Play and Learn Every Day

Peter Rabbit Party

14:09

We were invited to a very special Peter Rabbit Party over the weekend, to celebrate the release of the new Peter Rabbit Movie on DVD as well as Beatrix Potter's birthday! The party was hosted by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Cine Mini Film Club and took place at The LookOut in Hyde Park.

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We were so excited to arrive, be handed our Peter Rabbit ears and then meet the main bunny himself! Ethan bravely ran up for a hug, but Ivy needed a bit more convincing.

She did not need convincing, however, to rush off to join in with the activities!

Our first stop was to meet the animals! There were bunnies, goats, ducklings a hedgehog and guinea pigs! Many of the animals were a bit hot and tired, but we did get to meet this very sweet little guinea pig and give him a pat.

Next we planted some sunflower seeds and decorated the plant pots with bunny ears and a fluffy tail.

But the kids' favourite activity by far was the fruit and vegetable printing! This is something that we've done at home in the past (we cut heart shapes into potatoes for Valentine's Day stamping and did some apple printing on cards for the teachers) but we've never just had a load of fruit and veg to choose from and a picture to complete. It's a fantastic idea and kept the kids busy for ages!

Then it was time to watch the Peter Rabbit Movie! We were given these brilliant movie prop boxes from Cine Mini which the kids adored! They were so thoughtful and perfectly themed. There were plenty of items to keep them busy during the film if they wanted something to play with (and a carrot shaped bag full of popcorn to munch on!)

They absolutely loved the movie (and so did we!) it's a great one to watch with the whole family. And we've been inspired by Cine Mini and their creative ideas (we often plan activities to match with books and songs, but we've never done movie activities or baskets before!)

Why not buy the Peter Rabbit movie on DVD and hold your own Peter Rabbit Party with themed snacks and activities to go along with it? Such a fun way to spend a day over the summer break from school!

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* This is a review post, we were invited to the Peter Rabbit Party in order to view the Peter Rabbit Movie DVD, and join in the fun activities, all opinions are our own.*

4 years old

Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom Magical Days of Summer

13:25

We love Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, so of course we were happy to be a part of the their Magical Days of Summer campaign. There are bound to be rainy days eventually, and we will be spending them watching Ben & Holly and playing with these fantastic toys!

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We have received the Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom: The Magical Collection set of 4 DVDs, the Thistle Castle Playset, a Violet Figure and Accessory, a Little Library collection of 6 books, a Memory Game and a Puzzle as well as the Big Star Fun App to play with on the go.

The DVD set includes 4 different DVDs which each have a selection of episodes of the programme. This is going to be perfect for rainy summer days or even to take away on holiday and watch on the go!

Ivy absolutely loves a little set of books, so this Little Library of six books is absolutely perfect for her. It's so small that it's easy to bring along with you on long car trips or on holiday as well, these books are definitely going to be read many times over the summer!

The six books focus on the different characters in the show, which the children love as they each have their favourites and choose to read those ones first.

Of course I am also loving the fact that these books are easy enough to read that Ethan can read them to Ivy himself, and they're both kept busy without any interference from me!

There are also pictures on the back of the books which you can line up to make a sort of picture puzzle, which the kids love to do as well!

The Memory game is also lovely, it comes in a small box which would also make it ideal for travel if you're spending some time in a cottage and might want some indoor fun. It is easy to set up and can be played by children of all ages.

Ethan and Ivy love playing the memory game together, it's so great for building their memory and observational skills. And they have so much fun collecting their favourite characters.

The puzzle is also a great one for playing indoors on those less than perfect weather days.

It's got 35 pieces which are fairly small, so it was a bit advanced for Ivy (4) on her own, but perfect for Ethan (6) to help her with and make together. I am sure with a bit of practice she will be building it on her own as well!

The box is also not too big, so it could be easy to take along with you for a trip (just be careful not to lose any pieces!)

We also received a little figure and accessory set, of which we got Violet and her butterfly.

These are really sweet and small, but also quite robust, perfect for some small world play.

The children were most excited to open up the Thistle Castle Playset! It's just like the castle on the show and comes with quite a few different accessories including Holly, her bed, throne and mirror as well as some magical items.

The children absolutely love all of the magical items, like the treasure chest that opens on both sides so that it can appear full or empty. Ivy thinks she's doing real magic when she plays with that one!

It is also great for some small world play, because we also have the Violet figure the children each had a little fairy to play with and could make up a little story about them causing some magical mayhem within Thistle Castle.

There are so many little touches that the children can be kept busy for ages! The toadstool in the front of the castle turns and that opens up the front door, which they actually discovered themselves and were so excited! This is definitely becoming one of their new favourite play sets!

There is also a great app called Big Star Fun that the children are loving. It has a variety of different activities that they can do, and it's perfect for keeping them occupied when you've got nothing else to hand (like on on a long hot train ride home, it worked perfect yesterday!)

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* This is a review post, we were sent a bundle of Ben and Holly merchandise in order to write this post, all opinions are our own.*

4 years old

Rainbowcorns Review and Giveaway

14:59

4 years old

Superhero Lotto Game Review

11:50

We've been playing a new game from Orchard Toys called Superhero Lotto. Both Ethan and Ivy are crazy about superheroes so it is the perfect theme for them!

The game is pretty simple to set up straight out of the box, each player chooses a superhero board, which is two large puzzle pieces that slot together. Then you place all of the lotto cards face down in the middle of your playing area.

The game boards are double sided, but we started by using the more straightforward side. The superhero is at the top and there are pictures of 6 items at the bottom that you need to collect. You then take turns picking up a lotto card from the middle and hoping that it is a match for your board.

The first player to find all of the items that their superhero needs is the winner!

After we played the game once through this way, we then turned our boards over to explore the other side. It is the same superhero / child on the back but with a bit of a twist.

You now get to read about them, their names, superpowers, likes and dislikes, etc. This is great as Ethan was able to read his own and I helped Ivy to read hers.

Then you have a look at the picture and find the six items that you will be playing for. This was a great way of doing it for us as we had already played on the other side so we were familiar with what we were looking for. There are now no images on the bottom squares, so you need to find them in the top picture to identify which ones you need.

The game is then played in the same way, taking turns to turn over the lotto cards to try to find the ones that go with your superhero.

I love that there is this extra challenge to the game, so as well as turn taking and memory skills they are also now being challenged to read and improve their observation skills.

And on a nice day we were even able to bring the game outside to play it in the garden. So of course after tidying up it was the perfect opportunity to pretend to fly around the yard pretending to be superheroes! For more fun, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest and sign up to receive our newsletter for regular updates!

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* This is a review post, we were sent the Superhero Lotto Game from Orchard Toys in order to play with it and write our honest opinions.*