Cultivate Deeper Family Ties Through Creative Home Projects

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In a world where the buzz of technology often drowns out real-life interaction, finding genuine ways to connect with family members is increasingly essential. Tackling do-it-yourself home improvement projects presents a unique opportunity to beautify your living space and strengthen familial bonds. These endeavours encourage collaboration, creativity, and communication, laying the foundation for lasting memories, a stronger family unit and cultivating deeper family ties.

Transform a Space with a Chalkboard

Transform a plain wall or door into a dynamic chalkboard, creating a space where family members can jot down messages, sketch, or exchange ideas. This becomes a creative outlet for daily interaction, fostering fun and imagination. Your home transforms into a center for creativity and closer connections. Through this project, you actively encourage everyone in the family to contribute and collaborate, enhancing the sense of togetherness.

Crafting a Memory Lane

Creating a dedicated space to showcase family photos and memories transforms a part of your home into a living story of your shared experiences. This activity brings everyone together to select and arrange these memories, fostering a sense of unity and nostalgia. It’s a heartfelt way to personalize your living space and celebrate the journey you’ve taken together as a family.

Launching a Family Enterprise

A family embarking on home improvement projects and deciding to document their journey through a blog or Instagram account not only shares their progress but also connects with a wider community interested in DIY ventures. Creating a cool logo for their online presence helps to make their project more recognizable and memorable to followers. It helps to use a text logo that resonates with the essence of the overall project, making it stand out. Free online logo generators offer an accessible way to design this logo, providing the flexibility to tailor the logo’s design to match the family’s unique story and aesthetic.

Constructing a Personalized Library

Building a bookshelf tailored to your family’s needs and space is a project that embodies teamwork and creativity. From planning to execution, this task encourages collaboration, offering a practical solution to storage needs while adding a style touch to your home. The finished product is a testament to your collective effort and creativity, enhancing your living space and familial bonds

The Art of Candle Crafting

Embark on candle-making together to explore creativity and sensory delights, experimenting with scents, colors, and shapes to craft candles that mirror your family’s tastes. This activity offers a calming and engaging way to bond, creating unique, homemade candles. These candles illuminate your space and add a personal touch to your home. Through this shared endeavor, you deepen your connection, making lasting memories.

Green Thumbs Indoor

Setting up an indoor herb garden offers a delightful introduction to gardening and the joy of growing your own herbs. This project adds a splash of greenery to your home and promotes teamwork as each family member cares for the plants. The result is an aesthetically pleasing space and a functional one that enriches your cooking and brings a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Revitalizing Old Furniture

Embarking on a furniture upcycling project allows your family to express its creative side while working together to breathe new life into an old piece. This collaborative effort involves making and applying design choices, culminating in a unique piece that enhances your home decor. The process is as rewarding as the outcome, symbolizing teamwork’s power and transformation’s beauty.

DIY home improvement projects offer a rich avenue for families to connect, create, and collaborate. These activities result in tangible improvements to your living environment and foster stronger, more meaningful relationships within the family. By investing time and creativity into these projects, families can build a foundation of shared experiences and memories that enrich their lives and strengthen their bonds.

About the Author

Lydia Chan understands the life of caregiving for another. After her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she found herself struggling to balance the responsibilities of caregiving and her own life. She is the co-creator of Alzheimer’s Caregiver, a website that aims to provide tips and resources to help caregivers.

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Privately Secure your Property with SeQR

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Kids are good at losing things, and in the world we live in, we are less likely to want to write any personal details such as our name, address and phone number on every item they own over a risk of losing our privacy. So wouldn’t it be nice to have a way of privately secure your property so you can safely get it back to you?

Well SeQR have a product that does just that and we’ve taken it for a test run.

What is SeQR?

SeQR have harnessed the ability of the technology of a QR code to link our personal items to ourselves without exposing personal information. Sign up, receive your labels and link them to your account then simply attach them to anything you take to school, work or travel with.

If its lost, a good Samaritan can scan the code and get it back to you without seeing any personal information like your name, or number.

But first, what’s a QR code?

Invented back in 1994, although only visibly commonplace in the last few years (probably thanks to Covid check in sites (who can forget those!), the QR (quick response) code is a square 2D barcode of sorts which can be interpreted by a camera to reveal a code or send you to a website.

For example if you scanned our lovely QR code we made above above you’d be taken to our super lovely homepage.

