ickle kids

Educational Toys for Kids with Special Needs

2011-05-03T11:14:00.000+10:00

As you know, at ickle Kids we're always on the look out for educational toys that engages children of all ages and abilities. So we're excited to launch our new range of educational toys for kids with Special Needs.

These educational resources have been a hit with teachers from Special Schools around Melbourne and we know you'll love them too!

What's Wrong Picture Lotto - $11.99

A fun game of observation. The aim of the game is to cover the wrong pictures on the game board with the correct picture tiles. This will help your child with their verbal expression, problem solving and observation skills.

Fun with Phonics - $15.99

A fun way to learn beginning consonant blends – learn the phonic sound and then learn to blend them together to form words. This will help your child to differentiate between blends and digraphs and to help with their spelling and language skills. An open ended activity that can be used in early literacy, special needs, speech therapy, ESL and lots more.

Build a Sentence Part 1 - $17.99

An interactive way of engaging children to build their own sentences. They can create serious sentences or funny sentences - the funnier the better! This game will help children to identify subject/noun and predicate/verb phrases.

We hope you will find something from our Special Needs Range to engage in your child's learning. If you are looking for specific resources for your child, please let us know as we may be able to help you find that special toy.

2011 is my year to "Just do it ..."

2011-02-11T13:07:00.000+11:00

It's now 2011 and I've decided that this will be my year to "Just do it ...!" I've been wanting to film a couple of videos about my business - how I started, travel tips on travelling with kids and how my educational toys work to add a different dimension to ickle Kids.

So here it is ... I'm putting myself out there! It's completely outside of my comfort zone ... but I'm going to "just do it!" Would love to hear your feedback!

P.S. Sorry about the dodgy pic of me above - I changed it but for some reason, the slide where you have to press "play" on You Tube didn't work! Argh!

Christmas Gifts for Kids - School Aged Kids

2010-12-08T10:48:00.000+11:00

My older son goes to school and I know it can sometimes be quite tricky to buy for this age group. Kids this age generally want toys that are battery operated like gaming consoles. Don't get me wrong, my boys enjoy playing with these types of toys, but when I do my Christmas shopping, I try and get a good balance of toys:

* active toys (e.g. scooters, footballs, frisbees etc),
* possibly a game for their gaming console,
* practical items (e.g. a new backpack, doona cover)
* board games
* educational toys and games.

Lots of parents have also asked us for some suggestions of what to buy their school aged kids, so we thought we would give you our Top Four Christmas Gift ideas for this age group (pictures above):

From left to right:

IQ Splash $19.99
* A fun game that can be taken out with them this Christmas holidays
* Great to help with your children's visual planning, strategic thinking and spatial perception skills
* Ages 6-99

Word Spin $19.99
* Spin, switch, spell and score your way through this fun educational game
* Can be played individually or with another player
* Ages 8-99

Hide and Seek Safari $32.99
* A challenging educational game for ages 7+ (adults will even struggle with this fun logic game!)
* Place the four puzzle pieces in such a way that only the animals on each of the challenges are visible. Perfect to take with you on your summer holidays.
* Ages 7-99

Road Block $32.99
* The baddies in the red car are trying to escape our city, as the police, can your ickle ones block them in so the robber can't get out?
* 60 challenges to keep them entertained over Christmas!
* Ages 7-99

Trust me, lots of adults (customers, friends, family and myself) have played with these educational games and have struggled with them too! It really is that challenging and that's why we've always said our games aren't necessarily for children up to a certain age - adults love them too!

We hope this has given you a few ideas of what to get school aged kids!

Happy Christmas shopping!

ickle 3rd Birthday Celebrations!

2010-12-07T13:56:00.001+11:00

ickle Kids has been in business for THREE years! Hip hip ... Hooray!

I can't believe how fast the last three years have gone (a bit cliched, but so true)! I'm so lucky to be running my own business, which I love! It's fantastic to meet and chat with our gorgeous customers who are so enthusiastic and supportive about ickle Kids. A big thank you to all our loyal customers and to my family who have been truly amazing! Oops sorry, I didn't mean for this to sound like an Oscar speech!

