Hello My Dears,
I wonder how many of you have heard of toucan box? I can honestly say up until a few weeks ago I didn't know what it was, I had heard the name but never really looked into it. Now I wish I had looked into it sooner but that's where Katie comes in handy. She is always "on it", looking at new things on social media, the internet ect. Yes she was the one that looked into toucan box. Here is me going on and I haven't even explained what it is! Toucan box are a company that sell little activity boxes for children. You subscribe and pay a certain amount and get an activity box filled with everything you need for that activity, no adding to it. In each box you will also get a sticker token which you put on like a little chart poster that is provided and you collect them with the option of "spending" them and getting little prizes for your little one, obviously the more you save the better the prize! Below are some details.
The boxes come in 3 sizes and are 3 different prices.
Petite - £3.95 + £0.98pp and you get this fortnightly so that is £4.93 including Postage every fortnight.
Grande - £9.95 + £2.95pp this Is a monthly box, so in total it is £12.90 a month
Super - £16.95 + £2.95pp this is also a monthly box and in total is £19.95 a month
Katie has bought Ava the petite toucan box and to be honest it says petite but you get a really good fun activity It doesn't seem petite! In my opinion for Avas age (4) petite is just the right size because of her attention span and like I said absolutely everything was included and well worth the £4.93. I can only speak for the petite size obviously but if that is anything to go by then I can only guess that the bigger boxes are good too, though I know they look a bit expensive wrote down on paper. But I want you to remember this is not some rubbish magazine subscription its a proper activity kit for kids. And a plus they send you out a taster box that they will also personalise!
On Sunday I finally got round to making Avas taster box with her, it was an activity to make a parrot puppet thing and an old treasure map. Everything needed was provided and it was really easy to do Ava had loads of fun and it suited her age range completely. For the treasure map we had to soak a tea bag which was provided in water for ten minuets so we did that and while that was soaking Ava coloured in her parrot with the crayons also provided.
When Ava had coloured the parrot, we got the tea bag and painted the piece of paper (provided) that we had previously scrunched up. Now of course we had to let this dry, so to occupy her time while that was drying Ava completed the parrot by sticking the feathers on It which where again provided. I found that the glue stick didn't really stick them so I had to use cello tape. We then stuck the giant lolly stick on to make it a puppet. The parrot was now finished.
The next step was to take the dry tea stained crumpled paper that by this time was dry, with the stickers provided we made the treasure map by following the how to guide that was included, once this was done Ava had finished her activity and I must say I was a very proud mummy looking at what she had done.
We have now received the next toucan box that we will be doing very soon I will be blogging about each one every week to couple of weeks (we are a bit behind). I would say these boxes are very good especially in the school holidays, it gives them something to do and keeps their minds and their creative side active while they are not at school. I look forward to Avas next toucan box activity!
Thanks for reading
Until next time :)
LotsOfLove
Beth...xxx
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Review For Bucklebury Farm Park
This time last week we were gearing up for an spectacular Sunday at Bucklebury Farm Park. We were going to submerge ourselves into farm antics getting up close and personal with all the farmyard animals. Having children that are keen animal lovers I knew that they were going to have the time of their lives. Like everyone before a day out we had to prepare, though we thought sod it to preparing food we don't do it very often so we was going to have the full shebang and eat there too. However we made sure we had change in our pockets for a car parking fee as we had been in the no money for car parking situation too many times. We had to have double the change as going on this outing was myself, Tommy, the two girls, Katie and my father in law so obviously we would need to take two cars, corr parking was going to be tight. Would there be enough spaces?
You know what I hate? I hate farms that are like in the centre of everything, you know right next to town, I mean come on could you get more unrealistic and fake made farm than that? That's what I was gearing up for in all honestly, but hey ho it was for my girls who cares what I wanted. We set off for the twenty minuet journey, this was the most bizarre twenty minuet journey of my life! as we were getting further and further into our journey we started getting surrounded buy more and more green, you would have thought we had travelled hours, that's what made it so surreal, how could 10 minuets ago we be in a busy city but now we are simply in the middle of nowhere. I thought I was walking into an emmerdale scene. It was beautiful. We pulled into the farm and came across a good sized car park, it was busy but had plenty of spaces, to my absolute joy the car parking was free! Typical the time we come somewhere car park prepared we don't need to, I weren't complaining though!
