I love the snow, I love it so much I can't even begin to tell you.  As a Canadian I was raised playing in the snow every winter, so I definitely feel like my kids are missing out with these rainy winters that we get in London.  However that doesn't stop us from having as much fun as we can with pretend snow!  So here are our top ten snow sensory activities:

Top Ten Snow Sensory Activities

This post is part of a top ten blog hop of fantastic snow themed ideas, check them out!





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It's always interesting to look back on any posts that I've written about parenting as they are such a reflection on what has been happening in our lives and what we have found important.  It is clear from these posts that learning and education are a major priority for me, probably due to my teaching background, and that my children are very determined little learners!


As a baby Ivy was absolutely determined to move and there was nothing that was going to get in her way!  She did need a bit of help and encouragement, so I did everything that I could to help her get on the move so that she would be less frustrated.  I wrote about our 10 Ways to Help a Frustrated Baby Learn to Crawl as they really did help Ivy to get those arms and legs going.


Then of course it wasn't long before she was pulling herself up to standing, and desperate to move on two legs!  So then I wrote about our 10 Ways to Help a Determined Baby Learn to Walk, as this is what we did to get Ivy walking and soon running around.


As for Ethan, the main focus this past year has been on figuring out how to choose the best schools for him.  This started with Choosing a Nursery School and all of the research and questions that go into making that choice.


Then came the time to Prepare for Preschool, with all of the books to read and supplies to buy to get him ready, as well as things to talk about and activities to do to make him feel more confident.


Finally it's come to the time to Apply to Primary Schools here in London.  This has not been an easy process, but after all of the preparation that we have made throughout this time we do feel that we've made the right choices.  Now we just have to wait until April to find out which school he gets into, then it's time to start preparing for school!


A group of bloggers are all writing about their best positive parenting posts from the past year today, take a look at some of the other fantastic tips from parents around the world.


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We write letters to Father Christmas every year here in the UK, and there are several different services that provide letters in return.  But the best one that we've discovered is from the Royal Mail and is absolutely free!  Which lead me to do a little research to see if this is offered in other countries, and the good news is that it is!


So if you're in the UK you can write to Father Christmas by December 6th and send a self addressed stamped envelope to get a reply back from Royal Mail.


In Canada you can write to Santa Claus by December 16th and Canada Post will send you a reply.


In the United States it seems a bit more complicated and I can only find last years details from USPS but it seems that you help Santa out a little bit by writing a reply for him, and then send it off and get an official North Pole postmark on the envelope that comes back.


In Australia you can send off your letters soon and there will be a reply written to you from Australia Post's own Santa Claus.


In France I believe that you write your letter to Pere Noel online on La Poste, and then get his response in the post.

Please let me know if there's other countries that I can add to the list!

It's November and that means it's time to start thinking about Christmas!  There's always so much going on in December that I find it really helpful to start thinking about gifts that we're making quite early, especially as we have family all around the world so we've got to post our gifts by the beginning of December.  It has become our tradition to make Christmas hand and foot print pictures to give to family.  We make it quite special by using a little canvas for our prints and adding little details to them to make them look Christmassy.



When Ethan was 1 we made foot print Christmas trees by painting his foot green and printing it onto the canvas.  When that had dried I painted a small brown rectangle at the base of the tree and helped Ethan to use a star shaped stamp for the top of the tree.  Then we put a bit of red paint on Ethan's finger and he made some fingerprint Christmas baubles for the tree.  I finish it off by writing his name and the year on the bottom and wrapping it up in brown paper to send off to family members around the world.



When Ethan was 2 we made hand print reindeer by painting his hand with brown paint and printing it onto the canvas.  Then we painted his finger red to do a finger print nose, and black for finger print eyes.