How does it work?

Right now, you can sign up and get some codes for free. You can then print at home or get your labels posted. Try them out and if you like them use munchkin10 for 10% off.

We had this pack which included 45 labels, posted and received a them on a handy magnetised page to stick to the fridge so we never lose our labels.

They are printed on 3M paper so they will be strong and stick well, particularly useful when kids are involved. And they look a little like this:

There’s an activation QR code on the page to scan first which takes you to the website to sign up. Sign up and the codes you own are instantly added to your account. You can then select the code you want to use or search by using the alphanumeric (that’s a mix of letters and numbers) code.

Here you can add a description and some photos to aid future identification including a name only you will see and then you can change the message that will be shown if the QR code is scanned.

Then, simply, stick it to your item. Part of the process Munchkin could help with.

What happens when its found?

We ‘lost’ our scooter and luckily a good Samaritan (Munchkin and Sprout’s Mummy) found it and scanned the SeQR code. She saw the QR code and gave it a scan and this is what happened next.

privately secure your property

The QR code took her directly to a option to privately message me where we could then sort out collection on a private chat. No name, no address, no number needed, no private details shared.

Given one way I see these being used is on outdoor equipment, like bikes, scooters, and skateboards and I thought we would try a waterproof test to see if they will hold up against the typical British weather.

With its 3M stickyness, it remained stuck for good after a good dosing with a hose and a week outside in the pouring rain. This, while also easy to remove when I poorly stuck one to the scooter in first place.

This is my only sticking point on what is a brilliant idea and product.

Both the app and the website are a tad frustrating. I’ve fed this back to SeQR and they have happily accepted my feedback and will work on improving it.

Rating

I think this is a really clever use of a simple technology. Perfect for parents with numerous children’s accessories, devices, cycles and scooters. All ours are now safely labelled, however with a slightly frustrating app it gets:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

With some small app tweaks this would easily become 5 stars.

Thanks for reading, go forth and privately secure your property. Use munchkin10 for 10% off.

Get SeQR here!

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Christmas gifts for a 4 year old
Christmas gift ideas for a 4 year old

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As a 4 year old, Munchkin loves to role play and is hard to keep inside in the colder months. Here is our Christmas gift ideas that we (and Santa!) got for our 4 year old this year.

Hulk smash hands

Since receiving a hand-me-down Hulk smash fist last year, which is slowly breaking down and leaving green sponge around the house, Munchkin has always wanted some more.

These were a cheaper alternative to Smyths on Amazon.

Batman dress up

If its not Hulk or black panther its batman and I cant wait to see Munchkin running around saving Gotham city in this.

This set was best value at £15 at Argos.

Octonaught’s above and beyond Gup-K

Until meeting Santa, one of Munchkin’s top requests were Octonaughts biggest vehicle the Gup-K (They will run out of letters soon enough!)

So this one would have come from Santa but its likely been downgraded to us now as we’ve moved on!

You can find this Gup-k on Amazon

Paw patrol

One thing Munchkin has been asking for ages is more paw patrol toys so Christmas shall deliver!

First we found the original marshall and rumble to add to his existing set on a fantastic tesco clubcard deal and then added the Mighty movie police car too.

Chad Valley wooden adventure play set

Given Munchkin loves a bit of dress up and role play, my wife found this cute, adventure set for only £8 at Argos!

Orchard toys dinosaur game

We love Orchard toys games. Fantastic for learning numbers and letters, turn taking and those first game mechanics.

Given Munchkin has excelled in maths and English since starting school we thought he deserved a fun game with Dino-snore-us.

Orchard toy games are often cheapest at Amazon

Plum playhouse

Finally we wanted one big purchase (because we love a bit of building late on Christmas Eve night), and we also wanted something to be enjoyed in the garden in early Spring.

This Plum playhouse was super reasonable at £115 at Argos. It may need a little decoration to brighten it up like some window flower boxes but itll be perfect when the weather changes.

And there’s no door to lock his brother out either!

and finally…

If you know us you’ll know we love Lego. (find our top Lego sets for Christmas here ➡️)

But we’ve tried to wait for his birthday for more (plus we know I’ll get some around Christmas and he will get more for his birthday).

But Munchkin new this and adjusted his requests according until, then visiting Santa Munchkin threw a curveball. With a last minute change of his request from paw patrol and Octonaughts to Ninjago Lego. We quickly had to find and buy this (plus Daddy would be disappointed without some Lego to build on boxing day!).

