Happy New Year!  As Ethan is only 2 and will never make it to midnight (nor would we want him to!) we rang in the new year early, with the lovely people of Sydney, Australia!  They are kind enough to have a live feed of their fireworks display and to celebrate at 1pm our time, perfect! This way Ethan got to wear the new years hat that he made, watch the fireworks and make some noise for new years, a fun part of his Personal, Social and Emotional Development as he learns about different celebrations.


Ethan was so excited, he's been saying 'Happy New Year' all day and couldn't wait to see the fireworks.  We decorated his hat together before lunch, then finished lunch just in time for the countdown.  Ethan can't count backwards yet, but afterwards he kept saying '1, 2, 3 - Happy New Year!'  I got out lots of his instruments, so he rang bells and blew on whistles.  He loved watching the fireworks, identifying all the different colours he could see. Such fun, and now the celebrations are over in time for his nap, perfect!

We put a sticker on our Waiting for Baby calendar today to mark off 35 weeks, not long to go now!  So today we played with Ethan's Baby Born Interactive and learned how to change baby's nappy.  Of course Ethan wouldn't actually be changing the real baby's nappy, but I think it's nice for him to understand what we're doing and be able to help in small ways (by handing the wipes or something).  It's great for his Personal, Social and Emotional Development as we get him ready to be a big brother.


Ethan was really excited to change the baby's nappy.  Of course he's quite familiar with the process of having his nappy changed, but doing it for someone else was quite unique.  He was really sweet and gentle, carefully took the nappy off, wiped the baby and then helped me to put the nappy back on.  He had a little bit of trouble figuring out which way to put it back on, but was determined to get it right.  He really seemed to enjoy it, he is going to be such a good big brother!


* This has been a review post, Zapf Creation gave us the Baby Born Interactive doll so that we could play with it and write a review for them. To see more about my review process please click here. *

We didn't get a chance to go to Winter Wonderland before Christmas, but luckily it's still on until January 5th, so we went today! It was a great day out for Ethan, and there's so much for him to see and do, all part of his Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Happy Christmas Eve!  We've had a bit of a funny lead up to Christmas this year, I'm usually the first one to put up the tree and send out cards on the 1st of December, but not this year.  Being 7-8 months pregnant has slowed me down quite a bit, never mind the fact that the three of us have all seemed to pass a cold back and forth for months now.  There's also the fact that we were supposed to move house in December, but didn't...but that's a whole other story.

I love Christmas, but not for all of that, I love the traditions and getting to spend special time with family making memories.  So I know that even though things may not be 'perfect' this year, we are still going to have a wonderful time over the next few days.  Following family traditions and creating new ones is all a part of Ethan's Personal, Social and Emotional Development as he learns about special celebrations.

• advent calendars
• this year we made an activity advent calendar, which has been such a hit!  Ethan has loved opening it everyday and finding out what we're going to do
• decorating the Christmas tree
• we usually do this at the beginning of December, but I learned this year that it doesn't really matter when we do it, it's still just as special
• writing a letter to Santa
• Ethan writes a very special letter to Santa, asking for one present that he really wants and we post it together.  Then it's very exciting to get a letter back from Santa a few weeks later!  This year he asked for a camera (last year he asked for a scooter)
• 12 books of Christmas
• we've done this for 2 years now, but Ethan has really loved it this year, he looks forward to going up to bed to open up his new book every night, then asks to read it again the next day.
• visiting Santa
• we have to go at least once to see Santa and take a photo of Ethan and Santa together.  Last year we went to Westfield, but this year we didn't get to go to one of the big ones (just at a local fair), but next year I plan on being more organised and booking an appointment in October!
• Christmas fairs
• I absolutely love Christmas fairs, there's no better way to get into the Christmas spirit.  We have a great local one, but also we're lucky enough to live in London and be able to go to Winter Wonderland every year as well
• making presents for family and friends
• there is nothing more special than a home made gift, and Ethan makes some fantastic ones for family and friends!  I hope that people love getting them as much as we enjoy making them
• Christmas baking
• a few days before Christmas we start our baking, I always make shortbread cookies, peanut butter cookies (my favourites) and a couple of new recipes that I've found that year.  
• Dutch treats
• on Christmas Eve we always make 'oliebollen' and 'appelbeignets' this goes back to my childhood, as my Mom's family is Dutch.  They are basically deep fried dough with raisins and apples in them, they're so delicious and Christmas just wouldn't happen without them
• Christmas Eve presents
• on Christmas Eve everyone gets to open up one present before bedtime (shhh it's always pyjamas ;)
• Presents for Santa
• as we're a mixed Canadian / South African / English family we leave Santa quite a few different things on Christmas Eve.  I insist on milk and cookies, and Ethan's Daddy has to leave mince pies and port.  So Ethan puts out all of these, plus carrots for the reindeer.
• Christmas movies
• leading up to Christmas we watch a lot of our favourite Christmas movies, then on Christmas Eve after we've put Ethan to bed we watch Love Actually
• Stockings
• we don't have a fireplace, so stockings are hung along the staircase and Santa fills them on Christmas Eve and leaves them at the end of everyone's bed to find on Christmas morning
• Christmas morning
• we get up very early, open our stockings then go downstairs for breakfast (I like to prepare something the night before that just needs to bake like a strata or french toast bake) then open presents and Skype / FaceTime with family overseas
• Christmas dinner
• we always say that we're going to take short cuts and make it simple, but it always ends up being chaos in the kitchen trying to get it all ready and far too much food, but we love it!

