Stocking Fillers for Older Children Under £20

Today's blog is going to hopefully give you all some inspiration when buying stocking fillers for older children when maybe they are not necessarily into toys anymore.  I have included ideas for boys, girls and some are unisex.

                             

Oxford United Football £17.50

Small Emma Bridgewater mug-£19 John Lewis 

Christmas pjs from Asda £9

zoella warm and toasty gift set- £18 Boots
http://www.boots.com/zoella-warm-and-toasty-10234860

Football merchandise(generic)-lunch boss, bags, stationary etc

Phone mini speakers-    Amazon 

Lush bath bombs-£4.50

https://uk.lush.com/products/bath-bombs/luxury-lush-pud

Need

Warwick Castle day trip-October 17

Last weekend I had a really fun day trip with my parents to Warwick Castle in Warwickshire.  It's been a place on my list to go for a while and as the parents were visiting we decided to go.

It's quite expensive I'll be honest especially if you don't book in advance or don't have a merlin pass/annual pass holder. Details below on pricing but I would recommend booking in advance online as you save a lot of money.
https://www.warwick-castle.com/booking/day-tickets.aspx
That being said you can definitely make a day of it and there is lots going on in the holidays with special events.

We paid for the dungeon experience as extra and oh migod it was so scary.  I think they advise that children to be 10 or over and I would  agree with this as it's full of people jumping out at you, loud noises, spooky music and very dark rooms! We were taking the mickey out of my mother but actually I think she had the last laugh.  I won't say anymore to ruin it but if you like scary thrills definitely do it.

The castle grounds and inside have lots of interesting artefacts and things to learn to hold your little ones interest but without being to long winded. I loved how they had lots of pumpkins dotted around the grounds to be very seasonal.





You have a small choice on food and drink stalls and there is a restaurant.  I didn't go in so can not comment on the food quality but had snack and a nice donut from one of the outside stalls.  As I always say you can always save money on taking your lunch which I would always do with young children as they can be a little fussy at times can't they?

Accessibility is good in the grounds for all needs and abilities as its flat with disabled access.  You don't have to walk far between things. We botched up on going to the right car park though and had to walk for about ten minutes so bare that in mind.

Also to note we spotted that you can stay onsite in log cabins.  These looked really cool so would love to maybe do this at some point in the future.

Important info
https://www.warwick-castle.com
Warick Castle Twitter
facebook link

Best advent calendars for children 2017

Cadbury chocolate calendar , widely available 

Tesco free from chocolate advent calendar 

Crayola Advent calendar, widely available

There is a wide range of advent calendars available these days and it's not just about the chocolate. This post will include some different ideas for younger and older children. I have included a few faves that are available to buy this year. Check out my Nov 16 blog on DIY calendar ideas.

Zoella lifestyle calendar £50 Boots

Playmobil calendar, around £20 and widely available

2017 Half term Halloween Activities

Half term is nearly upon us so I thought I would look at what there is to do in Oxfordshire and beyond to keep the kids entertained (don't worry its only a week!).

Stowe Landscape a Gardens Halloween Trail
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events/8ef4cbcd-3b5b-4f94-85c6-c69f139fbadd/pages/details
National trust venues all over the country will be hosting their own half term events so go check out their website for more information. I love a good trail as it really engages children in their surroundings and the activity.

Have you read any of my mini blog series? Over the last couple of weeks I have posted 6 different Autumn activites to do. These would be great to do in half term and are not costly to do. Follow the links below to explore.
Leaf Printing Pumpkin Picking Conkers Autumn Treasure Basket

Warrick castle Halloween events
https://www.warwick-castle.com/explore/halloween-haunted-castle.aspx
Warrick castle are putting on some Halloween events this half term that I thought looked good.I am going here hopefully on Saturday so expect a review blog soon.

Prepare and carve those pumpkins! If you have been pumpkin picking you now need to do something with it. Carve them, use the seeds for messy play and use the insides for pumpkin soup.

Trick or treating- now I do understand that most children will be back at school for Halloween but some have two week half terms so didn't want to miss it out of this post. Who doesn't love a chance to dress up and use some face paint.

Just a few ideas to get you started hope you have a fantastic half term.

Autumn Activities 6- Leaf Puppets

I found a great idea on Pinterest for another Autumn based activity and that's Leaf puppets.

Here's some images I found to give you an idea of how they could look.

Ideas on you will need to create your leaf puppet;

• Selection of leaves
• Lollipop sticks
• Wobbly stick on eyes
• Felt tip pens
• Glitter
• Paint
• Glue/sellotape
• Buttons
• Glitter

Hope you have enjoyed my Autumn activity blogs mini series. This will be my last one as I'm going to be writing some Halloween based blogs.

Autumn Activities 5- Make your own bird feeder

Today we are doing another craft activity, Bird feeders.
Now you could go and buy a bird feeder and the bird seed but I was looking on Pinterest and saw so many ideas on how to make your own in a creative way so may do a Pinterest board tagging different ideas.

You will need;

• Small plastic bottle
• 2 cheap wooden spoons
• Something to punch holes in bottle
• String to tie bottle to tree
• Bird feed

Recipe for bird feed;

• 1 cup of lard
• 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup of unsalted peanuts
• 1/2 cup of dried fruit

Mix altogether and leave overnight. Put into bottle and do up lid. Punch some holes randomly three or four times on bottle. Stick the wooden spoons through the holes so it looks how it does in photo. Then tie up in the garden on a tree or branch.

Hopefully you will attract lots of different birds.

Autumn Activites 4- Autumn treasure baskets

Welcome back to Autumn Activites mini series. Today we are going to talk about creating Autumn themed treasure baskets. Previously I have done a activity of the week on treasure baskets and have linked this below.
https://nannybicester.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/activity-of-week-treasure-baskets.html

To make a treasure basket more topical and reverent to Autumn you could add the following;

• Conkers
• Different shape and coloured leaves
• Pine cones
• Any other items you find in the outdoors
• Winter vegetables such as squash and pumpkins