16 Pumpkin Science Experiments & STEM Activities for Kids

Take advantage of all the pumpkins at fall time with these pumpkin science experiments and stem activities. Pumpkins aren't just for carving into the jack-o-lanterns, they're also really fun to decorate, explode, dissolve and disembowel. These experiments will explore chemical reactions, density and elasticity while delighting the senses.

If your kids love pumpkins and science experiments, they'll have heaps of fun exploring pumpkin guts, exploding and oozing substances out of pumpkins and creating pumpkins out of different materials. These experiments and activities are all great to do at home with preschoolers and school kids, or as a display at a science fair.

12 Reusable Wooden Toy Advent Calendars & Nativity Sets (2021)

If you want to bring the magic of advent alive, but don't want to create a DIY advent calendar or buy a gimmicky chocolate filled one, then these reusable wooden advent calendar toys and nativity sets are a great way to build the excitement for Christmas and create a magical family tradition that can be repeated each year. The kids will love unwrapping a new piece each day in the countdown to Christmas day, and by December 25th they'll have a beautiful complete wooden toy set.

There's nothing more exciting than waking up each morning in December to reveal a surprise from the advent calendar. Make your coveted Christmas memories even more precious with a gorgeous wooden advent calendar, toy set or nativity set that can be reused each year as your children grow.

The Best Halloween Kids Toys from Etsy (2021)

I love spending hours getting lost down the Etsy rabbit hole searching for the best handmade toys for kids. It's my favourite form of window shopping and I come across so many awesome quality products and stores. This post includes the best Halloween toys for kids I've found on Etsy this year.

Foaming Bubbly Witches Brew Halloween Sensory Play

If your kids love making potions they'll love this frothy, bubbly foaming witches brew complete with loads of creepy crawlies. I'll show you how to make some fun sensory witches brew using just a few common household supplies. This witches brew will come to life in seconds and keep the kids entertained for ages. An added bonus is the kids will also have super clean hands after playing!

Once you've put together your creepy concoction watch the magic unfold as the kids have loads of fun casting spells and creating potions. Will they make a love potion, heal the sick or turn people into frogs with their marvellous mixture...

Fizzing Pumpkins Halloween Science Experiment

If your kids love fun, simple science experiments then they'll love these fizzing pumpkins. This experiment is a fun way to combine a recipe, chemical reaction and sensory play all in one, with a spooky Halloween twist.

A Trip to the Hospital Book Review

Going to hospital can be a scary time for a child, well it can be scary for adults too, but it's particularly unnerving for little people. Being in a strange place with strange noises and getting poked and prodded by strange people can evoke a lot of fear. The prospect is even more daunting in the current world climate where a stay at hospital can mean only mum, but not dad {or vice versa} can come, no visitors and everyone wearing masks. 

So how do we help our kids prepare for a hospital visit or appointment during a pandemic? 

I've long been a huge fan of using books to help children through big emotions and to explain big concepts and a hospital visit is both an abstract concept to kids who've never had to go before and an experience that involves lots of emotions, so books can be an extremely helpful way to prepare before visiting, or to debrief after an emergency visit. 

There are many children's books about hospital visits, however A Trip to the Hospital is the first picture book I've come across written in the current global pandemic that covers the entire experience kids will face in the current climate. It covers all of the extra measures currently in place including check in questions, the importance of clean hands and temperature checks before entering the building.

How to make a Flamingo Sensory Bottle

In this house we're definitely sensory bottle addicts! The girls love making new sensory bottles all the time. My 8yr old is also firmly obsessed with flamingos, so it was only a matter of time before we made a flamingo sensory bottle. I made sure we had all the items needed to make one together for her birthday and I'm going to show you exactly how we made a pink flamingo sensory bottle in easy to follow step by step instructions.

29 Simple Science Experiments for Kids

Science can be considered a rather boring and complicated subject when you think about equations and molecules, however there are many fun, safe, engaging and simple ways to teach science to children.... Kids are naturally curious about the world around them and how things work and you can capitalise on that curiosity by doing these easy science experiments.

These experiments are all great for toddlers, preschoolers and school age children and provide lots of exciting and interesting ways to introduce chemistry and physics concepts and spark a love of all things science. There's experiments that explore chemical reactions, density, absorption, how to grow crystals and even glow in the dark science experiments. 

The best part is most of them can be done using basic pantry supplies you probably have in your kitchen right now. They're all easy to do either at home, or in a classroom as part of a science unit.

36 Homemade Playdough Recipes - No Cook, Scented, Flavoured & Specialty Play Dough

I have a confession to make, for years I never made home made playdough because it just seemed like too much effort. I put it in the too hard basket and spent hundreds of dollars on Playdoh and other fancy store bought dough. Little did I know it's actually super easy to make homemade dough, and given how much my youngest loves it {and loves colour mixing it, ugh} it's way more cost effective to make it at home.

If you want to make your own playdough too, you've come to the right place because I've put together a mega list of homemade playdough recipes for you to try! Including cooked and no cook recipes, scented, flavoured and themed specialty recipes and best of all most of them only have 2-3 ingredients and take a few minutes to make!

Image by elkimmelito from Pixabay

Free Printable Halloween Playdough Mats

My girls love playing with playdough mats and I've become somewhat obsessed with creating them since I discovered Canva, so of course I created some Halloween playdough mats. If you're looking for some fun Halloween play for your kids then download my free playdough mats below and get creative with playdough, loose parts or washable markers.