Today Ethan and I attempted to make our very first gingerbread house.  Ethan's wonderful Daddy surprised us the other day by bringing home an early Christmas present for us, this lovely Great British Bake Off Gingerbread House Kit from Marks & Spencer. I had been looking for a kit with pre made pieces, but this seemed like a much better idea as we got to make it all ourselves.  Ethan was very excited as he's been seeing gingerbread houses everywhere, and now he would finally get to express his Creative Development and decorate his own.


Unfortunately, making a gingerbread house is apparently a lot harder than it looks, and you actually have to be as good as the contestants on Great British Bake Off to be able to do it.  It was one disaster after another today!  I decided to make the dough and bake all of the parts while Ethan was napping and just spend time with him decorating it.  Thank goodness I did, as it took his entire 2 hour nap for me to get them done!  They kept falling apart, the dough was too crumbly, but finally I figured out that if I cut them out directly on the greaseproof paper it would work.  Walls baked, Ethan woke up and I made the icing and we sat down to put the house together.  Yet another disaster, I couldn't get the walls to stay up, Ethan wanted to help which just caused the walls to fall down as I just didn't have enough hands.  Of course one of the walls broke in the process.  Finally I decided to wait until Ethan's wonderful Daddy got home to help (it was his fault afterall that we got into this mess ;)  and luckily he is a much better builder than I am and managed to put together the house as Ethan decorated some gingerbread men. We're leaving it to dry overnight before we start to decorate the house, in fear that it's still not strong enough to withstand Ethan's exuberant decorating.  Let's hope for a more successful baking day tomorrow!

Today we finally started our Christmas baking!  Ethan helped me to make some shortbread cookies.  They have to be the easiest (and yummiest) cookies to make, and that's exactly what we needed today.  Ethan loves to bake, and it's great for his Knowledge and Understanding of the World to see how things are made.

We use a really simple recipe:

• 125 g butter
• 55g sugar
• 180g plain flour

Today Ethan made his own place mat for Christmas dinner.  I started out with a piece of green sugar paper / construction paper and cut sort of a wreath shape out of the middle.  Then I cut out a large piece of contact paper / sticky back plastic and stuck it to one side.  That left Ethan with a sticky surface to place all sorts of Christmas confetti.  A very simple activity that gave Ethan free reign to express himself with his Creative Development.


Ethan absolutely loved this activity!  He was so happy to explore the little bag of confetti, identifying all of the different Christmas shapes.  Then being able to put them wherever he wanted on the place mat, with no instructions, just freedom to create.  It's actually really interesting to watch the way that he was searching for all of the same ones to then group together (all the Santas together, etc).  But the best part for me, was when he found a few snowflakes and stacked them on top of each other to make a snowman!  I thought it was incredible, as he's never made a real snowman, we've only seen them in books.  He paused at 3 snowflakes, then continued and made a snowman that stretched across the whole mat.  When he was finished I then cut out another large piece of contact paper / sticky back plastic and stuck it on the other side to seal in all of his confetti.  It looks fantastic and he's so proud of it!

