Final Day Blogember-ITS CHRISTMAS DAY!!

Merry Christmas Everybody hope you all have a fantastic day and eat lots. Hope you have enjoyed my little blogember series and have found my ideas useful for the family and entertaining your little ones.  Now go eat and be merry.

Love Nanny Bicester

Christmas Blogember-Day 24- Eating and having lots of fun!!

Its Christmas Eve which my family love almost as much as Christmas Day.  The anticipation is on overdrive right now and there is a lot of excitement for children and adults.
My niece is now three and she is starting to understand christmas so really looking forward to spending some of it with her this year and the rest of my family in East Sussex.

Why not make some sausage rolls or mince pies as shared by me in previous blogember blogs.  Also today is the day to share your Christmas eve boxes with your little ones, hope they enjoy them!!!Hope they are filled with lots of fun Christmassy activities to do or maybe you are taking your children out today ice skating, grotto visiting or even a nice Christmas scavenger hunt.  Hope my blogs this month have given you lots of inspiration on what to do this month.

Merry Christmas xx

blogember day 23-making reindeer food

It's Christmas Eve eve as my family would say and for today's activity I'm going to tell you how to make reindeer food.

Very simple you get aome porridge oats and some glitter and mix together and that's literally it. So simple and you tell the children it helps the reindeer to fly!!!

Put out on Christmas Eve with goodies for santa attach a little poem to it or a little note for santa as an added activity.

Blogember Day 22- Create your own Christmas Play

Christmas 2015 me and my charges had a lot of fun creating our own version of the Christmas Story.  I was probably a hinderance when it came to performing it as I couldn't stop laughing the whole way through. 
I'm so passionate about role play with children as it shows their creativity and they can have lots of fun!!  We also loved thinking about what we are going to say and the different characters and outfits we would wear.

A simpler version could be doing a Christmas dance show and the audience members could vote in the style of strictly.

ideas

• dancing
• karaoke to Christmas songs
• Christmas navity
• play based on a Christmas story

Christmas blogember-day 21-Christmas movie night

Who doesn't like settling down and watching a Christmas movie? Why not make it into a afternoon/evening with popcorn and treats.

Movie recommendations

• Elf
• Home alone 1 and 2
• Miracle on 34th street
• The Santa clause 1-3 (Tim Allen)
• The Santa Claus original movie
• The snowman
• Deck the halls

Christmas Blogember-Day 20- Christmas Scavenger Hunt

The christmas holidays are truly underway now and today I thought I would share an activity that me and the charges have done for the last two years.  This was their idea originally and it involves going on a walk locally and looking for christmas items.  Before leaving the house we all create a list of christmas items we think we will see on the walk for example christmas trees in windows, wreaths, tinsel, fairys. When we go out on our walk we make a tally mark against the item everytime we see one and add them up at the end.  To make it more fun we dress up in christmas jumpers, hats or in some cases Father Christmas costumes!!!  This is fun to do with children from 3-11 so I suggest you go do right now!!

I recommend looking on Pinterest for some premade activity sheets if children are of the age where they cant write or not able to make their own.

Happy hunting.

Christmas Blogember- Day 19 -Gingerbread Houses

Last year at work I purchased a gingerbread house kit from Lidi for £5 and the gingerbread parts are already made so you just have to construct it.  You think that would make it easier to put together but it really wasn't.  I advise thick icing on the joints and lots of cocktail sticks but in the end its the fun had doing it.  If you are a baking whizz kid feel free to make the gingerbread yourself however I am not and I think young children would prefer just to decorate it. 

I also liked that this was not to big as once you decorate it wont last for more than a few days.  Definitely think we need to have a second attempt this year!!!

Blogember Day 18-making wreaths

Happy blogember day 18. Today lets make some wreaths.
First of all what kind of wreath are you going to make?pom Pom?traditional?floral?

I personally like a traditional wreath and going to show you how to make a simple one.

