We were hit by a ‘weather bomb’ on Saturday!  I had never heard the term before and it turns out a ‘weather bomb’ is the name for very windy wet weather.  I’m not sure why they just don’t call it a storm….Anyway I’m not a meteorologist but I do know wet windy weather means the kids are going to be stuck inside all day.

My husband is fantastic at making things out of furniture, blankets, pillows and anything else laying around the house.  This weekend he put his building skills to use by making a car.  It kind of reminds me of Fred Flintstone’s car.  Its such a simple idea and the kids loved it.

Stephxo

This past weekend Coco, Violette and I popped round to visit a new little theatre school and children’s bookshop right by our house called Attrape Nuages. I totally recommend it if you live in Paris — it is super cute! We picked up a really cool little shadow theatre, which has been the sole source of entertainment in our household for the last few days. I actually hadn’t the faintest clue how a shadow theatre works, but it is such a simple idea! Who knew?

The theatre comes with all the bits and pieces you need to replay Little Red Ridinghood, even with a little flashlight. If you get tired of Little Red Ridinghood, there are refills for other stories. I am going to try and make some of my own characters and backdrops with some of the girls drawings, I reckon it could be a fun craft project…

Check out this little YouTube video to show how the whole thing works.

- Emilie

This weekend we made it to Obliteration Room at the Tate Modern and my kids loved it so much they’re still talking about it. What a cool idea! The Obliteration Room is the kid’s section of the bigger exhibition by Yayoi Kusama — the dot loving Japanese artist. It started out as a completely white room and then they allowed kids to come in and place colourful dot stickers wherever and however they chose.

It was interesting to watch my kids with their sheets of stickers. My daughter stuck all the stickers on her face, my son kept asking to put them on the ceiling, and my oldest went around creating crazy cyclops monster faces on the floor. What a fun activity (it’s on until the 18th of March)!

x Courtney

PS – Photos above are from the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Australia where the project started. Aren’t they so cool?!

My kids have been greatly enjoying the Yoga Pretzels cards they got from their babysitter for Christmas. It’s so cute to see them bend in all sorts of curves, or trying to keep their balance. There are 50 cards, each of them giving a suggestion for a pose. There are, for instance, balance poses, stretch poses, stand and bend poses, and, most popular with my children, the partner poses (they need each other to perform the pose!). There are also cards that give breathing or relax exercises, or suggestions for games that enhance teamwork and creativity. It’s great fun, and especially 6-year-old Sara has been able to really relax after her yoga. Pim (almost 5) loves it too, his favourite pose, of course, is the ‘Warrior’.
Yoga Pretzels is available through Amazon (UK or US).

xxx Esther

When I found out I was going to have a daughter, I had this deluded idea that my child would only play with wooden toys and that there certainly would be no princess dresses in our house.  Oh, how naive I was! Five years, two daughters and about 15 polyester princess dresses later, our dress-up box has become quite famous with the under fives on our block. And now we have a reputation to keep!

Now, it turns out that even in the world of fake princess dresses, there are cheap and cheerful models and, on the other end of the scale, there’s Haute Couture. The dresses by Ivoy Paris fall into the later category. The taffeta, the ruffles, the lace and the elaborate cuts of these dresses are quite spectacular. They are probably what little girls imagine a genuine princess dress to be like. They do come with a certain price tag, but this is truely the creme de la creme of princess dress-up dresses….

- Emilie

I have just started to scratch the surface of my Christmas shopping list — how did I ever manage anything without the internet?! How cool is this Kimono Doll Kit as a big stocking filler? Coco, who is now 5, is really getting into sewing and I have been a bit hesitant leaving her on her lonesome with needles. (Possibly I am being a bit overprotective? As she herself points out: If you don’t let me do it, how will I ever learn?).

Anyway, this nifty little kit comes with a plastic needle,  lots of pre-cut fabric pieces and other bits and bobs so she can go straight into crafting mode. Perfect for a post-Christmas chilly afternoon! It’s available from Alex & Alexa.

- Emilie

I remember how shocked I was with the playmats available on the market when my babies were born. I seriously didn’t know how fast I could hide them under the sofa once they were finished playing! Definitely not the case for mums who are the proud owner of one of the stylish mats designed by the cool girls from Deuz! Made from 100% organic cotton and full of energetic colors and exciting features like loops to grab, rings to hold and chew, and with a removable cover for easy wash-n-wear care, the Duez play mats will not necessarily need to leave the living room floor at all!

xxx Esther

- Emilie

Arrietty is the latest release from the famed studio Ghibli, known for Ponyo, Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and many more. It is not as fantastical as the other Ghibli films, but it is one of the most beautiful animated films I have seen in a long time. My girls were enchanted by it and we actually went to see it at the cinema two or three times (it was January after all).

The story is losely based on the book The Borrowers. Arrietty and her family are miniture people, secretly living in a house inhabited by humans. They have stayed hidden for years, until a young boy discovers Arrietty.