To help celebrate ickle Kids turning three, here is a little Birthday Treat to all our lovely supporters:

10% off storewide & orders over $60 will receive a FREE travel game valued at $6! Enter "FB1210" at checkout to redeem this offer. Hurry offer ends 10th December 2010.

Start shopping here before Friday to redeem this Birthday Offer!

Thank you once again, I've really appreciated your support and kind words x

Great Christmas Gift Ideas for Pre-schoolers

2010-12-04T10:47:00.001+11:00

It's not long until the big fella in red is sliding down our chimneys, so our ickle elves thought you might like a helping hand in finding some unique educational toys for your little ones. Here are our top Christmas gift ideas for Pre-schoolers, all under $25:

Top left - Magnetic Match Rings $19.99
* Great way to learn about magnetism
* Perfect to help your children with their visual matching and hand-eye coordination skills

Top right - Doctor's Dress up Tin $19.99
* Gorgeous wooden accessories that any budding Dr or Nurse would love!

Bottom left - Monkey Bingo $24.99
* A fun new spin on playing bingo! Push the money towards the crate of bananas to pop out an animal tile
* This educational game will help your children with animal recognition, word recognition and taking turns

Bottom right - Iclay Pots $15.99
* A fun way to be creative over this Christmas holidays
* It comes with an instruction booklet to give you ideas of little animals/figures that you can make. Let your child's imagination go wild!

We hope this has given you a few ideas before Santa's visit!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

2010-11-24T23:54:00.001+11:00

Yipppeeee, we have our Christmas decorations up! I know it's not 1st December yet, but the kids were too excited (and so was I to be honest!). It's definitely feeling a bit more like Christmas now!

I have to admit, I do have a bit of an obsession with Christmas decorations ... everytime I step out of the house, I keep coming back with something little to hang up! Oh dear! But how can I resist these cute little Christmas decorations - they are way too cute!

Come visit ickle Kids at Mathilda's Market!

2010-11-14T15:38:00.000+11:00

We love Mathilda's Market and we can't wait to show you our new educational toys and educational games that we have! Not to mention our cool Christmas Stocking Fillers that your ickle ones will love to find on Christmas morning ... from you know who (*wink*).

It will be an amazing event - 100+ stalls, gorgeous products ... so come along and say hello and start your Christmas shopping with some unique products.

Hope to see you there!

Christmas Gifts for Kids - Preschoolers

2010-11-09T17:01:00.001+11:00

A couple of days ago, I was lucky enough to look a after a friend's little girl (nearly Miss 3). She's just gorgeous - inquisitive, hilarious and quite girly! Having only two boys, it was really quite interesting for me to "hang" out with a little girl for quite some time.

She played with the trains and cars that we had set out, but after awhile, she was looking around for something else to play with. So I pulled Duo out from our ickle toys (the joys of owning your own toy shop!). I'm so pleased I did, she had a ball!

We sat down and worked together. She enjoyed looking at the picture card and placing the brightly coloured wooden blocks on the board to copy each challenge. After finishing each challenge, she kept saying "me do another?" How can I say "no"? We ended up finishing eight challenges and playing with this until her Mummy came to pick her up. Too easy! However, her poor Mummy had to "negotiate" leaving our house ... she was quite happy to stay on for much longer!

I think I've sorted "nearly Miss three's" Christmas gift for 2010! Phew, that was easy!

Christmas Stocking Fillers - Gifts for Kids Under $20

2010-10-31T22:49:00.000+11:00

Christmas Stockings Image from HubPages

We can't believe the countdown for Christmas 2010 is nearly on! I love this time of year - decorating the house, searching for the perfect kids Christmas gifts, baking Christmas treats and sharing in the build up to Santa's visit with our boys.

To help you to find the perfect Christmas Stocking Fillers, we decided to share with you our Top 10 gifts for kids this Christmas:

1) Character Stamps - $3.99

Every child I know loves a little stamp on their hand - a fun way to reinforce positive behaviour.

2) Necklace and Bracelet Set - $4.99

What a cute little pressie for all the little princesses out there!