When Ethan was 3 and Ivy was just 10 months old we made footprint polar bears and penguins.  For Ethan's polar bears we painted his foot with light grey paint and printed it onto the canvas.  Then we used the same paint to make finger print ears and to paint on some arms and fingers.  We painted on a blue scarf together and drew on a little face with black paint.  For Ivy's penguin we painted her foot with black paint and printed it onto the canvas.  Then painted on flippers with black paint, painted the penguins middle with white, made a finger print beak with orange paint and black paint for its eyes.



















































This year Ethan is 4 and Ivy is 1 1/2 and I've yet to decide what we're going to do, but I may take inspiration from Meaningful Mama with her Santa hand print, Fun Hand Print Art Blog have this cute sleigh foot print picture, Crafty Morning has a very cute Jesus in a manger hand print craft, Simple Fun for Kids hand print snowmen are absolutely adorable and Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails have these sweet and simple hand print mittens.  That's definitely a good place to start, but we'll have to wait until after Christmas to tell you what we decided on!

This post is a part of the Festive Family Holiday Hop and Gift Guide Giveaway with fabulous other bloggers from around the world, take a look at some of their fantastic ideas:


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We are so very lucky to live in London as we get access to so many different activities and days out for the kids.  I actually still manage to miss out on loads, so I'm always reading about others suggested days out in London, but thought it was about time that we shared some of our favourite things to do in our favourite city.


Parks / Outdoor Activities



We love the London Wetland Centre there are so many different types of birds to see, as well as plenty of educational activities and a fantastic play area!

Often when we're in a different part of the city for a specific event we try to find something fun for the kids to do as well, so we were very excited to discover Spitalfields City Farm after a morning of grown up activities, as it gave Ethan a chance to really run around and explore.



Kew Gardens is one of those places that can often be overlooked, but it really is a fantastic place for kids as it's just massive and they really have lots of space to run freely.  There are also things like the treetop walkway that just can't be missed.



Another recent discovery we made on a busy day out is Coram's Fields.  It's a fabulous place for kids to play with playgrounds for different age groups, sand and water play areas, a few animals to look at and a cafe.  It's completely enclosed and safe and the perfect place to run around on a busy day.  Ethan absolutely loved the zip line!

Sights

We love to go to the Southbank and they've often got different art installations that you can take part in, like the Books About Town benches last summer and the Shaun the Sheep ones earlier this year.  There's also the London Eye, The London Dungeon, The SeaLife London Aquarium and Shrek's Adventure.  We've taken Ethan to the aquarium and he absolutely loved it!  The Eye and Dungeons are definitely for older kids, and Shrek's Adventure is for slightly older kids (they recommend for 6 and up) but I had the opportunity to have a sneak peek at a blogger event and it's so much fun, I can't wait to take the kids!



You can also take a Big Bus Tour to see the see on and open topped bus!  It's not just for tourists, all kids love buses and this way they can learn about the sights of the city as you travel around.  I went on one recently for a blogger event and can't wait to take the kids now!

Museums



Ethan absolutely loved the London Transport Museum and any little bus and tube fan would too!  We've also had a few fun days out at the Science Museum and Natural History Museum as they're so close to each other.  Who wouldn't love to do some scientific discovery and see dinosaurs on the same day!

Theme Parks / Fairs

Even though they are slightly outside of London, I can't help but mention Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland because we just love them so much!  But we also love a big London fair, and we go to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park each year.

Indoor Play / Soft Play

On a rainy day we love to make crafts at home or somewhere fun like The Pottery Cafe which has several locations around London.  We also go to soft play sometimes and are big fans of the big indoor play centres like Snakes and Ladders as we really can spend a whole day there.

Shows / Plays


Ethan loves to go to the theatre and we've been lucky enough to see quite a few shows, the most recent being The 3 Little Pigs which I'm still singing the songs from!  We've also loved The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Up and Down, Room on the Broom, The Gruffalo Live and In The Night Garden Live.  It's just such a fantastic experience to see our favourite stories come to life, and we're always looking for more productions to see.

There are just so many things to see and do in London that we just don't have enough days to do it all, so we're always open to suggestions.  What have we missed out on?

For a look at some of our favourite days out have a look at our Pinterest board:

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* Some of the places included in this post were originally part of review posts, but all opinions are my own.*

We love to play with our food in this house, the more times of day that we can play the better!  But like any family, there are foods that Ethan and Ivy just won't eat, so we absolutely love the fun finger food plates that Organix have created to encourage children to explore and experiment with different foods and have even tried out one of our own!





