Hey everyone :)
We can now confirm that as well as Monday classes at Stanhope Parish Hall, we will now be holding a Thursday class there.. double the sensory & messy play!
Come along Mondays, Thursdays or BOTH!
£5 per child, £3 per additional child.
Why not join us for our themed sensory & messy classes during the holidays?
3rd August - DINOSAURS
10th August - SPACE
17th August - UNDER THE SEA
24th August - STORIES & FAIRYTALES
31st August - FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD
Look out for some more themed classes after the summer holidays too!
Please message me to book a place :)
Katie xx
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Create Music Festival
On Sunday 26th July we held a stall at Create Music Festival.. a popular free music event in Ashford's Victoria Park.
We started setting up our stall outside around 9am and then the heavens opened.. I sent my lovely husband to go and buy a gazebo, but then one of the organisers kindly offered us a space in the marquee.. phew!
It was a great day, I met so many lovely mums and dads, gave out lots of flyers and enjoyed watching the little ones get stuck into our messy trays! We had a special offer of 10% off any party or event booking... this will be a standard offer for any stalls we do for fun days, fetes etc.
Definitely looking forward to being at Create festival next year... a fantastic atmosphere despite the awful weather! I hope everyone had lots of fun!
Katie xx
We started setting up our stall outside around 9am and then the heavens opened.. I sent my lovely husband to go and buy a gazebo, but then one of the organisers kindly offered us a space in the marquee.. phew!
Here I am all ready to go!
It was a great day, I met so many lovely mums and dads, gave out lots of flyers and enjoyed watching the little ones get stuck into our messy trays! We had a special offer of 10% off any party or event booking... this will be a standard offer for any stalls we do for fun days, fetes etc.
Here's the aftermath... lots of messy fun was had! :)
Definitely looking forward to being at Create festival next year... a fantastic atmosphere despite the awful weather! I hope everyone had lots of fun!
Katie xx
Sunday, 5 July 2015
Long time no post!
Hello everyone,
Ooh I'm so sorry for the lack of blog posts, our last post was the 7th May.. oops! when I originally started this blog I thought it would be easy to write a post 1-2 times a week, but unfortunately life is so busy at the moment that I had forgotten all about updating it!
I'll try and do a post at least once a week from now on, keeping you all up to date :)
Since I last wrote we've changed venues...
Classes are now only on a Monday, 10-11am at Stanhope Parish Hall, it's a smaller hall, but we're able to have a completely separate baby area which is nice and quiet :)
We've also stopped Saturday Fun Clubs, there wasn't enough interest and it was a lot of time and effort and wasn't financially viable to carry on. We're disappointed, but in the future we're hoping to add another weekday class and keep Saturdays free for possible party and event bookings :)
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We're aiming to be at CREATE festival this year which is in Victoria Park on 26th July... we'll hopefully be holding a stall with a few sensory/messy play activities, but we can confirm this nearer the date.
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Remember you can keep up to date with classes and other information on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsclasses
Thanks everyone! :-)
Katie x
Ooh I'm so sorry for the lack of blog posts, our last post was the 7th May.. oops! when I originally started this blog I thought it would be easy to write a post 1-2 times a week, but unfortunately life is so busy at the moment that I had forgotten all about updating it!
I'll try and do a post at least once a week from now on, keeping you all up to date :)
Since I last wrote we've changed venues...
Classes are now only on a Monday, 10-11am at Stanhope Parish Hall, it's a smaller hall, but we're able to have a completely separate baby area which is nice and quiet :)
We've also stopped Saturday Fun Clubs, there wasn't enough interest and it was a lot of time and effort and wasn't financially viable to carry on. We're disappointed, but in the future we're hoping to add another weekday class and keep Saturdays free for possible party and event bookings :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We're aiming to be at CREATE festival this year which is in Victoria Park on 26th July... we'll hopefully be holding a stall with a few sensory/messy play activities, but we can confirm this nearer the date.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember you can keep up to date with classes and other information on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsclasses
Thanks everyone! :-)
Katie x
Thursday, 7 May 2015
Mushroom & Co - Review
We were lucky enough to be sent a selection of sensory toys and a set of crayon rocks from Mushroom & Co for the purpose of this review. Mushroom & Co boasts that all their products are 'both 100% safe and biodegradable as they are made from
completely natural materials' and 'Each and every product is hand painted, to
help make the final product unique and truly special.' I love their motto... 'Safe, Fun and Naturally Done!'I couldn't wait for our package to arrive!
