Some favourite toys for independent and open-ended play

The toys that my children love playing with are also the toys that I love because of their timeless appeal and also because they encourage creative and/or independent, open ended play- for example if they are playing 'babies' this game can go on for a very decent amount of time depending on the age of your children! So I thought I'd share my favourite and my children's favourite toys with you- nearly all of these have been brought from a second hand kids shop nearby or from Trade me-I rarely buy toys brand new, and I love buying things to add to a collection e.g: duplo, toy cars or Fisher Price Little People. These are also the toys that both Jack and Stella love playing with so they appeal to both boys and girls. I've written them in order of what they play with the most...

1. Cars

Definitely the most popular toy in our house, both Stella and Jack love playing with our collection of cars, buses, motorbikes and the like- most of them were bought in a bulk lot of trademe for about $15 all up, with a few extra cars and things coming from christmas and birthday presents. I bought the car mat from Payless Plastics- it comes on a roll so you can choose how much you want. They don't use the car mat all that much though, just the lounge floor and couches are enough most of the time! A friend had this cool car ramp at her place so I did buy this new- it was $10 from K Mart in the toy section with the Matchbox car range.

2. Babies

I bought my first toy baby when I was pregnant with Stella so Amelie would have a baby to play with which was great advice. This is a really popular game to play when they have friends over but they also love playing with them when they're on their own at home too. We have about 4 now I think, 3 from the second hand shop and one was a birthday gift (handy when there are a few kids over -they can all have a baby each.) I got the little cot from Trade Me, the buggy and the high chair were birthday gifts from family, and the bath and baby accessories were also from the second hand shop. 

3. Puzzles

Puzzles are really popular with all 3 of my children, they all loved the wooden ones with the little pegs in them when they were around 2 years and now they are loving the alphabet cardboard ones and some easyish jig saw puzzles as well. I love them playing with puzzles- lots of learning, fine motor skills, problem solving etc and they get a great sense of achievement when they complete one.  Dollar value type shops have heaps of really budget friendly puzzles and again Zero to Five has heaps as well. Also lots on Trade Me.

4. Duplo

Duplo is a fantastic thing to start collecting if you have little ones- I bought a bulk bag for $40 from Zero to Five which was a great starting point to our collection, and then every Christmas my dad has bought them a set which is a great tradition. It's a great open ended imaginative toy and my 7 year old still enjoys playing with it. Lego is great too but we've found it better for older children say 5+ years at least (but that's just our kids, some I know starting playing with lego younger)

5. Fisher Price Little People and Fisher Price Toys

I have a bit of an obsession with vintage Fisher Price toys and have started a little collection of them, nearly all from Trade Me. The kids also got a few Fisher Price Little People Sets for birthdays or Christmas so we have a good little collection of that- the bus is by far the most popular toy, Jack would play with that nearly every day putting his little 'persons' in and out of the bus.  Again on trade me there are quite a few bulk lots of Fisher Price Little People if you were wanting to start a collection.

6. Doctors/Vets

All you need for this is lots of soft toys and a doctors play kit. And plenty of wrap around bandages!

7. Farm animals

I made this reversible playmate last year and the kids love getting out the animals and playing farms with it. If you can find a collection of animals on trademe try and find one that has fences too so they can create their own farm paddocks.

 

8. Playdough

I've included playdough as the kids love it but it's not exactly independent play compared with the other toys, and the mess afterwards.... well lets just say I'm pretty happy I have very old carpet at the moment! I pick up quite a few playdough 'tools' from op shops- look out for anything in the kitchen wares like plastic knives, pastry cutters, old muffin trays etc. 

Here's my recipe for some great sensory play dough...

There are loads more great imaginative toys out there, tea sets for tea parties, dinosaurs, trains, dress-ups are another one of my favourites…would love to hear of your favourite toys :)

Megan 

Happy Christmas (and giveaway winner)

Hello all, well I've got time for one last post for 2012 and to share a few things I've been up to crafting wise in the last few weeks...

