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Crawl Baby Crawl!!
Oh… I can’t wait for you to stop crawling…. Oh NO! Wait. I take that back!! Does this sound familiar? Sometimes, I have this tiresome habit to wish for my little ones to rush through their stages of development. All out of my selfish reasons. Not because I want them to grow up fast, but because I want a full night sleep, and I want them to understand what I am saying and respond to my request, in order to keep the house tidy, and so that I can get out of the house in time. Does this sound familiar? Lol But some stages are so very important, such as crawling.  There are two div..
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!   My three year old tripped up and fell the other day. She starts dramatically crying:  “Daddy pushed me!”..  Me: “But, Daddy is not here”.  Answer: “Monster pushed me!”   My 14-month-old would fake a cry. Pause, see who is coming, and then continue to fake a cry. lol   I have overheard a lady next to me in the swimming class, talking about her little three-year-old girl telling lies, and how this has upset her. I had to intercept and correct her perception on lying. I believe we are quick to judge this beha..
Memory games are great for the brain!
When I saw this game, it was a must have, and I am so excited to play it with my child.  Memory games are great for the brain, and this is sound science, tested numerous times! So much research has been done with memory games that it is essential we insist we play it with our little-one.  These are classical games used for development of creativity and functional thinking.  Memory games:  Improve concentration and focus Train visual memory Strengthen short-term memory  Prevent memory-related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s diseases,  Incr..
Kinaesthetic Learning – about the big name, and what it means for little people.

It’s funny how kids are wired to touch everything they see. They spend a good amount of time from a very young age exploring their world through touch.

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What screen time looks like in our house

As parents my husband and I are in agreement that for our kids we are more than happy to limit the screen time and technology they get. 

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Freestyle Kids @ Green Heart Fair

Freestyle Kids is back at Green Heart Fair in 2015 so we thought we'd put together a snap shot of what we will have on offer - and what is so great about the event!

We will be there showcasing our eco friendly toy ranges and reusable products.

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Green Toys eco-friendly plastic toys

For a long time plastic toys were considered bad for the environment, but we are pleased to bring our customers a new generation of eco-friendly plastic toys. 

Do babies need toys?

I get asked a lot for recommendations for baby toys and I struggle to answer to be honest because I don't really think babies need 'toys'.

Before a baby can sit unassisted, hold something steady in their hand and pass it between each hand they are not really ready for toys as such, and certainly don't need a lot of money spent to entertain them.

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Free Treasure Hunt Printable

We love treasure hunts and do them quite often at home for birthdays, Easter or Christmas.  Although I am not too bad with drawing simple clues I thought a ready made general set of printable clues would be handy for us, and for everyone else too so decided to whip a set up just in time for Easter.

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Book Art

We love books in our house, to the point that they are overtaking our house!  Every time the Lifeline Bookfest rolls around we head off and stock up and usually for each birthday and Christmas they are given books by relatives.

We recently set about creating some book inspired art. 

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Giant List of Indoor Activities

So, you're stuck inside because it's too hot, too windy, too stormy, flooded, snowed in, or something else (notice I left rain off, we love getting out in the rain, as long as its safe and not severe storms of course).

I'll be adding to this list so check back regularly!

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Sewing with kids: Fine Motor Skills
As it turns out, my kids love sewing!  I only stumbled across it by chance when I got in a delivery of kids sewing needles and they both jumped at the chance to have a go. The first activity I did with them was actually paper sewing.  It's so easy to set up and a great starter for kids just learning.  Simply get some sheets of paper and using a felt tip marker make dots or small circles on the sheet where you want the children to poke the needle through, I used a mix of straight lines, zig zags and random dots on the page.  I used wool for our first attempts as I found h..
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Playdough and why I love it

Playdough is such a fantastic medium for kids to play with, I can’t say enough about it to be honest.  This blog will run you through some of my favourite uses for playdough, and how playdough can help with and reinforce learning.  I also include my two 'go-to' recipes.

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Combat the boredom

Do your kids complain of being bored?  Here are a few tips and suggestions on how to combat the boredom!!

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Floating Boats in the Rain
I have visions of racing boats down the water as a child, I have no idea if these are memories or just visions, but it is certainly something that says 'childhood' to me.   I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to introduce my kids to such a simple but exhilarating activity, and the other day was it.  We got drenched getting home from another outing, it had been raining heavily so there was plenty of water rushing down the street but it wasn’t raining too heavy, and as I said – we were wet already.   I grabbed some plastic boats and off we went.  The..
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