From Spare Room to Lily's Room.

About 3 months ago we decided it was time for Lily to have her own room. She was just over a year old and we had been putting off moving her due to living in a small flat and not having much space. 
The room we had planned to be Lily's room was the spare room. This room mostly got used for storage. Or more known as the dumping room where things ended up in there when there wasn't really a place for it. 

The spare room was FULL and a mess and we knew we had quite a job ahead of us when it came to sorting it for Lily. But it had to be done. We couldn't put it off any longer. 

So here it is, the spare room. First things to sort were the walls. It had paint coming off and so we removed all the loose paint on the walls. (which is what you can see on the floor.) 

After removing the paint we then moved out some things from the room, got rid of a lot of rubbish and moved the bigger items into the middle of the room. We went paint shopping and found a nice pink that wasn't to over powering for her walls.
The skirting boards and window sill got painted and Chris my partner took on the task of painting the walls. Here it is before the walls had dried just after he had finished that night. 

After the walls were painted the next job was to remove everything from this room into our bedroom and remove Lily's things from our room to her room. Not easy when you live in a small flat with narrow corridors. A lot had to be broken down. 
But a near end to the job was in view and it took a full day of moving things back and forward before we had it all done. We wanted to get it done before Lily's bedtime at 8pm and as you can see from the next photograph, its getting dark already so heading to 5pm already. 

Amazingly we did it and everything was in Lily's room ready for her to sleep that night. We had a set of curtains from our last flat that worked perfectly with the room and they were also ones that kept the light out the room so they went up.
The room wasn't finished and needed some little extra finishing touches. But it was looking good. It was also amazing how much room was in there. 

The next week me and Chris worked on adding the finishing touches to the room and moving the rest of Lily's things into her room. She has a lot of things for a 1 year old. I think its some of the little details that make Lily's room her room. Like the baby sleeping sign, her name up on the wall, and her personalised In the Night Garden sticker from Stickerscape. 

We fitted nice new light switches and also a new light for her ceiling. I Love her little light, really cute. Im lucky as Chris works for a lighting company so we got it at a cheaper price than it would have been for a customer to buy.

The room was finally finished. I had placed her letter matt on the floor as a little play corner of the room, put in her rocking horse and other toys and we went out and bought a nice bookshelf for her to keep her favourite books and some toys on.
One of my favourite things in her room is her storage seat. I store all her books in there and its where we now sit to read a story at the end of each night.

I can't believe its the same room that looked like a dumping ground. Its actually now the nicest room in the house. Lily loves her room and sleeps really well in it.

And here is is. 

What do you think?

Whats your favourite thing about Lily's new room?

I would love to know your opinions. 

Science For Kids - Does it Sink or Float

Science is a great fun subject for children to get involved in.  But is often thought for older children where experiments fizz pop or bang. With it being British Science Week I wanted to think of some activities that Lily could join in with.

The first activity I could think of was to do a water activity with sinking and floating. Although Lily wouldn't be able to understand the concept of the science that was happening, she would enjoy this little activity. 

So we got some objects from around the room and a tub of water and decided to see what would sink, and what would float.

This is a great activity you can do at home and children around the age of 3 years plus would really love having a guess at what may sink and what may float. 

Here are the objects we found around the house that was good to put into water. I found a mixture of objects that I though would have mixed results of sinking and floating. 

Im going to tell you what I guessed each object would do, maybe you or your children could have a guess to? 

We used :- 
A Rubber Toy Whale
A Plastic Plate
A Shell
A Plastic Fish Shaped Tub with Holes in it
A Metal Spoon
A Light Plastic Figure
A Heavy Rubber Ball

First up is the rubber whale. Lily is to young to guess if it will sink or float but my guess was that the whale was going to SINK. Its quite a heavy toy. Lily put the whale into the water. 

I was WRONG, the whale looked like it was about to silk and most of it went under the water but it actually FLOATED. 

Next up is the plastic plate. Lily wasn't very interested in putting this one in the water so I did it for her. The plate is flat, and very light so my guess was that the plate will FLOAT.

I was CORRECT, the plate had no problem and FLOATED on top of the water like a Lily Pad in a pond. 

Next up is the shell. The shell is quite a solid material and this shell goes to a point at the end. My guess was that the shell would SINK.

