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This day I love.......

All items mentioned in this post I have paid for myself. Sudocrem contacted me to put a post together and have been compensated to do so.

Upon collecting the girls from school on Friday I decided that this weekend would remain as normal as possible. Our normal routines. Apart from my lack of work in the studio, I think I have achieved it. We have done homework as we normally would, tidied our rooms and cleaned out our various animals. Now comes the difficult part, getting ready for school.

Normally on a Sunday afternoon we make sure that we have everything ready for the school week ahead and this Sunday I am trying to do the same. I have asked the girls what they want to learn about. Do they want to have a day per subject or mix and match our days ahead. We have cleared the dining room table and set it up ready for tomorrow. In fact I am rather excited by the 9am start with Joe Wicks and his P.E. lesson.  

We have decided to make the most of this time together, bonus time if you will. First on our list is to learn a new skill and we have decided together that we will learn sign language. All of us. I have found the following on Facebook and so 1pm every weekday we will tune in and do this together.



As the weeks go on we shall learn other skills maybe first aid, maybe another language I haven't decided yet but I want to make the most of this time.

I am also very conscious that there is no set curriculum to follow and so I have absolutely no idea what my children should be learning at this time. Given this lack of pathway I have decided to read more, watch documentaries with the kids and just practice the games and apps that support Maths and English, rather than muddling through and stressing over set guidance when I cannot find any.

I wrote on Facebook a few weeks ago that we recently started using Gousto [I have paid for my own boxes and the link if you subscribe will credit my account with £15, however this is the same for any customer who refers a customer and nothing specific to me] to deliver 4 of our meals a week. I am glad we did this as it has meant I can at least guarantee for now that we have 4 meals a week. We have also sourced a local fruit and veg shop to deliver a box a week meaning we also should have fruit and veg available each week too. Other than basics like bread, milk and egg plus various household goods we should be ok without having to go out of the house.

My children's biggest concern is that the Easter bunny won't come if we are in lock down. I had a word with him though and seemingly he went out last week to make sure that he can deliver over Easter. 

We have asked our friends to stay in touch and be penpals, meaning the kids then get to practise their writing skills and also have something to look forward to in the post [whilst we still have deliveries happening].

Let's not forget that in with all the above we are all singing various songs lasting for 20 seconds to wash our hands thoroughly. All this hand washing has caused mine and my children's hands to dry out so we have resorted to Sudocrem to help soothe them. It was my go to when the children were little and so I have resorted to it once again to help soothe our sore hands

Here's a little routine we follow at home from Sudocrem

1. Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you’ve been in a public
place or after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. If soap and water not readily available use a
hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol. 
2.  Dry hands - wet hands transfer more germs than dry hands so ensure you dry hands properly
preferably using a paper towel rather than a drier. 
3. Carry a pot of My Little Sudocrem (22g) to soothe hands whilst on-the-go.

Today might be Mother's Day but I am spending it trying to get ready for the new normal. A new routine starting tomorrow. I am hoping it works as we have no idea how long it will be for.


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I love to support the girls in their learning at home and try to do so in fu nways. One such way is with Brainbox games. They offer a wide selection of games from learning German to basic ABC and they also offer a range of not your traditional educational subjects. I use this lightly as I am not sure how to class them.

Brainbox offers a range that includes Marvin's magic. The game tests memory skills based on famous magicians and magical illusions and it also includes instructions for simple magic tricks and some optical illusions. 
Marvin's magic is aimed at ages 8+ and in all honesty was too advanced for my 5 year old, who really found it too difficult to play. My 7 year old however is a budding magician and loves anything to do with magic tricks! The game can be played by yourself as it is a memory game, or with other people.

To play you have 10seconds, as counted by a sand timer, to remember as much as possible from one side of the card. You roll a dice which denotes which question you answer. The winner of the game is the one who answers the most questions correctly.

The cards are well illustrated and I would agree with the age rating. Some of the written facts were too tricky for my eldest at 7 to remember, so we did have to adapt the game slightly. It was the same with some of the tricks and illusions. I can however see that when she is older this would be a great game to play.

Brainbox games would make a perfect stocking filler gift, but I would check the age ratings on them first as they do seem true to age.

BrainBox games are available from all good toy stores or for further information visit  www.brainbox.co.uk

We were sent the game for review, all words are my own opinion 
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With the rain pouring down outside we opted for a day indoors.  The girls recently received a new maths puzzle with a space theme, and with 138 pieces was sure to provide some entertainment.  My eldest was rather pleased and with no picture to follow began assembling her own design.