Today Ethan and I met up with friends for a Christmas lunch.  Ethan had such a lovely time playing with his friend, and they were so sweet when they exchanged presents!  Although Ethan seemed to want both the gift he received and the one he gave, we'll have to work on that ;)

Today Ethan did some painting with a picture from his new Christmas magic painting book that Nana sent from Canada.  It's a lovely little book with pages that you tear out with water colour paints at the bottom, you can use a cotton swab and some water to then use the paints on the picture.  Another unique way of painting and contributing to Ethan's Creative Development.


It took a little while for Ethan to get the hang of it, he obviously just wanted to play with the little pot of water at first!  But soon he was dipping into the different colours and swirling them all around the cute little picture of the reindeer!  The best part is, there were loads of sheets in the book, so we'll be able to do this quite a few more times and even save some for next year :)

Oh how I am loving a simple Christmas craft kit this year.  It's a bit sad that I'm too exhausted with this pregnancy to properly prepare things for Ethan to do, but luckily these sorts of kits are out there.  Today Ethan decorated a Christmas bag from a kit, great for his Creative Development.


The kit came with the little canvas bag with a picture of Santa on it, a few markers and some foam stickers.  Ethan happily scribbled away on the bag with the markers, he actually did some very nice colouring.  Lately he hasn't really been interested in colouring, but today he was scribbling all around the bag and if i asked him specifically to colour in his shoes he would do that as well.  He was also matching up the stickers with the pictures on the bag, which I hadn't even asked him to do.  It was really sweet, he was so proud of his little bag when he finished!

Today was a very rainy day, and as I wasn't feeling very well, it seemed the perfect day to stay in, snuggle up and watch some Christmas movies.  Luckily for Ethan, we have quite the collection!  I love Christmas movies, so we mostly watch the ones that I did when I was little. We should probably add some newer ones to our repertoire, suggestions are welcome :)

• Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• A Muppet Family Christmas
• Jack Frost
• The Snowman
• Charlie Brown Christmas
• Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
• Rudolph, Frosty, etc (the classics)
• Mickey Mouse Christmas

Today we finally decorated our Christmas tree!  I usually put it up on the 1st of December, so this is very late for me!  But things have been a bit hectic, so this year we've waited.  But as we had waited, we decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to get a real tree for the first time.  We wanted something a bit smaller and thought it would be nice for Ethan to have the real thing.  


Ethan was so excited to bring the tree home and help Daddy to put it into the stand.  Then when it came time to decorate, he just wanted to do it all!  He loved helping to put the lights and tinsel on, and randomly throwing decorations into the tree ;)  There was one particular spot that was easy to reach and didn't have too many branches, and he just kept piling up all of the decorations there!  It's so fun to see him getting really involved with Christmas preparations this year, he is going to be so excited when the big day finally arrives!

Today was the Christmas party at Ethan's favourite music class.  Ethan was dressed in his Christmas jumper and very excited to go and sing 'Jingle Bells' with his friends!  A great opportunity for Ethan to sing, dance and play instruments as part of his Creative Development.

Ethan is lucky enough to have a lovely group of little friends.  He has got them each a small pressie and also wanted to make something for them.  We chose an easy craft that I came across on Pinterest, but originated on Mom on Time Out; these adorable Candy Cane Christmas Trees.  We attempted to make them out of card instead of felt, but I think that felt is probably best because ours have a big fold down the middle.  A great little activity for Creative Development in decorating the Christmas trees with crayons and stickers.


To be honest, Ethan isn't feeling very well, so he wasn't even in the mood for colouring or sticking on stickers today.  We haven't got very far with these, so we'll have to try again in the morning before we see some friends in the afternoon (if we even manage to get out tomorrow, my poor little guy just seems to get one thing after another!)

We started a tradition last year, called the 12 Books of Christmas.  Basically in the 12 days leading up to Christmas, Ethan gets to open up a new Christmas book each day.  It means that we already have quite the collection of Christmas books from last year, but it was still so easy to find 12 more this year.  There are so many excellent children's Christmas books!  I can't wait for Ethan to open up his first one on Friday.