Upon entering the farm I felt as though I needed my wellies on, not because it was muddy or any thing (though can imagine on a wet day it would be wise, its a farm what do expect!) but because it felt like I was on a private farm, I was expecting Zak Dingle to pop round the corner at anytime. The first thing to greet us where chickens! followed by a donkey, a great start before we paid. Getting further into the farm it was clear this was a proper working farm, stocking produce as well. When going to pay you have to walk through the little farm shop. The shop being smaller that expected but to be honest I later realised they don't really need one! It is clear to see that the place is more fun than all about the merchandise like usual places like this. The only problem I would say is its a bit awkward paying for tickets in the shop as it distracts the children a tad. We were lucky enough for my father in law to be treating us, I did feel guilty as looking at the place I thought it was going to cost him close to £100, for four adults and two children that's what to expect these days, delightfully it only cost him £40ish for us all. I still felt guilty as I always do when someone else paid but I didn't feel as bad.
The farm is very easy to follow, a good natural pathway that takes you from animal to animal ensuring you don't miss any! I don't know about you but I hate panicking that I'm going to miss things and constantly having to check the map to make sure I have seen it all. We had earlier bough some animal food (at reception) that costs around £0.60, bargain! This food can be used to feed all animals apart from the ponies so this was a result. The girls had a lot of fun sticking their hands through the fence, feeding the goats in particular. I know they do warn that all animals have the tendency to bite ect and of course are unpredictable, but all the animals we come across where very friendly. We went through the animal part in usain bolt style. Quick but enjoyable. It is obviously a bright idea to ensure you wash your hands after contact with the animals, but don't worry there are taps, soap and hand towels available just by the animals. We was earlier providde with a timetable of things including, egg collecting, tractor ride, animal petting ect I looked and thought I cant wait to do all these. That was until Ava found the park.
Park. You may think how standard. No. It was farm set and not typical. There were swings climbing tractors ect. Then a favourite with the kids, A wooden castle! The children would go inside and either go all the way to the top or stop half way and go down the fireman's polls. This kept Ava entertained for ages! Next to it was a sand pit which I noticed was keeping a lot of kids happy, Though Ava wanted to go on the indoor slides before lunch instead. What great fun. There where two slides in which you have to use the sac provided and two drop slides at two different heights. It looked so much fun that I wanted to go on them myself.
Lunch time!! Two choices. A posh burger van, which seemed a bit pricey, but the food did look worth it or the café, a rather posh one at that. I did think oh gosh, but actually they had affordable food on there. The sandwiches costing between £4.00 - £5.00 and the baguettes between £5.00 - £6.00 with a range of fillings to suit all. May I take the time to say how amazing the kids chicken nuggets and chips are! The portion size was plenty I could have had it, homemade and they were delicious!. They also provide the adults as kids portion with 20% off the price. All the food was fresh and well worth the £40. Yes that's right £40 for all 6 of us including drinks!. Though if you want an after dinner coffee I wouldn't recommend it at £2 for a tiny cup I would stick to soft beverages.
We finished lunch in time for my favourite bit, the tractor ride! I don't know why I was so excited, I wasn't expecting anything special just a ride round the farm, but it just shouted fun to me. That's when the surprise really happened. The tractor ride took us into a who new bit of the farm, big green beautiful fields with stunning views and deer sitting in the middle. To my delight that was were the tractor was taking us. The tractor man who by the was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot (I was very impressed) Gave us buckets of food to feed the deer with. The deer came up close to the tractor and where such lovely animals. It was an experience I would love to have again.
What could we do next, well, that's where I get on to the range of activities we did next. Provided was a big bouncy pillow thing, I don't know what I was but it was a hell of a lot of fun, little peddle go karts and some bikes in a separate area for the little ones, two goals and footballs provided and a play bus, which by the way was brilliant, a bus converted into a soft play. We had the best afternoon playing on all these things. Yes I did say we us adults to joined in. There was also a tire swing, zip wire and assault course. To be honest I thought you would have to pay extra for all these bits but you didn't which makes it even more perfect. I honestly felt like I had relived my childhood, I didn't want the day to end. No I didn't do as much on the timetable as I would of liked to but that's for another day, I was too busy having fun elsewhere. I also noticed an area in which you can take picnics if you don't wish to buy food. After a quick trip to the shop for Ava it was time for us to sadly set off home with two knackered children and rather worn out adults!
If your looking for some affordable fun this summer then I would defiantly recommend Bucklebury Farm park. Its got beautiful scenery, friendly staff whom I cant fault and fun for everyone. I give it a thumbs up and five stars. Bucklebury Farm I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Until next time our lovely readers
LotsOfLove
Beth...xxx