What you will need

• Foliage 
• Dried fruit
• Glue
• Bows
• Glitter glue
• Holly
• Wire wreath frame
• Small glue gun

Method

• Take your wire wreath frame and add your foliage to the frame by threading it through the gaps
• Preferably with hot glue gun stick on bows evenly across the wreath
• Add holly, dried fruit any other festive items you may want and make sure everything is attached securely 

I will post my Pinterest board via my Twitter account for different ideas

Blogember day 17-sausage Rolls

Me and the hubby recently made some sausage rolls so I thought as its one of our family traditions I will share his recipe which is a slight tradition

You will need

• tbsp. of cloves
• dried sage-handful
• premade puff pastry
• plain sausages(approx. 8)
• orange for the zest
• dried cranberries(as much as you want)
• egg

Method

1. toast the cloves in a small pan for 5 min on low heat or till softened
2. skin your sausages, grate some orange zest(as much as you want),chuck into a blender with handful of sage, cranberries and orange zest.  If you want to add some juice from your orange do so now.
3. Blend your mix together for a few minutes
4. roll out your premade pastry and divide in half
5. down the centre of each half put a long line of sausage meat, make sure its evenly spread.
6. Fold over one side of the pastry to the other and press down the edges with a fork to look them more tidy.
7. cut up each half into small pieces and wash over with egg wash
8. put onto a baking tray with greaseproof paper lining it.
9. Cook on 180 for around 25-30 min or till golden brown
10. take out and put on a cooling rack

Here is the finished product below

Blogember Day 15- Make your own Stocking

Hello hello and welcome to Blogember Day 15 and guess what only 10 days to go!!!
Another crafty blog today which can be done with smaller children upto older children and that is the creating of your own stocking.

There are lots of craft kits in the shops that mean you can make your own one from scratch or you can buy a cheap one from poundland etc but then why not personalise it.  This would be good if you are doing this activity with children under 5 as sewing anything on would be quite hard for them to do.  Raid your Christmas craft supply for glitter, sparkles and stickers and fabric paint and then you can create your own masterpiece.
If your child is slightly older they might want to do something more challenging and make their own. Check out the links below for some inspiration.

Useful links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=stocking+kit&tag=mh0a9-21&index=aps&hvadid=8861240790&hvqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_69gc8z7zcw_p

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/christmas/christmas-stockings

http://so-sew-easy.com/christmas-stockings-tutorial/

Blogember day 14-Christmas treasure baskets/storybags

My treasure baskets and storybags blog posts this year were really popular and had lots of hits so I thought I would repeat it with a Christmas version for Blogember.  Above I have included a few ideas from pinterest that I found.  The first picture has the basis of the Christmas Story which is very topical and has soft toys of the characters in the story which babies and toddlers would really like and great for a themed storybag.
Treasure baskets can be made of things from around the house at Christmas.  Here are some ideas I have.

• scented reed sticks
• pine cones
• baubles
• various tree decorations
• corated take away cup holders (for example costa coffee Christmas ones)
• tinsel
• spare strings of lights
• bunting
• piece of Christmas foliage
• Christmas food such as a mince pie/gingerbread if suitable for age

Hope you have enjoyed this blog.

love Nanny Bicester x

blogember 13- hold a Christmas party

This can be done on a small scale or a large scale. The children will be breaking up in a few days so why not plan a little end of term fun by inviting some friends over. Lots of party food in the shops at the moment and throw in some sandwiches or mini pizzas.
Play some Christmas music and have a disco or do some karaoke which would be fun for adults and children. Or have a festive dance party with the children dancing to different songs and the adults marking them strictly style!!



If children are younger you can set up some sensory play activities to do see my sensory play blogember post from earlier in the month. Play games such as Christmas pass the parcel, Christmas musical statues or pin the tale on the donkey!!

Also to mention on the lead upto the party you can involve the children in everything from the decorations to making the food.  The possibilities are endless really.  I really like the table set up above that I found on pinterest. 


