We are part of the Blogger Board Game Club with Asmodee over the summer, so we will be playing one new game each month!  





For July we have been playing Who Did It? and really enjoying it!  It comes in a small box which makes it perfect for a summer game as it will be great for travel too!  There aren't too many pieces to lose either, just the box itself (which closes magnetically), 36 cards, 13 poops and the instructions.



The game is aimed at ages 6 and up (although Ivy is 5 and picked it up really quickly as well) and can be played from three to six players.  The aim of the game is to prove that your pets are not guilty of doing a poop in the living room, ha ha!  Each player gets six cards (the same six pets on their cards but different colours) and you are trying to prove their innocence. If your pet is guilty you have to take a poop piece for that round.  You keep playing rounds until one player has 3 poop pieces, and they lose the game.



The youngest player starts by placing down one of their pets and declaring their innocence by saying "My cat didn't do a poop in the middle of the living room floor, it must have been one of your..." then names another animal.  The other players then have to try to be the first to place down one of those pets.  Whoever gets their pet down first then goes next, declaring that pets innocence and blaming another.  

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{ad - gifted} We are a part of the Blogger Board Game Club with @asmodeeuk over the summer! The first game that we’re playing is called Who Did It? and the kids are loving it (who wouldn’t love a game all about finding the pet guilty of pooping in the living room!) Read our full review on the blog (link in profile @playandlearneveryday ) 💩 @boardgameclub__ #boardgameclub #whodidit

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jul 30, 2019 at 7:55am PDT

The two ways of having a guilty pet are either to be the last player with a pet card (so being too slow to place down your cards) or to accuse a pet that there are not any left of (therefore meaning that your last placed pet is guilty).



So the game works on your listening skills, quick reflexes, memory and deductive reasoning skills.  Plus it involves poop so the kids think it is absolutely hilarious!  This is definitely going to be a popular game in our house!



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* This is a review post, we were sent the Who Did It? game from Asmodee to play and to write our honest opinions. *

Just a quick one as it is nearly the end of the school year and there are so very many things left to do!  But we have made the sweetest yet simplest gifts for the multitude of teachers that the children have and thought that we would share.

What we used to make our Flower Pot Teacher Gifts:

• hanging flower pots
• flower tags

Making Seed Bombs

Making Soaps

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It is almost the summer school holidays and we can't wait for six whole weeks of lazy days!  It sounds so perfect in my mind, but in reality the children really do need something to do each day, and that's where Squire's Garden Centres and the fantastic Create and Grow activities come in.


We live close to a Squire's and we're always in there for every school break doing their activities.  It's such an easy way to spend a day, it doesn't cost a lot of money, and the children get to bring home their creations which they are always very proud of.  This summer break they are doing a variety of different activities as part of the Create and Grow program at Squire's.  There are 6 different activities, one for each week of the summer holidays, starting on the 22nd July and finishing on the 28th August.  The activities are available on Mondays and Tuesdays (and Wednesdays at some locations) from 9:30am - 12:30pm and the cost ranges from £2.50 - £6 per child.  There is also a free activity to take part in each week.  For more details of each week's activities and the participating locations take a look at the Create and Grow information page.


We were lucky to be invited in for a sneak peek and to make some strawberry pots for the garden.  We were welcomed to a lovely table all set up with huge terracotta pots and lots of colourful paints to get started.  The staff member who was there (Tallulah) was so kind and helpful to the children throughout the process.


The children couldn't wait to paint these pots and got stuck right in.  Ethan decided to paint different plants and flowers all around his pot.


While Ivy went for a more abstract design.  She absolutely loved it though and was so focussed, she could have sat there for ages painting!


Once they had finished painting they then filled up their pots with soil.


Next they got to choose three strawberry plants, and Tallulah taught them how to carefully remove the plants from their holders and repot them in their pots.




They then added more soil and were finished!



We left the pots on the table to dry and they were ready to bring home.


These will need some sort of varnish to keep the paint on the pots, but otherwise they are ready to put in the garden and grow some delicious strawberries!  The children are so proud that they've made these themselves.  We will definitely be heading back to Squire's throughout the summer to do some of the other activities.

