Stories by Helena on Medium

Review: BRIO Classic Figure of 8 Train Set

Helena — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:13:13 GMT

We were sent this BRIO Classic Figure of 8 Train Set for the purposes of this review. Noah loves trains and small world play. He enjoys driving cars along roads and chuffing trains round tracks. When the parcel with the train set inside arrived, he was skipping about, waiting for me to come home from work, to find out when he could play with it.

I managed to hold him off until the morning, but he couldn’t wait to get changed, so he’s wearing his pyjamas in these photos. Noah is 3 and was able to look at the photo on the outside of the box, to make the figure 8 all by himself. The wooden track pieces are smooth, so I had no worries about splinters in his little hands. Each section of track slots into the next one. Noah ha to work out which way to direct the curve of the track so that he could join them in figure 8. He made one almost-circles and then slotted the special connector track in the middle to finish the shape, before moving on to the next circle. I love watching children play, and work out the best way to do things! It’s so fascinating!

The BRIO Classic Figure of 8 Train Set comes with one train and two carriages. The train is painted black and red, and the little plastic and metal yellow wheels make the whole vehicle really striking. The magnets click the train parts together well.

The BRIO Figure 8 train set comes with a sturdy wooden station, as well as some pointy trees. Noah likes to think they are Christmas trees, though he did wonder about the lack of baubles or lights!

This is a really fun set for railway enthusiasts, old or young, and would make a really good starter set if you were looking for a gift for a nearly 3- or 4-year-old. The beauty of BRIO train sets is that it all just mixes up and makes an even bigger train track, so if you bought this train set but the child already had this one, it really wouldn’t matter, and would contribute to a larger railway.

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We were sent the BRIO Classic Figure of 8 Train Set for the purposes of this review. All words and happy children shown are my own.

8 DIY play scenes for kids’ imaginative role play

Helena — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 13:10:41 GMT

My kids are so into crafts right now, and we love to merge cutting and drawing with play! Our toys need jazzing up sometimes, like sticking on bits of paper and giving them a new hairstyle! Or else we spend time making a whole play scene, with roads, shops, and trees.

Here are 8 ways your children can make their own play scenes too!

I love these play scenes since they encourage kids to recycle craft materials, while using their imagination, and drawing or painting. My kids spend so long creating the perfect scenes. Then the business of playing in the new world passes even more time. These are perfect rainy day activities, or if you are cooped up due to chickenpox.

3 DIY play scenes — transport and towns

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Recycled boxes to make a town

With FREE printables of windows and doors

Learn to Play at Home uses little boxes to make a 3D town. Some boxes ready for the recycling bin, a bit of paint and some paper had been transformed into a beautiful little city. Debs also explains which skills children use for each element of the creation, too, so you can be sure your kids are learning through play.

Toilet roll car wash

This car wash is fab! You will need a cereal box and a couple of toilet rolls as well as some paper to create the washer brushes. Add some paint, paper and imagination, and soon all the vehicles in Toy Town will be sparkling clean. This post by Kidsomania includes instructions that kids can follow.

Doll House

This one is actually something you can buy and the children customise it. I really think you can make it yourself: have a look here. All you’ll need is some thick cardboard for the outer house shape, and thinner card for the “pages”. Draw on some windows if you like, or leave that for your child.

Construction site

This amazing scene by Roar Sweetly might need a bit of help from you to cut the shape of the box, but I think kids would love to help you with painting the sky. They could also cut out buildings for the backdrop, and stick them in place. All the instructions are included in this post, although I think it would be a brilliant space to play with kinetic rocks or sand, as well as ordinary play sand.

These play scenes are sure to be a big hit with your kid, if they like crafting and playing!

Travel by Foote around India

Helena — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 21:34:24 GMT

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So for those asking, here is our plan for where we’re going in India! We’ve quite a while until we go, and we’re only there for 2.5 weeks. See the bottom of the post for a map of the main destinations.

Planning our trip to India

We didn’t really plan where we wanted to go in India very much before we decided that’s where we were going to. I can’t say we’re brilliant at long term travel plans (for example when we were in France I was literally trying to find somewhere to go while Rob was driving, and one night we didn’t have an hotel booked until after 7pm…) but we have at least organised our flights to and hotels in India.