1. Bear Stays Up for Christmas
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
3. One Snowy Night
4. That's not my Snowman
5. The Snowman
6. A Christmas Carol
7. The Story of Baby Jesus
8. Snowman! Best in Snow, Penguins! Holiday Parade & Reindeer! A Christmas Story
9. Jingle Bells 
10. Happy Holidays, Bubble Guppies!
11. The Best Christmas Ever!
12. Peppa and Ethan's Christmas - from Penwizard

Today we went to a Christmas party at Ethan's playgroup.  There was a bouncy castle, mince pies and cupcakes, Christmas biscuit decorating and decoration making.  


As soon as we walked in the door Ethan spotted the big Christmas tree right away.  He is absolutely loving all of the trees and lights everywhere, I have truly taught him to love Christmas this year.  He had lots of fun today, unfortunately none of his friends were there, as everyone seems to be poorly at the moment.  Hopefully we'll still get a chance to see everyone before Christmas, bring on more parties and Christmassy play dates.  Ethan is loving it!

This year for Christmas we are really focusing on buying toys for Ethan that have the most educational value, and to balance out the toys that he already has.  We've been very lucky throughout the year to receive some fantastic toys to review, as well as buying lots of toys and all the toys that Ethan has received as gifts from family and friends.  We now have a house full of toys, so we really have to be choosy about what we buy Ethan from now on.  We've compiled a list of all of our favourite educational toys and divided into the different areas of learning. We are aiming to buy things for Ethan this year that cover all of the areas to help him to develop in a variety of ways.



Communication, Language and Literacy Toys

Reading
LeapFrog Leap Reader
We recently reviewed the Leap Reader (click above for review) and really enjoyed it.  It makes books come to life and could really help early readers to improve and increase their knowledge.  There is also a Junior Leap Reader that is available for younger children who are not yet reading, which we have not tried but looks to be equally as good.


A bit obvious really, but we are absolutely obsessed with books!  Ethan is constantly bringing books over to us from his bookshelf to read to him.  His current favourites would have to be The Tiger Who Came to Tea, The Gruffalo, Peepo, and The Jungle Book, but it changes all the time.  He'll be getting 12 books in the lead up to Christmas as well as a few new books on Christmas day, I just can't help myself!

Writing
LeapFrog Scribble & Write
We reviewed the Scribble & Write (click above for a link to the review) and Ethan has played with it every day since then.  It's great because it's small and portable, we can bring it in the car and to friends' houses.  Ethan loves to try to write the letters on the screen, and even though he's not yet at a stage to start writing properly he is really enjoying having a go.




Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy Toys

Counting & Numbers
Learning Resources - Snap n Learn Counting Elephants
We reviewed these elephants back in June, and Ethan still really enjoys playing with them. Please read the review (click above) for all the details of how they can be used in a variety of ways for counting and number recognition, learning colours and sizes.



Number Puzzles
Ethan has a few different number puzzles that he's received as gifts, they are great because they are helping him to learn to count the number of objects as well as learning to recognise the numerals.

Shapes
Ethan has a variety of different shape sorters that he still enjoys playing with, in varying degrees of difficulty.  They are great for identifying shapes as well as matching the shape to the corresponding opening.


Creative Development Toys

Drawing, Painting and Making other Creations
Art Supplies
We have many art supplies that we absolutely love; Crayola paints, Melissa & Doug paintbrushes, Crayola crayons and markers, and a variety of other bits that we pick up all over the place for general crafting.  For non-messy creating we love the Aqua Doodle and magic drawing pads, brilliant inventions for travel and days when you just don't feel like cleaning up paint and glitter!

Music
Musical Instruments
Ethan could never have too many musical instruments!  He has a little guitar / ukelele that he loves (see our post about it here) as well as a variety of shakers, a xylophone, drums and tambourines.  



Role Play
Dressing Up Clothes
Ethan has got lots of dressing up hats (no outfits yet as most are from ages 3 and up) but he does love his hats!  We found a pirate hat, policeman hat, fireman hat, construction hat, and cowboy hat at the pound shop and have collected various others along the way.  