3) Wooden Doctor's Set - $19.99

One of our best sellers - this gorgeous Doctor's Dress up Tin will be perfect for any budding nurses and Doctors.

4) Cheese Hunt Wooden Travel Game - $5.99

This gorgeous travel tin is perfect to pop into your bag when you're out and about with kids.Your ickle ones will love playing with this whilst dining out at restaurants or visiting Granny's.

5) Word Spin - $19.99

This fun educational toy is the perfect Christmas gift for kids aged 8+. Kids can play by themselves or against each other whilst they are in the car, dining out or chilling out at home.

6) Wooden Fishing Magnet Game - $9.99

If you're travelling with kids this Christmas holidays, this fun wooden fishing game would be perfect to take with you. You can pop this into a travel bag and off you go!

7) Wooden Jungle Animals - $13.99

Your ickle toddlers would love to find these gorgeous jungle animals in their Christmas Stockings this year!

8) Wooden Musical Tambourine - $11.99

A fun way to sing "Jingle Bells" this Christmas with these brightly coloured, wooden tambourines.

9) Wooden Car Bead Frame - $17.99

What a lovely Christmas gift for a little bubba! This gorgeous wooden toy doubles as a bead frame and a push toy too!

10) Lonpos 101 - $19.99

This is a fun Christmas Stocking Filler for children aged 7+ or even a great Christmas gift for adults! This challenging travel game will have you thinking outside the box - can you solve all 101 puzzles?

We hope you love our selection of fun Christmas Stocking Fillers! Check out our full online range here.

To Market, To Market ...

2010-10-22T00:07:00.001+11:00

We're off to our first Christmas Market in Melbourne tonight and I'm a bit excited! So I thought it would be fun to make a new "ickle" bunting for my stand! I made the triangles and letters out of felt in the colours of my logo. Now the boys want me to make some bunting with their names on it for their rooms!

I've also decided to make some Christmas bunting out of felt (in between the Christmas Markets and Playgroup visits). Will let you know how I get on!

Melbourne Craft Markets - come visit ickle Kids

2010-10-19T20:54:00.003+11:00

Can you believe it's nearly Christmas? I'm still trying to figure out where this year has gone! I love this time of year - get togethers, clinking of glasses, decorating, shopping and one of my favourites ... finding unique gifts at craft markets.

Lucky for us, we will be showcasing our educational toys at some of Melbourne's coolest markets, so we hope to see you there. To kick start our "ickle" festive season, this weekend we will be at:

Playstation Twilight Market

Date - Friday 22nd October

Where - 190A Canterbury Road, Canterbury

Time - 7pm till 10pm

Cost - $5 entry, includes glass of bubbles and a ticket for the lucky prize draw

Warranwood PS Spring Fair

Date - Sunday 24th October

Where - Warranwood PS, 1 Wellington Park Drive, Warranwood

Time - 10am till 4pm

We would love to see you there if you can make it! Let the fun begin!

School Holiday Activities - Sovereign Hill

2010-09-13T10:36:00.012+10:00

As a child, I went to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, Victoria for our grade 5 camp and I have such fond memories of it! So last school holidays, we took our boys on a car trip up there to make some new memories with them. We all had a blast! For those of you who haven't been with your kids, here are a few handy travel tips on Sovereign Hill if you're heading up this school holidays:

1) Plan your trip

We've been a couple of times to Sovereign Hill and the first time we just went for the day, but last holidays we decided to stay a few nights and make a long weekend of it. If you do decide to go for the day, it can be quite long depending on where you're located but try and get there when it opens. It just means you get to see a lot more at your own pace. As you can see from the photo above, we were one of the first ones to get in, which meant we had the run of the place for a bit!

2) Plan your activities during the day

Maps and timetable of activities are available upon entry and it's a great idea to circle activities that your kids would enjoy. Some you have to book and others you can just turn up to.

We booked a Labyrinth of Gold tour which is an extra cost but well worth it. The boys enjoyed going down inside the mines to learn more about a life of a miner back in the gold rush days. There are three tours to pick from, so the staff were really friendly and recommended the tour that was most child friendly. This tour was approximately 40 mins with a tramcar and miniature train ride.

