B is for Bunchems Product Review

This review post brought to you by Nuffnang and Bunchems.  We received a Bunchems Mega Pack to review.  All opinions are 100% my own.

We love doing creative things in our house. While cooking is a great creative activity and one I think all children should be regularly involved in, it is not the only creative process my girls love.

Bear and Bear love to build, craft, design, draw, paint and colour.  Drawing, painting and colouring happen a lot here with the girls having easy access to paint, markers, pencils and paper from their craft trolley. Building and construction not so much.  At the moment storage is an issue so it is harder for the girls to find their construction materials when the mood strikes them.

So when I was offered the chance to review the Bunchems Mega Pack kit I was intrigued to see how Bear and Bee would react.  They have seen the advertisements on tv so I knew they would be interested when they opened the parcel. As it turns out both girls love Bunchems.  Hubby and I love them too.  Hubby happily made a few creations too (see photo below) and I love how easy they are to use and store when finished.  Bunchems are a great way to combine the girls' love of craft and construction.

Apart from the pieces in the Bunchems packs being great colours they are just the right size for this age group.  Large enough to create all sorts of cool characters but small enough to store where they are easy to access.

After investigating the Bunchems for a few minutes, Bee got straight to work making accessories for her new rainbow soft toy leopard.  The Bunchems grip the short plush well enough to stay on but don't get stuck or pull threads.

Bee went on to make a paper copy of her Bunchems collar so she could keep her design and use the pieces to make something else.

Bear thought Bee's creations were cool and set to work making her own version.

Bunchems are great for fine motor skills too.

So what can you create with Bunchems?  Pretty much anything!  The girls have tried both their own creations as well as the ideas in the guide book that comes with the kit.

I think Bee's green bat is a groovy dude.

Bear's birdy is very cute too!

Hubby's creation

 If your kids can think it, they can probably create it with Bunchems.  So too can the grownups!

I is for IKEA Inspiration

I find IKEA a great source of inspiration not just for myself and organising our house but also for items for Bear and Bee to use and enjoy. We are travelling south to visit family these school holidays and hopefully I will be able to squeeze in a visit to this Swedish icon.  I would love to go regularly just to revisit some of their displays but it is a 12 hour trip so once a year is the best I can hope for.

This year I don't have a long wish list of IKEA products.  We need some more rolls of drawing paper and Bear and Bee's paint sets need replacing but I am really looking forward to just having a look around.

IKEA is great for finding items for your budding chefs too. I have put together a list of my favourite products. Almost all of these we have and use regularly.

1. Kids cutlery sets - Bear and Bee use these every day for their meals and we have an extra set for impromptu picnics.

2. Kids plates and bowls - these also are used by Bear and Bee everyday and are great for when they want to make their own lunch or afternoon tea. No worrying about broken china.

3. Grater with container - both girls still find grating most veggies tricky. They seem to be able to handle this grater better than the upright box style and can manage to grate cheese and zucchini with it.

4. Bag sealing clips - these are fantastic for closing up bags in the pantry.  Some items like flour and sugar go in resealable containers but sometimes we have a small amount of an ingredients left after experimenting with something new.  Both Bear and Bee can open and close these clips unlike some resealable containers that can be harder to open.

5. Felt fruit and felt vegetables - these are perfect for our pretend play kitchen. Many a meal has been constructed out of these felt food items.  I like them much better than plastic versions and they are lasting very well.

6. Felt birthday cake - the felt birthday cake we have is slightly different to these cupcakes.  It has been used for numerous pretend birthday parties.

7. Ice cube trays for ice in fun shapes - these are good for cold drinks in hot weather but have lots of other uses too. If your child loves small world play the fish shape tray will make great icy fish shapes in a polar play setting.  The trays are good too for sorting seeds and dried beans when practicing those fine motor skills.

8. Placemats in cute designs help make dinner time fun and keep the mess to a minimum (just maybe!). Unfortunately I couldn't find these on the IKEA website to link to but I am sure if you get a chance to visit the store you will find some great versions.

9.  Ice block moulds - I love that these moulds come with a stand.  It makes filling them so much easier.  We have made lots of ice blocks using these moulds including fruit juice and berry and yoghurt versions.

10. Play kitchen - I would have loved this one for bear and bee but we just couldn't get it home. Not enough space in our car.

