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The Fairytale Mum

Children's Author & Play Enthusiast

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🖐️𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀🖐️... Which would be your favourite to touch?⁣ ⁣ I realised that little Lottie has been hiding from many of our #picbookplay activities, so with the boys both at school today, I thought I'd create one especially for her.⁣ ⁣ At 6 months she's into feeling and grabbing everything. (No more necklaces and hair-down-days for me... Ouch!) We bought #ThatsNotMyMermaid from @nataliesstorycorner a while back. Her little face lights up when read books like this together.😍⁣ ⁣ As a follow up activity, I cut out some handprints and stuck various materials on each. I chose some bits and bobs of old packaging:⁣ 🌟Shredded paper⁣ 🌟Bubblewrap⁣ 🌟Squishy polystyrene ⁣ 🌟Dried pasta⁣ 🌟Chicken feathers (you won't believe how soft these are.)⁣ ⁣ I realised afterwards that it might have been nice to include some textures from the garden - grass, petals, leaves, twigs or stones 🌷🌸🌹🌺🌻🌼 - maybe that's an activity for another day and of course, the boys probably would have loved getting gluey and helping to make to the handprints too. Oh well.💁⁣ ⁣ Right now Charlotte is still mostly exploring the world on her tummy, but as she gets stronger, these could be stuck to the wall for her to touch whilst sitting or standing. You'll see that she enjoys taping her foot against the squishy polystyrene print too.👣 A variation could be to make sensory footprints to walk on perhaps.👣⁣ ⁣ The boys will likely want to play with Charlotte when they get home (I love watching them all interact❤️) so I'll challenge them to think of some descriptive words for each handprint.🖐️⁣ ⁣ I think my favourite to feel was the Bubblewrap - or perhaps the feathers... Which would you choose?⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ #playfullyraisingreaders #ourbookplay #Beyond the book #readtometoday #shareyourplaywithme #adventuresthroughplay #Play_explore_create #playwithmillie #samgoldsworthychildmindingplayideas #littleacornsplayideas #theplayadventures #kidslovelylearning #creative_play_everyday #ourfunfactory #creativeplayideasforkids #Inspirationforisolation #quickeasyplay #kidsbookswelove #earlylearning101 #earlyyearslearning #babyplayideas #babyplaytime #6monthsold #inspired_creative_kids
Sometimes, the messiest days are the most producti Sometimes, the messiest days are the most productive... Yesterday could have been one of 'those' days. I woke, in a funk, alone in the house (aside from the children of course.) Fortunately, my guilty scroll through social media led me to @iaminprint 's picture book day. I registered with 30 seconds to spare before the writers' fairy godmother, #AmySparkes⚡ started to sprinkle her magic. And so the day began... As the children disappeared underneath a mountain of cracker crumbs, the house got messier, but my mind became freer. Tracey Corderoy, Arabella Stein, Lucy Brownridge, Tom McLaughlin, Sarah Malley, all led inspirational and insightful talks. Sarah and Elane were excellent hosts. I may still have had a towel on my head at 4pm, (multitasking didn't quite allow for hairdrying), but I finished the day feeling motivated, educated and happy. Thank-you @iaminprint for hosting a truly wonderful event. Now, where's the 'hoover of inspiration' that Tracey mentioned? I've a mountain of cracker crumbs to clean up! . . . #amwriting #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #scbwi #picturebookauthor #picturebook #picturebooksaremyjam #picturebooksofinstagram #writers #childrensauthor #gettingpublished #authorsofinstagram #illustration #illustrator #storytelling #storyteller #submissions #littlesnippetsofus #coolmumclub #mumlifeuk #emmasdiary #writingadvice #writingtips #writinginspiration #writinglife #playwithbooks #childrensbooks #childrensliterature #childrensbooksofinstagram