After organising our day, we headed off to the old Bowling Saloon at the top of the street, I enjoyed this as a child and I knew our boys would too. It's a great idea to make this one of your first destinations as it does get very busy during the day.

One thing I did notice about Sovereign Hill is that all the little goodies that you can buy in the shops are all reasonably priced. A lot of the shops had items that the boys could purchase with their own pocket money (items between $2-$5 that were of good quality).

We enjoyed talking to the specialty crafts people working at Sovereign Hill:

* the Blacksmith showed us how he made candle sticks with iron,
* the lolly man in his demonstration showed us how to make different flavoured boiled lollies
* the printer showed us how they made posters in the olden days

The boys chose to spend some of their pocket money on candle dipping. For $3, it included a candle and a quick lesson on making their own multi-coloured candle by dipping them into coloured dye. However, adult supervision is required as the dyes are very hot.

We also tried our hand at gold panning - although we didn't have much luck, the boys enjoyed giving it a go! Apparently gold specs are scattered into the stream every day, so there is gold to be found! We met some lucky kids who proudly showed us their gold specs which were put into a plastic vile for them to take home. What a great show and tell piece back at school!

It's great to have a wonder inside all the cottages and tents dotted around - there are lots of passionate volunteers who dress up and are happy to tell you more about life in the Gold Rush days.

The boys enjoyed visiting the school and asking lots of interesting questions to the teacher on duty. They also had lots of fun writing with a fountain pen and ink.

3) Rain!

On the day we went, the forecast was rain, so we planned to do all the outdoor activities first when the weather was dry and visited shops etc when it was raining. We also wore gum boots which was perfect - there is no escaping the mud at Sovereign Hill!

4) Food

We packed some lunch in our backpacks but there are restaurants and cafes there too. We did try a restaurant on our first visit, but was disappointed with the food, price and also the slow service as it was very busy. Also, we noticed on our last visit that the bakery at the bottom of the street was reasonably priced and they had some child friendly food! So on our next visit, we might just head over there!

5) Discounted entry

With the Entertainment Book, you can get 25% off a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children). It's definitely worth getting this coupon! If you don't have this book, ask friends and family for the coupon if they are not planning to use it.

RACV members can also have access to discounted tickets.

If you are visiting Sovereign Hill this school holidays, I hope you too make some fond memories there! Happy Travels!

Travel Toys for Toddlers

2010-08-23T03:00:00.000+10:00

Some parents might argue that travelling with toddlers may be the most challenging time of travelling with kids. Having lived over in the UK for quite some time, we've had to travel with our boys on long haul flights to and from Australia at the different age milestones - baby, toddler, preschool and now early primary school age. I think each milestone has it's own challenges, but travelling with toddlers is challenging as we can't seem to "negotiate" with toddlers as effectively(!) as we can with preschoolers and school aged kids.

My answer is always - be prepared!

Entertaining kids on long haul flights is a combination of planning, packing age appropriate travel toys and also pre-empting what may happen next! If they are getting tired and grumpy - change their toys to something that may soothe and relax them. For example, books are great for changing their focus to a calmer state.

Here are some other fun travel toys for toddlers:

* Balloons - perfect to blow up and chase during stopovers! Bring a fly swat as well and you will be able to entertain them for hours in a quiet airport corner.

* Puppets

Story telling with puppets are also a fun way to entertain toddlers on flights. They may just want to sit and listen or try and join in being a character, choosing what happens next, choosing the ending etc.

* Little containers - such as snack cups (which will come in handy whilst on holiday to store snacks) with some accesories such as plastic spoons, sachets (you can collect these from the meal trays on flights) etc. Toddlers love to open containers and pop things in, pour from one container to another, pretend to cook and stir etc! Simple but very effective and will keep toddlers entertained for quite some time!

* Re-usable sticker play scenes

Toddlers love stickers, so this is a perfect travel toy for them! They can stick, pull them off, and re-stick. This is also great for their fine motor, to learn to "peel off" can be quite tricky but it's a good way to learn with a bit of help. They are then in charge of where to stick them and how the story is played out - lots of fun for little ones.

What are your toddler's favourite travel toys?