11. Step stool -  with twins both wanting to help in the kitchen I invested in a learning tower but this stool would be good if you have one child or are short on space in your kitchen.


What have you bought from IKEA that you love using with your kids?

**This is not a sponsored post I just love IKEA's range of products and their affordability.

A is for Australia Day Busy Bag

With Australia Day coming up next Monday, the 26th January, I have teamed up with some awesome Aussie bloggers to bring you lots of fun Australian themed ideas for kids.

For our Australia Day activity, rather than doing an Aussie inspired recipe with Bear and Bee I came up with a new printable Busy Bag idea.  Both girls loved the Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag and Grow My Garden Busy Bag I did last year as part of a Busy Bag Virtual Exchange so I was pretty certain (can never be too sure with 5 year olds) that they would like this idea too.

If you are catching up with family and friends on Australia Day this Busy Bag would be a great quiet activity for the kids to do after lunch. 

So without any further ado here is our No Mess Pavlova Busy Bag.

Click on this link to download a free printable that includes instructions for putting together the No Mess Pavlova Busy Bag.

I was initially inspired by the Pavlova Playdough Mat over on My Little Bookcase. I have included a sheet of fruit pieces to cut out and decorate the Pavlova page.

If you are pressed for time you could skip cutting out the fruit pieces and just print out the Pavlova base.  Add in some tubs of playdough and shape cutters to make the fruit or use beads and buttons. To be safe use beads and buttons for older children only.


For more Aussie inspiration, check out these great Aussie blogs.

Danya Banya for two cute crafts of Sydney's icons - the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

The Craft Train for gorgeous Frilled Neck Lizards.

Laughing Kids Learn for making Damper Bread.

C is for Christmas Playdough

Playdough that smells like Christmas.  Well sort of.  This Christmas Day Playdough from Nurturestore does smell Christmassy although it is a traditional European Christmas scent.  Orangey, cinnamony and cosy.  Which is really truly lovely. 

I would like to make an Australian Christmas scented playdough but I am not sure how to combine Eucalyptus leaves, hot summer day, beach and barbecues into a smell with out it ending up like a cleaning product!

So this year I am sticking to the Christmas Day playdough.  I also made a batch of Snow Playdough and scented it with Peppermint essence and some Green sparkle playdough using the same base homemade playdough recipe. 

I set them up for Bear and Bee as an Invitation to Play with rolling pins and Christmas themed cookie cutters.

And we also practised our rolling skills and made playdough candy canes.

What is your favourite Christmas scent?

I is for Ice Cream Shop Play

Bear and Bee both love Pretend (Dramatic) Play.  Bee especially loves setting up all manner of shops selling everything from stationery supplies to pets.

One of Bee's more common requests is for an Ice Cream Shop.  I actually have a clear plastic shoe box filled with items that she can use to set up her shop.  I have similar ones for a Post Office, Pet Shop, Hairdressers and Doctor's surgery.

Initially I was inspired by these great posts from some fellow bloggers.

Imaginative Play Ice Cream Shop from Learning 4 Kids.

I also made a set of the super cute felt popsicles shown in the Ice Cream Sensory Box post on Pink and Green Mama.

And the idea for a menu came from this post Dramatic Play Ice Cream Shop over on Pre-K Pages.

Then I set about gathering from our real kitchen and the play kitchen, some essential tools for an Ice Cream Shop such as:

• an ice cream scoop
• spoons
• plastic containers for the various flavours
• scrunched up tissue paper for the ice cream
• bowls
• cupcake liners
• plastic sundae glasses (which I found at a second hand shop)
• empty cake sprinkles containers
• sauce bottles for toppings
• toy ice cream cone set
• and our trusty cash register.  

Add in an apron, a table, the bookshelf from our quiet reading area and some willing customers and you have a very busy Ice Cream Shop.

Bee making ice creams.

If you want to extend the fun, Twodaloo also has a great tutorial to make an Ice Cream Play set and Color Matching game.

L is for Lemonade

Bear eager to make lemonade.

Hubby brought home some extra large lemons recently which meant I could fulfil Bear's desire to make lemonade.  I am not sure where she saw homemade lemonade but Bear was adamant that we make some.

The recipe for making lemonade is super simple.  I would recommend you have a look at this Simple Homemade Lemonade Recipe from Learning4Kids if you want to try making some yourself.

