Entertaining the little ones at home

As parents ourselves we understand just how difficult it is to keep little ones busy at home, especially during lockdown when you are also trying to work, or in our case run a business and manage your team. 

Personally, we also feel the added pressure to keep our children away from screens as much as possible. Up until now we had done pretty well. Fast forward a year and it has become all too easy to stick on the TV or hand over a tablet. Not to mention that most learning at the moment is also online. 

There are, of course, instances when the electronic babysitter is necessary. But when we can we like to look at more creative and educational alternatives to keep our little ones busy. Not surprisingly they also prefer these too!  What child doesn't love to get creative and messy?

With this in mind we have recently expanded our range of arts and crafts. An offering of hand-picked, tried and tested, products and activities for children to get creative. Many of which are perfect for children to get on with alone, as long as you don't mind a bit of mess. At home we have a huge old double sheet that gets laid out over the entire table top. It keeps the mess contained and oer the years we have created a rather beautiful paint splattered fabric! 

Think glitter, metallic and gel pens, face paints, finger paints, art sets, bracelet and dream catcher making, spiral drawing and feather art, to name just a few. Products range from toddler right up to age 12 and you can view our entire new collection here. 

You don't always have to spend money on new things might we add. There are also some great creative websites and instagram pages with hundreds of different crafting ideas. Some of our favourites that we have found include @makemerryandcreate @theplayadventures And who doesn't love a spot of baking? We have the cutest new baking set by the way...

Here is a simple breakfast recipe you might like to try. We often make these at the weekend for breakfast and it's super easy. 

BANANA PANCAKES:

3 x mashed bananas, ripe ones best. 

2 x eggs

tbsp baking powder

tsp vanilla extract

Mash the bananas then add the eggs, baking powder and vanilla extract. Melt some butter in a frying pan then when bubbling add one large scoop of batter for each of your pancakes. You can also add a few rasins or blueberries. Drizzle with honey and a scoop of natural yoghurt to serve. Makes 6-8 pancakes. Our chlidren adore these and have lots of fun making them too. They are also pretty healthy!