Physical Development Toys

Fine Motor Skills
Learning Resources - Gears! Gears! Gears! - Movin' Monkeys
We recently reviewed the Movin Monkeys Gears set (click above to see the review) and really like it.  It is aimed at older children, but Ethan loves turning the gears and watching them all move.  Building toys like this are great for fine motor skills as children have to place things in specific places and often snap them into place to be able to build.  (Lego and wooden building blocks are also great for this, and are favourites in our house)



Gross Motor Skills
Mini Micro Scooter
Ethan got the Mini Micro Scooter from Santa last Christmas.  It's great because it comes with the seat for him to use now while he's little, and then we can convert the handle and take the seat off when he's a bit older and able to use a proper scooter.  It's great for his coordination as he learns to push along with his feet to make the scooter go.  Ethan absolutely loves his!

Personal, Social and Emotional Development Toys

Zapf Creation - Baby Born Interactive
We recently reviewed the Baby Born Interactive (click above for the review) because I wanted to prepare Ethan to be a big brother.  It would also be really helpful to teach children to play gently and how to use the potty.  Ethan really likes his and picks up the 'baby' all the time to give it cuddles and feed it, it's really sweet.



Knowledge and Understanding of the World Toys

Galt Toys - Where's my Mummy?
We reviewed the Where's my Mummy? game (click above to see the review) and absolutely loved it.  It's a perfect first game for toddlers, to teach them about turn taking as well as mother and baby animals.



Kindle Fire HDX
We just got the new Kindle Fire HDX to review the other day (click above for review) and I'm adding it to the list just in case you're looking for a tablet for another member of the family, and thinking that you might like something that your toddler can play with as well.  Because of the Kindle Free Time feature, I think it makes an excellent choice of tablet that the whole family can use.





This year Ethan has asked Santa for a camera, and that will be his main present as he does love photos and I think he'll really like having his own camera (as I'm always taking photos of him and he's trying to grab my camera!)  We can't wait for Christmas this year it's going to be fantastic, hope yours is too :)


* This post contains reviews of toys that we were given for free from various companies, as well as toys that we purchased ourselves.  There are also affiliate links.  To read more about reviews on the blog please click here *

Today we did some painting, as we're making presents to send to family members in Canada and South Africa.  Last year we did Ethan's footprint as a Christmas tree, and we've done something on a similar theme this year with Ethan's hand print (I can't tell you and spoil the Christmas surprise!)  I got some cute little canvas' which makes the paintings look really lovely and professional.  The plan is for family members to have a little art gallery of Ethan's masterpieces and be able to see his hands and feet as they grow.  Hope they like them :)

I was lucky enough to get a Kindle Fire HDX at the Kindle Free Time event yesterday, but it was too late for Ethan to play with it when I got home.  So I set it all up last night and he got to play with it today!  I feel that learning to use technology is a big part of developing Ethan's Knowledge and Understanding of the World, but that being able to limit screen time is also important.



I wrote a bit yesterday about Kindle Free Time and how it works, but basically it's a way of keeping your child contained in an area of the Kindle that has apps and books that are just for them (they need a password to get out into the rest of the apps).  And you can also set time limits on how long they use the Kindle for (either a total time or a set time for apps and a set time for reading).  It is a great idea, as I find it really difficult to get the other tablet that we have away from Ethan when I feel that he's spent enough time on it, and have resorted to only giving it to him when it's charged a little bit so that it runs out of battery power and he has to stop playing.

I set up Ethan's profile in the Kindle Free Time last night, it was really easy to do, I just put in his name and age and choose which apps and books to make available to him.  I chose some free apps and books to get him started, and was surprised to find that Lego Duplo, Thomas the Tank Engine, Chugginton, and a few others were all free.  (Please let me know of apps and books that you find that are good for toddlers, I'm sure that Ethan would be happy to add to his collection).  I also put the Marware Swurve kid proof case on it and unwrapped the Chalkee Kids' Stylus ready for him to play with.  I love the case, it not only protects the Kindle, but makes it easier for Ethan to hold onto.  The Chalkee is really cute and Ethan can use it to move things around on the screen, without his other fingers getting in the way.