Hello lovely people... I've got some exciting news Hello lovely people... I've got some exciting news to share... But first... This is the book that changed me into a reader. 'Five Children and It' is classic children's fantasy featuring the Psammead. Perhaps you read it too? I don't remember being very into books when I was very small - until I read Nesbit's novel. I read the book in a day - it was unputdownable! (Real word, honest!) My mum didn't believe that I read the entire story so quickly. I loved it. I wanted to meet a sand fairy with the power to grant wishes too. If I could grant a wish for my children now, it's that they each find 'their book' sooner than I did. Books can plunge you into magical worlds, transport you backwards and forwards in time, introduce you to villains and rogues, heroes and heroines. Books are marvellous... And I'd like to help children to access them. In the real world, there are still so many who don't. So... My exciting news is... ...We've been picked to be #brandambassadors for @littleotterbooks . (Thank-you for the thinking of us @live._and._learn ). If you're local to us then you may remember seeing Charlotte who runs @littleotterbooks on her stall with her gorgeous book collection before the world went bonkers. She stocks so many lovely titles for children that I cannot wait to tell you about. 🌟I'm also chuffed to be able to offer you a 10% discount on her website - just use the code FAIRYTALE10 at the checkout.🌟 Save this post to remember the code. Maybe this will help a few more children access a few more books? Which book changed you? Ooh... I almost forgot. This book was #gifted . Thank-you @littleotterbooks 😘 . . . #raiseareader #readeveryday #childrensbookstagram #childrensbooks #earlyliteracy #earlyliteracymatters #playwithbooks #readandplay #readalongplayalong #readingforpleasure #bookplayactivities #bookinspiredplay #booksforchildren #bookplay #discountcode #discountbooks #discoverunder1k #childhooddevelopment #childrensauthor #childrensliterature #literacymatters #readmorebooks #childrenarethefuture
And my favourite book of the moment is... . If you And my favourite book of the moment is... . If you saw my reel the other day (🌟yes, we're still feeling rather proud of ourselves🌟) then you'll know that we had some fun making pirate treasure maps for our #picbookplay activity. The book behind it is a current favourite: 'The Pirates are Coming' written by @john_condon_author , illustrated by @mathunt and published by @nosycrow . The story has an awesome twist (which I won't spoil for you), challenges stereotypes and is full of humour - the villager hiding inside a shark always tickles us! We used the treasure maps for some fine motor skills practice. Click on the reel to find out how. What's your favourite book of 2020 and why? . . . #mumsschooloffun #finemotorskillsdevelopment #earlyreaders #childrensliterature #raiseareader #booksforchildren #childrensbookstagram #kidsbookstagram #openendedtoys #trayfortheday #toddleractivitiesathome #earlylearning101 #readandplay #invitationtoplay #mumsnetparents #channelmumvillage #emmasdiary #readalongplayalong #littlesnippetsofus #playathomemummy #tufftray #playmatters #eyfsactivities #childledlearning #bookish_bingo #everydayplayhacks #bookishbingo #snaphappybritmums #pirateplay
𝗧𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀...🧚‍♀️🧚‍♂️🧚(Or The Tale of the Wobbly Tooth and Two Teething Tinies)...⁣ ⁣ Teeth are the talk and the torment of our house right now. A recent trip to the dentist confirmed that Oscar has his first wobbly tooth - so I'm left with all the questions to prep for:⁣ 🧚 What's the going rate for the tooth fairy?⁣ 🧚‍♀️ How do you make it 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩?⁣ 🧚‍♂️ And are you a milk tooth thrower or keeper?🤔⁣ ⁣ Meanwhile, Hugh is taking an agonizing long time to get his final 4 molars (1 down, 3 to go) and even Charlotte was caught having a little tug on her ear the other day... First sign of teething?