Tag: Easter

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Celebrating The Small Things:Week Thirteen

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Celebrating The Small Things:Week Thirteen

Writing these posts has certainly brought me to the realisation that my plans of being more organised this year have not been going to well as I am a fair few weeks behind with these posts!

I have however been good at noting down all my special moments and hope to get caught up very soon as I currently stuck in Easter!

Easter Egg Competition – Normally Frankie isn’t overly into crafts and it has to be something he is really interested in to keep him engaged, so it was lovely to see such enthusiasm when preparing his ‘Eggtopus’ for the school Easter competition.
He sadly wasn’t a winner this year but he had an amazing time taking part.

Family Fun At The Seaside – This year Izzy’s birthday fell on our trip to Dreamland for the Big Fish Little fish event which was an amazing day but a real highlight for me was watching the children’s excitement looking for shells and crabs in the rock pools is one of life’s simple pleasures that you can’t beat.

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New Experiences For Me – As I get older my want and need to discover and enjoy new things has been growing immensely and I love any opportunity to try something different.
Over the past few years the blog has certainly made this possible and the other week I got the chance to made very own Dolly Mixtures which is something I’m not sure I would ever have done if it wasn’t for my work.

Arts And Crafts, Children, Easter, Families, Family Life, Flowers, Gifts, Messy play

Pop Out Tulip Easter Card #BostikBloggers

by thejoyoffive2 Comments on Pop Out Tulip Easter Card #BostikBloggers

The first glimpses of spring have started to show over the past few weeks from longer evenings and sunny spells to my favourite blooms showing their pretty heads.

Daffodils and tulips are my absolute favs and with Easter not to far away I thought I would create a card that sums up the beauty and brightness of spring with a pop out tulip card for my #BostikBloggers project this month.

Pop Out Tulip Easter Card

What you need:

Ready made blank card and envelope
Yellow card
Green card
Pencil
Glue stick

Firstly take the yellow card and draw the shape of six tulip heads of the same size, then take the green card and draw four leaves and one stem for the bottom of the tulip.

Cut out each of the components and discard of the rubbish.

Take each tulip head and make a fold down the centre of each one, then take the glue stick and apply glue to one side and stick another of the heads to each side.

When they are all attached stick the flower into the top centre of the blank card.

From the bottom on the flower head stick the stem to the card. Then take the leaves and bend them slightly at the top and stick to the bottom of the stem.

Once everyone is in place then the card is complete.

* I was given a craft box from Bostik for the purpose of this review.

Children, Chocolate, Egg hunts, Families, Family Life, Gifts

L.O.L Surprise Easter Hunt

by thejoyoffive3 Comments on L.O.L Surprise Easter Hunt

A few months back we went along to the launch of the new collectables that have taken America by storm, L.O.L Surprise.

The children were really taken with them and Izzy has started quite a collection since our visit.

We were challenged to an Easter hunt with a difference by using lots of gifts that are based around these great dolls.

Easter can be a complete chocolate over load so it can be really nice to have something a little different to hunt for rather than the traditional eggs.

I placed the L.O.L diva bow, secret message, joke, colouring in sheet, postcard and sweets around the garden and told her how many gifts she had to find.


A took a while to collect them all together and when she finally did her big prize was an L.O.L Surprise doll which is another task in itself.

She had great fun peeling off each layer of the packaging to reveal a surprise under each one until finally unveiling the doll inside.


It make a great change to the usual hunts and will last a lot longer than a few chocolate eggs!
*we were given the gifts for the purpose of this hunt.

Allergies, Allergy Free, Baking, Cakes, Children, Dairy Free, Diet, Easter, Egg Free, Families, Family Life, Food

Allergy Friendly Easter Cupcakes

by thejoyoffive2 Comments on Allergy Friendly Easter Cupcakes

Easter is always a tricky time for Frankie and his allergies but this year he is feeling it even more so.

For a few months he had been allowed dairy and it had opened up his eyes to the world of real chocolate.

We had all really hoped that this would be the first year he would be able to get a Easter egg the same as his siblings but sadly this isn’t the case.

Stomach problems, bad skin and mood swings had all come on in force again and the doctors decided it was probably down to the dairy so we had to say goodbye to it again.

It’s been a hugely tough couple of months as he was so enjoying everything that came will the inclusion of dairy so this Easter I’m going to have to go that extra mile to make it special for him.

These cupcakes that mimic a chick cracking from an egg have really put a smile on his face and could easily be converted to your usual ingredients.

Allergy Friendly Easter Cupcakes 

  • 100g gluten free self-raising flour
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100g dairy free spread
  • Egg replacer for equivalent of 2 eggs
  • 1tsp baking powder 
  • Pack ready roll fondant icing 
  • 12 decorative chicks
  • 12 cupcake cases 
  1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/400F and lay out cases into cake tin.
  2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix with electric whisk until combined.
  3. Place ingredients into cases as bake for 13/16 mins.
  4. Once cook allow to cool on rack.
  5. Whilst cooling roll out a small amount of icing to about a thickness of 2cm.
  6. Cut out a circle slightly larger than the cakes and create a cross in the middle.
  7. Lay on top of the cake and peel up edges of the cross to open a whole in the centre.
  8. In this gap place one of the chicks to create the look of a hatching chick.
Art Galleries, Children, Families, Family Life, Holidays, Kent

Egg Hunts And Seaside Trips 

by thejoyoffive7 Comments on Egg Hunts And Seaside Trips 

A typical British Easter bought with it the horrendous weather!  This said we managed to dodge the downpours and the wrath of Storm Katie and still have plenty of fun.

