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Christmas Advent Activities

Play Dough Cupcake Invitation

Busy Bags for Travel with Kids

Daily Routine Charts for Kids

Our DIY Tabletop Art Easels

Getting started with Sensory Play

What I’ve learnt becoming a stay at home dad

DIY Road Blocks

DIY Tree House for Small World Play

Our Kmart Cubby Hack

Our favourite open-ended toys on a budget!

Toy Rotation FAQ’s

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Alright, let’s talk about Christmas and the big red guy 🎅🏼
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I pretty much shopped exclusively online this year so I’ve been mostly finished our shopping for a while now, but I wanted to ask a question about Santa.
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Firstly, does Santa visit your home? If yes, does he typically bring the amazing presents? The ones that get all the glory? Or do those presents typically come from mum and dad?
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Growing up, Santa got allllll of the glory. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up so we could always count on Santa delivering the goods! But now I’m a parent myself and our children have pretty well developed memories, it’s got us thinking about whether Santa will get all the fame and glory in our home 🙊
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I’d love to know how it all works in your home! Tell me below and help me make up my mind 🎅🏼 Oh and please tell me Santa is lazy and chucks all the presents in a sack and calls it a day? #AintNobodyGotTimeToWrap

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Oh my goodness - take me back to those sweet little chubby baby hands 😍
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I love a good DIY but this one is an old favourite! Many years ago, I created some sensory frames for a little baby Lilly. She absolutely adored them (and so did Elliot a few years later).
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To make these frames, simply remove and dispose of the glass from your frame and hot glue some different textured items to the backing board. Pop it back into the frame and voila! You have some incredibly EASY diy sensory materials for your little one! We got our frames at Kmart and IKEA and almost all of the inserts from Kmart too 🙌🏻
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I’m all about spreading the love (and making playtime super easy for mamas across the world) so if you have a mum friend with a little baby, please do send this post to them or tag them below!

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This is exactly how I feel when it’s Kurtis’ turn to cook and he orders pizzas 🍕
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Lilly is about to finish up her first year of school and what a wild ride it’s been! Over the weekend, I shared on my stories about how we’ve ordered some readers to support her over the school holidays. But boy was that controversial!!!
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I’m so grateful for this beautiful community of parents and teachers here on IG. My heart is so full reading your messages every single day sharing how I’ve inspired you or made you feel like you’re enough and that you’re not alone in this parenting journey. I read every single message and do my best to reply to them all...even if it takes me a few weeks sometimes.
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But every now and then, I’m also met with some really nasty and personal messages that sometimes shake me a little. Messages that question or shame my parenting choices. Messages that actually say more about the person than me...but that’s still really quite difficult to remember sometimes when it feels so personal. And unfortunately it’s becoming a ‘normal’ part of social media these days.
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I wanted to take a moment tonight to say THANK YOU to all of the beautiful people that filled my inbox over the weekend. I have read every single message but I haven’t been able to catch up and reply to everyone personally. So I wanted to say thank you for your continued support and beautiful words of encouragement and appreciation. It really does mean the world! 🌸

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If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of toys in your home, get ready to save this post by clicking the flag icon below this image! 🎄
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When Christmas starts to sneak up on us, we go on a crazy decluttering binge - we #MarieKondo that shiz! We sort through all the things making room for the inundation of new toys and goodies. So here’s how I prepare for Christmas to ensure we don’t start drowning in toys again!
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1. Declutter like a madwoman. Remove broken toys, toys missing pieces and developmentally inappropriate toys. Get rid of toys that haven’t been played with all year #SayonaraHappyMealToys 🙋🏻‍♀️
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2. Rehome quality toys to Nana’s house (sorry Nana 💁🏻‍♀️) secondhand stores, Doctor’s Clinics, daycare centres. Anywhere that takes donations of quality toys!
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3. Make sure everything has a home. Reset the entire house and take all the toys back to their homes. If there’s not enough space, return back to step one and keep decluttering!
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4. Put together a wishlist for gift giving. Perishables like art and craft supplies are always a winner. Request experiences over gifts like annual subscriptions to the zoo, play centre or theme parks.
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5. Begin toy rotation. Find a space in your home to rotate toys and pack away the rest. Less is more and will result in more creative, focused play. 8-10 toys is a sweet spot for toddlers!
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I hope these tips help prepare you for the crazy Christmas season. We have embraced a more minimalist approach to gift giving this year but we’ve already begun decluttering our current toy stash!
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Do you have a tip that helps keep toy overwhelm at bay this time of year? Tell us below – I’ll share some in my stories!

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Have you started Christmas activities yet?
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Today I went through our stash of small world supplies and put aside a bunch of little props for some imaginative play. I love to set up little small worlds for the kids but this year I’m going to try something a little different...
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This year I’m going to add some of the props to a basket so the kids can create their own small world scenes! I need some help though. Everything we have is very ‘white Christmas’ and snowy/cold looking. What can I add or grab to make it a bit more Aussie and relevant to their own experiences of Christmas? 🤔
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This time last year, I set up this little small world on our train table! Tap the pic for all the details!

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Throwing it back to one of my favourite invitations - play dough cupcakes!🧁
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Way back when Lilly was just two years old, I set up this sweet little invitation with some freshly cooked play dough (swipe across for the recipe) and some loose parts like silicone cupcake moulds, candles and beads.
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While creating her play dough cupcakes, I was able to explore some early numeracy concepts by counting the candles with her as she placed them into the play dough cupcakes. You could also do some counting on and early addition work – “How many candles do you have on the cake? Let’s add two more? How many do you have altogether?
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We were also able to develop her fine motor skills and her pincer grip as she very carefully picked up each of the beads and placed them onto her play dough cupcakes.
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Want to see how to extend this activity for older children as well? Head to my blog to read the entire post this week! Feel free to DM me for the link!

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Who’d of thought buying our taco seasoning in bulk at Costco would provide us with the most amazing baby play toy! 🌮 😂
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When we fiiiinally made our way through this huge container of taco seasoning, I knew that the container would come in handy for something. And it turns out that it’s the perfect size for posting activities with miss Audrey!
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In fact, when we went away last weekend...all I packed for Audrey was this container, a ball and some peg dolls to post into the container 🙊 #CheapThrills
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So next time you think you need lots of fancy toys to entertain your littles, just head to Costco and stock up on taco seasoning and recycle the container for hours of posting and transferring fun! 💁🏻‍♀️
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Swipe across to see how else Audrey has been using her container this month!

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Have you started Christmas play with your little learners? 🎅🏼
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I’ve been busily preparing a Christmas Play Pack for my Little Play Club members which will be launching this week 🎄 Elliot has been LOVING the ‘Cookies for Santa’ activity this weekend and I cannot WAIT to share it with my members! I’ve included both letters and a 2D shape/colours version too!
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Christmas is my favourite time of the year so I’m super excited to do lots of craft, activities and festive play with my little learners. But first I need to decide how our Elf on the Shelf is going to make his appearance tonight 😳 #LastMinuteElf
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If you’re a Little Play Club member, be sure to pop on over to the Play Portal on Wednesday to grab this fun activity and soooo many more when the next Play Pack is released. And if you’re not a member yet, head to www.littleplayclub.com to pop your name on the wait list! 🎅🏼

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So many clever educators and parents setting up gorgeous, inviting spaces to finish off the year! 🎄
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My Santa’s Workshop dramatic play set included everything you need to set up several different themed stations this festive season! Including a present wrapping station, letter writing station, tree decorating station, gingerbread station and more! 🎅🏼
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Head to the link in my bio to grab a copy of all the printable signs, labels, recipes, templates and more for just $8!

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