😬😨😵⁣ ⁣ So... With teeth taking over our lives today's #picbookplay was based on "Alan's Big Scary Teeth" by @booksbyjarvis and published by @bigpicturebooks . Alan is an alligator🐊 with a passion for scaring the jungle animals🐒🦍🐯... Until they discover his secret. We used the story as our inspiration for some sensory play. As well as using old toothbrushes and shaving foam toothpaste to clean the drywipe marker off my carefully cut and laminated animals teeth, I had intended to do the following...⁣ 🌟Practice counting teeth;⁣ 🌟Compare the size, shape of human teeth;⁣ 🌟Name different human teeth - canine, incisor, molar and discuss their purposes;⁣ 🌟Chat/sing about good brushing techniques; ...But as you scroll across, you'll see that the boys had other ideas and we ended up in a squidgy shaving foam sensory paradise!😆😘⁣ ⁣ At least they did anyway... I'm still pondering how much the tooth fairy should bring. What's the going rate in your house? Are there any tooth fairy traditions you'd be happy to share?⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ #mumsschooloffun #finemotorskillsdevelopment #earlyreaders #childrensliterature #raiseareader #booksforchildren #childrensbookstagram #kidsbookstagram #sensoryplay #sensorytray #trayfortheday #toddleractivitiesathome #earlylearning101 #readandplay #invitationtoplay #mumsnetparents #channelmumvillage #emmasdiary #readalongplayalong #littlesnippetsofus #playathomemummy #tufftray #playmatters #eyfsactivities #childledlearning #bookish_bingo #everydayplayhacks #bookishbingo #snaphappybritmums
Today is international nude day... Don't fret - as Today is international nude day... Don't fret - as much as I'm proud of my postpartum body - I'm going to keep it undercover.😆 But... ⁣ ⁣ In this very constrained world, I can imagine that joining in with the nudist celebrations today would feel especially liberating!⁣ ⁣ Ok, so you're probably wondering where I'm going with this... Well... there is a point, I promise...⁣ ⁣ Yesterday, I had the joy of leaving my 3 miniature trouble-makers in the capable hands of someone else. I had the best part of 7 hours without anyone asking me for snacks, pointing at their poo, or spluttering milk over me. It felt amazing. It felt liberating. I felt free.⁣ ⁣ And I was so productive. I critiqued two manuscripts, created an action plan, plotted a new story, further developed a character from an old story and squeezed in some editing for my husband too. It's mind-blowing how much you can get done without the ankle-biters hovering near your feet (which yesterday were loving wearing high heels again for the first time in forever!)👠👠⁣ ⁣ And the best bit of all was when I arrived home to 3 happy children who instantly demanded feeding, bathing and insisted upon spitting up the milk that had taken me an age to get into them🍼... I could stay calm. I could smile. I could offer time, cuddles and as much reassurance as they needed. I could be the mum I always want to be, but often fail to be because motherhood is so fricking hard and intense.😬😵🤯 I'm a far better mother when I've had a break to remove the mum jeans👖 and 👟flat shoes👟 for a while. I'm a much better mother when I get some time to just be me.⁣ ⁣ So, whilst I won't be running around Tesco's starkers today, I will be celebrating being human and all the wonderful things my body can do... Which includes raising 3 miniature beings who frequently insist on running through the house naked. Maybe they find it liberating? Maybe they want to feel free.⁣ .⁣ .⁣ .⁣ #imamumand #mumlife #mumsquad #mumstheword #mumlifeisthebestlife #thatmummytribe #motheringittogether #motherhoodrocks #honestlymothering #raisingtinyhumans #honestmom #honestmomconfessions #parenthood_unveiled #lifeasmama #realmotherhood #mymotherhood #lifeinlockdown