The puzzle allows for imaginative use, there is no image to suggest a right way so the girls set about creating scenes. 


The size of each piece corresponds to the number upon it, so 2 is half the size of 4 which is double the size of 1.  


This is such a fun way to teach maths and numbers.  My youngest recognising the numbers and my eldest learning more complex maths, doubling, halves, quarters.  Even ways to make up a number so using a 4 and 2 piece would be the same as a 6 piece.  


The pieces are bright and colourful with quirky designs and characters on them.


The girls loved using their imagination to build the puzzle and without realising they were learning maths along the way!


The puzzle kept them entertained for most of the afternoon, a great fun way to encourage maths and problem solving!

The puzzle was sent for review, all words are my own opinion 

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My husband and I both have degrees in engineering, which means we both have a love and passion for maths and science.  Our minds seem to work in a logical fashion and we enjoy the challenge that numbers bring.  Our eldest daughter seems to also have an analytical mind and can spot patterns and sequences very quickly. 

When I received an email from Numberbundle I actually got incredibly excited.  Numberbundle are mathematical activity boxes which support both the Early years foundations stage and National Curriculum for children 3 -7.  The boxes cost £21 for a single box or can be a monthly subscription and cost £16.99 per month.  Each month the boxes take on a different topic from the national curriculum and cover a range of activities.  The activities include cookery, arts, crafts, games, puzzles, cross stitch, outdoor play, science and story.  I was very keen to see the boxes and see what the girls thought of them

Numberbundle box

First impressions on the boxes were great, both girls wanted to open the boxes up straight away and have a look inside.  Inside the boxes there is a card explaining the activities and the topic they are supporting.  Then cards for each of the activities, including full instructions and finally some of the materials you may need for each activity.  Although not all materials are included those that are not are easy to source, such as glue, water and newspaper.

Inside Numberbundle box

The girls had different boxes each suited to their specific age group, my youngest is Early years and my eldest is Year 1.  Inside my youngest Numberbundle box the topic was big and small, the topic for my eldest was money.  The girls looked through the enclosed activities and we picked one to do.

Selecting numberbundle activity

The great thing about the cards is that they not only contain full, clear instructions of the activity and how to do it, but they also contain discussion points.  This gives me as a parent an idea of the topic that is taught at school and ways in which I can incorporate this into daily life.  For the girls, they did not realise they were doing maths based activities, and instead simply had fun with the activities they had chosen.

My eldest wanted to make a papermache money box pig.  We used this to discuss tearing paper into halves and quarters, used the legs to count and work out how many legs we would need.  Calculate how many more money boxes we could make with the material we had left and calculate the fraction of water to glue for our mixture. 

Making pig

My youngest chose to do the playdough mat activity.  We had already made some playdough, but there was a recipe to make playdough included.  We used the playdough mats to make ears, tails and wings and discuss which animal had the bigger ears, the elephant or the mouse?  Did my youngest have bigger or smaller ears?  Whilst she could do some of the activity independently, making the ears for example, we discussed bigger and smaller together as she played.

which is bigger?

I really love how Numberbundle encourages discussion around each activity in a fun way, so the girls did not feel like they were learning but instead just playing.  It has helped me as a parent gain a better understanding of the activities the girls do at school, which means I can support their learning at home.  Numberbundle are also a great way to engage with your children as they do each activity so you can do things together, as well as supporting independent learning also.

I am giving away a Numberbundle box worth £21 to one reader, giveaway is via the Gleam widget below and ends on the 12th March 2016 at midnight GMT. Full terms and conditions are on the widget.

Numberbundle
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Last year I purchased a subscription to Reading Eggs.  I had seen a lot of adverts and information on Reading Eggs and I wanted to give it a go.

For those unfamiliar with Reading Eggs it helps children learn to read and is suitable from 3 years old.  Reading Eggs is an online program and you can often find a months trial for free.  It comprises of games for children to play and stories for them to interact with.

My eldest was first to try Reading Eggs and it soon became known as 'Sam Game'.  Reading Eggs has an ant called Sam who takes you through each activity and it is for this reason the girls ask to play Sam Game.  