This is 'Alfie the Spider' from Mushroom & Co's 'Lanco' sensory toys range. He can be bought for £10.00 here: http://www.mushroomandco.com/products/alfie-the-spider. Alfe is hand made with 100% organic natural rubber from the sap of Hevea tree in Spain. He is wonderfully textured, brightly coloured and has a soft squeak inside. He is flexible, durable and soft.
Daisy really enjoyed playing with Alfie the Spider... she squashed, squeezed, threw, stamped on and stretched him to start with (poor Alfie!), luckily he is very durable. I was initially worried Daisy might be able to pull his hairy tangles off or get his squeaker out, but nope! His squeaker is very secure inside and the tangles can't be pulled or bitten off... phew! Daisy then used Alfie to sing 'Incy Wincy Spider' which she enjoyed.
This is 'Heady Caterpillar', again, from Mushroom & Co's 'Lanco' sensory toys range. He can be bought for £10.00 here: http://www.mushroomandco.com/products/heady-the-caterpillar. As with 'Alfie the Spider', 'Heady Caterpillar' is hand made with 100% organic natural rubber from the sap of Hevea tree in Spain and hand painted with non-toxic food grade dyes. He has a squeaker inside and lovely colours and textures.
Daisy played with 'Heady Caterpillar' similarly to 'Alfie the Spider', squeezing, pulling, twisting and stretching him. She didn't play with him as long as Alfie, possibly because she didn't know a caterpillar song!
This is 'Maggy the Snake', again, from Mushroom & Co's 'Lanco' sensory toys range. She can be bought for £10.00 here: http://www.mushroomandco.com/products/maggy-the-snake. She is made from the same natural rubber and handpainted with non-toxic food grade dyes. She also has a squeaker inside and has many textures and colours to explore.
Daisy liked playing with 'Maggy the Snake' and enjoyed making a 'Hissssss' noise whilst moving her along the floor. By this time she knew 'Maggy the Snake' would have a squeaker as well and didn't spend long playing with her, possibly because of the similarity between these toys.
This is 'Hunter the Hedgehog', again, from Mushroom & Co's 'Lanco' sensory toys range. He can be bought for £8.00 here: http://www.mushroomandco.com/products/hunter-the-hedgehog. He is made from the same natural rubber and handpainted with non-toxic food grade dyes, however, he is a much 'harder' sensory toy and is not as soft or flexible as Alfie, Heady or Maggy.
Daisy loved Hunter. At first she squeezed him and stamped on him and then enjoyed rolling him along the floor and throwing him to me and trying to catch him. I think this was her favourite of the 'Lanco' sensory toys as it had more of a 'purpose' (like a ball) for her.
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This is 'OVO the Egg Set (x4)' and is from Mushroom & Co's 'Lanco' range. This set can be bought for £7.96 here: http://www.mushroomandco.com/products/set-of-4-ovo-the-egg-original. They are made from the same natural rubber and are handpainted with non-toxic food grade dyes. They each have a squeaker inside and are soft, flexible and bouncy! This set comes in a lovely cardboard egg box. These are advertised as being perfect squeak toys for small to medium dogs as well as toys for babies and toddlers.
This was by far Daisy's favourite of the 'rubber' toys she played with. She has a bit of a fascination with eggs at the moment, so when I gave her these her eyes lit up! She spent a lot of time taking them out of the egg box, putting them back in, rearranging them, putting the lid on, taking it off, bouncing & rolling them and then finally naming them (luckily we're a family of four now and I was a pink egg!) Overall she spent around 30 minutes engrossed in these eggs and even now they are the toys she will keep going back to. Fab!
