Pom Pom Sorting!

This is one is so simple but really fun.
All you'll need is some coloured pom poms and some coloured cups.

Throw them all in a bowl and let your toddler go crazy, sorting them into the right cups, we had lots of fun putting the wrong colours in the wrong cups, Little Badger thought this was hilarious and took great delight in showing silly Mama where they were really supposed to go!
This is great from colour recognition and fine motor skill.

Big Art! Wallpaper Drawing.

Today is rainy and dreary, we've spent the last few days puddle splashing and Mama Badger would really like to stay dry this morning before we visit the Grandbadgers this afternoon.
Little Badger loves to draw, he's really getting the hang of colouring but once he's finished a picture he wants more paper, this means he gets very bored, very quickly. I recently saw a post somewhere about getting your child to lie down on some left over wallpaper so you could draw around them, well this didn't go down very well, he wanted to look at every line I drew and got a bit stressed out so our person ended up with a massive head, weird feet and no hands, luckily this didn't bother Little Badger, I taped it to the door and let him colour it in, he took great delight in announcing that he'd drawn Tree Fu Tom!

This kept him occupied for a good 30 mins before he'd finished colouring, We also drew some little ladybirds and caterpillars on a length of paper and taped it to the floor, he had so much fun colouring, it's definitely something we'll do again!

Easy Playdough Recipe.

Here is a fab little recipe for playdough that you can make in just minutes with things you will find in your store cupboard. It's super cheap to make and makes about 2 large playdough tubs worth, you could even make it as gifts for friends' children if you can find some nice storage pots. It's so much cheaper than shop bought dough, you can add herbs or spices like cinnamon, or even glitter to make it even more sensory.

You'll Need:

1/4 cup of salt
1 cup of plain flour

1/4 cup of water

Food colouring (optional)

NOTE: If you don't have a cup measure, you can just do what I did and use a mug, the ratios will me the same.

Put all your ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a fork.
Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed until you have a smooth dough.
If your dough is too soft, just add more flour until it has reached the desired consistency.

Wrap it in cling film and store in a cool place in between uses.

 And there you go, super quick and super cheap playdough that will keep your little ones occupied for hours.

Every Penny Counts..... Literally.

No I really really mean it, you know all those pennies that you just misplace, throw out, accidentally wrap up in the carrier bag and put it in the recycling? The could add up to £100's.

Over the past year every time we find one of those pesky little pennies knocking about the house it's been thrown into a pot.
This morning we emptied out the pot onto the table and set about sorting through the bronze and the silver and bagging them up.

We are a card family, we rarely carry cash (this totally needs to change but that is a whole other blog) so imagine my surprise when we counted.......


£99.10!!!!!!

We have used this to open a savings account for Baby Badger as we have never got round to it when he was born.Let me warn you though, don't try to sort your pennies if your toddler is awake! Not only do will you have your neatly sorted coins scattered all over the house but you will also have grimy hands leaving you unable to fish bits of floor fluff from your toddlers mouth with out rigorously scrubbing your hands first, by which time that floor fluff will be no more. 

My Kid Won't Eat Vegetables!

Arrrgh, do you know the frustration when you've lovingly prepared a tasty and nutritious meal only for your toddler to turn up their nose and catapult it from their highchair?
Yep I do!
Baby Badger has always been great at eating anything you put in front of him, but ever since around 18 months vegetables are met with a fight, now there is some theory knocking about that when a babe reaches around 18 months their taste buds change causing them to taste the bitterness that we as adults don't taste, but that doesn't explain why Baby Badger will eat them if they're hidden. I will openly hold my hands up and say that the other night he had cheerios and fruit for dinner after he refused 3 different things because they had a smattering of green in them, so today I've been a sneaky sneaky badger and made a "Tomato" sauce, packed full of hidden veggies and vitamins. It went down a treat and he ate all his dinner without fuss, I do still offer veg at meal times as I'd like him to at least have the chance to eat them whole, but this is a great way to sneak some extra goodness into his diet.

This recipe makes A LOT, about 6-8 toddler portions but freezes really well.

Sneaky "Tomato" Sauce

I used;
tsp olive oil
1/2 a leek
2 ripe tomatoes
1 red onion
1/2 a red pepper
1/2 a small aubergine
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1/2 a tube of tomato purée
dried herbs and garlic to taste,
1 tbsp of sugar.

In hindsight the aubergine did make it quite bitter so next time I would omit the aubergine and go for something sweet like carrot using less sugar. Although I don't really like to use a lot of sugar when you realise how much this makes, divided into portions there isn't actually that much.


Step one
Chop up all the veg and fry them gently until soft.

 Step two
Add the tinned tomatoes, purée, garlic and herbs and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step Three
Whizz it until smooth and add sugar a bit at a time to taste.

Voila!!!

Serve with pasta and cheese for a quick and easy lunch, add it to mince, lentils, for a spaghetti bolognese or throw in some kidney beans and chilli to make a tasty con carne!