I made these key rings for Jack and Stella's lovely teachers- I got the heart shaped key rings from a bead shop close by- Uncle Black Beetles Beads. I got the idea after seeing this project via pinterest

I also made a couple of my waterproof make-up purses for Amelie's awesome school teachers but forgot to get a photo of them!

I made a Christmas cracker for Lindsay at her blog Arohanui Vegan Love as part of Katie's fun Christmas Cracker Swap.  Lindsay is going to open hers on Christmas Day so I won't share what I put it in yet but lets just say this shop is very cool if you are wanting vegan or ethical and eco friendly products- I was pretty relieved when I found it!

I bought a new Christmas tea towel from one of my favourite gift shops in Tauranga- Mainly Gifts in Cherrywood.

 

And the girls had a nice surprise for one of their advent pockets one morning- the dollhouse had a little Christmas tree and one of the dolls even dressed up as Santa! After umming and ahhing for a while over this Lundby Christmas tree I finally bought it, shame I could only get one of the lights on it going though!

  

And the winner of my christmas giveaway is comment number 97...

Dianna Townsend- congratulations Dianna, please email me your postal adress to megan(at)mouse house (dot)co(dot)nz. I'm sorry I didn't do the draw in time for a Christmas delivery!

Thank you so much everyone for reading mousehouse this year- I truly appreciate your comments and feedback and really love writing this blog -my 'happy place' I call it :) Hopefully in 2013 I will have a bit more time to write and share even more! It's pretty funny seeing how many half finished posts I have written this year including at least 5 'organised home' posts so hopefully next year I'll be more organised and will be able to finish writing them! Merry Christmas to my fellow bloggers and all of you blog readers and a Happy New Year to you and your families.

Megan x

Winter Clothes

I love corduroy for kids winter clothes- warm, hardwearing and just a little bit of an old fashioned vibe to it. I went to Spotlight in the weekend when they had their 40% off sale and they had the most gorgeous range of printed corduroy for boys and girls. I bought some of this cream Babushka's cord and made a really quick skirt for my 5 year old for school.

Teamed with a long sleeve top and leggings from JK's in their 25% off sale it's a great little outfit for a small cost really!

I was also lucky last week to find this cute- as brown corduroy Nature Baby dress in Zero To Five (a second hands kids store here in Tauranga and the Mount) for my 3 year old for $9 -score!

Even though it didn't really need it I added a few hearts (inspired by one of my favourite bloggers Clare at Greenvalley Crafts).

This will look so cute with a long sleeve top or merino underneath and some stockings :)
I love sewing....
Megan x

i ♥ colour

I've been checking out some of my favourite online shops lately getting a few ideas for christmas pressies- I am loving all these colourful goodies so I thought I'd share them with you!

Kikki-k diary gift pack

Envirosax bag from Green with Envy

Skip Hop kids cup from Yum Yum Kids

Babushka fairy lights from Kid Republic

Robot from Kid Republic

Apple shadow box display shelf from Candy Stripe Cloud


Cath Kidston vintage rose canister set from Lark

Orla Kiely journal from Small Acorns

And if you are a Bay of Plenty local and a big fan of colour and music head along to the incredible musical 'Colourful Soul' on now at the Mount Performing Arts Centre for 2 more nights- tonight and tomorrow night.  Check out www.colourfulsoul.co.nz or www.facebook.com/ColourfulSoul
An amazing show featuring some very talented locals! http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/colourful-show-worth-look/1168623/

Megan x

'love' themed goodies

Hello all, I've been a bit quiet on the computer this week but just thought I'd share a few things I've found online tonight with a bit of a love theme, seeing as Valentines Day is just around the corner....

Naomi Murrell flock screen print

You can also find Naomi Murrell products at Small Acorns

Heart shaped tealights from Rose in Thorns

 

Print from Dear Colleen

 

Love heart chalkboard garden stakes from Lark

I love mummy bib from Cherish Child

Happy Valentines Day for Monday!

