A little toy gift guide for under 5's this Christmas

We spend a lot of time watching children play with toys and are always researching what we will add next. For us our biggest priorities when we choose a new toy is longevity and strength, there is no point  in buying a toy that will break easily. Please find listed our favourites and a little review for each. This is a completely independent review.

Happy hopperz - (From £24.99) we have had several of these wonderful toys for over a year, they are essentially animal shaped space hoppers that come in a variety of sizes and colours, we recommend the medium size. We have seen some children play with them for an entire 2 hour session. This toy is great for physical activity and will help your child burn of lots of energy.
One point to note is they are better if you have a yard or large floor space at home or can be used in the garden.


Make n' Go - (from £29.99) is a little remote control vehicle that the children can build with Duplo blocksto be whatever vehicle they chose.  We recommend this toy for motor  skills and creativity and imagination.

Lanka Kade Dinosaur A-Z puzzle - (£19.99) this puzzle is a firm favourite for my daughter it's fair trade and hand made and very educational, she has learned many letters and has developed her hand eye coordination as a result of putting the puzzle together and it's a great way to interact with your little one.

Brik a blok - (£111.98) This is the ultimate construction toy and is great for all ages, it consists of many panels that join together to form different shapes,  the older children can make their own tunnels and houses and little ones can play in the tunnel and whatever you build for them, it is a great way to involve the whole family and very educational for the older children that have to learn how to construct different shapes.

The puppet company Tree House - (£17.99) This is an adorable fluffy tree house that comes with a range of finger puppets, it is great for talking about our woodland animals and birds. Children from the age of 2 years upwards love to play with the tree house and is great for when friends are over as there are several puppets that come with the house. I took this on Holiday and my daughter and her three cousins had a lovely time play together and they are 2, 4 and 7 years old.

Little tykes rocking horse - (£16.99) This very durable toy is very popular at our parties and creches, we have 2 to avoid fighting, they provide a good level of movement and are quite stable, you can even get a see saw for more than one child. They are easy to keep clean and last for a very long time.

Fisher Price chatter telephone - (£7.99) This little toy has been around for decades and is still as popular today as it was in the seventies when I was a little. 

We hope you find some inspiration and if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment.

Self employed mum and loving it

Since 2007 and I have found myself becoming

 more and more absorbed in various aspects of my business and have become some what of a networking enthusiast and try to attend at least one session a week. The joy of conversation and of building relationships is very satisfying, the best thing is that we have the power to have a very positive effect on another persons life with referrals and recommendations, my husband was recently exasperated that when he suggested he go to the local garage for tyres, I mentioned that I had a contact that did tyres and that we should try them first.

As a mother of 3 girls, the ability to spend quality time with my daughters is very important and only today I have baked brownies, made paper mache Christmas decorations all with the assistance of my 2 year old.

Because my business if focussed around children's activities, my little one has so much choice and I don't have a nervous breakdown when she makes an enormous mess - it's all part of the job!

 Childcare is another benefit particular to my business although, many self employed mums manage to juggle childcare and self employment very well,  the growing number of mums networking groups helps (Biz Mums networking and Networking Mums) and is a great way to accessing support.


Social media also enables me to communicate with customers and other businesses and promote Bluey and Baloo within the comfort of my home, Twitter has been especially enjoyable as a tool for conversation during the many hours that are hosted (Merseybiz on Tuesday nights at 8pm, Northwesthour Wednesdays and Friday 8pm and weddingoclock Sunday at 9pm).

The best part of all is a job well done, it is myself and my family that directly benefits from our efforts and of course it doesn't get any better than when we receive positive feedback.

If you would like to share any positive experiences of being a business mum. please leave a comment below. Contact us if you would like to know about our family friendly franchise opportunity which comes with your own childcare team and flexible working. More information is on our Franchise page

A picture guide to making play dough with your under 5's

Start with 2 cups of plain flour, 1 cup salt, 2 cups of water, 1 table spoon of oil, 2 tablespoon cream of                               tartar (home baking section) and food colouring.

Start with a non stick pan and add your 2 cups of flour, we use a large spoon to add flour to the cups.            

Pour the salt into the cups, taking care to  assist with pouring

Help your little one put 2 cups of water and the tbsp of oil

Add the food colouring

Stir on a low heat, I take saucepan  off the heat for my little one to stir, empty

Make sure you have a suitable container, although a plastic bag will do ( store out of childs reach).

It's play time and play dough will bring many hours of fun and will last for ages.

              


This recipe is so much better than shop bought versions, it lasts longer and doesn't crumble easily.
 We take it to most of our christening, birthday and wedding bookings, children of all ages enjoy play with play dough why not have a go your self.
If you have older children you can do a recipe sheet and let them make the play dough in a home experiement style, following instructions.