Maths Games For 4 Year Olds

2010-08-21T01:45:00.000+10:00

My youngest son turned 4 not long ago and it has been amazing to see his interest in maths take off. There are so many ways that you can introduce maths games to your 4 year old in every day life:

Read the numbers on letter boxes.
Sorting and putting the cutlery away.
Cooking in the kitchen as they measure ingredients.
Helping you with the shopping - grabbing 4 apples for you!

Once they have begun to master number identification and counting you can then begin introducing slightly more complex math games for your 4 year old. A simple and fun game for this age group is Travel Maths Spin. Kids can learn basic maths skills with this unique Maths Game – understand counting, number sequences and relationships.

The maths game is made up of eight colourful magnetic wheels (3.8cm in diameter) which contain numbers from 0-9 and special wheels that contain the operation and equation symbols (+, -, x, /, =, >, < etc).

It comes with a booklet which gives parents and teachers suggestions of age appropriate games that help develop fundamental maths concepts. A pouch to store the game is also provided, making it the perfect game to take with you when you are traveling with the kids.

The game is recommended for ages 4 years old and up.

Preschool Educational Toys - What To Look For?

2010-08-19T03:00:00.000+10:00

There are many fantastic Preschool Educational Toys on the market now, so as a parent it can be a little overwhelming to know what to look for to make the best choice for your child.

Here are some things that you may like to take into consideration when purchasing educational toys for your preschooler:

Interactive
Does the toy require children to be an active participant? It is important that the toy needs the child to do more than simply just listen or watch it in action. Toys like blocks, threading sets and puzzles require the preschooler to be active in their play.

Stimulate their Imagination
Does the toy allow the preschooler to use his or her imagination when they play with the toy? Although children may be drawn to branded toys due to the flood of marketing that they have been exposed to, these types of toys can limit childrens' imagination. That is, children may tend to play with these toys in a way that they have seen on the associated movie or TV show.

Toys like finger puppets are like a blank canvas to kids and they can let their imagination run wild with their very own puppet shows that they can perform. As part of the preschool educational range of toys we have at ickle Kids, we stock a number of different sets of finger puppets, like these very cute Pirate Finger Puppets:

Problem Solving
Does the toy require the preschooler to solve a problem? Toys that help little children practise their problem solving skills have the benefits of teaching them about perseverance, option evaluation, risk taking and logical thinking.

For instance in a game like Camelot Jnr (which is one of our best sellers!) the child has to build a path so the knight can save the princess. It is a multi-level logic game which focuses on spatial and problem solving skills.

Fine Motor Skills
Does the toy allow your preschooler to practise their fine motor skills? Practising fine motor skills with toys like threading, drawing, peg boards are essential for preschoolers. To be able to learn to write, little ones need to practise their fine motor control and strengthen their finger muscles, so it is beneficial for your child to have toys that encourage this endeavour.

One single toy will not necessarily have all of these elements I have listed. When buying educational toys for your preschooler, if you do look out for these elements, over time you will be able to build up a collection of educational toys that enhances the educational development of your preschooler.

Improving Kids Literacy With Educational Toys and Games

2010-08-13T03:00:00.000+10:00

As a parent it can be easy to think that the only way we can help our kids with literacy is to read to them or have them practice their reading. But supporting literacy in the home encompasses much more than that. Educational Toys and Games are a great way to make the focus on literacy fun.

The well regarded PBS Parents website has a great article on "How To Create A Literate Home" for your children and lists these essentials for homes that have kids who have begun reading and writing:

Books
Writing Materials
Computer
Videos
Games
Reading and Writing Materials for Parents

And it suggests you do the following with your child:

Help your child pick independent reading books.
Foster your child's independent reading. Reading a lot at this stage is important.
Read aloud to your child.
Listen to your child read often.
Help your child to correct her own reading errors.
Talk about things that interest your child.
Play games with your child. Playing games contributes to your child's literacy development.
When he begins getting homework, help your child to create a homework routine.
Help your child with her homework, but don't do it for her.
Communicate with your child's teacher regularly.

ickle kids have a new range of Educational Toys and Games that can help you create the literate home environment like:

Word Magic Mixer is a fun educational game for children to play by themselves or to play in groups. Roll the mixer and see what letters show up, what words can you make from the letters on the dice? Each letter in the mixer can only be used once to make up a word, each letter earns a point ... how many points can you score? A fantastic game that will keep challenging students over and over again! For ages 8+.

