The Toy Companies Letting You Recycle Your Toys

Just a few years ago old toys were often destined for the landfill. Recycling was kept to household items and the life of toys didn't go much past passing them on as hand me downs or to charity shops. 

But now if your toys aren't quiet right to pass on, maybe a little rough round the edges or to tatty for the charity shop, you can pass them back to their creators.

Wondering who's part of the toy recycling movement? Here's the toy companies letting you recycle your old toys!

5 Things To Do With Old Toys

Toys. Toys. Toys. And a few more toys. That's what piles into your home when you have a child. Soft toys. Wooden toys. Plastic Toys. Toys bigger than your baby. Toys that are noisy and need batteries. Toys that hurt when the little apple of your eye throws them at your head!!

These things start to pile up. Birthdays and Christmas come and bring more, as do grandparents and anyone else that likes to treat your little ones. 

But what can you do with them when it's time for a clear out? Time to put the baby toys away? Switching Duplo for Lego? Not sure what to do with the old toys?

Here's 5 things to do with old toys...........

10 Creative Lockdown Activities

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This time last year the UK was entering it's first lockdown and now we sit in our third. It's been a hard slog for many of us. Many of us started with a huge amount of good intentions.  

Long walks. Healthy eating. Reading. A creative activity here and there. Then, well, we got bored. It got a bit repetitive. A bit samey. We started running out of ideas. 

As we continue into lockdown I've put together a list of 10 Creative Lockdown Activities for you to try. Some are for kids. Some are for grownups. There's a bit of something for everyone. 

Wondering If You'll Get A Holiday This Year? A Family Road Trip Might Be The Perfect Alternative!

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Right now, we're all stuck inside for the foreseeable future, mostly on reduced incomes and tight budgets. So, if the chance for a holiday does arise, what can we do? 

A road trip is a great low cost idea for a family holiday, and it’s the perfect way to explore a new country. You could even stay at home and take a road trip around some nearby spots that you haven’t visited before. When you are driving instead of flying, you get to see so much more of the country and discover exciting new places along the way, so it’s perfect for adventurous families that want a different travel experience. It also means that you don’t have to deal with flying with kids, which can be very stressful. 

Planning and preparation are key if you want your road trip to run smoothly. If you are planning a family road trip, here are a few important things to remember. 

5 Tips To Ensure Your Family Stay Friends When Stuck Inside

So, if you're reading this you're possibly stuck inside with your family, or face being inside with them, for a long time. Be it a snowstorm, a virus or a hurricane, you're in your home for a long period with those you love the most, but will you like each other by the end of it??

Here's 5 tips to ensure your family stay friends when stuck inside!

30 Crafts & Activities You Can Do If School Gets Cancelled

There's lots in the news right now about the possibility of schools closing for a few weeks, with recommendations that people stay home. For those with children this could cause a bit of a gasp!

Two weeks indoors with children can he hard. My son had chickenpox last year and we were stuck inside for weeks. It was hard keeping him entertained, not being bored or going stir crazy.

So, from experience and as a 'crafty mum' here's 30 craft and activities you can do if school gets cancelled.

6 Lego Essentials For When Your Kids Love Lego

So, your kids love Lego! Great!! It's a toy that encourages creativity and imagination, plus if your kids can play independently you might find that they'll happily play with Lego for hours on end.

Our son became a fan of Lego during the Duplo and toddler days. He would build all manner of different things and when the time came for him to move onto to Lego, his creativity and imagination just grew and grew.

Now 5, he continues to be a huge fan of Lego. We've been incredible lucky to have been handed down a huge stack of Lego and we've bought a few extra sets along the way, mostly superhero themed!!

But, with so much in our house we've learnt there's a few items that are essential if you're kids love Lego!

Tidy Stuff - Soft Toy Storage

We've all got 'stuff' and we can't all live minimalist lives. Sometimes it's just about how to store that stuff and keep it neat and tidy!

We've dealt with Lego, toy cars, the cupboard under the sink, even bras but now it's time to tackle the soft toy mountain!!

A Very Snowy Christmas - 25 Weeks For An Organised Christmas Week 15

Another week has passed so it's time for A Very Snowy Christmas, 25 Weeks For An Organised Christmas Week 15!!

This week we're looking at two items you need to buy before it's too late!