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This is a set of 16 'Crayon Rocks'. This set can be bought for £11.00 here: http://www.mushroomandco.com/products/16-rocks-in-a-velvet-bag. They are made from natural coloured soy wax and are perfect to develop a child's fine motor skills, particularly their grip to aid with mark making and early writing. The Crayon Rocks smell lovely and feel quite silky. This set comes in a lovely red velvet bag.
Daisy LOVED these! The shape of the Crayon Rocks are perfect for little fingers and she was able to create very colourful pictures with large, wide strokes with a pincer grip. After she created a few pictures, she was also interested in taking out and putting the Crayon Rocks back in the velvet bag and she enjoyed matching the colours with the colour guide attached to the bag. A winner!
We had great fun with this toy selection, so thank you Mushroom & Co! I think they will all be welcome additions to our sensory classes and can be enjoyed by all ages. I would be interested to see what the babies will think of the squeaky toys... when our younger daughter Indie is older (she's only 3 weeks old!) she can explore these too.
Please visit Mushroom & Co's website here: www.mushroomandco.com to see all the other toys they have for sale... all of which are eco friendly and 100% safe for babies and toddlers.
We were sent a selection of 'Mushroom & Co' toys for the purpose of this review.
Monday, 4 May 2015
Getting back into it! :)
Hello everyone! Just a quick update...
Wow it's been a while since I wrote a blog post :) As I told most of you on our Facebook page we had our beautful baby girl Indie Rose on 13th April so we've been very busy with nappies, feeding, burping and entertaining a 2 year old ;) Time flies when you're having fun!
We've just over 2 weeks until our first class back.. a RAINBOW THEMED class which will be full of colour and fun! Every day I'm getting an hour or so (luckily both girls tend to synchronise napping in the afternoon at the moment! Haha) to work on activities and getting all our bits together... it's wonderful to get back into it and I can't wait to start back again, we've missed it!
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As well as starting up classes again I am also now taking orders for treasure baskets and sensory bins from my main Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsuk) and again, it's lovely to get back into making these, please message me if you'd like to place an order :)
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In other news, we were sent some sensory toys to review from Mushroom & Co (www.mushroomandco)... this will be in the next blog post, so watch this space! These toys will be at our classes in the baby/quiet area.. let me know what your little ones thought of them! :)
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Sorry for the very brief update... make sure you carry on checking our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsclasses for more information on future classes and message me to subscribe to our newsletter!
I look forward to seeing you all soon,
Katie xx
Wow it's been a while since I wrote a blog post :) As I told most of you on our Facebook page we had our beautful baby girl Indie Rose on 13th April so we've been very busy with nappies, feeding, burping and entertaining a 2 year old ;) Time flies when you're having fun!
We've just over 2 weeks until our first class back.. a RAINBOW THEMED class which will be full of colour and fun! Every day I'm getting an hour or so (luckily both girls tend to synchronise napping in the afternoon at the moment! Haha) to work on activities and getting all our bits together... it's wonderful to get back into it and I can't wait to start back again, we've missed it!
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As well as starting up classes again I am also now taking orders for treasure baskets and sensory bins from my main Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsuk) and again, it's lovely to get back into making these, please message me if you'd like to place an order :)
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In other news, we were sent some sensory toys to review from Mushroom & Co (www.mushroomandco)... this will be in the next blog post, so watch this space! These toys will be at our classes in the baby/quiet area.. let me know what your little ones thought of them! :)
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Sorry for the very brief update... make sure you carry on checking our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsclasses for more information on future classes and message me to subscribe to our newsletter!
I look forward to seeing you all soon,
Katie xx
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Updated dates for themed classes :)
Hey everyone!