Link 26 is a fun educational game that the whole family can play. It will challenge everyone to think quickly and link together words that fit into the challenge category. The starting letter of each word must be the last letter of the previous word!

For example, spread the 26 letter tiles on the table and draw a category card. Say the category is “a type of jungle animal” – player one says picks up the "E" tile and says “elephant”, player two picks up the “T” tile and says “tiger” and so on. Make sure you pick up the tile on the table to ensure you score points! For ages 10+.

What other educational games have you played with the kids that helps support and develop their literacy?

Travel Toys For Baby

2010-08-11T03:00:00.000+10:00

For most parents preparing to travel with a baby, top of the packing list is travel toys to amuse baby! Whether you are traveling by car, plane or train having travel toys for baby that are easy to access and having a way to store them when not in use is key to making sure your baby is entertained.

ickle Kids can help meet this need with our sweet ickle Bubba Pack. This is the perfect travel toy for baby. It includes:

A wooden animal picture clip
Wooden animal bead frame
Wooden animal egg clapper
Wooden animal push toy

And of course it is all contained with its very own travel bag. This travel set will suit short or long distance travel. By having it stored in a convenient location in the house, if you have to head out in the car for any time, you can simply grab the bag and instantly you will have an activity pack to entertain you baby!

This is the first post in our series of Travel Toys for kids of particular ages. We will be giving you ideas on what travel toys to pack for Toddlers, Preschoolers, early primary and later primary school aged kids.

Melbourne Educational Show 2010 - Ickle Kids Educational Toys

2010-08-01T10:30:00.001+10:00

Come visit Ickle Kids - Educational Toys at :

Where - The Education Show
Date - Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th August 2010
Venue - Caufield Racecourse, Station Street, Caufield, Melbourne
Time - 10am till 4pm

The Education Show provides teachers and school leaders with a great professional development opportunity and to access the latest in education. There will be over 100 exhibitors and 60 seminars for teachers to have a look at.

This will be our 2nd year showcasing our educational toys at the Education Show and we would love to see you all there.

Literacy and Maths Activities for School Aged Children

2010-07-05T18:54:00.000+10:00

Currently we are on school holidays in Victoria. Although, we are enjoying our freedom from "school routine", we are also building on our literacy and maths skills that we have learnt at school.

Here are a few ideas of literacy and maths activities for school aged children that we try to encourage at home:

* Reading maps, signs and leaflets - when we visit places of interest like the Zoo, Children's Farms, Museums etc, both boys love to "map" out a route for us. It's amazing to see Mr 7 read all the signs ... gone are the days of making up signs to encourage our boys to "walk slowly, talk quietly, hold hands" etc!

* Diary writing - this has been a big part of Mr 7's weekly routine at school. He really enjoys this and has wanted to keep this up during the school holidays. We bought this gorgeous leather bound journal for him to write and draw whatever took his fancy. This is something that he can show his kids in years to come.

* Researching Ideas - Again, Mr 7 loves researching new things and at the moment he's fascinated with Animals and their habitat. This has been something that they have been focusing on at school. So on a rainy afternoon last week, we took out our BrainBox Animals and did some research! Not only is this a fun memory game, but we also like to use this game to encourage him to research an animal - where they live, how long they live for, what they like to eat, how big they grow to etc. He then writes out the facts he thinks are important and again, we stick this into his journal.

* Counting Money - During the school holidays, the boys are allowed to spend a bit of their pocket money. But first, Mr Piggy had to be counted - we grouped all the notes and coins into piles. We then decided to count each pile to see how many $1 coins, $2 coins etc that they had. Counting money is a great way for them to count up by 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s etc. It also helped Mr 7 understand how many 20c pieces made $1 etc. He enjoyed doing this exercise and has decided to keep saving his money for a bigger "prize" ... a win win exercise for everyone!

