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Christmas gifts for a 4 year old
20Dec
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.

Hulk smash hands ➡️

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.

Batman 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

Octonaughts 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!

Adventure set 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

Dino-snore-us 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!

Plum playhouse at Argos

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…

£17.09 at Amazon

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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29Nov
Our top 10 Lego sets for Christmas 2023

When you buy something using the retail links in our blog posts, we may earn a small commission. This money goes towards fuelling further content. If you want to support us, you can also buy us a coffee ☕

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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20Nov
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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5Jan
Happy New Year 2021

Happy new year and thanks for reading the first post of 2021. 2020 may have been a rubbish year for many, so let me start by sharing my condolences with the people who have suffered or lost a loved one.

With Lockdown 3.0 starting as I write this, it’s hard to be optimistic about the year ahead. Hopefully, people will realise the importance of following the rules this time around, and we can approach the light at the end of the tunnel which is there, albeit a tiny glimmer.

With that, please know my inbox is always open and you can find that on my contact page, or drop me a DM on Instagram. Don’t hesitate if you need a chat.

With 2020 done and dusted, I would like to send my appreciation to anyone who reads my mutterings. I feel justified in buying the domain now as 2020 saw ~400 visitors jump by more than 230% and for that I am eternally grateful.

So onto a new year of blogging. Facing 2021 with the same trepidation as last year, with little ideas for new posts, but comfortable knowing I felt this way last year but managed to put out 10 more posts than the previous year.

Thanks for reading, following our journey and being there for us.

Is there anything you’d like to see in a future post?

We hope you have a good 2021.

Daddy and Munchkin

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24Dec
Building the Festive Magic in Munchkin

Whilst this isn’t a normal Christmas, like I spoke about in my last post ‘A Covid Cursed Christmas‘. The magic of Christmas is definitely starting to build in Munchkin.

The start of the magic was first spotted when the decorations went up. We have a large bunting spelling ‘Christmas’ (believe it or not) near the dinner table. When it went up he immediately was drawn, point out the ‘S’ and ‘T’ sounds. ‘Christmas (baby please come home)’ came on the playlist, and I sang along with my arms above my head to the ‘Christmassss’ bit. Munchkin immediately copied, and now does it nearly every meal time.

If you want to picture me singing that. Here’s the song

Christmas has come around perfectly with how now he seems to learn a new word each day. He loves to point out the various ‘Reindeeeeer’ decorations (everything he says is cutely drawn out), when there is snow in books, the Chrisssssmass tee (Christmas Tree) and baubles (which sounds more like bubbles). You also can’t stop him pointing out the lights.

Oh and my, he loves the lights and sounds. He always notices when we have forgotten to put them on demanding ‘lights, ON!’. One time, when i picked him up from nursery I pointed out some new lights that had gone up. It must have been the night everyone decided to put them up as the whole 20 minutes home was ‘lights…lights….lights, lights lights…. short pause… lights!’

festive magic
Seeing the festive magic build

Whilst Munchkin may have been scared the first time he met Santa (his face was as if he had seen a ghost), we didn’t expect much on his street visit. However, when we flew past on his car towed sleigh he was mesmorised! It’ll come as no surprise the next day he came down, saw a Christmas book, pointed and said ‘Santa!’

It’s a shame we won’t get to see all the ones we love this Christmas, but will the magic starting to build in Munchkin, I’m sure we will have a exceptional Christmas.

1 sleep to go!

‘Chrismasssssssss’

Have a fantastic Christmas 2020,

Thanks for reading,

Continue reading…
22Dec
A Covid-Cursed Christmas

While we have it better than most, being in tier two, not locked down alone in London, or self isolating and suffering with the wretched virus, its safe to say this has and will be a Christmas to remember.

Rewind six weeks or so, My Mum (You may know her as Nannyofmunchkin when she writes on here) had the perfect rule of six plan. We would see everyone in slots, and we would host Munchkin’s Auntie and Uncle (my Sister and my Bil (brother in law). It was the perfect, covid-guideline friendly plan.

Then came the three household plan. This changed it to a traditional Christmas at Nanny’s but without seeing my wife’s side of the family. This was tough but accepted.

We were just getting used to that idea when tier four struck. We are now down to just five: my sister and her hubby, me, Munchkin and Natalie. The first Christmas I won’t see my Mum, Nan, or Natalie’s family, and Munchkin won’t see either Nan or Grandad or Great Nan. Let’s hope Zoom/Teams/Skype hold out!

So it’ll be different this year. I’m currently desperately trying to find my Christmas spirit again. But with Munchkin, I’m sure it’ll be magical as always. Different, but still a wonderful Christmas.

Even though now, just 3 days away, I’m expecting further changes to our plans….

Stay safe this Christmas, and as ever, my inbox is open if you need a chat or a cute festive Munchkin photo.

Sending our love and ‘big cuddles’ to everyone struggling this Christmas.

Thanks for reading,

Continue reading…
24Mar
A ‘magical’ first Christmas

Christmas for Munchkin really began early December when the tree entered the house. He’s always been mesmerised by nature and now there was a tree standing in his living room. Then came the shiny decorations, tinsel and most importantly, the lights. Woooah!

All the rest of the lights went up around the house and then you could tell he had an air of ‘I could certainly get used to this’ although in photos it could be seen as total fear.

The look of enjoyment of this Christmas thing… or was it a look of fear?

To continue the build up of magic, the week before Christmas me and Nanny took him to a garden centre. The look of his face as we saw the singing characters, the bright flashing trees and fake snow. He had no idea what was going on, but we knew he loved it.

The three day extravaganza (Christmas Eve to Boxing day) came around but then also did the joys of hand, foot and mouth for Munchkin. What a time for this! Not only were we worried about it ruining his first Christmas experience, we also had to live in fear about catching it ourselves!

The rosy cheeks of hand foot and mouth

On Christmas Eve we went to Auntie Nicole’s and Uncle James’. He had his first round of presents. Whilst cute to watch him open then, it took forever. But still ate like a champ considering the sores around his mouth.

Christmas Day was at Natalie’s parents. Whilst Munchkin felt a little more rough with his hand foot and mouth, and we felt rough with the alcohol and lack of sleep from a late night Christmas eve, we all powered through the mountains of food and hours of games and had a bloomin’ good day as expected.

Christmas Day: Presents, presents, selfie, presents, sleep!

We hosted boxing day. I pre-empted by thinking how tired I get when I don’t have a baby by boxing day so suggested we split the prep and cooking with my family. This was wise. By now, Munchkin was confused, what was this all about? More wrapped toys?!

The family clan on Boxing day

By the end of day three and after three days of hand foot and mouth, we were all exhausted. Luckily we were all off work and nursery was yet to begin so had a good few days to recover.

Thanks for reading,