Learning Resources Peekaboo Farm and Hedgehog Rainbow Stacker

(Ad - Gifted)

I have always been a massive fan of Learning Resources toys. I find it so important to encourage learning from a young age and Learning Resources toys are great at encouraging this. 

I have been using Learning Resources toys ever since Lily was a toddler and so I am super pleased to be getting to introduce these wonderful toys now to Henry. 

We were sent two new toys to test and out and review. 

The Peekaboo Learning Farm and Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog, Rainbow stacker. 

One thing I love about Learning Resource toys is that they come in sturdy boxes, which are perfect for storing the toys inside. It does drive me mad when a toy has many pieces and they end up lost because they aren't kept together, but with these boxed they can be stored away nice and safe. 

The first toy we tried was the Peekaboo Learning Farm. This toy is recommended for 18 months plus. Henry is only 12 months but he is really good with his hands and I knew he would love this toy. 

The set comes with 15 pieces total. 5 barns with 5 roofs, and 5 farm animals. 

All the animals fit inside the little barns creating a fun game of peekaboo. The lifting of the lids, putting the animals inside and out, and putting the lids back on is great for fine motor skills, hand and eye co-ordination, and concentration skills. These are all great skills to start to learn at a young age. 

Henry really loved putting the animals inside and out of the barns.

The set comes with 5 animals, a goat, cow, duck, pig, and a horse. These all have holes in the bottom so then they can be placed on fingers to make finger puppets. This is great for imagination play, singing to your child, or helping your child learn about animals and animal sounds. Henry already knows how to make the sound of a cow so he loved this feature. 

The animals are super smooth in texture, but they are quite heavy for small hands. (Though Henry didn't seem to struggle to hold them)

Another good learning aspect of the barns is that they are all coloured differently. This is a great way for your child to start to learn colours and learn to match colours together. Which they will be able to do by matching the roofs of the barns to the barn. 

All the barns also have a number on which is great for early number recognition. The roofs of the barns have matching dots to the number of the barn, which is then great for the next stage of learning, which is counting. 

Overall Henry loved this toy and it kept him occupied for quite some time. It was a great little toy that he could happily sit on the floor and play with. 

This toy can be bought from the Learning Resources website for £19.99. 

The next toy we tried was Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog Rainbow Stacker.

Henry was delighted to see the happy face of the hedgehog and was really drawn to the colours of this toy. 

Spike the Hedgehog is a delightful character that kids will be able to interact with on an imaginative level as well as learn from. 

Spike pulls apart into 6 different pieces. All of these pieces are different colours, brown for his face, then red, orange, green, blue and purple. Firstly these pieces are great for sensory play. The bumpy spikes along the edges are great for feeling and learning the texture bumpy. 

The pieces all stack together, and this is where the use of fine motor skills come in as well as hand and eye coordination. Each piece gets pushed together to make the hedgehog, or you could stack the pieces vertically to make a different shape. When stacked together, you can then see some shape images on the side, which will help with early shape recognition. 

Henry can easily grab the pieces, and although they are easy to push together, he needs to work on his hand and eye coordination to line up the pieces to be able to place them together. 

Now for what I consider the best part of this toy, and which element Henry loved the most. Each of the pieces all have holes in of different shapes and sizes, these are so then the toy can get used with water play or in the bath. 

Henry loves playing with water so these were a great hit with him. He loves splashing them about and although he hasn't yet got the hang of lifting them up with water inside, he loved watching the water fall through the holes when I lifted it up and catching it with his hands. 

I can see these getting a lot of use in the bath and for water play.

Spike the Hedgehog can be bought for £12.50 from the Learning resources website. Which is a great price to say that the toy offers so much to it. 

What elements of these toys do you love the look off?

The Lionheart Tales Giveaway.

 (Ad Gifted)

The Lionheart Tales is all about Jungle Life and Jungle Learning. Their exciting website is home to episodes of exciting episodes of the Lionheart Tales and explore the Jungle Town. Plus wonderful Jungle themed printables to download and complete. 