India is so vast and varied, it really is difficult to decide where to go, especially if (as we did) you’ve impulse bought the flights to New Delhi. So we are time constrained and location bound. We, like most people, will be flying into Delhi and we’ll explore Rajasthan, particularly the iconic Golden Triangle, and Varanasi. I think if we have the chance to do another trip to India, we’ll go south, and visit Kerala. Maybe Goa. Maybe — there’s something about Goa I’m not super keen on, I’m not sure what.

Assistance with our trip to India

We have used a company to help us with the itinerary. They helped us by offering a basic route, and then Rob has worked tirelessly to tweak it to cover the places he wants to see. With our time-frame and budget, we have been quite limited and we can’t see everything we want to see. India is, afterall, a huge country! The company we used could have taken care of all arrangements for transport and accommodations, but we have booked our own flights, both internal and in / out of Delhi, and we’ve organised our own hotels.

The company we were in contact with had tried their best to gather information about extra beds for the kids, and they made contact with every hotel to check if they would be sleeping in a proper bed or a mattress on the floor. However, in the end we decided it was something too important to leave to chance or someone else’s word, and also not ideal to have to sleep in a window seat or on a sofa without proper covers. So we’ve booked our own hotels. We’ll see how it works out during our trip!

Planes, trains, and automobiles

We’re not really travelling through India by foot (haha, I just liked the phrasing for the post title).

We considered nine-hour drives in India, we really did, but something about it didn’t quite appeal… We considered going by train, too, since it’s such an iconic method of travel through India. However, we didn’t really fancy trying to get two little boys asleep on a sleeper, or lose the night walking a packed train with two wide awake, excited kids. So we have a couple of internal flights booked and we’ll take the hit on the cultural and scenic experiences during this trip to India over convenience.

A car and driver

We discovered that a popular way of getting around India is to hire a car and driver. Self-drive rental cars are relatively uncommon, due to the poor condition of roads and the frequent disregard for road rules in India. We have hired a driver for the majority of our stay in India, but we’ll use hotel shuttle buses occasionally, too. We’ve done our best to cut down the time we’ll be spending travelling in the car, due to the lack of car seats, and bored children who are not strapped in is a recipe for disaster. We feel we can’t take our car seats as we won’t always have a car and don’t want to be carrying such a heavy package regularly. We are considering a blow-up bumper seat or something like that. I’d love to hear your recommendations if you have any, or experience with car travel in India with kids.

Vaccinations and Visas

We contacted our doctor and received lists of the vaccinations each of us has received over the years. We seem pretty much ok apart from Typhoid and Hepatitis A. We’ve been informed that due to a vaccination prioritisation throughout the world, we’re unlikely to be able to get these jabs before we leave. So we have to take our chances. There are steps we can take to reduce the risk of contracting typhoid, for example, frequent hand-washing in hot, soapy water is apparently the best way to control infection. We’ll need to avoid drinking untreated water, eating raw fruits and vegetables, and choose hot foods whenever possible.

All visitors need a visa for India, except citizens of the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan. Most people are eligible to get an electronic E-Visa for tourism, business and medical purposes. These visas are valid for 60 days, from the time of entry.

Indian culture

We have been watching as much about India as we can manage! We’re working our way down the BBC iPlayer search results for India: such as the BBC Click episodes, as well as other documentaries like Himalaya with Michael Palin.

The boys are familiar with the Taj Mahal thanks to Go Jetters, and we’ve found this puzzle book which James loves.

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India for Kids Activity Workbook: States of India
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‹ ›

It will be Holi while we’re there, and I hope we’ll be able to experience the colourful celebration of Spring. We had a little trial when we did a colour run when Noah was a baby — it was lots of fun but seems to have been on a much smaller scale than the articles I’ve read about Holi seem to show.

Planning what to pack

My Pinterest board is coming on a treat with packing tips and posts about what to wear in India. I also have a couple of posts about things to do in India. Please send me pins if you see anything you think might help me! Obviously I will be taking in to account the country’s conservative standards of dress — I have had some practice in Thailand, though I understand that I won’t be wearing shorts in between the places that require even more modest clothes.