Ninjago Dragons rising lego set – as if we didnt have enough Lego vehicles…

Thanks for reading,

What did you get your 4 year old for Christmas. Let us know in the comments..

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Get to Grips with Skateboarding for little people – Skatehut skateboard review.

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Munchkin loves to be outside and consequently we love our outdoor activities and are always looking to try to find new interests. Skatehut offer a fantastic range of beginner skateboards, perfect to try out a new skill to add to Munchkin’s repertoire. After all, its important to try as many things as we can when they are young and fear free to see where their interests lie.

When it arrived, a little Munchkin couldn’t wait the get his safety gear on and have a go. As always, here are our thoughts in our Skatehut skateboard review.

Safety first

Well straight out of the box, Munchkin was excited and ready to jump on. With anything like this though its important to think of safety first.

First its important to protect that little developing brain and Skatehut have a fantastic range of kids helmets to choose from. I went for a classic style and Munchkin immediately looked so mature and ready for the skate park, but most importantly, safe.

The helmet was a good fit (rare for Munchkin’s unexpectedly large head he inherited from me)(sorry!), and easy to adjust, ensuring comfort, whilst stylish and safe.

The other important joints weren’t forgotten either with easy to fit knee pads, elbow pads and wrist protectors. We received the padset which included knee, elbow and wrist protection in one handy set.

When Munchkin was fully protected, then he was ready to give it a go.

Modern design

Skatehut’s range of kids skateboards really stand out for their design. Given Munchkin’s favourite colour is purple, it was easy choice to select this Skatehut skateboard.

So chuffed with his new board, it was Christmas come early

I love its classic comic style design. Its funky and fun, like skateboarding should be. Its well built too, strong and sturdy – even passing the Daddy test.

10 minutes later he was balancing. Though it may take longer before we go to the skate park like he wanted!

Price

With a current lovely discount. This skateboard, pad set and helmet comes in at £25 for the protective gear and £34.95 for the skateboard. A perfect gift any little person would love to find under the tree this Christmas.

Start them young

As I said in the intro, I think its important to try out new things when our kids are young.

As as adult I remember the feeling of being fearless as a child so I think its important to monopolise on that and try new things and skills while they are still young. Before long, all that fear sets in us adults know well which can certainly stop us in our tracks when trying new things.

skatehut skateboard

I can’t wait to try this out in the garden, and one day in the skate park…

Have you wanted to try skateboard with your little one? Check out Skatehut as a great place to begin your skateboarding adventure!

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Make some Easy Free Money this Christmas

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Sounds like a scam right? Well, its good to be careful but this isn’t one. Although, It isn’t really free money either as you’ve got to put in a bit of work.

But if you want some extra help this Christmas, here’s some helpful tips. As in this day and age of financial worries with the cost of living crisis it’s useful to be able to get some easy money.

There are obviously other schemes doing similar things. But the four below are tried and tested by us and work.

Earn £50 answering some questions with YouGov

I’ve dabbled in multiple survey sites over the years and YouGov has always come out on top.

At the basic level you can answer surveys and get rewarded in points for each one. Amass 5000 points and trade them in for a £50 gift card or money straight into your bank account. It’s a little work but the reward is worth the little time you put in. Surveys vary in points, but I’d estimate the typical is 50 points for a 15 minute survey but I have seen more on offer too.

If you want to hit the 5000 points quicker you can then go further, by sharing your streaming and gaming data. Let them see your Netflix and Prime history and they give you more points each week you submit it. Who minds them seeing you watch Squid game after all?

If you then want to go one level further you can and let them track your internet usage for each more points. I did this for a while but then noticed it stopped other things working, but it may work for you.

Earn cashback on your Christmas purchase with Quidco

I’m still always surprised how many people have never heard of Quidco. If you shop online, you need to use it!

Quidco give you cashback for nearly everything you buy online, so its very useful at Christmas. Simply search for the company, and click a link. The cashback tracks and appears in your account in the future.

It may not a quick process, but its nice to think my Christmas purchases now may give me a nice bonus next summer. Ive always said It’s amazing how many times I have needed some money or fancied a treat and there’s been plenty sitting in my Quidco account ready to be spent.


Want to save money by making some simple changes check out our post here


Get paid to play games with Mistplay

If you are into mobile gaming, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t see an advert for a Paypal linked cash out game and downloaded it only to find you get £1 away from cash out and suddenly stop earning.

