It's never to early to mention the C word!

I acknowledge its July and that most of you will want to punch me in the face when you read this BUT we are now half way through the year and that time is fast approaching. Yes, I mean Christmas!!! Once the children return to school we are on the cost ridden slide down to the 25th December!

Does it still seem ages away? Well, what if I said Christmas is now only twenty-four weeks away! Doesn't sound long does it. For many it is only five more pay days away! If you gasped a little like I did when I worked it out don't worry we've got this covered. Let's get things in order now to avoid stress come December. As everyone else dashes round in a mad panic you can sit and relax, sip hot chocolate in your onesie and watch Elf for the forty-seventh time.

Mini Ice Hockey

This a great little activity. It's super cheap and can be used as an indoor rainy day activity or on a sunny day for an outside game! You'll probably have all the things in your cupboard. You just need to decide the night before if you want to do it so you can make the ice.

You will need

• Large dish or baking tray
• Tap water
• Lego/duplo/building blocks
• Bottle top
• Spoons

Paper Airplane Target Game

Today has been one of those rainy, dull days and to top it off its half term. For many of you this means being stuck indoors with the kids, which can lead to them bouncing off the walls at some point.

Reinforcements are here in the shape of this quick to do craft and game. Hopefully you will have the items needed for the activity in the house.

You will need

• A large piece of paper - wrapping paper or even newspaper will do
• Scissors
• Felt tips 
• A ruler or items to draw round
• Tape or Blu-Tack