My eldest took to the game really quickly and soon started completing each task at great pace.  Clicking letters, helping Birds to fly across the jungle and composing story books.  Each one captured her attention and I think it is part of the reason she has a passion for reading and writing.

My youngest would sit and watch her sister play Sam game, and it never really dawned on me how much she was absorbing.  When she started school this year she started asking to play Sam game herself, and as she was asking I willing let her play.  She has taken to the game really well and has started recognising letters when we are out and in the books we read.

I really think Reading Eggs is a good supportive tool to use with children, however I let the girls choose when they want to play.  I don't want to force them to do it as I think it works much better when it comes from their request and they do request to play.  If you are looking for a tool to aid learning then Reading Eggs will do this in a fun and supportive way.

I purchased Reading Eggs and have not received any monetary compensation for this review 
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My eldest has made amazing progress in school this year.  She still has not turned 5 and I am so proud of all she has achieved.  I want to ensure that during the school holidays she continues to improve and support her learning.  

Whilst Tiggly is available on Amazon, Curry's and Apple store it launches in the UK at 9am on QVC on 24th July 2015.  We have been given two Tiggly products to try, Tiggly shapes and Tiggly maths.  
A tiggly bundle

There are several apps which can be downloaded and each has a different game style to it.  Tiggly maths is our preferred from the two and both my youngest and eldest enjoy playing it.  My youngest loves the chef game.  Chef asks you to select a certain number of ingredients to make a certain dish.  Items are selected by placing the blocks on the iPad screen.  For numbers greater than 5 the girls have to work out what combination of blocks to place on the screen, this helps to think about addition and number combinations.

The apps can be played without the blocks but the games work much better with them.  My eldest favourite is guiding Tiggly through is adventure as he delivers a present.  

Playing tiggly

The shapes can be stored in a handy bag to keep them together when not in use.  Tiggly is great fun and has got the girls thinking in a fun and interactive way.

We were provided with a Tiggly bundle for the purpose of review, all words are my own opinion. 
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Blue plant tales is an app available for iOS and aimed at children aged 3-9 years . The app is free to download and can be found via a quick search. Blue planet tales currently contains 17 books each book can be previewed however to access the full book costs £1.99.  The books are available in Spanish and English.

Blue planet tales is a way to get children interested in reading and learning about historical things, such as the first dog in space and the discovery of America. The books contain fun interactive quizzes in s way to reinforce the learning.  It is clear to see why the app is popular in the classroom.  The books have the option to be read by yourself or read out loud. Whilst the books are good and the interactive quizzes give a great way to reinforce learning, I do feel the amount charged per book is too high.

blue planet tales

The app is easy to use and navigate, either by clicking on the image in the Map or selecting the book itself. The books flow at a nice pace when read out loud but I feel the cost for the book is too great. It is however a great concept app to get kids learning.

The app is free to download and I have not received any payment for my opinions. 
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Last week I made the very exciting trip to London to meet with the team at Huggies. I am very pleased to announce my partnership with Huggies and I shall be working with them as one of their 'HUGGIES® Pull-Ups®' ambassadors. Both of my girls are potty trained and did so very quickly, part of their success is down to HUGGIES® Pull-Ups®.

Over the next few months I am going to be writing a series of posts on helpful tips for potty training as well as helping to overcome some common problems. The tips along with HUGGIES® Pull-Ups® that are designed to make potty training easier should create a winning combination for your little ones. HUGGIES® Pull-Ups® will help you and your little one say goodbye to nappies and you can visit here to request a free sample.



The HUGGIES® Pull-Ups® I used with my daughter have been improved and now have some great Disney graphics and even a specially designed HUGGIES® Pull-Ups® for night time. They still feature the great stretchy sides which allow them to move with an active toddler and of course can be pulled up and down like real pants. 

The other new addition to HUGGIES® Pull-Ups® is the learning liner. The learning liner is rather clever as it allows a toddler to experience a brief sensation of wetness, which aids with their potty training and means it does not act like a nappy which other pull ups do.  HUGGIES® Pull-Ups® are therefore a potty training pant. This aids with a toddlers learning and understanding for potty training.

If there are any problems you are currently facing then please email me any questions and I shall do my best to get the answers and incorporate into the upcoming posts. Thisdayilove@gmail.com
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Miles Kelly have recently released a range of sticker play books.  There are currently 4 titles in the series:

Little Red Riding Hood
Cinderella
The Wheels on the Bus  
Old MacDonald had a Farm

The sticker books are beautifully illustrated and the stories are easy to read.  The stories really engaged both my girls aged 4 and 2, and the activities were a perfect way to gain their interest.  The story books are double sided and fold out to become a play mat.  The girls and I sat down in front of our book so we could read and take part in the activities.

