Teddy Bears Picnic

My three year old niece recently went to a local Teddy Bears picnic and it made me think that it was not something I had heard about in a very long time.

In my hometown of Adelaide when I was small there used to a be a huge picnic in the city along our river every year attended by hundred’s of children then it kind of disappeared.

It is where a child comes along with a picnic lunch and a teddy bear to join in fun and games with others and their bears.

Let’s face it what child does not love their teddy bear, playing, interacting with others, having some food and enjoying the fresh air.

I was so happy to see this tradition bought back even on a smaller scale. And I do not know whether they have them in other parts of the world but it made me think this is something you can run for your own child and their friends at home – doesn’t it sound like fun?

As part of a play date invite your children’s friends over, ask them to bring their favorite bear, lay out the rug (indoors if the weather is cool, outdoors if it is fine), put on some snacks and create some fun games to play (if you are looking for ideas how about the old fashioned games we have posted about recently)

We would love to know if you have teddy bear picnics in your hometown? if you remember them as a child? Any experiences you care to share?

Happy Play Times :-) 

Weekend Watching - How to do a cartwheel - Tutorial

This week a weekend watching for the older children.

I know as a young girl I was always keen to cartwheels, somersaults and handstands what child isn’t however a cartwheel was always out of my reach.

Where was YouTube instructional clips in the 1980’s – oh that’s right not even invented yet in fact I am pretty sure the creators just like me were in diapers.

So as an ode and revisit to my childhood and what I wished was available I wanted to share “How to Do a Cartwheel’ for this weekend’s watching clip.

Good luck and I hope this helps other children fulfill my dream ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Play Times :-)   

Friday Fun Facts - Apples and Pumpkins

Fall has Fallen in the northern hemisphere a time for apples and pumpkins so let us have some fun with random facts about these two delicious foods.

Enjoy the facts and the food!

• Have you bobbed for apples before? Ever wondered why they float which is what allows them to be a perfect fruit for this game? Because they are made up of 25% air.

• Fall is a delicious time to consume apples and we enjoy them on average of 65 times per year, per person around the globe.

• Always thought of New York as the Big Apple? Did you know it is also the official fruit of Washington, Rhode Island and West Virginia

• There are 7,500 varieties of apples Worldwide – how many have you tried?

• Pumpkins are originally from Central America but can now be found grown all over the world

• How much pie and soup do you think could be made from the largest ever recorded pumpkin grown which came in at a whopping 1,340 pounds or 609 kg WOW

• So then following on from the biggest pumpkin in Ohio the biggest ever pumpkin pie was made it was 12 feet, 4 inches wide, 4 inches deep and weighed 2,202 pounds (wonder if they used some of the largest pumpkin for that!) it had 1,860 eggs and 300 pounds of sugar – dig in.

• The name pumpkin has its origins from the Greek word pepon which means large melon.

Happy Play Times :-)

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"Children's Reading Giveaway" 

Making Kitchen Music

When a baby is able to sit up and starts to learn hand eye co-ordination they love to bang!

So my life has changed dramatically from bopping around the kitchen to the latest songs to rocking out to the sounds of the kitchen drums!

Welcoming your baby into the world of kitchen percussion has a Mummy benefit-:

• They are amused as you prepare the meals giving you extra time.

And has many baby benefits-:

• They are in close proximity to you as babies love the company of their favorite playmate you but they are also learning to amuse themselves
• .Hand-Eye co-ordination is improved as they make contact with their make shift instrument.
• Listening is improved as you see them concentrating and understanding the different sounds of objects being hit.

This activity also costs absolutely nothing no special purchase required.

Having twins we share the drumming around giving each a turn at the banging of the drum (a wooden/plastic spoon and light weight pot/plastic bowl) and the other chiming in with the crashing of cymbals (some pot/pan lids) with only one baby give them free range to bang and crash at will.

You know the biggest surprise is I never thought I would be a Mummy that would love this type of noise but the happiness it brings and the sounds of laughter make it the sweetest music of all.

So let your little one get drumming today.

Happy Play Times :-) 

Wednesday Warming Moment - Talking Twins

We are showing a classic YouTube clip of “Twins Talking”

It is oh is so relatable in our household at the moment our girls entertain themselves endlessly with this to and fro of gorgeous babble.

We could watch them endlessly but do you think we can capture it on camera – the answer is NO sure enough they see, sense a camera from 10 paces off and will just stop! So for now we will share these other gorgeous talking twins for this Wednesday’s Warming Moments.

Happy Play Times :-)

Children's Bedtime Reading Giveaway

You may have seen our review on Where Is The Green Sheep by Mem Fox a classic children’s bedtime story.

It is still and I think will be for a very long time our daughters favorite and I want to share it’s joy with our readers children.

So we are giving away 3 copies of this book to be shipped from Amazon.

Please use Rafflecopter to enter and best of luck.

Happy Play Times :-)

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Splish Splash Water Play

My twins are ten months old and if your a parent with children that age or you've been there it is an age of rapid development, a curiosity of everything in the world around and a little frustration that they can't quite get what they want when they want it. 

Therefore it's an age that needs lots of hands on show, tell and play to quench that worldly thirst for adventure.  I think it is such a wonderful time I am loving sharing this special time and planning fun activities for us all. 

One I wanted to share for this age group is the nested water cups in tubs of water. I lay out a waterproof mat (I won't lie it spreads from there but I don't mind) I then use tubs filled with water and place the cups in there. Babies can then pick the cups up, see the water seep, they do this repeatedly as the gorgeous little brain ticks over how this is happening and enjoy the sensation of water splashing their hands about in the tubs. 

The other part of this activity is that babies also try to figure out how the cups go together great for problem solving and motor skill development. 

A photo tells a thousand words so for proof of the fun had with this activity look at the enjoyment on these gorgeous faces.

Do your little ones like water play?  

Happy Play Times :-)