Lavania Oluban

This weekend marked the Spring Equinox and so we decided to start with the Easter bakes. This indulgent mini egg cheesecake is a fun one for little ones to make because it involves lots of bashing with a rolling pin. You will need: For the base Digestive biscuits – 300g Ground almonds – 50g Honey … Read more

In 2020 the Black Lives Matter went viral. It’s always been present but this year, amplified by the lockdown and sociopolitical goings on racism was at the forefront of social media feeds and hashtags were trending. Now we see the royal family latest scandal centres around issues of racism too. Today however I saw one … Read more

This is a sponsored blog post I am extremely passionate about learning through play. I share all sorts of activities we do at home and most of the time it looks like complete chaos, but there’s method behind the madness. I try to incorporate opportunities to learn in to everything we do, in such a … Read more

This is a really fun project for budding scientists – when you mix baking soda and vinegar a chemical reaction occurs which creates bubbles. This is fun all on its own but when you involve colours things take on a new direction. I’ve previously written about how Arlo’s schema penchant is for transformation and so … Read more

This was an interesting play set up, I’m so used to having to pretend that shaving foam ice creams are delicious – I wanted to put Arlo’s mixology skills to the test for real. I’ve been reading about schemas recently and figuring out that Arlo seems to have a penchant for transforming things and so … Read more

There’s somewhat of a debate when it comes to making beautiful “keepsakes” with toddlers versus letting them experiment and play with mark making. For once I’m firmly on the fence with this. Of course if you have been following us for a while you will know I’m happy to let Arlo run wild and participate … Read more

Arlo absolutely loves painting, and playing with colours. He hasn’t stopped talking about the snow painting activity we did and every morning he looks out of the window checking for snow. We do of course get our messy play materials out indoors but there’s nothing better than having a giant canvas outdoors. Unfortunately the snow … Read more

In retrospect The last twelve months have been traumatic for everyone. As adults we are able to explain feelings of loneliness and isolation, and pick up the phone to communicate with other people who understand. I’m pausing now to reflect on how it’s been with a toddler. The terrible two’s are a real thing, and … Read more

(items in this blog were provided for the purposes of review) The main focal point of my living room has always been my fireplace. There is an old chimney breast behind it which is closed off so this is now a wooden decorative mantle with an electric fire. I’ve changed my mind about what I … Read more

(Some items featured in this blog post were gifted for the purpose of review) The beginning of a renovation project idea This cupboard has previously been used for storage in the master bedroom, it sits above the stairs which run centrally through the house, and it’s been handy – this is the place where Christmas … Read more

I’ve never seen Arlo have quite as much fun as we did today. We’ve been lucky enough to have lots of snow recently and last night it was coming down thick and fast so I decided to put together this activity for the morning. You will need: Water based poster paint Water Condiment bottles All … Read more

We had snow last night and I knew Arlo would want to play outdoors and so I rummaged around the house trying to think about what we could do – and an ice cream station seemed like the best plan. You will need: Cups / tubs Spoons Scoops Slime/foam for ice cream Water beads for … Read more

This week at nursery Arlo has been following the topic of “moon stars and sun” which works with the terms overall themes of “light and dark, hot and cold” – so to support this learning I’ve incorporated some ideas in to activities we can do together at home. This does require a little bit of … Read more

Continuing on with our Antarctic and winter themed play activities today I decided to make Arlo up a messy sensory bin of icebergs…. but instead of using a tuff tray outdoors I used a storage container which has a depth of about 20cm which is enough to contain the mess for indoor play. You will … Read more