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* This is a review post, we were invited to try out the Squire's Create & Grow activities in advance in order to write this post, all opinions are our own.*

We have been sent a set of Stems - The Flexible 3D Maker Toy from Learning Resources to play with and review (we even have a set to give away!) They are a new construction toy that are great for challenging children to really get creative and build some fantastic 3D structures.


The Stems come in either a tub of 20 pieces or a larger tub of 60 pieces which would be ideal for more than one child.  They recommend from age 5 and older, and I would agree with this because Ivy is 5 and did need a little bit of help to clip the pieces together.  There is a little guide that comes with a few ideas of structures to build, but of course they are free to build anything they like using their imaginations.



Ethan set to work straight away building a few things from the guide.  The ball was our first challenge, which we actually made together by handing each other the pieces and following along with the instructions.  It was a good way to start out and figure out how the Stems work.  They are really easy to click together once you get the hang of how to line them up, but it did take us a minute to figure that out.



Ivy is happier making her own thing, so she found pieces of the colours that she liked and lined them up to make a tree.  She was carefully choosing her pieces to make a pattern and putting them together (with a little bit of help) and she was so proud of her creation when she finished!



Ethan then set off to make the jumping frog.  This is a really cool one because after you have put all of the pieces together, because of the shape of them and the fact that they have a bit of tension, you're then able to pull back and actually make your frog jump.  I have a feeling that this idea is going to be the basis for a lot of future creations for Ethan, he absolutely loved it!

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{ad - gifted} We have been having so much fun playing with these Stems construction toys from @learningresourcesuk Ethan even made a jumping frog! Have a look on the blog (link in bio @playandlearneveryday ) for a full review and a chance to win a set too! 🐸 #stems #stemlearning

A post shared by Niki - Play & Learn Every Day (@playandlearneveryday) on Jul 9, 2019 at 5:00am PDT

And now you can get your hands on some Stems too, for your chance to win a tub of 20 pieces, please enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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* This is a review post, we were sent the Stems from Learning Resources in order to play with them and write our honest opinions.*

We have been sent some fantastic unicorns from the new Bayala range from Schleich and the kids absolutely love them already!




Each of the three that we were sent is exquisite in its own way, and the children quickly gave each one a name and decided on a unique personality to suit it.  They are all very well made and sturdy, perfect for children to play with in all sorts of adventures.



They easily created a family story with a Mummy, Daddy and baby unicorn.  They decided that the Mummy and Daddy had to teach the baby how to jump, so they set out to build a set of jumps that the unicorns could use.



It didn't take long to build and then each unicorn had it's turn to soar over the hurdles.  The children were happily playing at this for ages and creating lovely imaginative storylines to go along with them.



Ivy then went off with the Mummy and baby which she has claimed as her own (not surprising) and Ethan was left with the Daddy whom he built a huge obstacle course for.


It was fantastic to see how long these simple unicorns kept the children busy for.  I think it definitely has to do with the fantastic details and realism of each of them.  And when they are not being played with they look lovely on display on the toy shelves.  You can find the Schleich range to buy from Smyths Toys, and we highly recommend that you do as we really love them.

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* This is a review post, we were sent the Schleich Bayala unicorns to play with and write our honest opinions.*

We were invited to a very special early morning experience at Hamleys Toy Shop in London the other day to try out their Easter Egg Hunt!  We were very lucky to have this behind the scenes look at an empty Hamleys store, but the great news is that the Easter Egg Hunt is open to all over the Easter Break and there is still time to visit and have a go (until Monday 22nd April)!


We arrived bright and early and set off on our Easter Egg Hunt around the shop, we were given a sheet to fill in and wandered around all 7 floors of Hamleys looking for big colourful eggs with letters on them to fill in our sheets.


Once you find all of the clues you can take a picture of your finished sheet and post on Instagram using #Hamleys for a chance to win a birthday party at Hamleys!


There are so many other activities going on at Hamleys as well, after our early egg hunt we popped back outside for the grand opening of the shop.  It's fantastic!  Clearly we are not usually early birds and had no idea that this sort of thing went on, but there's a whole big count down and one child is chosen to ring the bell to open the shop each day!


