Tag: indoor play

Children, Families, Family Life, Imagination Play, Large Families, Learning, Messy play, Outdoor Play, Parents

Making Boredom Fun

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Making Boredom Fun

Today I woke up to a miserable, grey day with no plans and no intentions to leave the house at all. This of course an absolute bombshell drop on my children!

With their eyes out on stalks they looked at me in sheer disbelief and repeatedly chanted, “what we’re doing nothing at all”.

I take full responsibility for this as I feel the need to continually occupy the children and fill their days as much as possible. A weekend rarely goes by where I haven’t tried to arrange something exciting and the times there is not much on I always feel the need to get out of the house and do something, no matter how small.

This has certainly had a detrimental effect on us and I feel I have taken away the children’s ability to amuse themselves and be happy in their own home with their own time and space.

I remember as a child making shops with my sister, playing fashion shows and thoroughly enjoying simple things such as colouring or dancing around my room; yes of course I remember those times where I moaned to my parents about being bored but there was never that expectation to be occupied every waking minute, it was down to me to make my own entertainment.

Being bored allows children to explore their own imaginations, to be creative and inventive and to find activities that they have a real passion for.

Society has made us feel that we should be continually stimulate our children, to make their weekends as jam packed as possible and to be enrolling them on every activity possible where their entertainment is already structured for them and limits the chance for them to use their own imaginations.

After the day from hell with the children continually craving my attention, demanding to be amused and begging to be taken out they finally found their own entertainment and settled down to word games and books that they wouldn’t ordinarily pick without being promoted, they made up their own workout routine and the youngest two baked a cake together with little intervention from me.

To them this has obviously become learnt behaviour and so I have come up with a list of things I am going to stick to the fridge to help then get started with enjoying their own free time:

Read a book
Do a puzzle
Dress up
Paint
Draw
Play with playdoh
Make a cake
Make a Lego creation
Have a puppet show
Have a teddy bear’s tea party
Play football
Skip
Bug hunt
Jump in puddles
Make an exercise circuit
Make up a dance
Make a show
Practice magic tricks
Climb a tree
Write a story
Build a cardboard car/house
Junk modeling
Make paper aeroplanes

I would love to add to this list and know how your little ones spend their free time.

Allergies, Cafes, Cakes, Children, Families, Family Life, Food, Kid Bloggers, Kids Days Out, Photography, Reviews, Surrey

Checking Out Little Lambs Softplay

by thejoyoffive3 Comments on Checking Out Little Lambs Softplay

A while ago I was asked by the lovely Sophie to bring my little ones along to her softplay cafe Little Lambs in Sutton.

So today mine were in desperate need to let off some steam and I was in need of a good coffee so we popped along to see what we thought.

  
We parked easily in the St Nicholas centre car park which took us straight to the cafe.  I didn’t bother to get the buggy out but there is ample space to leave your buggy outside and the full glass frontage allows you to easily keep an eye on it.

We found ourselves a table and went over to the counter where we were greeted by the super friendly staff who served me my much needed coffee.

  
The boys spent a good few hours jumping on the bouncy castle, slipping down the slide, leaping into the ball pit and balancing on all the soft bricks.

   
     

Once they had built up a good appetite we sat down to a wonderful lunch.  I was extremely impressed with the large range of healthy choices that were on offer, including Slimming World options.  You can also choose from some yummy homemade cakes if you fancy something a little naughty!

The children’s menu was perfect for number four as I was able to choice from the lunchbox menu so that all  his allergies could be catered for.

     
     

Before we headed home the boys popped round to the quiet corner to do some pictures on the chalk boards and play with the toy kitchen.  This is a great addition as sometimes little ones like a change from the hustle and bustle that softplay brings.

   
 

All in all we had a fantastic trip.  The staff were super friendly and more than helpful, the play areas were well kept, safe and had plenty to amuse my youngest two, number three was more than happy to have a snack and play on her iPad whist the boys played, and finally the food menu was vast, tasty and extremely good value for money.

I would highly recommend Little Lambs to anyone with under 5’s and will be returning there very soon myself.
We were given a free day out at Little Lambs in return for this review.  All opinions are my own honest thoughts.

