Monday 28 April 2014

All Things Wild Nature Centre

Today we visited All Things Wild Nature Centre in Honeybourne, near Evesham. We had such a fabulous time there! There's such a variety of activities to see and do.

We started by taking a walk through the animal pens, enclosures and paddocks, where every so often we'd bump into a dinosaur, which the kids loved! Eden and Asher, at 4 and 2, can be reluctant walkers at times - the dinosaurs, short walking distances, and stamp trail really helped encourage them around the site. Eden especially enjoyed finding the stamp boxes for the stamp trail and was very proud to complete her worksheet - her first one! 

There are so many dinosaurs to discover! 

And a dinosaur dig - a hands-on way to learn about fossils


We did pond dipping and found some water snails, and we met baby ducks and chicks in the barn 


Eden is fascinated by bugs at the moment, and here they had bug land, with lots of learning resources available to discover the world of bugs 
If it rains there's 2 indoor soft play areas, an indoor learning centre where you can do junk modelling, colouring, and nature sensory games. The kids really enjoyed the indoor pedal tractor track! 
All of a sudden the kids are looking very grown up!
We had a fantastic time today - it's been such a fun day of learning outdoors! 















Wednesday 2 April 2014

Cardooo Cards: Journey Buddies

Last November we reviewed Cardooo Cards - the fun greetings cards that encourage children to engage in activities developing literacy, numeracy and creativity. You can read what we thought of them here.

A few months on, and we're still enjoying Cardooo Cards. Last November we were sent a Rapunzel story card. Eden will often pick this off the shelf for us to read, and last month it travelled abroad on holiday to Florida with us, being a very convenient and compact form of entertainment for the flight.  

Today I want to review another of the Cardooo cards, which just like previous cards we've reviewed, offers excellent entertainment value. This is one of their Journey Buddies cards, called 'At the Ballet'. Eden goes to ballet class every week, and has recently taken her first ballet exam, so she was excited to receive this card in the post. Eden is nearly 4.5 and most activities in the card were ones that she could do herself, such as dot to dot, lots of colouring in, and stickers (always a BIG hit). In addition, the card would appeal to older children too, with dancing facts, stories, and wordsearches amongst other activities - the cards pack A LOT in!



Eden's favourite activity in the card was the ballet board game, complete with dice to easily make yourself and counters. We enjoyed the twists and turns of the game, as well as the relevance to ballet, and it was great counting practice for Eden.



Journey buddies cards make a fabulous boredom buster for long journeys, crammed full with lots of activities for on the go.  The card is priced at £3.50 and if ballet isn't your thing, why not browse the selection of journey buddies cards here - in their range there's something for everyone! If you're heading away on a family holiday this Easter, don't leave without one!