of her other toys. I think it’s because she can choose what she wants to play with.

I’m hoping to put together lots of drawers with lots of different activities in, including a paint drawer (ARRRGGHHHHH!!!!). This is where The Range floor matting (see below!) comes in VERY useful.

Anyway, this is a bit of a cop out post but hopefully it will be useful for someone! 😉

A Toddler Box of Tricks

Bottles of bubbles or a bubble machine

Glue

Paint (if you are brave enough, and I’m generally not!)

Glitter (I hate this stuff, I really do.)

Sequins (great stuff, until you go to the office with one stuck to your bottom. This may, or may not, have happened to me.)

Cornflower for making Gloop

Food colouring for making coloured Gloop or coloured water

Cheap dried spaghetti for making Coloured Spaghetti

Buttons for Gloop or just for sorting through

Lots of different types of bowls

Dry Food for dry food play

Spoons and spatulas

Saucepans

Ice cube trays

Icing sugar

A box of straws (This was Mr NHM’s contribution. When I asked why, he said ” for cutting up and making things”. No comment.)

An easy fairy cake or cookie recipe. (I have one and if you would like a copy, please email me at northhantsmum@gmail.com ;-))

A big wooden dice or small dice in lots of different colours. (Miss NHM LOVES playing with dice. She pretends they are food. However, we supervise this play as I’m still worried about her putting them in her mouth!)

Toilet rolls

Paper plates

Coloured lolly sticks for arts and crafts or Winter “Bored Sticks” Jar – 40 ideas

An MP3 player with dock. (We have one which Miss NHM can operate herself. She’s loved playing with it since she was 18 months.)

Floor matting. (My friend Kate had a great tip to buy PVC cut fabric from The Range. There is one in Reading, Andover and Aldershot. We have one pattern as a table cloth and another pattern for arts and crafts. It’s great stuff, is very cheap, you can choose how much you want and it lasts for ages. Although what’s showing on the website is very expensive compared to what’s in store, so I would recommend going into the store and having a look. Thanks Kate!)

Playdoh. (I have a recipe for making your own playdoh but haven’t tried it out yet. It’s on my very long list of things to do with Miss NHM soon!)

Easel paper on a roll. (We’ve had hours of fun with this. Mr NHM starts at one end, I’m at the other and Miss NHM is in the middle. We vary between coloured pencils and crayons!).

Toy cars (Again, Mr NHM’s suggestion. He suggests using them in paint on the “paper on a roll”. Over my dead body is he doing this our house!!!!! :-D)

What else would you add to this list?

Winter “Bored Sticks” Jar – 40 ideas

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Games 2 Comments

I discovered this idea via the blog “The Diary of a Frugal Family“(one of my favourite blogs!). This is a great idea to keep your little ones (and big ones!) occupied.

I bought some coloured lolly sticks from Dunhelm Mill as they were only £1. You can also get them from Hobbycraft but they retail at £2.

Rather than print off my list and add them to each coloured lolly stick, I’ve numbered each of the sticks and then printed out the list below. This means I can change it at will and don’t have to keep making new sticks.

It also means that I can make a list for myself, especially for those things that I never seem to be motivated to get around too! lol.

I plan to put together a list for a “Summer bored Sticks Jar” too, so look out for that around May time.

Do you have any suggestions that I can add into this post?

Ideas for your Winter Bored Sticks Jar

1. Make Gloop with buttons

2. Get the plastic balls and the tent out

3. Make cookies

4. Do some painting

5. Do some glueing and sticking

6. Make some birthday cards

7. Feed the ducks

8. Find some puddles and splash in them

9. Build a tent or den

10. Have a picnic with pretend food

11. Have an indoor picnic with real food

12. Draw something

13. Read a book

14. Make a gift for someone

15. Go to the park

16. Go to the beach

17. Make a musical instrument/play on some musical instruments

18. Find something in your house that starts with every letter of the alphabet

19. Learn ten words in a different language (this is probably more for me than Miss NHM at this stage! lol)

20. Play with or make play doh

21. Let Daddy choose something to do

22. Let Mummy choose something to do

23. Play a board game ( I taught Miss NHM how to play Jenga recently and it was hillarious. She also loves dice)

24. Dance to some music

25. Make cupcakes or fairy cakes

26. Do a craft project or google one to make with empty plastic bottles, toilet roll holders, old christmas cards

27. Make coloured spaghetti

28. Do some dried food cooking

29. Watch a film

30. Make some DIY coloured sand

31. Make a village from any toys that you have

32. Make a memory board

33. Make a scrapbook of a recent event  or holiday

34. Visit a castle. The nearest one to Basingstoke is Odiham Castle, near Hook.

35. Go to the kids club cinema at Odeon or Vue

36. Go out for dinner somewhere. Check out these posts HERE for a list of baby and Children friendly restaurants in Basingstoke.

37. Listen to an Audio Book

38. Go Swimming. Check out the post HERE for details of local swimming pools

30. Visit your local Library.

40. Do a fitness video together as a family. (We did this recently, and it was hilarious!)

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