Bluey and Baloo's Christmas Roadshow

We will be having lots of fun this Christmas with our little craft table and toys, please find a selection of events that we are attending and one that we have organised. We are also giving one lucky family the chance to win a children's party in our Christmas prize draw.

23rd November 2013 - 1-4pm Amy and Friends Craft and Gift Fair at the Huyton Suite, Huyton, Liverpool.

26^th November – 12:30-2:30pm - Biz Mums Christmas Bazaar Silly Billy's, Ellesmere Port. Come and support some local businesses and do some family friendly networking. Your first session at Biz Mums is free, subsequent session £6.

28^th November Eccleston Lane Ends school Christmas Fair. 6:30-8:30pm. Albany Avenue, Eccleston Park, Prescot.

29^th November 6:30-9pm - Christmas Fair at Little Achievers Nursery in the Park, Park Children’s Centre Barnes Road Skelmersdale WN8 8HN .There will be lots of stalls and Christmas goodies, cakes, mulled wine, café, Father Christmas and lots of family fun.

6^th December 3:30pm - Longton Lane Community School Christmas Fair, Longton Lane, Rainhill

8^th December 11-1pm - Bluebird baby and Children’s market – Birkenhead High School Academy, 86 Devonshire Place, Prenton, CH43 1TY There will be plenty of Nearly New stalls of top quality baby & children's items including designer items, Small Business stalls and Soft Play and Arts and Crafts provided by Bluey and Baloo. Stock up on Christmas presents and save £'s!!!
Adults £1.00 Children Free

Potty training and dry nights - our top tips

I was in Wizz Kids in Queensferry today when my lovely little 2 1/2 year old daughter had an accident on the slide, whilst carrying out the rescue mission in the toilet we met a very nice lady that shared some very useful tips that so inspired me that I am now writing this post.

Please find listed my top tips for potty training and getting dry in the night.
                                                                               

POTTY TRAINING


 1. Purchase a potty a couple of months before taking the plunge and talk to your child about what it's for, make positive  associations with your own visits to the loo.

2. Purchase lots of light weight secondhand clothing so that when your little one has an accident you can change them many times before running out of clothes.

3.The best time to train is in summer when clothing is lighter and there is less chance of getting sore legs. You can also let them run around with no clothes, which most small children love.

4. Look out for cues, my little one fidgets for England so I knew when she stopped moving that it was likely she needed the potty or toilet.

5. Try not to use potty training pants for too long as they prolong the potty training period, in the 1960's the average age of a child becoming dry was 2 1/2 years this has lengthened to 3 1/2 today.

6. Praise - kids love to be told how wonderful they are and will be more willing to cooperate if you are full of positive comments.


IN THE NIGHT

1. Get used to taking your little one to the toilet before bed and slightly restrict their fluid intake so they do not get a full bladder early in the night.

2. Buy lots of bedding and secondhand night wear.

3.If you don't have a tumble dryer invest in a good clothes airer. Or try to wait for warmer weather so you can hang your washing outside.

4. ADH is a hormone that helps children stay dry in the night, if your child is not staying dry despite your best efforts and they are regularly wetting the bed it could be that they have a an ADH deficiency, this is very common for younger children and become less common up to the age of 7.

5. Bedwetting can also be caused by a stressful event such as a birth of a sibling or starting a new school.

5. Use potty training pads (Dry Like Me) and bed liners.

6 Always have plan of action and hopefully this will make training a less stressful experience.

I hope you have found this post useful and we welcome comments If you have any tips or would like to share your experiences with us.

Halloween ideas

Halloween is a big occassion these days, my children certainly have a great time calling on

neighbourhood doors and coming home with an enormous bag of goodies but what can you do if your children cannot go knocking on doors or it simply isn't an option for you, you may have preschoolers or a child with special needs.

There are a couple of options, we have designed a  trail for a 15 month old's Halloween party, with the use of a washing line we will be hanging glow sticks and various decorations to guide the children along, we are also using pumpkins and battery powered tea lights to create a trail which will have lots of prizes and treats that the children have to find. The treats include chocolate mice, candy string and any other halloween based sweets, For older children you can put craft items in the pumpkins and they can complete the crafts when they have finished the trail.

At the end of the trail we have decorated a room where a party will take place although you can just have the kitchen table as a focus for the crafts.

The other option is to have a craft party, we had several crafts at our art club special at The Light Cinema, the activities included bunting creating and decorating, with pumpkin circles, bats with black card and ghosts, we whole punched a whole in the top of the card and placed household string through the wholes. We also had treat bag decorating, masks, face painting and colouring. Other activities include spider pompoms using wool and card, for instructions see Kidspot .

We hope you have a lovely halloween, if you would like to find out about our local events on the Wirral, in Chester and Liverpool, please check out Bluey & Baloo's  website.