Nanny and Grandads birthday surprises!

I have loads of creative ideas to share with you as it was my Mom's Birthday yesterday and Dads Birthday today :) Due to this both me and Little Boo have been really busy doing loads of crafts and cooking to give them some home made presents! I love giving home made presents as I know that many people (especially my Mom and Dad) love to receive them.

We made a cake which was nicknamed hedgey from Little Boo! This hedgehog cake I found on the nature detectives website .  The fact that chocolate buttons were used was a massive selling factor to make the cake.  It was a massive success and Little Boo loved making it. 

We also made Nanny a flower window box this was made using 

• Egg carton
• acrylic paint 
• pipe cleaners
• beads
• floral Oasis 
• cardboard box
• lots of stickers 

These are the cut up egg cartons 

Little Boo painting the egg cartons

Once they are dry pierce a hole in the middle and thread the pipe cleaner  through.

Add beads to the middle as well so that the flowers stay in place. We had decorated the box with loads of stickers and I had cut oasis to fit the box.  This just left Little Boo to place the flowers in.

Little Boo also made Nanny and Grandad their cards.  Nanny's was an idea that I have pinned on Pinterest.  This was two hands that contained a concertina in between.  The hands say I love you then you open the hands and it reads "this much"Little Boo also wrote Happy Birthday in the centre as well. She wanted to use her new stamps so this was a great opportunity. 

To make Grandads card Little Boo used lots of her sparkly paint this was squirted out and added sequins. 

She then made a frame with lollipop sticks and added stickers.  I found a nice picture of Little Boo and stuck this behind then added this to the glittered card (when it was dry it took two days!) 

My Dad loves to have a cake or a biscuit with his cuppa so we made "Grandad's treats to have with a cuppa" We made some cookies and krispie cakes I love making rice krispie cakes they are so easy and so tasty!

Little Boo adding the rice krispies to the chocolate

Grandad loved his treats!

Hope that you like these ideas my Mom and Dad loved them all! 

Making a fruit salad-practise using cutlery

I have just decided to share this activity with you it is really simple (apologies for the photographs they were only taken on my phone) and I hope that you can share this.  I have been thinking recently of ways to let Little Boo practise using cutlery and this activity was great for that.  Little Boo is not very good when it comes to eating breakfast she never wants anything so I decided to make a fruit salad together as I thought if she made the breakfast herself she may be more excited to eat it. 

I picked fruit that I knew that she enjoyed and that was easy to cut.  This is the great thing about fruit as a lot of it is easy to cut so blunt knifes can be used Little Boo insisted on using her toy Kitchen knife.  Obviously you need to be careful what knife you chose to let your child use.  

I started off the grapes so that Little Boo could easily cut them. 

Our completed fruit salad was yummy!

This was a great activity to get Little Boo to practise her skills and she did eat some!  

Party bags- toddler maths fun

The spongy sponge cakes that we made were put to good use when we had a tea party! This was great fun.

Our tea party

Mommy got a BIG piece of cake! 

Little Boo decided that the toys needed to have party bags once the tea party was finished.  The party bags were a great maths activity and I did not even think about this until we started to do it.  Little Boo decided that she wanted to make some lollipops for the bags (out of play dough) and sweets were made out of play dough as well.

Making the lollipops

Making the sweets 

Little Boo sorted her party bags and placed two little toys in each one, one lollipop and two sweets.  This was fantastic counting practise and Little Boo even wrapped  up her cakes and placed one of these in each bag. 

Filling the party bags 

Wrapping the cakes 

Contents of the completed party bags 

You could even decorate the bags which would make them even better.  The bags we used were only £1 for ten they were left overs from the kites that we made. Hope that you enjoy sharing this activity.

Making spongy sponge cakes

Today we decided to make pretend play food.  This was an idea that I got from the Tiger who came to tea exhibition as there were some cakes on the table that had been made this way.  When looking through our box of scrap I realised that we had loads of sponge so I set to work cutting it down and added the foam on top (which looked like the icing on the cake) I did this as I thought it was best to use the hot glue gun.

This then meant that Little Boo could decorate the pretend cakes.

Little Boo soon got very busy with cutting and sticking and adding glitter! 

Little Boo decided that some of the cakes could  have pen decorations

It did not take long for the desk to be very full of all the decorations Little Boo asked for.

Little Boo was very impressed with the end result which took one day to dry properly we then used them in a few activities which I will share with you in a few days.

Playing with Play food, play-dough and the toy kitchen

Little Boo loves playing with her kitchen and the other day she started to play with this her play dough and her play food.  I made some baking trays up really simply using some cardboard and wrapped foil around it. Little Boo thought that this was fantastic and started to place loads of foods on the baking trays.

She later decided that she wanted to make egg on toast and loved it when I placed the egg inside the pan for her to cook. I then showed her how to use a fish slice to place the egg onto the plate.  This is the kind of activity that she can not do in the real kitchen due to safety so it is wonderful for Little Boo to practise in a safe way. 

 We also cooked some spaghetti

 Little Boo then decided that she wanted to feed her dolly the food.  This was a great way for her to practise her skills with a knife and folk. 

Here is part of the feast for dolly. 