Arts And Crafts, Children, Crafts, Families, Family Life, Messy play

Lavender Scented Playdoh

by thejoyoffive17 Comments on Lavender Scented Playdoh

    
After our annual trip to the lavender fields the other day I took an idea that number three had done at school and decided to make some lavender scented playdough.

   
   

I made this in the hope that it would have calming properties that would rub off on the children!!  This unfortunately didn’t work but the smell was wonderful.

   
     

Lavender Playdough

  • 250g plain flour
  • 50g salt
  • 150g water
  • 2tbsp oil
  • Few drops purple food colouring 
  • Finely chopped small handful of lavender 

Mix together all the dry ingredients and slowly add the oil and water until all the ingredients are combined.

Store in a plastic bag in the fridge until you are ready to use.

   

 

  

Art Galleries, Cafes, Cakes, Carshalton, Children, Crafts, Education, Families, Family Life, Food, Holidays, Honeywood Museum, Imagination Play, Kids Days Out, Large Families, Memories, Parents, Surrey

Rainy Summer Holiday Trips In Surrey

by thejoyoffive18 Comments on Rainy Summer Holiday Trips In Surrey

I knew that my post on outdoor summer days in Surrey was tempting fate, and I was right!  A few days later we  have horrendous torrential rain.

For me a bit of rain never puts me off getting outside and to be honest all the places such as farms are empty which I love!  Unfortunately though even I have to give in sometimes and settle for indoor activities instead.

I’ve listed a few of my favourites for you here:

Mother Kitty’s

  

If you have under fives, nestled at the top of Rickman Hill in Coulsdon is a wonderful little softplay and vintage tea rooms called Mother Kitty’s perfect to relax and have a cup of tea whilst you watch the little ones play.

   
 

The soft play is only sutiable for under 5’s but I bring my older ones along as they are more than happy to sit and have a drink whist making use of the free wifi!!

  
If the weather holds out then there is a large park and playground that is great to have a run around in too.

Airhop

  

If you want your older ones to let off some steam and get away from their games consoles, Airhop is a fantastic place to visit.

Over 4’s can bounce around to their hearts content on the many trampolines, foam pits and basketball areas.

  
You need to book your hours session online and they do get full very quickly, so make sure you book well before your intended visit.

Little Street

I have only visited this fantastic place once, and it completely blew me away.  

The name says it all and once inside Little Street really is a mini town for your little ones to play to their hearts content.

   
 

They can do their shopping in the supermarket, go to the hairdressers, visit the doctors, pop to the cafe, drive up and down the street, work on the construction site and lots more.

   
   

This is a refreshing change to your run of the mill soft play area which I loved playing in as much as the kids.

   
 

You book your hours slot online as numbers are restricted to ensure your child can play in the best environment.

I couldn’t recommend this place more.  Really is a fantastic trip.

Honeywood Museum

We came across the Honeywood Museum last year after years of visiting Carshalton and were pleasantly surprised.

The entry is free and they simply ask for a donation as you leave.  The house is fasinating to explore and you can pick up question sheets from the front desk that the children can fill in as you walk around.

   
 
They put on regular craft sessions for the children that mine really loved taking part in.

I would suggest checking out their Facebook page to see what events they have going on before taking a visit.

  
Kidspace

Kidspace is a mega softplay area along the Purley Way in Croydon.

With a large age range in children places like this can sometimes be tricky for me, but this cover all ages for me.

There is a smaller area with a sensory play section, mini trampolines, climbing areas and slides that is sutiable for the little ones.

  
  
The main area homes a huge area that they can climb and slide around, a big ball shooting area, go carts and climbing walls.

   
   

It is more expensive than most soft plays, but it is worth the money.  

They have a lovely cafe serving hot and cold food that is a great addition to a great soft play.

The Lightbox

I love art and love to find places that the children can explore the arts in a fun yet educating way.

The Lightbox in Woking, Surrey is a small gallery perfect for children.  They  regularly change their exhibitions and always have something to capture the thoughts of little minds.

   

They have a craft room where they can get hands on and create their own masterpieces with the help of the lovely staff.

   
 

There is a all cafe serving a small selection of snacks and some wonderful homemade cakes.  Theses can be enjoyed in the beautiful garden to the front of the gallery of the weather is good.
I hope you have found something here that your children would love to visit; I would love to hear what you think.