Of course, it just wouldn't be The Lionheart tales without being available in book form and so you can head to the shop to view the range of brilliant Lionheart themed goodies you can buy. 

I was sent some of these goodies, which are also going to be available to you as an amazing prize at the end of this blog post. 

The Elephant is named Benji and he is one of the characters from The Lionheart tales. He also features in his very own storybook called Tummy Flutter Byes. 

The Lionheart stories are all about Courage, making friends, and about following dreams, and having adventures. 

In the story Tummy Flutter Byes, Benji is feeling nervous about a Show and Tell in school. His friends help him and they go on a mission to find his courage. 

Benji also features in a super creative Shimmer Frame Kit which is perfect for tackling boredom and helping with fine motor skills. He also comes in the form of an adorable soft toy. Which is perfect for young children. 

The Lionheart Tales focuses a lot on learning and so they have a lot of activities and also pens available in their store. They have put together an Activity pad which is FULL of fun things that will also aid learning. These activities are perfect for Motor Skills, hand and eye co-ordination, and creativity. 

They have a big selection of different pens on their website too. The ones in this bundle are specially made for being washable. Which is creat for children who are just starting to learn to write as they tend to make a mess. This pack comes with 10 beautiful bright colours. 

So, if you're looking to tackle boredom, want to encourage creativity and also want to help your child learn then head to The Lionheart Tales Website. 

Love the look of this bundle? Enter the Competition below for your chance to win it!

Win a Lionheart Tales Goodie Bag

Win a Kids JD Bug Junior Scooter

 The weather is starting to improve, which means your kids are going to want to start playing out. There are many ways to encourage fun and physical activity outdoors but does your little one own their very own scooter yet? 

No? Then you will want to check out the JD Bug Junior Scooter range from Skates.co.uk

This scooter is for the younger rider and is aimed at children aged 4 and above. It is one of the safest and lightweight scooters on the market and is perfect for a child's first scooter. 

It is also foldable making it easy to transport around and fit into car boots. Meaning it's great to be taken on holiday. 

The handles are on an expendable bar meaning that it grows with your child and the bar spins a full 360 Degrees. 

It also has a quick stop brake which is helpful if your child ends up going way to fast. 

This scooter comes in an amazing array of colours choosing from Silver, Black, Blue, Sky Blue, Red, Pink, and Purple. And the best bit is it comes at an affordable price of £34.95. 

Safety is super important when riding a scooter so we recommend that you purchase a helmet to for your child. 

So, What colour would you buy your child?

How would you like to WIN one of these scooters? Simply enter on the gleam app below. 

Terms and Conditions

Uk Only

Prize supplied by Skates.co.uk

Win a Kids Scooter

Celebrate National Feet Week 2022

 (ad gifted)

Who here spends lots of time caring for their feet and who here forgets all about them? 

I am in between, I always moisturise my feet, but I doubt I give them the full attention that they need. 

As its National Feet Week, this is the week to start thinking about your feet and how you may take better care of them. 

Starting with some wonderful products from some wonderful brands. 

There are many feet products on the market but today I am featuring these lovely items from the following brands.

CCS
Footner
Palmers
Flexitol
Mavala
Lyons Leaf
1000 Mile and
Ultimate Performance

There are many aspects of a foot that need taking care of. For instance you heels, which often get over looked. But also often get dry and cracked. So its a great idea to use heel repairs and heel balms which many of the above brands do. 

Then there is the soles of our feet which take a lot of pressure being walked on all day. That's where insoles come in handy. 

Your feet also overall need good support so when your feet and going to be used a lot (like when running) run anklet socks are a great idea.

And finally your toes and toe nails. Often people paint their toe nails to make them pretty, but how often do you moisturise them and treat them to make them healthy? Palmers has such lovely creams to help both feet and toe nails and if you find your toe nails are needing some treatment to get them new and healthy then Mavala has a great product for this.