* Encouraging the boys to pay at Cafes, Restaurants and Shops - At Cafes and Restaurants, Mr 7 enjoys asking for the bill (something I used to love doing as a child). We then give him some money and we work out together how much change he should receive back. He then trots off and pays at the till - this not only helps with his maths, but also his confidence of speaking to adults. At shops, Mr 7 lines up and waits to be served and again, pays for whatever we are purchasing.

What literacy and maths activities do you encourage your school aged children to practise at home?

School Holiday Activities - Our Family's To Do list!

2010-06-27T10:20:00.000+10:00

We are so excited to officially be on school holidays! Although we don't like to "schedule" too much in, we do like to make the most of our break from school. So as a family, we make a short list of activities that we would all like to do - things that we don't usually get to do during a busy school week.

So here is our family's list of school holiday activities:

1) Groover (7yr old) - wants to watch Shrek at the movies

2) BC (4yr old) - wants to take a long bike ride to practise his two wheel bike action!

3) Both boys - hang out at the skate park!

4) Mummy - would love to take the family to Sovereign Hill in search of gold! I had great childhood memories there and would love to pass this onto our boys.

5) Daddy - bond with the boys whilst shovelling dirt/earth into a big dump bin! The boys are actually looking forward to sorting out our front yard with their Dad! And to watch England win the World Cup!

What activities have you got planned with your kids during this School Holidays?

Entertaining Pre-Schoolers on Rainy Days!

2010-06-08T23:57:00.000+10:00

My gorgeous 4 year old Pre-Schooler loves nothing more than running around kicking a football or playing basketball in the garden. But because winter is well and truly here, we've been migrating indoors and I'm having to entertain BC within 4 walls! Not an easy task at the best of times, but we've come up with some fun Rainy Day Activities that we wanted to share with you:

1)Role Play - Pirate Fun!

We found some empty boxes and "BC" wanted to make them into Pirate Ships. Thanks to Captain Feathersword (from The Wiggles), BC has this fascination with Pirates and the way they speak! So everything begins with "Arrgggh me Hearties"!

In we jump with our Pirate Dress Ups - eye patches on, swords in hand(of course!), bandannas stuck firmly on our heads, our compass and map leading the way to our treasure island so we can hide our sack of gold! We had a lovely time and this was something that he came up with and was really proud of.

2) Indoor Cubbies

BC loves making indoor cubbies! We spread blankets over the dining table and hang them over chairs to make different rooms inside our cubby headquarters. We pop fluffy cushions down and gather "Panda Bear" and his crew to have a picnic lunch inside our little den. This is also a great spot for reading stories or just chilling out having our afternoon chat!

3) Baking our afternoon snack!

This is such a fun activity to introduce to your Pre-Schoolers. After BC chooses what to bake, he helps me by taking out all the equipment that we need e.g. scales or measuring cups, baking tins, cup cake cases, bowls etc. This is a great way for him to practise his listening skills to the instructions I give. I also ask him "what ingredients do you think we need to bake a cake?" - this will then test his memory of what we needed previously to bake a cake e.g. eggs, butter, flour etc.

We then measure the ingredients together on our cooking scales and we then reinforce concepts such as "adding more" to make it heavier and "taking off" to make it lighter. His job is to "pop" all the ingredients one by one into the Kenwood and start it up! But his favourite job is licking the bowl when we're done - this brings back great childhood memories for me and I'm glad it will for him too!

4) Playing fun games

The boys love the fact that we have our very own "Toy Shop!'. We enjoy "testing" out our ickle Kids educational toys together and have lots of fun playing different games that we may not otherwise have been able to play. These new games have just arrived at ickle Kids and they are perfect for Pre-Schoolers and for kids in Prep so BC and I sat down and played them all afternoon!

Day and Night

BC loves this game - he enjoys copying the "Day" pictures and has fun figuring out which blocks he needs to thread through the wooden holder to make the same picture as his challenge booklet. I love these unique games as they are multi-levelled and they will grow with your child.