Check out my Pinterest board for further ideas-www.pinterest.com/nbicester

Blogember day 12-create a santas grotto

You might do this earlier in a the month but as some families don't put up their decorations till now why don't you give it the children some left over decorations and give them a chance to crate a santas grotto. In previous years we have used chairs and boxes to fashion a sort of sleigh.  This was all led by the children so they made banners, paperhains and all sorts of creativity:

I unfortunately do not have any photos and due to privacy would not be able to share them anyway so have put some creative links below.

 My ideas

• use boxes to fashion a sleigh
• paper chains
• tinsel
• fairy lights
• decorate a chair as santas throne
• use any leftover decorations not used in the house
• mini trees
• bunting
• any decorations they have made

Useful links
http://www.itv.com/thismorning/home-garden/create-your-own-christmas-grotto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkANdp1Sq_Q

Blogember day 11- Visit to Santa

Have you been to visit Santa yet with your little ones?  At my local garden centre in bicester they have a lovely grotto but we haven't been able to walk all the way in as you have to pay and we are childless.   I remember as a child when I went to Lapland with my parents and brothers. We had a husky sleigh ride and it was so magical despite my youngest brother refusing to actually see Father Christmas. My middle brother had just found out the truth prior but this trip made him want to believe again!!

Today is very wet in Bicester so great way to entertain the children today no matter where you are. 2 weeks to go to the big day!!

Christmas Blogember Day 10- Making Mincepies

 Today I am going to share with you how to make some mince pies very easily with minimum effort which is my kind of cooking.

You will need

• premade short crust pastry
• premade mincemeat
• greased individual section baking tin
• rolling pin
• pastry cutters
• 1 egg

Method

1. roll out your premade chilled pastry and preheat oven to 180
2. cut out 12 large circles
3. cut out 12 slightly smaller circles
4. grease your baking tin then place the larger circles in to fit the space
5. fill your pie bases with the filling, don't overfill
6. place the smaller circles over the top of the pies and press edges to the side so there are no gaps
7. wash with some egg
8. cook for 15-20 min depending on when light golden brown
9. remove from tin and place on cooling rack to cool down
10. And eat!!

There we go some very simple and yummy.

Christmas Blogember-day 9- salt dough tree decorations

How to make salt dough decorations

What you will need

• Flour 1 cup

•  Salt 1 cup

• 1/2 cup of water   

• bowl

• festive shape cutters  

 What will you need to do

• Mix the salt and flour in a large bowl
• Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water
• Knead until smooth and shape into a ball
• If you want to color your salt dough, simply mix in a few drops of food coloring while you are kneading it. Another touch is adding glitter for a lovely festive touch.
• Cut out your shape using the cookie cutter make a hole in the top
• Leave the shape to air dry or bake at 200 till dry

Hey presto you have a festive tree decorations here's some ideas below on ideas you can do. You can always wait till they are dry then paint instead.

Blogember day 8-Christmas jumper day

The 16th December is the national Christmas jumper day and schools  around the country will be participating in this. Are your children participating? What about you? I have used this idea for a blog in advance so you have time to order yourself a pack and get involved in advance.

Save the Children are leading the campaign trying to raise money for Children in Syria.  I have included the link to their website below.

https://christmasjumperday.org/

The website has lots of fun ideas to how children and adults can raise money in fun ways suitable for home, school and in the work place. When did Christmas jumpers become so cool???

This is me in one of my Christmas Jumpers in 2014!!

Christmas Blogember-day 7-December activity box

A slightly different take on the Christmas Eve box instead a December entertainment box.
You could combine different items to do in December and put them into one place to do when children get bored or one a day.