A study recently found that if we have a eye problem we see a optician, if we have a tooth problem we see a dentist, but that most people end up with feet problems and never get them seen too. Instead, living with the pain or discomfort hoping it will eventually pass. 

Where you could go visit a Podiatrist who would be able to sort many foot related problems.
I must admit, I have never been to one and both me and my daughter have suffered with toe / toe nail issues in the past. But after suffering for nearly a year, I now know how important and helpful it would have been to see one.

So, are you going to join me in celebrating National Feet Week by starting to take extra care with your feet?

How do you already care for your feet?

Baba West and Zita West, Mum and Baby Review

 (ad - Gifted)

While I was pregnant I worked alongside Zita West who sent me some lovely products to review. You can read that review here. 

But now that my baby has arrived, I have been sent some products by both Baba West and Zita West who are joined brands supplying only the best for Mumma and Bubba. 

I was sent some Zinc and Calendula Cream and some Lovely Lavender Bath Oil. 

So the Lavender Oil I reviewed last time and I thought it was SO good that I was delighted to receive some more. The bath oil is perfect for mums or mums to be, to be able to restore and renew. It is to be used in all trimesters in pregnancy, so even perfect for after you have had a baby. We all know we need to restore and renew after having a baby for at least a year or two after. (or at least I feel I do) 
Every soak I had with this bath oil was amazing and really helped me to relax. I highly recommend it for any mum or mum-to-be. 

But while caring for yourself, you will also be wanting some lovely products to care for your baby, and that's where Baba West comes in. 
I was sent some lovely cream that is perfect for babies nappy rashes, or any skin that is in need of a little TLC. Baba West has teamed up with Lyonsleaf to produce this super natural cream made from Zinc and Calendula. 

When the product arrived I thought the packaging looked lovely, the box is so nicely designed and it looks appealing as a high-quality product. 

Inside the beautifully designed box, is a beautiful jar of cream. Again I love the look of the jar, it makes the product look really high quality which always makes me more encouraged to use it. The jar is 120ml of cream which is a really generous amount. I can see this cream lasting me a while. 
As for the cream itself, it's a nice smooth texture that isn't runny, or claggy. It applied to the skin so nicely and didn't feel too thick on the skin. It also doesn't have any fragrance to it so you can't smell that cream has been applied. 

The cream is fully made with natural ingredients, with pure plant oils, organic beeswax, mineral ingredients, home grown herbs, and nothing else. 

The cream also has some other brilliant qualities to it, such as hydrating skin, and creating a barrier to protect skin from moisture damage. It also will be kind to the hands of those who is changing the nappy with its moisturizing care. 

The cream to buy is £26.99 and can be bought from the Baba West website. 

As well as wonderful creams, Baba West also supply vitamins to help keep your baby healthy. They have Vitamin D Drops for ages 0-3 which are helpful in the winter months especially and also special drops that help with the Gut. These can also be bought from the Baba West website. 

I have found great results with using Zita West and Baba West and would 100% trust and recommend their products.

Would you consider using these products for yourself and baby?

6 Years Blogging Giveaway

And just like that, another year flies by! 

This year has been very different for the blog as I have been very busy with Henry, who is heading to be 1 year old soon.  This post is actually a day late as it was the blogs birthday yesterday. But I was so busy with Henry yesterday I didn't get a chance to get it finished.

It has been lovely to be back writing about baby toys again and I hope to carry on filling the blog full of things like this. 

I must admit I have been struggling to find the time to blog. (I totally forgot how time demanding a baby is) but I do hope I can get back to finding some time to get more done this year. 

This time last year I had a bump and this year I have a full on baby. So each year I guess I shall be having to post pictures of both children. 

Here is the image from last year. I never notice how much Lily grows until I see an image of her from a year before. 

As for the blog, I'm not too sure there is much point in placing my stats here as I know not much has changed and in fact, I think I have lost followers on Instagram. One reason is I haven't been running competitions on there. And secondly, I think I am lost in a black hole where no one sees me. If you do spot my Instagram posts, I will always appreciate a follow. 