There are also puppet shows several times a day (we watched one and the kids absolutely loved it, they were laughing hysterically the whole time!) There is a schedule by the escalators each day with a list of events, I had no idea there was so much to do at Hamleys, so definitely take a look!



And over Easter there are even more things going on than usual (check out the whats on section of their website), there is a Lego make and take of an Easter basket, available on certain days,  which we also got to try out and the kids really enjoyed being able to make their own little baskets to bring home.  There are also meet and greets with special characters on some days, so do check the schedule).


And if you're short on Easter treats, then you can even pop over to the Scrumpalicious sweet shop to choose some sweets to take home too!


There truly is so much to do at Hamleys over Easter, we highly recommend that you pay them a visit!

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* This is a review post of a gifted experience, we were provided with a special early morning visit to Hamleys before it opened to try out and the Easter Egg Hunt and gifted with a special goody bag, all opinions are our own.*

We are always looking for fun days out over the school holidays, especially Easter break as it can be so long and the weather isn't always fantastic, so when we were invited by Nintendo to visit Kidzania and try out Yoshi's Easter Egg Hunt of course we jumped at the chance!


Yoshi's Easter Egg Hunt is running at Kidzania London from now until April 21st.  It is included in your regular ticket to Kidzania (it's always advisable to book tickets in advance) and can be done as one of your activities at any time of your visit.


We arrived at the Yoshi's Easter Egg Hunt area and and had our wristbands scanned, the children then had a few minutes to play the new Yoshi's Crafted World game on the Nintendo Switch.  The absolutely loved it straight away!  Ivy thinks that Yoshi is adorable and was happily just walking him around and exploring the game as she went along.  Ethan was drawn in by the features, when one of the staff members showed him how to throw an egg at a wall to make it come down into a bridge he was fascinated!  This is definitely a game that they would like to explore more.  


After a little bit of time to play Yoshi's Crafted World all of the children in the room were then brought together where the staff explained how the Yoshi's Easter Egg Hunt would work and handed each child a pencil and booklet with some activities and the clues to find the hidden eggs around Kidzania.  


We made our way out and first took a photo in front of the Yoshi's Crafted World backdrop.  If you take a photo there and upload it to social media using #YoshisCraftedWorld and #Kidzania you will be entered into a competition to win a Nintendo Switch, the Yoshi's Crafted World game, a one year membership to Nintendo online and family passes to Kidzania.


Then we set off around Kidzania, following the clues to find all seven eggs hidden throughout.  It took us a little while to get the hang of it, but soon we were whizzing around filling in all of those blanks with the letters.  Once you've found all of the letters you then unscramble them to discover the mystery word and write it on the bottom of your sheet.


You then bring your completed sheet back to the Yoshi's Easter Egg Hunt activity where you will be rewarded with a certificate and 10 Kidzos!  We then explored the rest of Kidzania and absolutely loved it (we will definitely be writing more about the whole experience!) There were just so many activities to do and it was incredible to watch the children as they did these activities on their own (grown ups have to wait outside each activity and watch) and as they grew in confidence and independence.  

Ivy's favourite activity of the day was the Just Dance Dance Club, where they children get to follow along with the moves up on the screen to train to be dance teachers.  It is another Nintendo Switch game so they are holding the controllers which registers their dance moves, and the winner of the game earns extra Kidzos.


Ethan's favourite activity of the day was the Nintendo Labo Workshop where he got to make his own remote controlled car out of cardboard which he could then control with a Nintendo Switch.  They then move on to the discover station where they get to see more of what the Nintendo Labo can do, by trying out a robot, a fishing game and even a piano made out of cardboard.  At the end of this activity they get to take home their cardboard car as well as a special certificate.


It was a jam packed day full of fun, and we could definitely go back again soon and do it all over again, the children loved every single activity that they tried!  We highly recommend a trip to Kidzania during this Easter break to try out Yoshi's Easter Egg Hunt (and so many other fun activities!)


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* This is a review post, we were invited to Kidzania and provided with tickets in order to try out Yoshi's Easter Egg hunt and write our honest opinions about it.*