Miles Kelly sticker books

Each sticker book contains 50 vinyl stickers which can be reused.  The sticker activities cover words, colours, shapes, numbers, which offers a great range for the girls.  The use of the stickers for these activities helps to develop cognitive and fine motor skills and helps to play a vital role in school readiness.  As the stories are fun the girls want to engage with them.  My eldest loves to read the words and my youngest takes part in activities such as recognising shapes and colour.  

Once we had read our books and completed the activities we could fold the books back up and store them away neatly.  The Miles Kelly Sticker play books are a great way to learn using fun and imagination.

We were sent 2 Miles Kelly sticker books for review.  All words are my own opinion. 
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With my eldest at school, it was a day of indoor play for my youngest today.  

I wanted to do something fun with her but also something to help her learning and understanding.  We started by some messy play to help with colours.  My youngest knows all her colours but occasionally gets green and blue mixed up.  I used some shower gel and created lots of bubble with it, I then mixed in corn flour until we got a nice slimy mixture.

She had lots of fun mixing the slime


She loved the texture and that she could pull and stretch it.


She had lots of fun playing with the slime, but soon wanted to wash her hands.  This got me thinking of our next game.  I took the glue gun numbers I had made and placed them in the kitchen sink.


I filled the kitchen sink with water and added some food colouring.  We talked about the colour of the water and then went fishing.


We started fishing out the numbers and my youngest is starting to get very good at recognising the numbers.  Which I think is impressive for 2.

It was a lovely way to spend the day, playing and learning all at the same time

This day I love a day of messy play


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My eldest starts school in September and she is showing a real interest in wanting to learn to read and write.  Collins have a huge range of learning resources to aid her development.  They have books ranging from learning to read and write and accompanying books such as thesaurus and dictionary.  Collins are enabling me to equip my daughter with everything she needs before she starts school.

Collins school booksFrench and Spanish books

To see what my daughter thought of the range, including the French and Spanish books watch our video


Collins are offering 30% off their range of Back to School books until 30th September 2014 and there is also a competition to win one of 50 bundles of books in a branded Collins school bag.  


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Do you remember when you returned to school after the school holidays and you used to turn to your friend and say 'I've forgotten how to write' or something similar.  Earlier this month I read the following article on the BBC, it looked at the possibility of shortening school holidays and also spoke about the summer forgetting period.  This got me thinking, how can I help my daughter as she starts her first year of school.  I want her to get into good habits so that she doesn't see the summer as a break just a different learning opportunity.  In addition to this I don't want her to feel over whelmed and want her to see learning as fun.

I have started to do two things with her recently, the first is the Parragon books #summerwithgoldstars challenge.  This takes one of Parragon books excellent learning resource and you do a page a day, tweet a picture with the #summerwithgoldstars and after 30 days of doing a page a day the child receives a certificate.  The idea is to keep it simple but to keep learning alive.  By doing just a page my daughter doesn't feel overwhelmed and she keeps up her learning.  I have already noticed a great improvement in her phonics and she is so happy with her gold stars.


The other thing I have started doing is creating our own learning resource.  I have written before about our love for twinkl and of some of the ways we have used twinkl but as I have twinkl premium I also have access to twinkl create.  Twinkl create means I can make my own resources to help my daughters.  This great resource means that everything is personalised to their individual stage of learning.  For example my youngest likes animals so I am currently creating flash cards of animals to help her learn different animals and also to explore different colours of the animals. 


There is such a huge amount of resource available on twinkl that we can turn learning into fun ensuring that my daughter has the best possible start to school. 

To help with learning over the summer I have one premium subscription to give away.  Competition closes on the 15th August GMT at midnight.

