Subscribe and receive our 2026 Kids Colouring Calendar for Free
Get the 13 Page Calendar by subscribing below.
It was parents evening at the school this week. Safe to say we walked out of the school with the biggest grins on our faces. Mini’s conference was exceptional and he is coming on in leaps and bounds and his English work is fab (probably down to all the reading he does). Maxi is too […]
A space party for an out of this world parents evening Read More »
I adore my husband. I have spent nearly half of my life with him and I hope to grow old with him by my side. As the years have past I have learned lots about him and also lots about my gift buying for him. Never buy him clothes. I buy what I would like
Perfect presents for the man in your life and a giveaway Read More »
Today’s world is a scary one where finances are concerned. As parents, you don’t need a news report to tell you that the cost of living is increasing or that energy prices have risen once again. The bills on your counter have already told you. The latest reports from the world of news tell us
As easy as 1, 2, 3 … how to teach your kids about money (and why) Read More »
Not only did two years classrooms flood, but the library and ICT area also flooded. The dining hall has been turned in to a storage area and the school has been unable to serve warm meals. All this uncertainty has resulted in a very anxious Mini. This partly shows by him being filled with bravado and the other side with issues sleeping.
So in addition to working on stopping him being a reluctant sleeper and doing things to prevent nightmares, we also made a dream catcher together. When I say we, what I mean is I held the tape and chatted to him whist he made his own dream catcher.
We used, some wood from a plant in the garden with tape to make into a circle (ish) and then mini used rope to tie round it. He then strung some pretty beads on to string and attached them.
Whilst he concentrated on making the dreamcatcher we talked about their history and all the things that have been worrying him.
I know what we will be doing this Bonfire night. We will be spending it with family as they put on their own annual fireworks show. It is something we look forward to every year and it would be the perfect time to have a winter BBQ and the people at Country Valley Foods have some brilliant
Why not have a BBQ for Halloween or Bonfire Night Read More »
My mum was a smoker. She died suddenly on Christmas Eve in 2010 from nonsymptomatic pneumonia which was ultimately down to her smoking. I used to smoke. I stopped the moment I found out I was pregnant with Maxi and I only have ever smoked 1 cigarette in over 9 years from the moment that
Inspired by the Hairy Bikers, Mini has decided that he wants to make sourdough bread, which means that we need to make a starter. So We have started the process and at the moment we are on day two and MAria (as Mini named her) is currently sat in the airing cupboard.
Mini never does things by half so we received sourdough starters on line and he decided to use one from the BBC (as they often use this site for recipes at school).
He also decided he need to keep on top of what day it was so used our new A4 flexible magnetic chalkboard from First 4 Magnets, which was only £3.49 (they send it to us free) and stuck it on the fridge so he could see it and tick off after he had done what needed to be done each day.
We would love for you to join us in learning how to make sourdough bread, like Helen at The Crazy Kitchen has. If you do, please let us know by leaving a comment and you can follow our progress over on The Mad House facebook page or Instagram.
Cooking and baking is something I do a lot with the boys. I cooked with my mum growing up and a lot of the skills I have are all down to her. Cooking and baking is great for children as it teaches them lots and lots of new skills including measuring and weighing (you can
axi is currently working on shapes at school in maths and this week brought home an Islamic pattern sheet and he had to identify a number of polygons on it and colour them all in different colours. Maxi is 8 years old and in Year 4 at school (key stage 2).
tangram
For someone like me that finds this type of mathematics really hard it is nigh on impossible to look at that page and see anything other than triangles.
Thankfully First 4 Magnets had sent us a magnetic tangram this week. We were sent the yellow one and it retails at £1.99.
Complete square measures 125mm x 125mm
Seven separate magnetic shapes
Made from high-quality die cut foam on a flexible magnetic backing
These challenging and addictive puzzles are based on the ancient Chinese tangram puzzle. Each puzzle is made from premium foam with a flexible magnetic backing providing a secure grip to a steel surface like your fridge. Each puzzle is die cut and supplied as a square so you can easily break the individual shapes apart to create new shapes. A tangram contains a small square, two small isosceles triangles, a medium-sized isosceles triangle, two large isosceles triangles, and a parallelogram. An isosceles triangle has two equal angles and two equal sides. A parallelogram is a four-sided figure with each side parallel to the opposite side.
When I received it I put it on the fridge and everyone in the house has played with it, including Maxi’s friends who have come to visit. I decided to set some challenges for the boys to follow some patterns using the tangram and it was great fun for everyone.
On the suggestion of Cathy from Nurturestore this weekend will be spent turning a sleeper offcut in to a geoboard.
Hands on Maths for Maxi (year 4 or 8 year old) – Shapes Read More »