I now have 939 posts on my blog which means I wrote 23 posts this year. Not many at all but it's been a busy year for me juggling babies and children. 

I hope to write a little more this year, get back to some learning and development posts and of course some wonderful toy reviews. But in the meantime please bear with me with the quietness on the blog. 

To celebrate another year of blogging, I have a competition for you. I have 2 delightful books for you to win. I have always been a book fan so it's lovely to be able to give you an opportunity to win some. 

For your chance to win, enter below on the Gleam app. 

What do you enjoy about my blog? 

Terms and Conditions

Uk Only

Ends 18/02/22

Prize supplied by Me.

Win 2 Childrens Books

Beautiful Wooden Toys from Jaques of London - Review

 (ad - Gifted) 

I have always been a massive fan of wooden toys. I think they are beautiful, well made and also not over complicated when it comes to play. These wonderful wooden toys we were sent from Jaques of London are no different. 

Jaques of London have been making beautiful toys and games for years. Since 1795 infact, which means they pride them selves on making quality and classic toys. 

Henry and I was sent 2 lovely toys for him to try out and me to review. 

When they arrived I was super impressed with the packaging. They came in beautiful boxes which would make lovely gift boxes if these were sent as gifts. If I was to receive these as gifts, I would be super delighted with how they are presented. They even come with a beautiful black bow tied to them.

The first toy we opened and looked at was the Animal Safari Shape Sorter. The wooden pieces inside came packaged carefully so none of the wood would be damaged. When unwrapped there is no building required and the toy is ready to be played with straight away. The quality of the toy is really high quality,  made with a beautiful and strong and thick but also lightweight wood and also painted with care. The wood is also super smooth which means no nasty splinters and the paint is water based meaning no nasties. 

The set comes with a truck with removable roof, and a back that opens up. It also has 6 animals and animal shapes cut into the side of it. The beautiful classic animals which are a Giraffe, Elephant, Crocodile, Hippo, Zebra and Lion, will spark curiosity about animals, and Henry loves that we make animal noises with them to create even more fun play.
The roof is painted in zebra print, which I think is great because its eye catching for babies. 

A shape sorted is a brilliant toy for a baby or toddler to start to learn hand and eye co ordination skills. Firstly by simple playing with the shapes, and then eventually by learning to put them into the correct holes. Henry isn't quite at the stage of putting them into the correct holes but he loves taking the roof off and taking all the shapes out, and then putting them all back in again. For Henry this is a stage of discovery and he likes that he can do this with this toy. 

The Safari truck also comes with a string so it can be pulled along. I am very impressed that Henry can already grip the string and pull the truck towards him. This really helps with his grip development and means he can play slightly more independently. 

The next toy we played with was a Magnetic Crane Truck. 

Again the Truck was beautifully made. The front is painted blue, and had a little drivers steering wheel at the front. It is 2 trucks connected, which can be easily connected and disconnected by simply placing them together. The front of the toy has the crane connected to it and the back has the storage area. The storage area is filled with 4 colourful bricks which all have a picture of a fruit on the top and the storage are is painted red. It has 8 wheels all painted black. All together it looks a beautiful classic truck to want to play with. 

The crane is very exciting as it actually has a magnet attached. The 4 bricks it comes with also have magnets attached. This means that you can move the crane, to pick up the bricks and place them in the storage area, or vice versa and out the area. 

The wheels of the truck move really easily meaning that its not tricky to be pulled or pushed around. 

Henry is a little young yet to fully play with the crane, but it will be brilliant for his hand and eye coordination when he does come to playing with it. In the meantime he loves to push it and also spin the wheels around. He also loves to pick up the bricks with his hands. But, our 7 year old LOVES playing with it properly. She has spent ages sat on the floor using the crane to move the bricks around. This just shows you are never too old for classic toys and you will always get plenty of play out of them. 

Overall we love both of these toys and I would 100% recommend Jaques of London to you if you are looking for classic well made toys. 

You can see more of these lovely toys on the Jaques of London Website. 

Which of the 2 toys would your child love?