Woh... my head is splitting after an emotionally t Woh... my head is splitting after an emotionally turbulent day...😟😊😤🥰⁣ ⁣ Oscar had his final day in reception, so I woke up feeling quite anxious. Then, later this morning I joined in with the @scbwi virtual picture book retreat, which put me in a fab mood... Until somebody chose to forgo napping and explore the contents their nappy instead!💩 I hadn't planned to spring clean the bedroom, the landing 𝐴𝑁𝐷 the stairs today... Argh! Sometimes they seem so grown up; at other times they appear so little. I've found parenting hard today.🍷🍷🍷⁣ ⁣ But... We did manage to squeeze in a #picbookplay this afternoon inspired by #JuliaDonaldson 's and #AxelScheffler 's'The Snail and the Whale'. It's another good activity for siblings of different ages.⁣ ⁣ I used the coloured rice to divide the #tufftray into two halves. Oscar's challenge was to read the size words and identify if they were synonyms for 🅑🅘🅖 or 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙. (These particular words were downloaded from an ace website called Communication4all.)⁣ ⁣ Hugh had pictures of 🐌snails🐌 and 🐳whales🐳 - he had to work out which were small and which were big and place them on the correct side of the 'sea'.⁣ ⁣ 🌟TOP TIP: Make sure that some small snails and whales are cut out on large pieces of paper to challenge the child to look at the size of the picture and not be distracted by the size of the paper it is printed on.⁣ ⁣ So it's been one of those rollercoaster days... But I'm hopeful we can leave the bad bits behind and start the summer holidays off in a much sunnier mood tomorrow... 🤞😎☀️ And definitely no more poo!⁣ .⁣ .⁣⁣⁣ .⁣⁣⁣ #julyideasandinspo #1newplayaday #invitationtoplay #mumsschooloffun #earlyreaders #childrensliterature #raiseareader #childrensbookstagram #kidsbookstagram #openendedplay #trayfortheday #toddleractivitiesathome #earlylearning101 #readandplay #mumsnetparents #channelmumvillage #emmasdiary #readalongplayalong #littlesnippetsofus #playathomemummy #playmatters #eyfsactivities #bookish_bingo #everydayplayhacks #bookishbingo #snaphappybritmums
𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦... I 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦... I had trouble deciding how to order the photographs for todays #picbookplay activity. All 3 of my gorgeous children were able to join in, so it's a good one if you've got children of varying ages.⁣ ⁣ With the ☀️summer holidays😎 fast approaching and the intensity that they are likely to bring as we live in each others pockets again, I'm preparing for some big emotions. I wanted to help the children begin to think more about how they're feeling, why that might be and be able to talk about it - rather than tantrum.🤞⁣ ⁣ I printed a page of emojis, a set of feeling words and placed them alongside a mirror and 'Baby Faces' published by @dorlingkindersli . It's a lovely little book that you've probably got too if you've had a baby recently as it was gifted in the @booktrust pack. This is how the children played:⁣ 🌟Hugh enjoyed choosing an emoji and trying to copy the facial expression. (This is why I couldn't decide how to order the pictures!)😊🤔🥰⁣ 🌟We named each feeling (which was surprisingly difficult) to provide opportunities for Hugh to talk.⁣ 🌟Oscar tried matching each emoji to each feeling word...⁣ 🌟...and we discussed moments when we've felt this way before ("Oscar, please put your shoes on for school," x10 = Frustrated; "But Mummy, I don't want to yet!" = Anger.)😠⁣ 🌟We all used the mirror to analyse how our faces changed with each different emotion.⁣ 🌟And Charlotte enjoyed listening to the story and looking in the mirror for some #tummytime .⁣ ⁣ Thankfully her face has mostly been happy today whilst Hugh's seems to have had all the emojis covered😊😠😭😁... But I suppose that's normal when you're only two. Which emoji have you felt mostly today?⁣ .⁣ .⁣⁣ .⁣⁣ #picbookplay #julyideasandinspo #1newplayaday #invitationtoplay #mumsschooloffun #earlyreaders #childrensliterature #raiseareader #booksforchildren #childrensbookstagram #kidsbookstagram #trayfortheday #toddleractivitiesathome #earlylearning101 #readandplay #mumsnetparents #channelmumvillage #emmasdiary #readalongplayalong #littlesnippetsofus #playathomemummy #tufftray #playmatters #eyfsactivities #toddlertantrums
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