Of course Ethan absolutely loves the Kindle Fire, he chose the Lego Duplo app right away and got stuck right in building trains and watching them go.  I actually found that without the big tempting button that our other tablet has, he stayed within an app for longer instead of surfing around to different ones (although that may change over time as he gets more used to this device).  I won't lie to you, when Free Time told him that his allocated time for the day was up, he was not happy and threw a bit of a tantrum.  He was very determined to type in the password to make it work again!  I am hoping as well that after time he begins to understand that when time's up, it's up and he can choose other toys to play with.  

Overall I would recommend the Kindle Fire HDX for children, with these child friendly features it really does make a difference compared to other tablets.  I could see it being especially effective if you have several children as they could then each have their turn on it for equal amounts of time.  And hopefully they won't have a tantrum like Ethan did ;)


* This has been a review post, I was given the Kindle Fire HDX, the Swurve case and the Chalkee stylus for free to write a review for the blog.  To read more about my review process, please click here. *

Today I went to the Kindle Free Time event at Maggie & Rose in London.  They were demonstrating the new Kindle Fire HDX and the new Kindle Paperwhite.  They now have a feature called 'Kindle Free Time' which allows you to have better control over how your child uses the device.  On the Paperwhite (which is still primarily for reading books) you can monitor how long your child reads, see how much they've read and they get badges for achieving certain goals.  On the Fire (which is more like a tablet) you can use the feature to keep children in their own folder (password protected) and set time limits for their use of apps and reading books.



Unfortunately Ethan still isn't very well, so I couldn't bring him with me today.  I'm sure that he would have loved to run around and play at Maggie & Rose.  I did get to bring home a goody bag with a Kindle Fire HDX, a Marware kid proof case (genius!) and a Chalkee Kids Stylus. Ethan will get to play with all of those tomorrow, and then I'll write up a proper review for you. Tonight, it's all mine ;)


* I was invited to the Kindle Free Time event and given a goody bag containing the above items for free, which I will review for my blog.  To see more about my review process please click here *

Today Ethan opened his advent calendar to find that we were going to decorate a little Christmas tree today.  I picked up this cute little tree from a supermarket the other day, as it was just too adorable to resist.  Things are a bit hectic in our house this year, so we haven't had a chance to put up the big tree yet, so we're just doing decorating a little bit at a time.  This tree is extra special because it's Ethan's tree and he can decorate it however he likes.  All of our Christmas traditions are so important as they help Ethan to understand the occasion better and give him that Christmassy feeling as part of his Personal, Social and Emotional Development.



I collected some ribbons, pom poms, pipe cleaners and other little bits that I thought he might like to put on the tree, and then just put it all in front of him and left him to it.  It's really nice to just let him have free reign to do things as he pleases sometimes, there was no right way of doing it.  Sometimes he struggled a bit to put things exactly how he wanted them, and then he would ask for help.  He really enjoyed it and keeps going over to look at his little tree now, it's nice to see him so proud of something :)

This post is part of the BritMums Christmas Blog Hop, have a look at some of the other Christmassy posts :)

Today we stayed in to do some Christmas crafting.  Hobbycraft were kind enough to send us their Christmas Stocking Kit to make 2 felt stockings and write a review about the process. Making and decorating Christmas stockings is great for Ethan's Creative Development as he's learning about different ways to put things together.

As this kit involves sewing, it is recommended for older children.  Of course Ethan is only 2, so I had to do the sewing for him.  He was fascinated watching me sew though.  It was very simple to sew the pieces together, and an older child could do it easily.  The kit comes with 2 pieces of red felt cut into a stocking shape and 2 pieces of white felt.  There is also felt to sew in for a hanging strip, felt rectangles to go along the top of the stockings, and felt hearts to decorate the stockings. The kits comes with thread, but you need to provide your own pins, needle and glue.



I sewed the stockings together, and decided to just let Ethan do the rest with glue.  We put glue on the stockings and he stuck the rectangles along the top and the hearts in the middle.  Then instead of sewing his name onto the top, we happened to have some letter stickers and used those to stick his name on.  And as we were in a festive mood, we also stuck on some sequins from our craft cupboard.

It was a fun and easy craft to make, it really is nice to have everything provided in a kit for those days that you want a simple craft, or want something to do while out or on holiday.  I would just recommend that you read the instructions first to see if there are any additional supplies that you will need.  Hobbycraft have lots of other Christmas crafting kits and supplies to choose from as well.