Twinkl Premium Subscription

Terms and conditions

1.This competition is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland aged 18 years or over, except for those associated with the production company, their families or anyone else associated with this competition. 
2.All information detailing how to enter this competition forms part of these terms and conditions. 
3. All entries must be received by the advertised closing time date. 
4.1 winner will win a Premium twinkl subscription 
5. The winner[s] may be required to take part in publicity. 
6. All prizes are non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives. 
7.The prize is subject to availability. 
8.Events may occur that render the competition itself or the awarding of the prizes impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the Promoter, and accordingly the Promoter may at its absolute discretion vary or amend the promotion and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to the Promoter as a result thereof. 
9.This Day I love is responsible for the first part of the promotion, which is the publication and adjudication of the competition. All other facilities connected with the provision of the prize are the responsibility of the Promoter. 
10. English law applies and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts shall prevail. 
11, Winner will be drawn at Random from all valid entries 
12. By entering via Gleam you agree to the terms and conditions set out on Gleam.
13. Winner has 48hrs to respond else an alternate winner will be drawn

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com - See more at: http://www.theprizefinder.com/content/twinkl-premium-subscription#sthash.3whKiRLG.dpuf
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It has been a very wet weekend.  The rain has hardly stopped since Friday and the house is so cold we have had to put the heating on.  The girls did not sleep well last night, I think it was down to the cold and after a 4.45 am refusal to go back to sleep, today needed to be a relaxed day.

The wet weather did give us the perfect excuse to try out our shadow puppet kit.  The girls have been experimenting with shadows and noticing them more, so with it dark outside the opportunity was perfect.  I set up the theatre and a light and the girls took there seats ready for the show to start.

shadow puppet theatrethe shadow puppets lined upgirls ready to watch


We had been provided a great selection of puppets to use.  We could however have made our own from black card and a wooden stick, but I like these.  They were well made and came with a rather handy stand, meaning you could line up in order the puppets as you needed them for the story.

moving the puppetthe puppet show

I made up a story that related to the stories the girls already know, in order to get them to interact.  I moved the puppets to get the shadows to be bigger and smaller and experimented with using more than one puppet at a time.  The girls loved it and sat really still listening.  It was a lot of fun to interact this way.  After, I let the girls have a go themselves and showed them what happens to shadows as you move the object closer to the light.  The girls had a good look and put on their very own show.

choosing the puppets for the show

I tried to capture the show and them experimenting with the shadows by making them bigger and smaller, my camera kept loosing focus due to the dark room, so apologies for not the best video.


My youngest became fascinated with the light and started to wonder how shadows worked.

playing with light

It was really great watching them interact with each other as well as use their imagination to make up a story.

The girls loved the puppet show and we will be doing this again on another rainy day. 

Another good thing about rainy days, is that when the rain does stop [even if for a short amount of time] there are plenty of muddy puddles to explore.

Splashing in muddy puddles

This day I love Shadows and mud

Our Puppet kit was kindly sent to us from Swinton Insurance.  They have collaborated with Britain's got talent winners Attraction for their fantastic new advert.  The girls love watching this advert too and I think they are hugely talented.



The puppets and theatre were sent for review.  All words and opinions are my own. 
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The girls and I visited the People's History Museum in Manchester today.  It was an event organised by blogs up north, a group of very lovely blogging Mums.  

The girls where very well behaved in the car.  What should have taken 45 mins ended up taking 2 hours, but I was very proud of my girls.  My youngest slept the whole way and my eldest and I played 'I spy' and sang lots of songs.  Even when we entered Manchester and got very badly lost, mainly down to road closures, the girls behaved.  So we arrived a little bit late, something I always hate doing, especially when I left with plenty of time.

The People's History Museum is a very interactive hands on museum, the kind of museum I like as I believe children learn best though play.  My eldest was given a bee back pack which contained some 'I spy' cards.  These were great for spotting different things as we walked around.  We pretended to be like 'Mr.Tumble' as he always has a picture of an item he has to find.  My youngest took a shine to the magnifying glass in there and my eldest loved the binoculars

there you areI spy

Scattered around the museum are various boxes which contain items relating to a person in history.  This gives you the chance to dress up and have a bit of fun learning about people history.

hat

The girls had a lot of fun exploring the museum and I enjoyed meeting in person some lovely blogging mums.

The journey home took an impressive 3 and half hours due to several accidents and traffic works but the girls had had so much fun they slept the whole time

sleep

This day I love a meetup. 
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About me

About Me

Welcome to This Day I love.

My name is Leyla, also known as Mum to my 3 humans and dog Mum to J. I have a passion for the outdoors and love to run. I can often be found off road exploring the trails and fells and covering distances all the way up to 50 miles. As a family we love travelling and discovering new adventures, as I try and run around the world!

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