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We had so much fun taking the kids to so many fantastic places on our recent visit to Cape Town!  There are so many places to go and almost everywhere that we went was completely child friendly and had everything that we needed for the kids. At 3 years old (Ethan) and just under 1 (Ivy) we were specifically looking for activities that young children can enjoy and take part in, I'm sure that next time that we visit we will do a lot more adventurous days out!



Boulders Beach

You absolutely have to go to Boulders Beach if you're in Cape Town, whether you have children or not!  It is just the most incredible experience to spend the day at the beach swimming alongside penguins and watching them sun bathing on the rocks beside you.  Ethan was so excited to spot penguins along the path to the beach and couldn't believe that he could see them swimming in the same water that he was.  Ivy just loved watching the penguins up on the rocks (although I think she did want to touch one!)



Scratch Patch

South Africa is famous for it's gemstones and crystals, and what better way for kids to learn about them than to walk around in a huge area filled with colourful rocks!  This time we didn't take Ivy in with us (she still puts everything in her mouth so it wouldn't be safe) but Ethan and I each bought a little bag and went into the scratch patch to choose the nicest crystals that we could find to take back home with us.




Beaches

There are so many fantastic beaches in Cape Town which are all fantastic for kids, what more do you need than sand and sea?  We explored many beaches, but we do love St James Beach with its colourful beach huts and shallow lagoon to play in.



Wine Farms 

Another great family activity is to go to a wine farm.  It may not seem like the most obvious choice for children, but many do have a lot of family friendly activities.  We really liked the Spice Route because it's like a little village.  There are restaurants, a chocolate shop, an ice cream shop and a great kids play area.



Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden

We absolutely love going to Kirstenbosch, it's such a fantastic place to bring a picnic (or buy a picnic from the cafe there) and just have a walk around.  There are beautiful flowers, trees to climb, lakes and streams to walk along and a fantastic tree canopy walkway that gives you a great view of the whole place.




Woods

Cape Town also has a few different forests and wooded areas to explore.  We really like the Arboretum for a nice walk around.  Especially on very hot days there are nice shaded areas, Ethan loved discovering all of the different trees, especially the ones with big leaves!



Green Point Park

Near the Green Point Stadium you will find a huge park that oddly I don't think that a lot of people know about.  It has a little stream that goes through it with a fun bridge to walk over, discovery areas and a fantastic playground!  There's actually two separate playgrounds for younger and older children.  It's all very natural wooden equipment, and there's these great tunnels with rock mosaics along them.  The kids had so much fun exploring this park, we could have spent the whole day there!




V&A Waterfront

One of our favourite places in Cape Town has always been the Waterfront for all the great shops and restaurants.  But it is also a great place for kids as there are two different climbing frame areas with really fun equipment to climb on, as well as a water play area!  This is where we spend most of our time as Ethan and Ivy both love to play in the water.  It's just a big fountain basically, with water spurting out of different rocks and coming through pipes in the wall.  Make sure you bring the kids a change of clothes!




Two Oceans Aquarium


It is no surprise that Cape Town has a fantastic aquarium as it's surrounded by water!  The Two Oceans Aquarium does not disappoint right from the start with it's 'Nemo' tank that you can crawl underneath to get a view of them from the inside!  Throughout the aquarium you'll find plenty of fascinating fish as well as an area for the kids to play and to do crafts.




Noordhoek Farm

Throughout Cape Town you will also find places like Noordhoek Farm Village with a few choices of places to eat, shop and play!  It's so different to anywhere here in the UK, that you are able to sit down for a nice lunch with a perfect view of the climbing frame for the children to play on.  It was perfect for Ethan as he wasn't bored waiting for food while he played, then we called him back when his calamari arrived (his favourite Cape Town meal) then he could go back to play afterwards.


There are so many fantastic places to play in Cape Town, these 10 are really just to get you started.  Please share any other places that you've gone with your family in Cape Town and we'll add it to our list for next time!

Have a look at our travel board on Pinterest for more fun travel tips!

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We've been sent a lovely version of The Princess and the Pea from Parragon Books to read and review.