I really recommend it — it’s great for kids and parents, just a little bit different from the usual animated movie.

xxx Esther

Anyway, with our upcoming camping trip in mind, I’ve given Pim and Sara each one of the cool Art Kits pictured above. These art kits are great — the canvas cover is bright and strong, the pencils are soft to draw with, there’s a sharpener attached and there’s a notebook with thick, coloured paper. KicoKids makes them, do check out their shop — such wonderful, creative products and fun concepts, and I can tell you — the quality of it all is great.

xxx Esther

Oliver Jeffers must be one of my favourite illustrators, so I got a little bit excited about this tutorial (via the Guardian) on how to draw a penguin. It is so simple, so funny and so charming that it even makes me want to start getting out the crayons!

I know nothing about drawing, so I love the breakdown of all the different shapes which, once you put them all together, make a lovely little penguin. Hope your kids enjoy this one as much as mine did. Happy drawing!

-Emilie

My son Pim just started school (here in the Netherlands school starts at the age of four), and he’s still getting used to the whole ordeal. He’s really exhausted when he gets home in the afternoon, and I can see (and imagine!) that the whole thing is a big change for him. Getting used to the bigger boys, making new friends, learning to learn and behave…
Anyway, he needed a bit of special attention so he and I made fun dinosaur cookies when his big sister was away on a play date the other day. We got these cute dinosaur cookie shapes for him when we were in London last month, and we made and ate a whole batch of them. I used the sand-cookie recipe that I’ve written about earlier, and which is great because it’s easy and children can be very involved in the process. Similar cookie cutters are available on Amazon (UK or US)…

xxx Esther

I love Taro Gomi’s illustrations and we’ve always enjoyed his books (My Friends, Bus Stops and Everybody Poos) so I was really interested when I discovered Taro Gomi’s Play All Day activity book.  Since then, I have bought it for everyone I know — I feel like I’ve found treasure!  The book is basically the BEST book in the world for a rainy day (which we are prone to over here in Blighty).

It is cram-packed with things to make and pretty much everything you need is already in the book.  There are more then 100 innovative ‘punch-out’ pieces for making games, cities, landscapes, sculptures, hats, finger-puppets, picture frames and all in Gomi’s distinctive style.  All the ideas are simple enough for my 4-year-old to construct with a little bit of guidance.  But what I love (other then the end result actually looking good — unlike our ’start-from-scratch’ craft ideas) is that all the ideas inspire play — we made the ring-toss game last night and once made my kids played with it for 45 minutes. It’s available from Amazon (UK and US).

Mo. x

These games are perfect entertainment… but can a book work as an App?  I guess you all know by now that I love children’s books and don’t mind telling you I was a touch conservative about the idea of a book being on my phone or i-pad.  However Nosy Crow’s Three Little Pigs App has totally converted me and I’m now so excited what new technology can bring to brilliant stories.

We downloaded the App onto an i-Pad and my kids seriously could not get enough of it.  The classic story can either be read to your child or the child can read it themselves and there is also the option to read and play. We all know the story but in this version the kids get to know the three little pigs and their idiosyncrasies, by tapping the screen the reader can make them speak, dance, jump and spin and by tilting the screen you can see more of the scene.  The big fun bit comes in helping the wolf to blow down the houses by blowing into the microphone but I also love the little hidden details you find by zooming in or by moving the scenery.

The App is illustrated beautifully and with great comedy (I love the Pork Pie truck that the wolf drives!). The narration (all done by children) and music are charming and engaging. In fact I am hugely excited about what this means for children’s stories.  My children tend to get lethargic and bad tempered if they watch television and I think it is because it is a passive medium whereas these stories are bought to life in a way that actively encourages children to help the story evolve and even allowing them to make decisions as to how it does so.

The App is available for i-phone (even though you need to have the slightly newer snazzier version) and i-pad and it is currently on special offer (until Monday 25th April) so definitely a worthwhile treat for the kids (and parents) for the Easter holidays!

-Mo

I love a wedding as much as the next person but I have to say I must be one of the few who hasn’t quite got into our imminent Royal Wedding … yet, I’m sure I will.  And maybe this is the start for me.  I saw these in a card shop yesterday and couldn’t resist — the comedy photo opportunity was just too strong to resist.  And looking online for them I realise there is endless fun to be had — a mini Brad & Ange, Cheryl & Simon or how about John Travolta and Lady Gaga? Available here.

-Mo. x

One of my new purchases is the brilliant coulouring and sticker book called Funny Face Sticker Book, which Courtney had introduced me to. This book can be a source of entertainment for literally hours. Lots of stickers, and shape faces, just waiting to be coloured in. I am stockpiling it for our next train trip.

-Emilie

Found on the lovely french site Madame La Marchande, and I also found it here in the UK.

Inspired by the rainy day project I saw on the Tokketok blog (via A Cup of Jo), I sat down with the kids this week to create a zoo scene! It was such a fun way to incorporate so many of their toys and interests. We used their Schleich animals, their Plan Toys Plan City cars and road signs, and their Lincoln Logs.  The kids also had fun writing the animal names and drawing the zoo setting on the paper. A fun activity for a rainy day!

-Courtney

xxx Esther