Just a quick post today to confirm the new updated dates for our themed classes. Days and times have changed. We will start our classes back on MONDAY 18TH MAY and from now on the time will be 10-11am. The reason for the change is that Daisy will be starting nursery soon and so on Mondays we will only have our baby with us, making it a bit easier :)
We're looking into Saturday classes, but may need to change the venue, will let you all know ASAP...
18.05.15 - 'Colours of the Rainbow'
Just a quick post today to confirm the new updated dates for our themed classes. Days and times have changed. We will start our classes back on MONDAY 18TH MAY and from now on the time will be 10-11am. The reason for the change is that Daisy will be starting nursery soon and so on Mondays we will only have our baby with us, making it a bit easier :)
We're looking into Saturday classes, but may need to change the venue, will let you all know ASAP...
18.05.15 - 'Colours of the Rainbow'
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Better late than never...
Hey everyone!
Sorry for the lack of posts... it's been a bit manic here lately!
We had a lovely turn out for our last class on Wednesday 18th March, thank you to everyone who came.. we had lots of party themed fun! Here are some photos of the activities we did:
Sorry for the lack of posts... it's been a bit manic here lately!
We had a lovely turn out for our last class on Wednesday 18th March, thank you to everyone who came.. we had lots of party themed fun! Here are some photos of the activities we did:
Fruit tea bag painting... smelt yummy!
Fruit tea starry party
Sensory Ribbon Hoops... these are especially popular in the water! :)
Coloured gloop
Fireworks paintings
Making party crowns
I was sad it was our last class and I've really missed getting everything ready to do a class this week, BUT we will have a date when we'll be back (hopefully mid-May) very soon, I've already started buying bits and planning for it and I can EXCLUSIVELY reveal it will be a RAINBOW themed class :) Can't wait!
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In other news Sensory Sensations was featured in an online magazine! Family Matters Magazine wrote a lovely half page article about us on page 17... check it out here:
Treasure baskets and sensory bins will be available to order from May onwards :)
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If you are subscribed to our newsletter we will be sending out an issue when we have dates for our classes, watch your inbox! :)
Thanks everyone,
I hope you're enjoying the sunshine!
Katie xx
Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Big Jig Toys Big Blog
Hey everyone,
Just a quick update to say that the article I wrote about Sensory Play has now been published on Big Jig Toy's Big Blog!
Here's the link if you'd like to read it:
The Benefits of Sensory Play
How exciting!
Daisy had a lot of fun playing with these toys and I had fun reviewing them! Check out their website: www.bigjigtoys.co.uk
Katie xx
Just a quick update to say that the article I wrote about Sensory Play has now been published on Big Jig Toy's Big Blog!
Here's the link if you'd like to read it:
The Benefits of Sensory Play
How exciting!
Daisy had a lot of fun playing with these toys and I had fun reviewing them! Check out their website: www.bigjigtoys.co.uk
Katie xx
Saturday, 7 March 2015
Our first Saturday Fun Club...
WOW! What an amazing turn out for our first Saturday Fun Club! It was great to see old friends, many new faces and so many dads joining in the fun!
When we're back into the swing of things after our baby has been born we'll be offering a lot more Saturday sessions.. watch this space! :) It was also great to stamp a lot of loyalty cards... with a couple of mums already getting their first 1/2 price class (their 4th visit).... keep coming to save money!
Here's some of the activities we had:
Nature playdough... Daisy had great fun collecting all the bits for this table :)
Balloon painting... lots of fab artwork made from this!
Cornflakes... pouring, crunching, sweeping... eating! By far the most popular tub we had!
Sponge water play... great to see so many little ones getting in bare foot splashing!
The mystery of the toothbrushes solved! A soapy car wash :)
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Our next sensory class is Wednesday 11th March, 9-12noon... and it's Mother's Day themed! Message me to book a place on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sensorysensationsclasses or by email: sensorysensations@hotmail.com...
Katie xx
Friday, 6 March 2015
Last Wednesday Dates
Morning everyone!