I was CORRECT, the shell SUNK straight to the bottom really quickly. 

Next was the plastic fish dish with holes in it. It wasn't heavy so my guess was that it would partly SINK due to the holes and partly FLOAT due to how light it was. Lily placed it into the water. 

I was CORRECT, the dish filled up with water due to the holes, but FLOATED at the top of the tub. 

Next was the metal spoon. Due to how solid it is and heavy my guess was that it would SINK. Lily put the spoon in the water. 

I was CORRECT the spoon SUNK right to the bottom with a splash as Lily dropped it in. 

Next up is Toy Figure, it is really light and hollow on the inside. I was 100% sure that this would FLOAT. Lily threw the toy into the water. It didn't even cause a splash. 

I was CORRECT, the toy FLOATED on top of the water. 

Last but not least is the rubber ball. Its quite heavy and full of water. My Guess was that it was going to SINK because of how heavy it was. Lily put the ball into the water. 

I was WRONG, the ball FLOATED and bobbed at the surface. Shows how much I know. Haha

So I got 5 out of 7 correct. But it was really fun trying to guess.

If you joined in, How many did you or you child get right? 

My Sunday Photo 13/03

Atomic Adventure by Flying Eye Books - Review and Giveaway

As this week is science week I felt it was the perfect time to write you all a review of this great science book for kids called Professor Astro Cat's Atomic Adventure. 

The Book is aimed at Children from 7 to 11 years old and is a hardback book worth £15.99. It is the second in the series with Frontiers of Space being the first and is created by Dr Dominic Walliman and Illustrated by Ben Newman. 

The book has 61 pages of Astro Cats Journey through the world of physics. Teaching you all about energy, forces and the building blocks of you, me and the universe. Its easy digestible facts and retro illustrations that are sure to get kids excited about science. 

What I really love about the book is that its really good quality with brightly coloured illustrated pages and lovely hardboard covers. The colourful and entertaining images are encouraging for children to want to read what is happening to cat on his Atomic Adventure. 

For me as a child growing up, images were always played a important part in helping me remember information. If the Words weren't sinking in then I would be able to remember the picture and therefore the information that went with it. This book is great for exactly that. 

The size of the book has its pro's and cons. Its quite big which is great for at home and for seeing nice big pictures and it having loads of information in. But it would be tricky to take anywhere with you to help your learning. For example, School or a grandparents house. 

The book has so many different topics to read about and so many facts about physics. This would keep any 7-11 year old who is interested in science learning more and more. 

Or if your child is new to Science, this would be a great starting point to encourage them to take a new interest. 

You can pick up your copy over at the Flying Eye Books website. 

Flying Eye Books have given one lucky person a chance to win a copy of your own. Enter on the Gleam app below. 

Win a copy of Atomic Adventure for Science Week by Flying Eye Books

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British Science Week - Making a Rocket and Competition

Today is the start to British Science Week. Its runs from the 11th to the 20th of March. 

During this week we will be doing a few little science activities as well as running some competitions. 

As its the first day I would like to invite you all to our first little competition. I want you to all take Lily and I to the Moon and build us a ROCKET! 

It can be made out of whatever you like, as big as you like and as creative as you like. On the 20th of March one Rocket Scientist will win a Easter Egg to enjoy for Easter! 

Tweet your entry to @Lilyslearners with the #BSW16 and #TakeLilyToTheMoon 

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1 Winner Chosen 

Prize - Easter Egg

Uk Only

Ends 8 pm 20th April

For a little inspiration here is the rocket we made yesterday.

We Used - Toilet Rolls, Paint, Tape, Red Tissue Paper, Empty Cake Packets, Bottle tops.

First I let Lily paint the toilet rolls. 

After they had dried I then taped all 3 toilet rolls together.

I then stuck down the empty cake packets and bottle tops, to make windows. Lily helped with the sticking by pressing down the tape. 

We used the red paper for the fire coming out the bottom of the rocket and taped this inside. 

Figuring out how to make the pointy top was the trickiest bit. In the end I cut a piece of paper into a Tear shape and let Lily decorate it with crayons and silver stickers. I then rolled it up and stuck it to the top. 

This was our finished result. Not bad for Lily's first rocket, although I helped a lot. Lily loved her rocket and she was zooming it around the room going Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

We can't wait to see your rockets!