Our usual Easter Sunday started with searching for all the goodies the Easter bunny had left for us around the house and filled up on them with a super chocolaty breakfast.

Next up we donned our wellies and set off to Morden Hall in Surrey to take part in their egg hunt.

We always opt for a National Trust hunt put on by Cadburys as it gets the children interested in their natural surroundings while the adults can take in the beautiful settings.

   
 
We climbed over logs, played pooh sticks and jumped in muddy puddles while filling in our quiz sheets.

   
    
 
All filled in we made it to the finish line to collect our chocolate bunny prize.  The only downside we have here is that there is not an allergy friendly option, and although the hunts are put on by Cadburys I feel the National Trust could supply an alternative for those children that can’t eat chocolate.

 
 
After a sleepless night on Sunday with Storm Katie doing her worst by bringing down half our fence and sending a line of children in every few minutes telling us about the noise I still got up early to plan our trip to Margate, much to the dismay of my husband!

On our way down the winds settled a little and blue skies appeared which put a smile on everyone’s face.

We parked up and made our way for a bite to eat before making our way onto the beach.

   
    
 
The boys loved running into the wind and skimming stones across the sea.  I think the big boys enjoyed it the most!

   
    

Once we had had enough of the beach we headed over to the Turner Contemporary. This is a gallery I love and art is something I really want my children to be able to experience.

The children are always more taken by the vast open spaces but I always hope that they are taking something in from their trips.

   
  
 
Before making our way back home we took a stroll around the town looking at the quirky shops and street art and planning our next trip back.

   
  
 
What did you get up to this Easter?

  

 

Box Hill, Children, Chocolate, Easter, Easter Eggs, Egg hunts, Families, Family Life, Farms, Garden Centres, Gardens, Holidays, Kids Days Out

Top Easter Activities In And Around Surrey

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Top Easter Activities In And Around Surrey

Easter for us is time with the family, days out and of course lots of chocolate!!

Why not combine them all and plan a few day trips over the Easter holidays.  I have compiled a few of my top activities that are either in Surrey or only a short drive away.

Priory Farm

  

Priory Farm in Nutfield is our go to place whenever we fancy good food and letting off some steam in the fresh air.

They have a wonderful coffee shop serving hot and cold food with an adjoining play area so you can relax while the little ones play.  A huge pirate ship to climb aboard, garden centre and farm shop selling great products and the highlight for us which is the discovery walk.

From the 19th March until 11th April the discovery walk will have a spring themed quiz for the little ones to follow and on the 25th March you will be able to take part in their Little Bunnies Easter Hunt.

Tulleys Farm 

Tulleys Farm in West Sussex is only a short drive and any event they put on is well worth the trip.

The farm itself has play areas, a huge farm shop and lots of small animals to take a look at.

Their events are slightly more expensive than most but you certainly get a lot for your money.

This year from 25th March to 1st April you can spot eggs whist on a wagon ride, take a look at some beautiful newborn lambs, take part in the egg and bunny hunt, have a go at the duck races and much more.

Cadbury’s Easter Egg Hunt, National Trust

  

If you are a follower of my blog you will know my love of National Trust homes and gardens.  They offer the perfect environment to switch off from the fast paced world we live in and just enjoy the beauty of your surroundings.

Each year they put on fantastic Easter egg hunts that usually involve exploring the grounds looking for clues to fill in on your quiz sheet that can then be taken back to claim your prize.  

Over the years we have been to Morden Hall and Chartwell, both of which are great.  We tried Box Hill last year but unfortunately so did a lot of other people and we couldn’t get parked!  Saying this the car park has recently been extended so might be worth a go.

Penshurst Place

  
I visited Penshurst Place in Kent for the first time last year and was taken back by its beauty.

The immaculately kept grounds are wonderful to walk round and make the perfect setting for Easter activities.

This year from 25th March to 10th April they have story telling sessions and crafts to take part in and an Easter hunt all about the animals that live in the grounds.

On Easter Sunday and Monday Ardvark Productions will be there telling a humorous story of the Easter bunny.

Bocketts Farm

  

Bocketts is top of my list for farms in Surrey.  They have fantastic indoor and outdoor play areas, animal handling sessions, tractor rides and their famous pig races that the children love!

For their Easter Eggstravaganza they have  a trail to follow which leads to to a chocolaty treat at the end, chick and duck handeling, and the chance to get up close to the newborn lambs.

They are also opening a brand new outdoor play area at the end of March that we can’t wait to try out.

Painshill 

   

 
This year we had a trip to Painshill to visit Father Christmas and were astounded by how beautiful the whole place is.

There are exquisite follies scattered throughout the grounds to explore, with our favourite being the crystal grotto.

On Easter Sunday and Monday you can go along to take part in their egg hunt to find the eggs scattered through the the grounds to claim your prize at the end.

I hope that you have found somewhere that takes your fancy and I would love to know how you get on with all your hunting!