Valentine's Day Sensory Bin for Toddlers

My girls have always been little sensory seekers, which works well for me because I love any excuse to set up some sensory play for them! This is a really easy Valentine's themed sensory bin that we put together when my big girl was just a toddler {and I was heavily pregnant}. You can easily replicate it at home, or in the classroom, for some sensory fun with your kids.

30 Valentines Day School Gift Ideas For Kids

Class gifts for valentine's are a great way to let classmates and teachers know that you're thinking of them and glad to have them as a friend. Giving small gifts on Valentine's Day to school peers has been a popular tradition in the United States of America for years and is becoming increasingly popular in other countries.

Whether you're a teacher wanting to make a little gift for your students, or a parent wanting to send in a small gift for your child's class mates, I've put together plenty of creative and affordable valentine's class gift ideas. They include food based gifts, practical gifts as well as fun and novelty gift ideas for kids. I've also included matching punny notes to attach to each gift idea.

Image: Just Peachy By Julie

14 Easy Valentines Day Card Ideas For Kids To Make

Making cards for friends and classmates at school is a fun and creative way for kids to celebrate Valentine's Day. They're also fun to make for mum and dad or grandparents too. They don't have to be complicated either, I've put together a great list of 14 simple DIY Valentine's Day card ideas that can be made by kids, either at school or at home.

These Valentine's card ideas explore different process art techniques for children, including various ways to print, stamp and paint. Because they're so easy, they're suitable for toddlers, preschoolers and school kids and can easily be done as a group activity. There's also no right or wrong way to do them, so each card will be unique.

2021 Boxing Day Deals

Boxing Day is traditionally one of the busiest sale days of the entire year. After enjoying the festivities of Christmas Day hoards of shoppers eagerly line up outside shopping centres for hours before they open to score the best deals. I don't know about you but after working in retail for years, being in crowds at the shops on Boxing Day is not my idea of fun, but I do love a bargain. Which is why I've put together a list of the best online Boxing Day deals for 2021.

How to make a DIY Frozen Inspired Snowflake Sensory Bottle

We're a little bit obsessed with sensory bottles in this house and we're slowly making them for each and every possible theme. Our latest one is a winter snowflake sensory bottle that was inspired by Frozen. It's perfect for little Frozen fans and sensory seeking kids {and adults}.

Sensory bottles are a great tool to help children learn how to self regulate and calm down. It's mesmerising watching the contents disperse and slowly fall back to the bottom. They're also super easy to make at home with just a few items. My 4yr old actually made our winter sensory bottle and only needed help with a few steps.

This Frozen inspired sensory bottle is great to add to a calm down corner, or to use in some Frozen inspired play. The girls love shaking it to create snow storms all the time. It's like an oversized snow globe and shaking it is pretty addictive, even for me!

11 Excuses To Use If You're Caught Moving The Elf

If you've done Elf on the Shelf before you'll know just how nerve wracking it can be each time the elf has to get up to new shenanigans, and not just because you need to constantly come up with new elf ideas.... but because of the very real fear that you'll get caught in the act!

Most parents are seasoned pros at being stealthy with the elf and know to wait until the kids are in bed, however we all know kids can be kids and sometimes they aren't as asleep as we think they are. Then there's the countless trips to the bathroom, requests for glasses of water, wanting to be tucked in again etc etc. You know what I mean. 

Then some kids will also secretly spy to catch the elf in the act out of general curiosity.... so you see our nights in December can be risky when there's an elf in the house. But what do you do if you're caught red handed with the elf? Don't panic! Keep these 11 excuses in your back pocket to get you out of trouble and keep the magic alive.

19 Creative Elf On The Shelf Departure Ideas

Does your elf leave on December 23rd so it's gone on Christmas Eve, or December 24th with Santa? Over the years we've done a mix of both, but now the kids are getting a little older {aka not toddlers} we're sticking with Santa takes the elf back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve after he drops off the presents. No matter what happens in your house, here's 19 different creative ways for the elf to say goodbye.

Just like the elf arrives in style, the elf can leave in epic, subtle, funny or heart warming ways too. Even if the elf is hitching a ride with Santa, they can still leave their mark behind for the kids. Have a look through our huge list of elf departure ideas below and let us know which one you'll be doing this year.

Free Printable Christmas Playdough Mats

If your kids love playing with playdough as much as mine then they'll love these new Christmas playdough mats I've created. If you're looking for a fun and easy way to occupy the kids either in the classroom or at home over the holidays, download my free playdough mats below and have fun getting creative with playdough, Christmas loose parts or washable markers.

63 Adorable Names For Your Elf

So you've decided to do Elf on the shelf this year and introduce a special elf friend to your family, but how does the elf get it's name? Well there's two main options really, either the elf arrives with a name Santa has already picked out for them, or you let the children decide on a name once the elf has arrived for the first time. 

Depending on your children's age this may result in some pretty.... interesting name choices, so if you want some ideas, here's 63 elf names for you to choose from, including names for boy and girl elves and some unisex elf names too.

19 Fun Ways to Use a Wobbel Board

You may be wondering how a curved piece of wood you rock back and forth on can actually be a really useful open ended resource? It's ok you're not alone, lots of people don't understand why the Wobbel board is so great, but don't worry, I'm going to show you exactly why they're awesome, including all the fun and creative ways to use the Wobbel board for exercise and play.