Little Boo's Book shop

I have been trying to find ways for Little Boo to discuss books in a fun and enjoyable way.  So decided to set up her own Little Book shop.  I was the customer who came in and asked for books about different subjects and it was up to Little Boo to suggest books.  It was really good fun as when I picked up a book I asked what is this book about? I was really happy that she could always answer. I would also ask her if it is funny and which bits were the best.

In the shop we set up our top ten favourite books and sorted them.

There was also a quiet reading corner.  Little Boo enjoyed being the shop keeper and sorting the books out onto their shelves.

Then Little Boo scanned them and asked me for the money.  This helped her to practice her numbers.  She has some play money so it gave her opportunity to familiarise herself with the coins in a fun way.

This was a wonderful activity to share books together, it made me realise that Little Boo really knows a lot about her books.  We hope that you enjoy sharing this idea it is great for a rainy day or why not set up a book shop in the garden if it is sunny.

Some paper cup puppets

We went to a local fun day and Jim the Maker was there again doing puppets. It was funny as the last time I saw him I was just starting off my blog with hardly any readers and no Facebook page. Made me realise how much the blog has developed especially when I go back and read the post!

Anyway this man is fantastic as he has loads of ideas we did a butterfly out of two paper cups this time which was great it has some wonderful connections to the hungry caterpillar. Little Boo loved doing this especially squashing the cups!

To make this you need

Two paper cups

They need to be stuck bottoms together then squashed.

cut the top of the cup to form antennae

After this cut into the cups to form wings

We then stuck stickers onto the butterfly to decorate it.

Add bamboo or a straw to the back of the butterfly to make it look like it is flying.

The instructions with images can also be found here

After doing this Jim showed us another really simple puppet using one paper cup. He discussed how the easy puppet is really helpful for developing fine motor skills as the child pinches the mouth part together. This was really simple to make as he just cut the cup from the top to the bottom.  The bottom section was shortened to make a chin. After this ring reinforcements were used as eyes and the top of the cup cut into to look like hair.  The image of this puppet it at the top of the post.

Shared on

Liebster award

I have been lucky enough to receive a Liebster award from Hannah over at Making boys men.  The award is given by bloggers to bloggers.  All blogs nominated  must have less than 200 followers.  The idea is that this helps spread the word of smaller blogs helping us to get more readers and followers :) When you get the award you have to answer 11 random questions that were posted to you, you then have to nominate 11 other blogs (not the one that nominated you) that are up and coming with less than 200 followers, then make 11 questions for them to then answer so here we go.

Questions for me from Making boys men 

1 - Are you an early bird or a night owl?

A night owl I blame this on countless hours of university work mostly done when Little Boo goes to sleep. 

2 - All time favourite song?

My favourite song changes all the time currently anything by Adele! 

3 - All time favourite movie?

Trains, planes and auto-mobiles this is so funny me and my sister watched this over and over again! Just the bit where his pants are in the sink hilarious. John Candy was a legend! 

4 - What's your earliest memory?

When I was about four or five I cut up my dummy and said I did not want it any more only to return crying a few minutes later OR it may have been when I picked up dog poo and presented it to my mom thinking it was a weather cone needless to say Mom was not impressed and Wendy my sister always reminds me about it to this day. 

5 - What was your best holiday ever?

Egyptian cruise along the Nile amazing! Me and my husband went for my 21st Birthday before I had Little Boo.  I love the history of the place and the holiday was very busy I hate just stopping on the beach. 

6 - What superhero would you be?

Wonderwomen she is well cool and I love the outfit. 

7 - If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would it be?

Chocolate Buttons I love them! 

8 - In the movie of your life what actor would play you?

Katherine Heigl I really liked her in knocked up and 27 dresses she was really funny. 

9 - Do you have any party tricks?

None that I know to sorry.  

10 - Do you have a pet preference for dogs or cats?

Definitely dogs especially grey hounds

11 - What three things would you take to a desert island?

A boat, paddle and food I would need to get away. 

And now the 11 blogs that I would like to nominate 

We can do all things- One amazing blog where a mother talks about teaching her daughter with Down syndrome. Wonderful ideas.

Hobbsy's house childminding- Iola talks about the activities she has completed on a day to day basis with the children using her child minding provision. 

Cry Mamma- A great blog with tips on saving money, Recipes and some crafty bits.

Mommas Fun world  some great craft inspiration on here have pinned quite a lot.

Take 10- I love the idea behind this blog take 10 minutes out of each day to do an activity with your child or children. Some great ideas.

The children's art group- A blog all about what Jessie does with the Little ones that come to her art group. 

Never-rest- My wonderful sisters blog all about her adventures with running and healthy eating.

Here come the girls - some wonderful ideas on parenting, crafts and recipes well worth looking at some great ideas! 

We made that- Some wonderful craft ideas with a great Link up every week.

Entertaining monsters  Vic writes all about the activities she shares with her two children. 

Preschool crafts for kids - loads of craft ideas a must visit loads of ideas for Halloween on there!

These are my 11 blogs why not take a look at them

Here are my 11 questions to the bloggers enjoy! 

What is your most memorable day? 
What do you not leave the house without?
What is your most annoying habit?
Who is your role-model?
What is your favourite film? 
Why did you start to write your blog?
If you had the chance to go back in time 24 hours what would you have done differently?
What was your favourite toy as a child?
What was the last book you read?
What is your favourite meal? 
Are you a spender or a saver?