Currently we are on school holidays in Victoria. Although, we are enjoying our freedom from "school routine", we are also building on our literacy and maths skills that we have learnt at school.

Here are a few ideas of literacy and maths activities for school aged children that we try to encourage at home:

* Reading maps, signs and leaflets - when we visit places of interest like the Zoo, Children's Farms, Museums etc, both boys love to "map" out a route for us. It's amazing to see Mr 7 read all the signs ... gone are the days of making up signs to encourage our boys to "walk slowly, talk quietly, hold hands" etc!



* Diary writing - this has been a big part of Mr 7's weekly routine at school. He really enjoys this and has wanted to keep this up during the school holidays. We bought this gorgeous leather bound journal for him to write and draw whatever took his fancy. This is something that he can show his kids in years to come.



* Researching Ideas - Again, Mr 7 loves researching new things and at the moment he's fascinated with Animals and their habitat. This has been something that they have been focusing on at school. So on a rainy afternoon last week, we took out our BrainBox Animals and did some research! Not only is this a fun memory game, but we also like to use this game to encourage him to research an animal - where they live, how long they live for, what they like to eat, how big they grow to etc. He then writes out the facts he thinks are important and again, we stick this into his journal.



* Counting Money - During the school holidays, the boys are allowed to spend a bit of their pocket money. But first, Mr Piggy had to be counted - we grouped all the notes and coins into piles. We then decided to count each pile to see how many $1 coins, $2 coins etc that they had. Counting money is a great way for them to count up by 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s etc. It also helped Mr 7 understand how many 20c pieces made $1 etc. He enjoyed doing this exercise and has decided to keep saving his money for a bigger "prize" ... a win win exercise for everyone!

* Encouraging the boys to pay at Cafes, Restaurants and Shops - At Cafes and Restaurants, Mr 7 enjoys asking for the bill (something I used to love doing as a child). We then give him some money and we work out together how much change he should receive back. He then trots off and pays at the till - this not only helps with his maths, but also his confidence of speaking to adults. At shops, Mr 7 lines up and waits to be served and again, pays for whatever we are purchasing.

What literacy and maths activities do you encourage your school aged children to practise at home?

We are so excited to officially be on school holidays! Although we don't like to "schedule" too much in, we do like to make the most of our break from school. So as a family, we make a short list of activities that we would all like to do - things that we don't usually get to do during a busy school week.

So here is our family's list of school holiday activities:

1) Groover (7yr old) - wants to watch Shrek at the movies

2) BC (4yr old) - wants to take a long bike ride to practise his two wheel bike action!

3) Both boys - hang out at the skate park!

4) Mummy - would love to take the family to Sovereign Hill in search of gold! I had great childhood memories there and would love to pass this onto our boys.

5) Daddy - bond with the boys whilst shovelling dirt/earth into a big dump bin! The boys are actually looking forward to sorting out our front yard with their Dad! And to watch England win the World Cup!

What activities have you got planned with your kids during this School Holidays?

My gorgeous 4 year old Pre-Schooler loves nothing more than running around kicking a football or playing basketball in the garden. But because winter is well and truly here, we've been migrating indoors and I'm having to entertain BC within 4 walls! Not an easy task at the best of times, but we've come up with some fun Rainy Day Activities that we wanted to share with you:

1)Role Play - Pirate Fun!

We found some empty boxes and "BC" wanted to make them into Pirate Ships. Thanks to Captain Feathersword (from The Wiggles), BC has this fascination with Pirates and the way they speak! So everything begins with "Arrgggh me Hearties"!

In we jump with our Pirate Dress Ups - eye patches on, swords in hand(of course!), bandannas stuck firmly on our heads, our compass and map leading the way to our treasure island so we can hide our sack of gold! We had a lovely time and this was something that he came up with and was really proud of.

2) Indoor Cubbies

BC loves making indoor cubbies! We spread blankets over the dining table and hang them over chairs to make different rooms inside our cubby headquarters. We pop fluffy cushions down and gather "Panda Bear" and his crew to have a picnic lunch inside our little den. This is also a great spot for reading stories or just chilling out having our afternoon chat!

3) Baking our afternoon snack!