Screenshot from Mistplay website

There is a solution. Mistplay is a tried and tested game tracking site. It works a little like Quidco. You go into Mistplay to open the game you choose. You earn rewards for your time spent, and more if you buy things and over time you can transfer your units into real money.

Switch bank accounts to get an easy bonus

I’ll let Martin Lewis give the actual details for this one, but the premise is simple. Banks pay you rewards to switch to them and its really rather simple if its covered by the current account switch service.

We changed banks earlier this year and one month later had a free £200 in our account!

See the details of current bank switches on money supermarket.


Have you got any other tips for free money? Let us know in the comments

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Our top 10 Lego sets for Christmas 2023

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With Christmas approaching there is always something on both mine, and Munchkins, Christmas list and that’s Lego! So, while I wile away the hours counting down to the days building the 2018 creator roller coaster, I’ve also rounded up our favourite top 10 Lego sets we will be adding to our lists this year

Number 10

First up we have chosen the Walt Disney tribute camera. One of our favourite additions to the Disney 100 collection.

top 10 Lego sets
Image from lego.com

We absolutely love Disney Lego and particularly the recent 100 years of Disney additions so this would complement the ones we already have on display. It is visually stunning and features so many lovely nods to Disney with the 20 film stills on the reel and original Disney characters.

At £89.99, it is reasonably priced for its size as it would stand out in any room.

Number 9

I’ll admit it. I have had a recent thing for Lego rollercoasters, starting out with the Loop and my recent purchase of the 2018 creator expert set.

Coaster corner, with the loop and start of the original coaster set, in our messy Lego city

Consequently, its no surprise the Space roller coaster makes an appearance here.

Images from lego.com

Being a creator 3 in 1 set, this has the ultimate ‘rebuildability’ with rollercoaster, drop tower and rocket spinner, all with fab space theming. I feel like it would complement our collection of coasters well as be the perfect large but still smallish build for Munchkin.

Number 8

At postion 8, it wouldn’t be a Christmas list without a Christmas set. So this one goes to…

Image from lego.com

The £89.99 Christmas exclusive for 2023 – the Alpine lodge.

I love this set, after building the holiday main street last year I would love to add this to my Christmas village this year. It looks like the most lovely holiday getaway destination and would be a great addition to our city.

Number 7

Two cheaper alternatives for any Lego City enthusiast are Munchkin’s selections of the Ice-cream shop and Monster truck race.

images from Lego.com

At 296 and 301 pieces both these sets are a nice small addition and a good piece number for little peoples attention spans. They are also much more wallet friendly at £29.99 (£3 off lego.com here) for the ice cream shop and £24.99 for the monster trucks.

Number 6

The botanical range has caught my eye recently, with multiple floral offerings almost identical to the real thing and great for the avid Lego builder and beginner alike. The orchid is my favourite, for its realism and beauty. Its also much easier to keep alive, so even at £44.99 its much cheaper than plants in the long term.

Image from lego.com

Another Christmas list idea would be a trip to Legoland. See our Legoland staycation review here ➡️


Number 5

At five, its something different to add to the Lego city, to suit everyone from cyclists, skate boarders and roller skaters alike, with the Street skate park. Whilst it doesn’t look exciting to build, its looks fun to play with so many story ideas in my head. At £49.99 it looks expensive for what you get though, with only 454 pieces.

Number 4

One that has been on my list for a while, also remains high at Christmas. Its the fantastic set that came from Lego ideas this year; the A-frame cabin.

Cause if you can’t live in one, you can always build one.

And I must say, this is a beautiful set, both inside and out.

With so many little features to spot with the hideaway, workstation and all the nature and a nice building experience. This is a fabulous set. Please Santa!

Number 3

At number three we have Munchkin’s most desired Lego city addition. The Artic explorer Truck and mobile lab.

Complete with an artic truck with snow plough, mobile lab and adorable Lego polar bear cubs, this set is as adorable as it looks fun to build and play with.

Number 2

Our second spot goes to my top favourite set right now, the na na na na na na na na na… Batcave shadow box. It looks both stunning to put on display and has ultimate playability with moving parts, multiple characters and batmobile car included.

images from Lego.com

Its a pricey one at £344 but at just shy of 4000 pieces its a lengthy build with some great playable features.