Here's a few photos from our Wednesday sensory class...
We introduced our new 'Mystery Tub'... there will be two more of these in our Saturday Fun Club!
Another lovely session and it's great to hear awareness of the class is going up! We will be doing two more Wednesday classes then stopping until after baby arrives... when we'll be back with a bang (... and I will have a lot more energy! haha)
So.. the last sensory classes dates are:
Wednesday 11th March (Mother's Day themed)
Wednesday 18th March
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Tony also did two more mini photoshoots and got some lovely natural photos!
Here's one of Jack.. look at that gorgeous smile! :)
... and here's another of little friends Albie and Bluebell!
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We're now gearing up for our first Saturday Fun Club (March 7th) This is proving very popular, with only a limited amount of spaces available, so please message me to book a place to avoid disappointment!
Thanks everyone!
Katie xx
Here's a few photos from our Wednesday sensory class...
Daisy making sure she gets a little play in before anyone arrives! :)
Lovely to see mums and dads getting stuck in... and messy!
Jack testing out the water :)
Our growing baby/quiet area... we're aiming to add to this every week to give the smaller children new things to explore! What would you like to see in our baby area?
Our 'Shiny' tray, great, noisy fun!
Painting without any mess!
A mixture of 'clean mud', flour, cotton wool and shaving foam
We introduced our new 'Mystery Tub'... there will be two more of these in our Saturday Fun Club!
Milk painting on toast
Another lovely session and it's great to hear awareness of the class is going up! We will be doing two more Wednesday classes then stopping until after baby arrives... when we'll be back with a bang (... and I will have a lot more energy! haha)
So.. the last sensory classes dates are:
Wednesday 11th March (Mother's Day themed)
Wednesday 18th March
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Tony also did two more mini photoshoots and got some lovely natural photos!
Here's one of Jack.. look at that gorgeous smile! :)
... and here's another of little friends Albie and Bluebell!
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We're now gearing up for our first Saturday Fun Club (March 7th) This is proving very popular, with only a limited amount of spaces available, so please message me to book a place to avoid disappointment!
Thanks everyone!
Katie xx
Friday, 27 February 2015
Donations and help please!
Hello everyone!
Our Wednesday class was another success, thank you to everyone who came! It was great seeing some regular mums and new little ones too! If you forgot your loyalty card, don't worry, just bring it with you next time to be stamped! Daisy was able to stay the whole session this week and she really enjoyed herself (especially the cake decorating table!) I'm sure it'll give her lots of confidence being around so many other children and it's lovely seeing her run off to play independently! If you come to a class and there's no-one at the door, just look out for me in my bright yellow t-shirt and come say hello! :)
Here are some of the activities we had:
It was also Tony's first class offering mini photoshoots on the stage. Here's a photo of Daisy when she helped with a lighting test… love the expression on her face! haha
Here's a sneak peek at Harry's photoshoot… it was his first birthday and it looked like he had lots of fun! I made a special tuff spot tray for him to play with which included coloured rice, containers, scoops, flashcards and cups… I love the action shot of him with the rice!
Ellie also had a mini photoshoot. I made up a sensory basket for her to explore whilst she was having her photos done… I think it makes it more relaxed and at least then the children don't miss out on any play time! :)
If you would like something similar please don't hesitate to contact me and book a time slot :) Photography packages can be found at: www.sensorysensations.co.uk/classes
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I've been asked whether we accept any donations… definitely! I know we can make use of absolutely anything (doing sensory play with Daisy has made me more creative about things I would have usually thrown out! haha) so if anyone would like to donate anything please get in touch… things like:
- Hand towels
- Coloured or metal utensils
- Containers (and size, shape or colour)
- Shredded paper/packing peanuts/bubble wrap
- Fabrics
- Cuddly toys or books for our baby/quiet area
.. or anything similar would be greatly appreciated. We can collect or you can bring them along to a class… thank you! :)
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I was just also wondering whether there would be any volunteers who would be willing to stay on a Wednesday between 12-12:30 to help us clear up? At 34 weeks pregnant I'm finding it a struggle to clear up at the end of the class and Tony doing it by himself (bless him!) is taking 1-2 hours! You don't have to commit to every week and even if you could only spare 10 minutes it would be a massive help. No heavy lifting required, just things like:
- Washing & drying toys
- Cleaning trays
- Bagging up toys/utensils etc
- Sweeping/hoovering
Please let me know if you can spare some time (.. and of course your little one can get a little bit of extra playtime! hehe)
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Finally, don't forget there are two classes next week! The dates & times are:
Wednesday 4th March: 9-12noon
Saturday Fun Club: 2-4pm
Both at Hothfield Village Hall, suitable for 6 months to 5 years old, £5 per child and £3 per additional child. Introduce a friend and you both get £1 off :) Message me to book your place!