We're not quite up to the "Night" scenes yet, but we'll get there! The "Night" scenes are pictures of the silhouettes so it does get trickier and BC will then have to figure out which block would make that shape. Click here to find out more about Day & Night

Smart Car

BC loves cars so I knew this was going to be a hit with him! There are four colourful blocks, each of which have different spots for their eyes. The aim of the game is to build the car as it's shown in the challenge booklet and only have two eyes facing the front of the car.

I then gave BC simple instructions "where do you think the red block goes?" pointing to the picture - we then talk about whether it sits in the front or the back of the car, whether the block has to lie with his eyes up, down or hidden. These are great concepts to teach Pre-Schoolers and for them to use their logic skills to determine which way round the block needs to go. Great for their spacial awareness which is so important at this age.Click here to find out more about Smart Car.

Both BC and I enjoyed staying indoors today and we kept ourselves very busy! What games or activities entertain your Pre-Schooler when it's too cold to go outside?

Educational Toys - New Range of Activity Packs

2010-05-12T15:58:00.000+10:00

We are excited to announce our new range of Activity Packs that contain our unique educational toys and travel toys. We are sure you will find something that will entertain your little ones when you are at home or on your travels.

Our range includes:

Remember we can customise the educational toys and travel toys inside your activity pack to suit your child's needs and interests.

Happy travels!

Christmas Stocking Fillers for under $20!

2009-11-17T17:30:00.001+11:00

Check out our 2010 Christmas Stocking Fillers - Click here

We are very excited about Christmas at ickle Kids! We love the festive period and it's such a magical time for kids of all ages.

We know it's a crazy time of year, so we want to make life easy for parents - no longer do you have to drag your children around shops or fight for car spots in multi storey car parks! Grab a cuppa and sit back ... we have put together a fantastic range of Christmas Stocking Fillers for under $20!

Check out our Christmas Stocking Fillers by clicking here.

Here are some of our favourite Christmas Stocking Fillers ...

Word Magic Mixer $14.99

Iclay Accessories $14.99

Magnet Fishing $9.99

Inspirational Business Mums - L'il Aussie Prems

2009-11-02T12:47:00.000+11:00

I am so lucky to be able to meet such amazing women on my travels as a Mum in Business and this month I would like to feature the lovely Julia from L’il Aussie Prems.

Julia created L’il Aussie Prems in March 2007.Through her experience of giving birth so prematurely to Ronan, a year after his 100 day long journey, Julia decided to create L’il Aussie Prems. This was a way of reaching out to parents – to offer support and understanding whilst they were still in NICU/SCN or at home.

The site has only been running on small sponsorship for over two years and has just recently gained major sponsorship through Pumpkin Patch. What a fantastic achievement – well done Julia! Julia believes that no one should have to pay for support. She relies on advertisers and sponsorship to keep the website running and to keep the support totally free for families. This includes the new premmie bags that are posted to families currently in NICU/SCN.

The forum which is a safe place for parents to share their experiences has recently reached over 1000 registered users and is home to many families throughout Australia.

I truly admire Julia’s strength, commitment and perseverance in providing this much needed service to parents going through what she went through. Please check out the L’il Aussie Prems website for further information.

Travel Tips Tuesday - 7 Practical Things to keep in your car

2009-10-13T10:28:00.000+11:00

Photo - Dizzy Atmosphere

When you're out and about with kids and the family dog in tow ... here are our top 7 practical things to keep in the back of the car (or in this case ... cool motor van/motor home!) ...

1) Wet Wipes - great for sticky fingers and mouths,
2) Antibacterial Gel - an essential that we don't leave home without! Too many public toilets run out of soap and with the number of "toilet stops" we have to make with kids ... this item is a must!
3) Towels - to mop up spillages, to sit on in parks etc,
4) Plastic bags - to put used towels and rubbish in,
5) Change of clothes handy - just in case! We keep a small bag by our children's feet so we don't have to unpack our boot to get to our clothes,
6) First Aid Kit - for minor accidents,
7) A travel table (if you have the space) - really handy for kids to play their Brain Teaser Games, Sticker Play Scenes, read their books etc.

I hope this gives you an idea of what to pack as "essentials" when you're on your next short or long car trip with your kids.

I would love to hear what "practical things" you always have packed in the back of your car?