Number 1

It wasn’t hard to choose if me or Munchkin should choose the top spot. As you can see, my top choice got 2nd place so the first spot was there for Munchkin.

I think it would be a tough choice for Munchkin’s favourite Lego theme, with a keen interest in Lego city, Ninjago and some of my additions to our Lego city. But in this top 10 the top set goes to… Ninjago with the Destiny’s bounty – Race against time set. Cheaper at Amazon here…

From the Netflix series ‘Ninjago Dragons Rising’, this set comprises of their ninja airship and two dragons with ultimate playability as you can play along to the episodes. A smaller detail, but important to Munchkin, is the addition of Master Wu in this set too. He’s gathered all the Ninjas from Lloyd to Kai from his other smaller sets, but he’s still not got Master Wu!!


So there is our top 10. What Lego sets would you like for Christmas? Let us know in the comments

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Make Video Games a Positive Part of Family Life

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Video games are woven into the fabric of contemporary culture, serving not just as entertainment but often as social hubs. To make the most of this modern pastime, it’s crucial to foster a healthy, balanced, and engaging gaming environment for the entire family. This article shared courtesy of the Daddy and Munchkin Blog will lay down practical guidelines to help you strike that perfect balance between immersive gaming and overall well-being.

Set Boundaries, Not Just High Scores

While achieving high scores or conquering formidable bosses is thrilling, the Child Mind Institute notes that it’s equally crucial to set and adhere to time limits for gaming sessions. These limits ensure that real-world responsibilities like homework, chores, and family time are not neglected. And remember, taking breaks for your eyes and posture is essential for a healthy gaming experience! So, game responsibly and enjoy the best of both worlds.

Family Pow-Wow

Communication shouldn’t stop at the game’s chat function. Parents should engage in open conversations with their kids about the games they play and the people they meet online. These discussions are essential opportunities to share insights about online safety, cyberbullying, and appropriate in-game social behaviour.

Spice Up Your Virtual Worlds

Playing the same type of game can become monotonous and limiting. Encourage your family to explore diverse genres—from role-playing games to trivia. This varied experience can broaden skill sets and promote family bonding. Cooperative multiplayer games are a great way to promote teamwork and mutual respect.

Level Up Your Thinking Cap

Certain video games go beyond mere entertainment, offering brain-tickling puzzles and scenarios that require critical thinking. Introduce these games into family playtime to elevate your problem-solving skills collectively. These types of games are not just fun but also mentally enriching. They provide a fantastic opportunity for families to bond and challenge each other.

The Carrot on the Stick

Consider using video game time as a treat for accomplishing real-world tasks. This can work like a charm in motivating children to complete homework or household chores. It’s a win-win situation where tasks get completed, and the gaming time becomes more rewarding. Plus, it encourages a healthy balance between responsibilities and leisure activities.

Your Family’s Entertainment Haven

The benefit of having a designated gaming and entertainment space extends beyond mere organization. Curating this space with comfortable seating, immersive audio, and optimal lighting can elevate the gaming experience. Plus, a specialized gaming room can add a unique charm and value to your home. Ultimately, having a dedicated space for gaming allows for uninterrupted enjoyment and immersion in your favourite games.

More than Just Fun and Games

While your primary reason to invest in a gaming setup may be to enhance your gaming experience, it’s worth noting that such investments can add to your home’s resale value. Just remember to log all the changes you’ve made and keep receipts for purchases. Features like high-quality surround sound, ergonomic furniture, and modular storage can be appealing to future buyers. So, not only will you enjoy your gaming sessions, but you may also see a return on your investment when it’s time to sell your home.

Beyond Joysticks and Scoreboards

Video games are not solely about hand-eye coordination and fast reflexes. Studies cited by Effectiviology have shown that regular, moderated gaming can improve cognitive abilities such as decision-making and strategic planning. Far from being a mindless activity, gaming can be both engaging and educational when approached responsibly. So why not embrace the benefits of gaming and unlock your full potential?

Gaming doesn’t have to be a solitary or mind-numbing activity. When approached with a balanced perspective, it can offer an array of benefits ranging from cognitive development to family bonding. The key to a fulfilling family gaming experience lies in responsible gaming habits, open conversations, and judicious choices. Implementing these customized tips can help families game together in a way that’s both fun and enriching.


The Daddy and Munchkin Blog promotes shared parental leave, documents the smiles, and shares some honest product reviews. Contact us today to learn more!