Megan x

gifts for girls

Well it has been the most beautiful couple of days here in the sunny BOP - after the equivalent of a year's worth of rain in the last six months it's about time we had some sun! Combined with daylight savings it's been lovely- we've had a morning at the beach, lots of time in the garden, a dinner outside and even got some washing dried on the line for a change! 

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pics of some cute pressies for little girls I've bought or made lately...

I bought this gorgeous skirt for Miss 3 for christmas from the very clever Sarah from Cotton Kiwi via the Felt Aid shop. She is going to love it as her favourite things at the moment are playing dress ups and dancing (like a lot of 3 year olds girls!)

I made a personalised pillowcase and a toilet bag for a little girl's second birthday.

This is going to be a pencil case for a 6 year old girl- her mum took her to Bernina to choose her own fabric and zip as I didn't have any fabric in her favourite colour!

I couldn't resist buying this cute fairy finger puppet the other day for the girls. I found it at the teacher resource shop in Tauranga which is a really great shop (even for non-teachers!) Heaps of cute little things and reasonably priced too.

Well, here's hoping for another nice day tomorrow!

Megan x

my creative space: bridesmaid purses

We had my sister Amy's wedding in Hawkes Bay in the weekend - we had such a great day getting all glam, the ceremony was beautiful and the reception was a lot of fun! There were even bag pipes after the ceremony playing "Scotland the Brave' which sounded amazing walking out of the church. Miss 3 and Miss 1 were flower girls and wore these cute-as Mary Janes from Cherish Child with cream stockings and these lovely dresses from Hatched Boutique.  The fairy wand with flowers was a really cute idea too.

Amy asked me to make some purses for me and the other two bridesmaids for the wedding. Luckily I had just been given some curtain fabric sample waterfalls that weren't needed anymore from Guthrie Bowron in Tauranga which were perfect for the purses (thanks Sue!)  I was going to try to make a purse with a flap over the top but in the end I decided a zip one would be better to keep everything in so I made up a pattern myself. I wanted to make them a bit rounded with a couple of pleats so was really pleased with how they turned out.

The fabrics were perfect in that they were the same pattern but different colours so we knew which one was which. So if you are after some nice fabrics for small things then curtain and other upholstery type shops might just be the place to try!

I had the same fabric in black too so I made another one for me as I thought it would make a nice 'going out' clutch (not that I get out much!!!)

Amy and her hubby are on their honeymoon now in Bali lucky things!!!

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty's here

Megan

I ♥ Miffy

I found some great bargains at the second- hand babies and kids shop "Zero to Five" the other day so I thought I'd share them with you. I went in there with my sister in law  and just as we were leaving I spotted this adorable Miffy bag. I love Miffy books and toys-just the other day I found some Miffy books in the same shop so I sent one to Angela for the Vintage Baby swap and kept the other one for the girls.

Anyway, back to the bag- can you believe it was only $3.40 and it's so cool- it has opening windows and doors, some rattle and squeaker toys, its own little washing line (cute!!!) and even a little mirror and a fluffy cloud.

Don't you love it when you find something like that for such a great price!

I also found this when I got the books the other day-  a pencil case type thing full to the brim with crayons for $4.20 so I had to get that too. 

Once they've all worn down a bit I'd like to have a go at making these from Cat Taylor's blog.

If you're a Dick Bruna fan you might like to check out Maika Creation's blog. Caroline is recreating a Dick Bruna alphabet frieze in fabric and every week she posts a new letter- check out her creations here.

And this Miffy website is really cute for the kids in your house...

www.miffy.com. 

I've started a little list of "Cool Kids websites" down the side of my blog-if you've got any sites that your kids love to visit let me know and I'll add them. So far I've just got got the Miffy one, www.haringkids.com and www.bemboszoo.com. I especially like sites linked to authors or illustrators/artists but any links would be great :) 

Head over to here to see more thrifty finds...

Megan ♡