Ideas to go in

• Mini craft kits
• Mince for mince pies
• Christmas films
• Gingerbread house/character kit
• Letter writing kit
• Coloured pens/pencils
• Card/paper
• Christmas cookie cutters
• Glitter
• Paper chains
• Elf on the shelf
• Christmas songs cd
• Cookie kits
• Pantomime tickets
• Art and craft kits make your own

Christmas Blogember-Day 6-christmas themed sensory play

Happy 3rd Birthday to my gorgeous niece Mia and Happy Birthday to my Dad.

The big kids are still at school for a while so today I thought I would think of some baby and toddler Christmas sensory play activities.

Shaving foam
Shaving foam is great to use as fake snow!! You could some on a tray and hide toys in it such as happyland or vetch toot toot characters/vechicles.

Sensory bottles
old drinks bottles with food colouring and some glitter/Christmas sprinkle items such as snowflakes are always a winner.  Make sure you secure the lid of the bottle tight. Another good idea is to put some tree beads in the bottle.

Christmas playdough
Read my previous blog on making playdough but use Christmas coloured food colouring and cookie cutters of festive shapes.



Shredded wrapping paper mixed with Christmas items such as baubles providing safe to do so.

Hope this has sparked your creative juices today. Hope you are enjoying my blogember blogs.

Christmas Blogember-Day 5-Communciation with the North Pole

If they haven't already today is the day I feel is Santa letter writing day.  Depending on the age of your children they could write their own or you can get plenty of templates on the internet and Pinterest. 

One of my sisters in law have in recent years arranged for our niece to be sent a letter from father Christmas which is so lovely and I have put the links below at the bottom of the blog.
So get your child to do their letter and "send it off" and arrange for a reply to come back a few days later.

I must mention the Santa video messages that can be done via this link below.
https://www.portablenorthpole.com/en/store/videos
I have seen this be done by parents of a three/four year old and she was absolutely mesmerised and it really works as a good behaviour management tool at this time of year.  I must warn you though to test the videos first to check its displaying the message you want it to as you don't want to upset your child if it says they have been naughty when they haven't!

So much online to look at so go have a look.

http://www.santa.co.uk/letter

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/make-a-donation/letter-from-santa/?utm_source=ppc&utm_medium=bing_brand&utm_campaign=201609+lfs&utm_content=bing_brand&ac=174410&gclid=CPH0_rnEntACFeAWGQodez4OyA&gclsrc=ds&gclid=CIO7lJ6FptACFaAYGQodHGMFZA&gclsrc=ds

Christmas Blogember Day4- Preparing christmas eve boxes

Photo from Pinterest

Today is the 4th December which means its the hubbys birthday so special day in our household. Happy Birthday to him xx

Todays topic of conversation is Christmas Eve boxes.  In my day we sometimes had a present on christmas eve (yes we were slightly spoilt) but now parents take this to a whole different level by giving children christmas eve boxes. This does not have to be expensive and can be created by things you already have in the house.

How to make the box
There are some beautiful wooden ones online that you can buy however they are expensive and you can just use a small cardboard box wrapped in wrapping paper or a christmas gift box.


Top things to put in the box

• christmas pyjamers
• christmas book for example The Night before Christmas
• christmas craft kits-There are some good £1 in hobbycraft
• christmas movie
• reindeer food-check out how to make this (usually some dried porriage oats and glitter)
• small christmas baking set for example mini gingerbread house kit-Lidi and BN stores do some great ones

link to pinterest board-

Christmas Blogember day 3-Christmas Markets

Today I'm thinking all things Christmas Markets and show that there are plenty of fantastic ones that don't involve travelling into Europe.  Last Year we went to the Birmingham German market and really enjoyed it.  We also managed to pick up a few bits and bobs and enjoyed a good brawurst and gluwein as well!! There was some rides and a huge wheel and ice rink to entertain the children but in regards to the ice rink I would book in advance as it gets busy.

This year I would really like to go to the Bath Christmas market as I hear that's really good and plenty to see and do.  Ive never been that fussed on the Oxford one as I feel it could be better and have some more stalls.

