A visit to my local children's centre

My youngest, Oscar (Oz), will be two next month and  recently with less work commitment I've been venturing out with him to visit friends and family.

Today how ever I decided to visit my local children's centre. These are located nationwide and offer a free service that includes stay and play sessions with snack time for 0-5 years (and 0-11 years in the school holidays), breastfeeding work shops, weigh in sessions, advice work shops, first aid work shops and much much more! 

Nantwich & Rural Children's centre. Source cheshireeast.gov.uk

I honestly only really went to a children's centre properly with my first born for regular weigh in sessions and then with Oscar for weigh ins too, I never thought about anything else they offered until now. 

A post came up on my Facebook with activities for July/August for my local centre and I shared it. One of the mums from school noticed and cut a long story short we have now booked in for a day trip to Llandudno together with our kids which will be great fun. 

Whilst I was at the centre booking for the trip I had a tour and was really impressed. They had a fab sensory room for babies and lots of toys for the older ones to play with, was spacious and seemed really popular with the staff being really approachable, so I made a vow is return with Oscar.

Today we went to the stay and play session which runs from 9:15 til 11:00 AM, I invited my sister along with her daughter who is the same age as Oscar as I felt she'd enjoy it too and I wasn't wrong! They were shy at first but once introduced to a few toys they were both well away and enjoying themselves. Oscar who normally doesn't like to share was happy to have another boy sit and play with him. We spent the first hour or so with the trains and then outside where there was a hut, a play trough with diggers in and what I think was rice crispies and also a few ride on toys.

Outside play area. Source chesireeast.gov.uk

 Next was snack time, the children were sat at small tables with bowls of food to pick. They were given grapes, cheese cubes, bread sticks, bananas, apple pieces, oranges and a cup of water or milk. Oscar sat down nicely and really enjoyed all of the snacks, he sipped his water and was really good throughout. After they'd finished we all helped tidy up and went through to the sensory room for a story and then we sang a few songs. Oscar didn't really enjoy this part though, he just wanted the toys.

I'd really recommend all mums and dads visit a children centre at least once, if you don't like it then fair enough but I know I get cabin fever just from spending a day at home, I'm always needing to do something and it normally has to be out of the house. Not only that but it gave me a chance to meet other mums, to socialise and for Oscar to play with children of his own age. He gets shy easily so I feel taking him along to these sessions not only helps him build confidence but will hopefully also help prepare him for when he eventually attends preschool. I also found that he really enjoyed the huge array of toys (what child wouldn't!) and they have a messy substation too, I know sometimes it's not always possible to get out paints and other messy items for toddlers at home as it usually ends up all over so it gives them a chance to get mucky but without the worry for mum and dads of how much mess and how to clean it as its all in one place and the lovely ladies are on hand to help with the cleaning!

Check out your local children's centre, they're free and you'll be surprised at what they offer for parents and children.

Birthday present shopping

Tomorrow marks Evan's (my eldest son) birthday! He will be 5 years old and boy is he looking forward to it. It's a school day sadly but that's not dampened his spirits as he has sports day, so all the children get to arrive at school in their PE kits and stay that way all day. Something I know I would have liked in my school days as it means less time in the classroom!

In the run up to his birthday I've asked him over and over what he'd like but being Evan he just simply said "Mummy, just get me anything". It's sweet that he's not fussed and that I don't have the most expensive toys on my list to buy but it also made it quite diffcult as I had relatives asking what to buy but here was me not sure myself.
In the end I resorted to asking for cash or I'd try and complement their gifts with a gift we'd purchased already and that went down well.

So here are a few of the gifts I've found for Evan who really didn't have a clue what he wanted so I used my trusty Argos catalogue to find them.

 1. Disney Planes Aircraft carrier £16.99 (usually £24.99) Argos
I originally was going to order a Chad valley version with various vehicles but this one caught my eye as it was on sale and it has a section to store the planes in and to be honest it looks more appealing. I always check reviews for every product I buy and this one had a fab star rating of 4.5 out of 5. I caught it on a sale and had hoped to have bought a plane to go with it but weirdly Argos don't sell them, odd considering they sell the carrier! Luckily I found one in Sainsburys also on sale for £3.99!

2. Lego City Camper Van £14.99 (Usually £17.99) Argos
Evan got a lego set for christmas and he really enjoyed building it, yes it's been destroyed a few times but the main thing is he enjoyed it so I figured I'd get him a set. I wasn't sure which one he'd want but whilst looking through the catalogue I saw this one and instantly knew it was for him as he has a bit of a love for camper vans (just like his Mam). I was lucky again on this one as it was in the sales, I particulary like that you get two figures, a couple of tiny mugs and a canoe! he's going to be playing with it for hours I'm sure.

3. Scooter £19.99 Aldi
This was purchased a month ago by my nan after I suggested it as a gift for Eleanor (my daughter), my nan picked one up for Evan too for when his birthday came around. It was purchased from Aldi, a place a love to shop and look over their bargains on their centre aisle, it won't be on sale there now but they always bring them back.
 The scooter is quite large and would suit from age 4+, the wheels are large and it's very smooth when you ride it compared to the old scooters the kids have which feel every bump. It comes with a kick stand and can be folded for easy transport. My daughter loves hers and I'm sure Evan will too.

4. Spiderman pull cord helicopter £4.99 B&M
I've bought these a couple of times for the boys birthday presents in Evan's class at school. They always went down well and Evan's always asking if he can have one so I got one. They are very much like the pull cord faires you can get but on a larger scale. I haven't seen it in action yet but I'm pretty sure we will be going to the park to use it for fear of it flying into one of our neughbours gardens.

5. Lego Classic box £12.99 Argos
My sister bought this for him, I suggested it as I knew we would be buying a Lego set and thought this would be great to help him build whatever he wanted. It's a fairly small box but has enough Lego in to get him started.

I really hope he likes the choices, he'll more than likely recieve plenty of cards and probably a bit of money too! so no doubt he will be buying himself more Lego or likely more planes for his carrier! Either way I always enjoy present shopping, not so much the cash vanishing but the look on their faces when they see what they've got makes up for that.