* This has been a review post, Hobbycraft provided us with the Christmas Stocking Kit to make so that we could write a review for them. To see more about my review process please click here. *

Today we had the pleasure of going to the Pottery Cafe to make some Christmas presents and decorations and review the whole process.  The Pottery Cafe has a large selection of Emma Bridgewater pottery to choose from and provides paint and materials to decorate.  You then leave your creations there to be glazed and fired before coming to pick them up on the date given.  It is a fun experience and great for children's Creative Development as they learn to use different techniques to paint the pottery.


There are 3 Pottery Cafe locations in London; Fulham, Battersea and Richmond.  There is a studio fee of £5.99 per person (which I believe is charged as only 1 person if it's 1 adult and child, be sure to ask in advance though) and then each piece of pottery has a set price.  We were provided with one item to decorate and review, and chose the half pint mug to make as a gift for Daddy (it costs £12.95).  We then decided to also do one of their new Christmas tree decorations as well, there's a star, tree, stocking and gingerbread man.  Ethan decided right away that he wanted to do the gingerbread man for our Christmas tree, which cost £8.95.

When we arrived at the studio we chose which pieces of pottery to paint and then one of the staff members came over to explain to us how the process works.  She did a fantastic job of explaining everything to Ethan, he watched intently as she demonstrated how to do the different techniques on the practice plate.  We then chose our paint colours and sponges and set off to painting.  I definitely recommend picking up a practice plate, you can test out the different sponges on there and talk your little one through the gentle stamping process (Ethan wanted to smudge the sponges around, but soon got the hang of it).  And don't be intimidated if you aren't very artistic, the sponges can be used to make an effective background and then to stamp on top as well.  You can create a masterpiece without having to 'draw' anything yourself. 

With the mug we used a natural sponge first and painted the background a nice yellow colour. Ethan was able to do this on his own, with just a bit of guidance from me about filling in all the white spaces.  We then chose some Christmas sponges and alternated with red and green paint to put lovely stamps on the mug.  These we did together, with me holding Ethan's hand to avoid too much smudging.


For the gingerbread man we also used the natural sponge to do a yellow background, as well as Ethan painting with a regular brush.  Then Ethan and I held the brush together as he wanted to paint eyes, a mouth and buttons for his man.  Finally I used the paint in the squeezy bottle to do the writing, I put Ethan on one leg and the year on the other.  I'm thinking that it would be really lovely to go back every year to make another decoration for the tree.


Both of our creations turned out really well, of course we'll have to wait until next week to see the final products, but I'm confident that Ethan made some fantastic pottery today.  We also loved the whole experience, they've made it really simple to do, even if you know nothing about painting.  There are plenty of examples on the wall that you can copy (they've done some very cute things with hand and foot prints, which they will also help you with if you have a wriggly baby).   

It is recommended that you book ahead of time, so that you are ensured a table when you arrive.  It can get quite busy (especially before Christmas).  Make sure you book in before 18th December if you want your creations in time for Christmas.


* This has been a review post, the Pottery Cafe provided us with one item to paint so that we could write a review for them. To see more about my review process please click here. *

Today we were lucky enough to go and see The Gruffalo Live!  We were given tickets to go and see the show so that we could review it.  The recommended minimum age to see the show is 3 years old, but we thought that Ethan would enjoy it (and he did) even though he's only 2.  Seeing live shows is such a great experience for children's Creative Development to learn appreciation of the theatre from a young age.



The show is currently on in London's Lyric Theatre, but then moves on to tour other cities in the UK.  Ticket prices vary for the different theatres, but from what I see they are all quite affordable (and definitely worth it).  The show runs for 55 minutes with no intermission, which seemed long enough to be worthwhile but not too long as to lose the children's attention.

There are only 3 actors in the show, one plays the mouse and the other 2 are the storytellers. One of the storytellers then changes between playing the other animals (fox, owl and snake) and the other storyteller plays the Gruffalo.  The show follows the basic story from the book, but adds in extra dialogue and songs.  The songs are fun and catchy and suit the story really well. The actors also get the audience involved by asking for help with roaring like the Gruffalo and saying certain lines from the book together.