 And to compliment the lemon theme I have gathered together these great lemon related activities.

If your kids are keen to organise a lemonade stand, have a look at this list of 10 Lemonade Stand Ideas from Crystal & Co.

I can't wait to try this Lemonade Pretend Play with Scented Sensory Rice from Twodaloo.  Just have to buy some lemon jelly crystals.  While you are there check out their lemon slide painting post.  I think the magical lemon paint would be cool to try with Bear and Bee.

These Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles from Makeovers & Motherhood sound delish.

How about making some Lemonade Scones for afternoon tea with this recipe from Learn with Play at Home.

A Moment in Our World made Lemonade in a Bag which can be done all by the kids (maybe not cutting the lemons though).

B-inspired Mama created Lemonade in Winter Preschool Activities to go with the book Lemonade in Winter by Emily Jenkins.  If you are interested in this book you might like to purchase a copy through my Fishpond Affiliate store.

***This post contains Affiliate links.***

P is for Playdates

Tomorrow we have organised a playdate with some of Bear's and Bee's kindy friends.  This is our first playdate since moving cities and Bee is super excited.

I have followed the advice of other mums and have organised one activity that will be available for the girls if they want it but I'm not structuring the whole time they are here.  I will set out some trays with balls of homemade playdough, a shape cutter and a few other bits and pieces.  The playdough I like to use is this recipe for the Best Ever No-Cook Play Dough from The Imagination Tree.

We also have 4 one-week old baby chicks that we are chick-sitting for the girls' Aunt.  I am sure these little balls of fluff and feathers will provide much entertainment too.

Food wise I am sticking with recipes that are tried and true.  First thing in the morning Bear and Bee can help me make a batch of Mini Strawberry Yoghurt Cupcakes.  We made these a few weeks ago for the kindy cake stall and wrote about them for our guest post on Bright Star Kids.   If you want a printable copy of the recipe you can download it here.

We've been making popcorn for a long time now!

To go with the cupcakes for morning tea, I'll add bowls of cut up fresh fruit and air popped popcorn.  As for the mums, I might send hubby down to the bakery for some freshly baked scones.  I could make them but I don't see any need to try and do too much when we are all on school holidays :)

Bee is very keen on having friends come to visit so I think there may be lots more playdates to come. What is your favourite recipe for a playdate?






 

H is for Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag for School Aged Children

This is our second post for the Virtual Busy Bag Exchange.  I hope you have all been enjoying the great ideas on offer.  Today I am joined by Nadia from Teach Me Mommy who has created a Magnetic Spelling Game Busy Bag.  Make sure you pop over and have a look.

Bee and Bear's Kindergarten class has started to talk about Healthy and Unhealthy Foods.  They recently had a visit from a dentist and after the school holidays they will be involved in a program based on movement and healthy eating.

I realised this would be a good opportunity to reinforce the basic ideas of what foods are healthy or unhealthy.  At this stage both girls can identify basic concepts such as fruit is healthy and doughnuts are unhealthy but that's as far as it goes.  This Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag will give us plenty of chances to discuss why some foods are unhealthy and what this means.

What is in the Busy Bag.  Lunchbox is optional.

For school aged children the Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag may provoke discussions about food groups, recommended servings and other nutrition based concepts.  As an extension activity you could also include a grocery store catalogue for your child to look through and find items to include on the shopping list for their lunchboxes.

When playing with the Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag, your child chooses one of the human characters to pack a healthy lunchbox for them to take to school.  They then look through the food items included and decide which ones are healthy options and which of those to include in the lunchbox.  Once that lunchbox is packed, your child can then choose one of the monster characters to pack an unhealthy lunchbox for them to take to monster school.

A more detailed explanation of this Busy Bag is included with the printable.  Click on this link to download a copy of the Healthy Lunchboxes Busy Bag printable.

Making a sandwich for the healthy lunchbox.

Bee putting together the healthy lunchbox.

The finished healthy lunchbox.

Bear working on her version of the healthy lunchbox.

Making an unhealthy lunchbox for the monster.

Bee working on the unhealthy lunchbox.

Bear checking over her version of the unhealthy lunchbox.

If you have a Busy Bag idea suitable for school aged children be sure to link it up below. *By linking up, you agree to have your images featured / shared with credit.


Also check out our Virtual Busy Bag Exchange board.

An InLinkz Link-up