About the Author

Lydia Chan understands the life of caregiving for another. After her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she found herself struggling to balance the responsibilities of caregiving and her own life. She is the co-creator of Alzheimer’s Caregiver, a website that aims to provide tips and resources to help caregivers.

My opinion

As an avid gamer myself I see the benefits of gaming when used with time limits.

Munchkin is yet to step into the world of console gaming, however I am eager to get him his first Nintendo Switch to start him off next year. My approach would be to keep any consoles downstairs to avoid my kids spending too many hours away from the rest of the family, keep time limits and use as a reward and make sure we have many multiplayer options so we can play together so one day beat me too????.

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Building the Christmas magic in 2023 ❄️

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If the magic doesn’t come itself, which I’m sure it will, here are some tips to building the Christmas magic in your little one.

Start building the Christmas magic by decorating the tree

Get them involved in decorating the tree. They will put everything in the wrong place and you’ll have to re-do it when they sleep but they will appreciate the process and it’s welcomes the start of the rest of the festive fun.

building the christmas magic

Visit the big man

Be it Santa, Old Saint Nick or Father Christmas. Get a visit or two in, and make sure you see him when he comes down the street. It helps build the huge festive fib and gets them excited for their main pressies.

Get an awesome craft activity advent calendar with a kind elf

Or a chocolate if you prefer. But something fun or tasty to count down the days to the big day!

Toucan box advent calendar chimney

Munchkin had a craft calendar from Toucan box which we didn’t use the year before which has been great fun, with books, baking and simple Christmas crafts.

It also came with a kind elf. No pants on the tree or flour all over the kitchen here!

Don the festive clothing

Christmas jumpers aren’t just for one day, get all the festive gear on all month. Useful when you want to save £200 on your energy bill too! Oh, and get the whole family involved.

See some Christmas lights

Explore a local woodland with a Christmas light experience. I recommend Sandringham Luminate which we visited last year in 2021 and again this year, as well as the National Trust Christmas lights.

Do some merry baking

Last year we made some ginger biscuit Rudolf’s and some chocolate cornflake wreaths. Munchkin loved both the making, and the munching!

Set up a Christmas eve box

As a final little excitement before the big day, set up a Christmas eve box, with Pj’s, a book and a Christmas mug. The perfect end to a build up before the big day.


Thanks for reading,

Daddy and Munchkin

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Children and divorce

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Even though I went through parental divorce as a teenager, its something I’ve never thought to touch on.

It was tough, with the threat of losing our family home, losing all contact with my Father and the added stress of court visits.

Luckily for me, I was of an age that I totally understood, and if I learned one thing from it its that my vows to Natalie will never be broken. But to other ages or situations the effects of children and divorce could be felt much more strongly.

This is something I’ve never written about before, that is, until Anthony Bennett reached out to me. His company (Milavetz Law) have put together a in-depth post covering topics such as the effects of divorce, how to help children through divorce and advice on managing co-parenting. Something I’m, thankfully, not experienced to talk about but was really worth sharing for those who need it.

Find their post here ➡️ milavetzlaw.com/children-and-divorce/

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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Legoland short break review 2023

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Like Alton Towers (short break review here ➡️) I have fond childhood memories of getting my driving school licence and panning for gold on a Legoland short break and its also safe to say we may have all gone a little Lego crazy recently at home????…

So, as a parent, I was eagerly waited for the time Munchkin was old enough, or rather tall enough, to make the most of it. With Natalie off on maternity leave it was the perfect time to go off-peak, reduce the queuing and the price. So without further ado, here is what we thought of our experience.

Instant Magic

legoland short break

From arrival you are transported into a Lego utopia. As a Legoland short break guest you get separate free parking and enter, regardless of accommodation choice (Lego Hotel or Castle Hotel), through the Lego hotel entrance. If you into Lego like us, the entrance is amazing, with a towering Lego clock tower, holding a giant Lego mist breathing dragon. Its pretty spectacular, even if it does create a small puddle on the path doing so.

Then when inside, you’ll first experience the sweet smelling aroma you need to quickly get used to – its everywhere! Don’t worry though, it only made me slightly hungry. Then you are instantly transported to a Lego world. There’s a Lego pit to build an already growing wall of Lego up a pillar and a fantastic minifigure wall, complete with moving Lego magnifying glass to get a closer look and see all the minifigures you have ever dreamed of.