Links
http://www.oxfordchristmasmarket.co.uk/
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/frankfurtmarket
http://www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk/

Christmas Blogember Day 2-elf on the shelf

Providing my elf on the shelf actually arrives I plan to do my own take on this during December. If you have one you might already be in the swing of it.  Working with older children this has not been an activity they could enjoy fully but younger children really enjoy it.
For those of you who don't know you name your cuddly elf and each morning the children find the elf in different spots around the house usually upto naughtiness.
Link to purchasing Elf on the Shelf goodies-https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_11?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=elf+on+the+shelf&sprefix=elf+on+the+%2Caps%2C278&crid=MFVXRKVY2F23



I have also noticed some of the shops,supermarkets are selling their own versions slightly cheaper so I reccomend having a look around if you don't have one already.

Christmas Blogember day 1-Christmas Tree

December is upon us already hooray and the sounds of advent calendars around the country are being opened by small and big people.  This month in the quest to blog more regularly I will be doing a Christmas blog advent calendar of Christmas ideas and places to go, things to do.

Today I thought I could use putting up the Christmas Tree as today's activity.  We love having the tree up in my family for the whole of December. As a child my mother was slightly controlling about the way the Christmas tree was decorated and only occasionally were we allowed to help.

Here is my tree Christmas 2015.  We normally get a real one but decided to invest in an artificial one to reuse in years to come.  Its very sparkly so doesn't need a theme of baubles/tree décor so we just buy random decorations and will add to this as time goes on.

We will put ours up this weekend and add a few more decorations we got during the year.

Happy blogember all xx

Christmas Blogember-day 16 -pantomimes

I love a good pantomime but sad to say haven't been to one for a few years unless we count school Christmas performances of my charges.

Who doesn't like a panto villian and a customary "he's behind you"? They are always generally a classic story such as Snow White,Cinderella etc.

So there we are a very short blog today but go look up what's on in your area.

http://www.bigpantoguide.co.uk/


Happy Christmas Jumper Day also hope your all wearing yours!!

Wellington country park near Reading in Berkshire

A few hours spent in the late October sunshine with two of my uni friends and gorgeous baby girl at Wellington Country Park near Reading.
http://wellington-country-park.co.uk/

This is a very quick blog post about my trip here in half term as I didn't spend very long here and did not engage with all the activities on offer as we were with a 8 month old so there was not as much she could engage with but did love the animals.

 As you can see from the photo here the weather was beautiful and we had a lovely stroll around the lake which would be lovely at anytime of year as it doesn't take to long and you could stop and have a picnic. 
The petting zoo area is a lovely size and a few different farmyard animals for children to look at.  In the wooded area there were some cool dinosaur models to look at so would be great for any dinosaur enthusiasts.

Facilities include a large café and shop with plenty of indoor seating and outdoor seating. The cost is reasonable for what it is so go on over to the website for further information and details on special events.

They also arrange scavenger hunts and work shops which sounds fun defintley a must for small children.


I liked it here and a day could be made of it but more for 2-8 years for my recommended age of children.

Remember Remember the 5th November

The year is going really fast and this weekend is Bonfire Night.  This is a lovely time of year to share with your family and friends.  I thought I would devote this blog to some fun activities you can do on the lead up to the 5th.

Fireworks collages/paintings

Most effective with black paper as your base.  Use tissue paper, glitter, paint and get your children to create their own art masterpiece.

Make some firework party food

I found loads of different ideas on pinterest and have saved some to my board.  Here is the link to ideas.

Make some Firework decorations

Hold a firework party

After making lots of delicious food why not invite friends and family round to enjoy it.  If you are having fireworks at home make sure all little ones are aware of firework safety and are kept away from the fireworks.

Remember to keep safe when using fireworks around young children. Happy Bonfire Night.

Halloween Activities

Do you participate in Halloween in your household? Do you think its a load of nonsense?

I personally am not a huge believer in Halloween however think its a good opportunity to have some fun with children as there is so much you can do with it activity wise with young children to older children.