Tidy Stuff - Toy Car Storage

We've all got 'stuff'. Whether it be books, shoes, handbags, collectables or toys, a house can soon become cluttered. A good declutter is often the way to reduce down the stuff in your home but parting with things can be hard.

Personally, I'm a fan of the Marie Kondo method and if it hasn't got a use or doesn't 'spark joy' it goes either to be recycled, upcycled, donated or binned. But what about the stuff you're left with? How do we store it and where do we keep it?

Well, my tidy stuff posts provide the answers and we've already covered how to store bras, keeping the cupboard under the sink tidy and the best ways to clean and store Lego. Now it's time for toy cars! 

Toy cars provide our little boy with hours of fun but he has hundreds, mostly hand me downs from Daddy and they can easily be untidy! So, how do we keep toy cars tidy? Here's some ideas!

Woolsthorpe Manor

Regular readers will know that we love a good day out and many of our adventures come in the form of a trip to National Trust properties. We've been members of the National Trust since a trip to the Lake District a couple of years ago and we try and use our passes at least six times a year.

We are frequent visitors to Belton House and not far from there, and similar travel difference from home, is place we'd never been too, Woolsthorpe Manor. A new place seemed a great way to start our adventures for the year.

Set in a Lincolnshire village, Woolsthorpe Manor is a 17th century manor house and childhood home of Sir Issac Newton. 

30 Minute Quiet Time Activities To Do With Your Child

So, you're kids are over excited about something, hyper after school, wired on sugar after a friends party, or maybe they simply want your attention, but they are loud and need to settle down.

Maybe you've had a long, tiring day and you'd like to have a few minutes of quiet time too, or maybe you just want to sit alongside your child, cuddle them and do something together.

Well, here's a few things you and your child can do together for a quiet 30 minutes.

Puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles are something I used to do a lot of as a child and our son also took a shine to them from a very young age. 

5 Things You Need To Battle The Chickenpox

Disclaimer - I'm just a mum trying her best and am in no shape or form a medical professional. If you're concerned about your child's health please seek professional medical advice.

It'll be no surprise to those of you that follow me on Instagram that my latest blog post is about chickenpox!!

Just over a week ago we spotted the first few spots on JJ as we started to get ready for his friend's birthday party. As the afternoon went on there were more and more and soon enough they were everywhere! We had a really scary experience with JJ a few months ago were his temperature was out of control and he was monitored through the night by a GP via the 111 service and was very nearly admitted to hospital. With this in mind I was keen to get things under control and keep him as well as possible.

Using advice from the NHS website and from those that had recently had it themselves or children had, we complied our essentials for battling chickenpox.

Tidy Stuff - 5 Ways To Store Lego

Lego is a wonderful creative toy. Kids can spend hours and hours playing and building amazing things, but lets be honest......it can be a nightmare to store and clean.

Tidy Stuff - Trying To Achieve A Tidy Home

Whether you're kid free and working, managing a brood of little ones as a stay at home parent or doing something between the two, keeping a tidy home can be hard work.

When I was kid free and working full-time I always struggled to stay on top of laundry and ironing. Now, as a parent, it's keeping toys tidy and crumbs off the floor!

Tidy Stuff - How To Wash Lego!

We love, love, love Lego!

Don't get me wrong walking on it isn't my favourite thing to do, but Lego is one one of out favourite toys. It gives the opportunity for creative play and a huge amount of imagination. Lots of play though can mean the Lego gets grubby. Sticky fingers, uncaught sneezes and crumbs can make it dirty but it's not all that easy to clean. 

Movie of the week!

Our 3 year old, Joseph, has a new found love for dinosaurs and Lego style movies. Put the two together and what do you get? 

Legoland Windsor

Based in Windsor the Legoland resort offers 55 rides and attractions. Aimed at children from 3 to 12 it offers a range of different themes, including vikings, ninjas and Star Wars.

Movie of the week

This week's movie of the week is actually a selection of shorts. Featuring some well loved and known characters, but in a Lego animated format, these shorts are the type of film/program you can pop on when you want to pee in peace or make a cuppa. 

This week's movie of the week, and therefore the thing we are currently watching over and over with our two year old son, is Frozen: Magic of the Northern Lights.

Fred's Box

Created by Mum Clare, Fred's Box, is a unique gifting service that offers one off and three, six and twelve month subscriptions of minifigures. 

We were lucky enough to receive one this week and I really wanted to share it with you!

Our Fred's Box arrived super quick and was through the door the day after the order was placed.