This is such a fun activity to introduce to your Pre-Schoolers. After BC chooses what to bake, he helps me by taking out all the equipment that we need e.g. scales or measuring cups, baking tins, cup cake cases, bowls etc. This is a great way for him to practise his listening skills to the instructions I give. I also ask him "what ingredients do you think we need to bake a cake?" - this will then test his memory of what we needed previously to bake a cake e.g. eggs, butter, flour etc.

We then measure the ingredients together on our cooking scales and we then reinforce concepts such as "adding more" to make it heavier and "taking off" to make it lighter. His job is to "pop" all the ingredients one by one into the Kenwood and start it up! But his favourite job is licking the bowl when we're done - this brings back great childhood memories for me and I'm glad it will for him too!

4) Playing fun games

The boys love the fact that we have our very own "Toy Shop!'. We enjoy "testing" out our ickle Kids educational toys together and have lots of fun playing different games that we may not otherwise have been able to play. These new games have just arrived at ickle Kids and they are perfect for Pre-Schoolers and for kids in Prep so BC and I sat down and played them all afternoon!

Day and Night



BC loves this game - he enjoys copying the "Day" pictures and has fun figuring out which blocks he needs to thread through the wooden holder to make the same picture as his challenge booklet. I love these unique games as they are multi-levelled and they will grow with your child.

We're not quite up to the "Night" scenes yet, but we'll get there! The "Night" scenes are pictures of the silhouettes so it does get trickier and BC will then have to figure out which block would make that shape. Click here to find out more about Day & Night

Smart Car



BC loves cars so I knew this was going to be a hit with him! There are four colourful blocks, each of which have different spots for their eyes. The aim of the game is to build the car as it's shown in the challenge booklet and only have two eyes facing the front of the car.

I then gave BC simple instructions "where do you think the red block goes?" pointing to the picture - we then talk about whether it sits in the front or the back of the car, whether the block has to lie with his eyes up, down or hidden. These are great concepts to teach Pre-Schoolers and for them to use their logic skills to determine which way round the block needs to go. Great for their spacial awareness which is so important at this age.Click here to find out more about Smart Car.

Both BC and I enjoyed staying indoors today and we kept ourselves very busy! What games or activities entertain your Pre-Schooler when it's too cold to go outside?

We are excited to announce our new range of Activity Packs that contain our unique educational toys and travel toys. We are sure you will find something that will entertain your little ones when you are at home or on your travels.

Our range includes:

• Toddler Activity Packs
• Kids Craft Activity Packs
• Plane Activity Packs
• Car Activity Packs
• Brain Teaser Activity Packs
• Musical Activity Packs
• Educational Toys Activity Packs
• Imaginative Play Activity Packs

Remember we can customise the educational toys and travel toys inside your activity pack to suit your child's needs and interests.

Happy travels!

We are very excited about Christmas at ickle Kids! We love the festive period and it's such a magical time for kids of all ages.

We know it's a crazy time of year, so we want to make life easy for parents - no longer do you have to drag your children around shops or fight for car spots in multi storey car parks! Grab a cuppa and sit back ... we have put together a fantastic range of Christmas Stocking Fillers for under $20!

Check out our Christmas Stocking Fillers by clicking here.

Here are some of our favourite Christmas Stocking Fillers ...


Word Magic Mixer $14.99












Iclay Accessories $14.99










Magnet Fishing $9.99

I am so lucky to be able to meet such amazing women on my travels as a Mum in Business and this month I would like to feature the lovely Julia from L’il Aussie Prems.

Julia created L’il Aussie Prems in March 2007.Through her experience of giving birth so prematurely to Ronan, a year after his 100 day long journey, Julia decided to create L’il Aussie Prems. This was a way of reaching out to parents – to offer support and understanding whilst they were still in NICU/SCN or at home.

The site has only been running on small sponsorship for over two years and has just recently gained major sponsorship through Pumpkin Patch. What a fantastic achievement – well done Julia! Julia believes that no one should have to pay for support. She relies on advertisers and sponsorship to keep the website running and to keep the support totally free for families. This includes the new premmie bags that are posted to families currently in NICU/SCN.

The forum which is a safe place for parents to share their experiences has recently reached over 1000 registered users and is home to many families throughout Australia.

I truly admire Julia’s strength, commitment and perseverance in providing this much needed service to parents going through what she went through. Please check out the L’il Aussie Prems website for further information.