1.Dressing up for Trick or Treating                                           2.Face Painting

3.Make a Halloween Grotto


                                                                                                              4..Pumpkin Carving

                                                                    5. Spooky themed sensory play
                                            

                                                   

Whats going on in Oxfordshire/Further afield this half term?

October Half Term will shortly be upon us and although I will be enjoying some more annual leave I thought I would share whats going on in Oxfordshire this half term.


Millets Farm-Halloween Events
http://www.milletsfarmcentre.com/event/290

Creepy maze trails, pumpkin carving and Halloween circus to name a few events going on at Millets Farm this week.

Blenheim Palace
http://www.blenheimpalace.com/attractions-and-events/events/2016/autumn/halloween-at-blenheim-palace.html

Spooky tours and ride the ghost train to the pleasure gardens and if you fancy some spooky storytelling sessions.  There is lots to offer here.

Get Creative with Halloween
See my Halloween blog shortly to be published on some fun ideas to do at home with the kids and get those creative juices flowing.

Explore the museums
As always the local museums have some trails, activities and some special events on so check out the websites for Ashmolean, Pitt Rivers etc.

LEGOLAND
http://www.legolandholidays.co.uk/legoland-windsor-events/brick-or-treat.html

Kids go free during half term!! Which is a good incentative to go especially as LEGOLAND is not cheap.

American Museum of Natural History, New York

During my trip in New York we visited the American Museum of Natural History attracted there by the dinosaurs and space stuff. After a small diversion of the wrong subway line we arrived 11am so had to do a small bit of queuing.  The Museum has a wide variety of exhibits and artefacts from American history, mammals to Asian culture.  It is very easy to spend a few hours here as there is so much to see.

 Is it expensive?

Adult $22 Child 2-12 yrs $12.50

Free if you buy a New York Pass or City Pass for attractions in the city.  Ill put the links at the bottom.  There is a lot in the museum to see and do so I think its priced well for what you get.  Just to note special exhibitions and events are normally extra.

Facilities?

Very clean facilities in the museum.  There is a few cafes and restaurant throughout the museum that sell hot and cold food. There are also a few gift shops dotted around the museum.

Best bit?

As we thought we really enjoyed the dinosaur section and there was real dinosaur bones and full size replicas which were huge!! I also enjoyed looking at the tomb in the photo below.

Interactive tools?

Like with most attractions the museum has its own app.  It is good in the sense that you can connect to the free wifi and it will navigate you around the museum.  However I didn't find it useful in the sense of providing me with extra information about the content in the museum.

Any thing I didn't like?

I was disappointed with the Earth and Space areas in the museum.  The planetarium was impressive but to go in would of cost extra.

Other information to let you know about

I saw that the museum do different types of tours which look amazing. They are generally about 3 hours long.  They even do a tour about Night of the Museum which the museum was used for filming.

They also do day camps and workshops for children and families, look at the website for more details.

If you are visiting New York with little ones I definitely recommend the museum for a visit. Plenty to see and do for all the family.

Useful information

amnh.org for the website link
New York Pass-https://www.newyorkpass.com/En/?aid=28
City Pass-http://www.citypass.com/

My trip to New York City in a nutshell

So I have just been on the best city break ever to New York City which was my 30th birthday present from my hubby.  Ive wanted to go here for a really long time and believe me it did not disappoint. Here are some photos from my trip below.

~ 

 This are just a few of my 600 photos that I took and have purposely not included my hubby in them as he's not a fan of lots of photos of himself on the internet.  We went everywhere from Times Square, central Park, Rockefeller centre, Empire State Building, World Trade centre memorial and museum and new One World trade centre observatory, 5th Avenue, Macys and everywhere else to name a few.  A lot of what I did was more for adults however we did visit the Natural History museum and Central Park Zoo which we really enjoyed but I think I will save that for separate review blogs as these are more reverent to the theme of my blog.

As always thanks for reading.

Nanny Bicester x