Fantastic bricktastic accommodation

There’s currently two hotels to choose from (with a third ‘Woodland village’ coming in 2024) and I cant really see a difference between them unless you want a theme. For the more generic knight’s room or wizard room you can choose the Castle hotel, however if you’d like to go down a Lego theme such as Lego Friends or Ninjago you would more likely opt for the main resort hotel.

The main choice then is whether to go standard or premium but this seems to only come down to extra theming and unlimited free access to the playroom (which can be added to standard for a small fee). We opted for premium as this was at the time a once off… but time will tell if that is the case.

I can say that in the atrium, lifts and restaurants, both hotels transported us to brick built heaven. The premium theming was superb, with numerous Lego decorations around the room. There was a premium coffee machine, PS4, Lego building area and an in-room treasure hunt for which we received a magazine, towel, Lego set, keychain and our first and only Pop badge.

Our only Pop badge

The extras – The Legoland playroom, pool and entertainment

Away from the park there is the Lego pirate themed swimming and activity pool, character meet and greets and the Legoland playroom. We didn’t make it to the pool and what we saw of the entertainment was good with Duplo building challenges, but the best thing to mention here is the playroom.

A castle, a cityscape with road, a town with a train track and an undersea adventure fill the room ready to add your own creations. There’s a duplo zone for the younger ones too, and some digital Lego games. We visited it twice as it was such good fun to get us all building together. There’s drinks and snacks available too, all in a room filled with that sweet vanilla aroma.

The Park – Superb kids rides, experiences and shows

I didn’t know what to expect but was blown away from the park. With Munchkin measuring over 1 metre there was only two rides he couldn’t go on, and there were a handful we took 5 month old Sprout on too! Munchkin was instantly filled with joy as we flew around the park from ride to ride to ride with short off peak queue lengths.

For Munchin, he loved the spinning spider and the biggest rollercoster; the dragon. For me, I loved the flight of the sky lion and the Hydra’s Challenge.

As long as you can hold your littlest one in a sitting position, they can join you on Deep sea adventure, Coastguard HQ, Balloon school, Aero Nomad, the Legoland express and the Fairytale Brook (but there may be more I missed). Sprout was only just sitting and they didn’t mind at all.

Free Lego!

It wouldn’t be a good visit to Legoland if you didn’t come away with some Lego, and what’s better? Free Lego! We had two opportunities to get our hands on free bricks; firstly as a result of completing the in room treasure hunt which is obviously hotel only. But also in the park.

As it was the Springfest event, The Brick in Miniland was giving out free Lego bee’s to build and take home.

Rides that even a thrill seeker could appreciate

Albeit Legoland is not in the league of other theme parks for thrill, there are some rides I could honestly say were good fun, even if less about the G-force and more about the fun factor.

The Dragon has some seriously cool Lego sculptures, before several nice drops through some tight tunnels. The Spinning Spider could seriously throw you about if you span the middle wheel like crazy which we most certainly did. But the top one had to be Hydra’s challenge. If you timed it go into the centre and then fly to the outside and back in, there was some serious thrills to have whilst dodging the bursts of water.

Quirky dining experiences

There’s two restaurants for breakfast and dinner; the Tournament Tavern sits within the Castle Hotel and the Bricks Restaurant within the Resort hotel.

We visited the Tournament Tavern on our first night. There was plenty of Lego to see around the room and the food was superb. On our departure day we visited the Bricks restaurant. This had a set price menu (which you can view here ➡️) but was honestly a little disappointing. If we visited again we would probably double up the Tournament Tavern for both days.

Price

A Legoland short break like most any theme parks doesn’t come cheap. Further to the cost, if you stay on resort, you have to add park tickets for the second day, although the pool, playroom and breakfast are included.

Overall the one night break, with two park days, came just short of £480 but this rises to around £600 at peak times.


Thinking of another theme park? See our review of Alton Towers Staycation here.


Location

Legoland is located in just outside the M25, east of Heathrow Airport.

Sum up and the all important stars

From the moment we arrived to the moment we left I was transported to a Lego dreamland. I had high expectations and the Legoland staycation exceeded every single one. I just had to knock half a star off for the Bricks restaurant but otherwise I can’t wait to stay again. One day in our seemingly brick filled future.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Thanks for reading,

Daddy, Munchkin and Sprout

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