Thank you....
Katie xx
Our Wednesday class was another success, thank you to everyone who came! It was great seeing some regular mums and new little ones too! If you forgot your loyalty card, don't worry, just bring it with you next time to be stamped! Daisy was able to stay the whole session this week and she really enjoyed herself (especially the cake decorating table!) I'm sure it'll give her lots of confidence being around so many other children and it's lovely seeing her run off to play independently! If you come to a class and there's no-one at the door, just look out for me in my bright yellow t-shirt and come say hello! :)
Here are some of the activities we had:
'Invitation to play' playdough with dried spaghetti and cheerios (we had a lot of lovely hedgehogs at the end!)
Spice painting - Ginger, coriander, cinnamon, cumin… one little girl said it was like 'painting with poo!' haha!
Lime jelly with bats and rats
Baked beans with diggers
Coloured moonsand (by far the most popular… especially with the adults!)
Our first 'Taste Table'… this week was decorating fairy cakes :)
It was also Tony's first class offering mini photoshoots on the stage. Here's a photo of Daisy when she helped with a lighting test… love the expression on her face! haha
Here's a sneak peek at Harry's photoshoot… it was his first birthday and it looked like he had lots of fun! I made a special tuff spot tray for him to play with which included coloured rice, containers, scoops, flashcards and cups… I love the action shot of him with the rice!
Ellie also had a mini photoshoot. I made up a sensory basket for her to explore whilst she was having her photos done… I think it makes it more relaxed and at least then the children don't miss out on any play time! :)
If you would like something similar please don't hesitate to contact me and book a time slot :) Photography packages can be found at: www.sensorysensations.co.uk/classes
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been asked whether we accept any donations… definitely! I know we can make use of absolutely anything (doing sensory play with Daisy has made me more creative about things I would have usually thrown out! haha) so if anyone would like to donate anything please get in touch… things like:
- Hand towels
- Coloured or metal utensils
- Containers (and size, shape or colour)
- Shredded paper/packing peanuts/bubble wrap
- Fabrics
- Cuddly toys or books for our baby/quiet area
.. or anything similar would be greatly appreciated. We can collect or you can bring them along to a class… thank you! :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was just also wondering whether there would be any volunteers who would be willing to stay on a Wednesday between 12-12:30 to help us clear up? At 34 weeks pregnant I'm finding it a struggle to clear up at the end of the class and Tony doing it by himself (bless him!) is taking 1-2 hours! You don't have to commit to every week and even if you could only spare 10 minutes it would be a massive help. No heavy lifting required, just things like:
- Washing & drying toys
- Cleaning trays
- Bagging up toys/utensils etc
- Sweeping/hoovering
Please let me know if you can spare some time (.. and of course your little one can get a little bit of extra playtime! hehe)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, don't forget there are two classes next week! The dates & times are:
Wednesday 4th March: 9-12noon
Saturday Fun Club: 2-4pm
Both at Hothfield Village Hall, suitable for 6 months to 5 years old, £5 per child and £3 per additional child. Introduce a friend and you both get £1 off :) Message me to book your place!
Thank you....
Katie xx
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