Map of our trip

So, here’s the map of places we’ll visit in India. If you know of any unmissable sights or things to do in any of the locations we’ll be, please let me know! Follow along via Instagram too.

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TitleCategoryAddressDescription

Delhi New Delhi, Delhi 110005, India

Varansai Uttar Pradesh 221002, India

Amritsar Amritsar 143001, India

Udaipur Udaipur 313001, India

Kumbhalgarh Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan 313325, India

Jodhpur Jodhpur 342001, India

Pushkar Pushkar 305022, India

Jaipur Jaipur, Rajasthan 302016, India

Agra Agra 282001, India

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6 things we loved in Malta

Helena — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 21:33:45 GMT

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We went to Malta in March 2017. We loved it! It was super cheap, and such a beautiful place. There’s a real mediterranean, old-fashioned feel to the parts of the country we visited. Here is a very small selection of the wonderful sites we visited in Malta with our two little boys.

6 things to see in Malta with kids

Mdina

Mdina is such a beautiful place. The sandstone walls offer a calming tone to the beautiful town, with little cobbled streets and twisting corners.

Plan your trip to Mdina using this free, fully customisable itinerary!

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Popeye Village

We stayed in a fabulous hotel — I really couldn’t fault any part of it — the db Seabank Resort and Spa in Mellieha Bay, and from our hotel we walked to Popeye Village. This was the place where they filmed the Walt Disney movie, starring Robin Williams, in 1980, and they’ve kept and maintained the set as a tourist destination. The coastal village, consisting of 19 wooden buildings, took a crew of 165 over seven months to construct. We loved to explore the town, although I couldn’t recall ever watching the movie! Helpfully, you can watch clips of the movie at the on-site theatre, and take part in a live performance with some of the Popeye series’ best-loved characters. We took a boat trip around the scenic Anchor Bay, played mini golf, and explored the Christmas scenes hidden behind one of the houses.

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St John’s Cathedral, Valletta

The buses in Malta are as reliable as those in the UK. Sometimes they are bang on time, and other times, three go rattling past you and you have to wait for the overcrowded fourth… Anyway, we used the buses in Malta and they were fine, really.

From our base in Mellieha, we travelled by bus to Valletta. Valletta is a city, as European as any other in the Mediterranean. We loved it. There were so many beautiful doors I could have stood and photographed for hours but not captured them all.

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The cathedral in Valletta, is considered one the finest examples of High Baroque architecture in Europe. St. John’s Co-Cathedral is one of the world’s most celebrated churches. The impressive structure was built by the Knights of Malta between 1573 and 1578. Though the exterior is somewhat rough, resembling a military fort, the interior boasts intricately carved walls, a painted vaulted ceiling, and a marble floor made up of Knight’s tombs. Visit the cathedral’s seven chapels, all filled with elaborate riches and dedicated to the different patron saints of the Knights. Don’t miss Caravaggio’s masterpiece, “The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist” (1608) in the Oratory, for which it was commissioned.

After watching the changing of the guard, we also visited the tomb of the unknown soldier at the harbour in Valletta. These monuments always make me cry. Very nearby is a slightly broken but still very fun play park, where the kids rocked back and forth on a crazy bouncy car for ages. Something that really stood out about Malta is that you are never far from a play park. Pretty much all of the main sights have a playground next to it — excellent town planning there, Malta!

Gozo Ferry

We took the ferry to Gozo, and had a day out over on that island. We visited just after the window collapsed, so didn’t get to see that! The ferry was a lovely experience. The terminal is modern, with an airport lounge feel about it. The journey itself takes about 20 minutes, though there’s a bit of hanging around before and afterwards. Buses meet the ferry in Gozo and take you into town (through ultra narrow lanes and far too close to buildings for my liking!).

Parish church of Mellieha

From our hotel, one day we decided to walk up the hill away from the beach. We passed really intriguing-looking tunnels, and if we didn’t have the boys with us we’d have explored further. However, we walked up the steep ramp to the parish church of Mellieha.

Nearby the church are World War II tunnels, and this fabulous mural on the steps. There are several bars and cafes nearby, too, as well as another wonderful playground, so you can relax while the kids play.

Citadel, Gozo

In Gozo we visited the citadel, which is on the highest point of the town of Victoria. It is part museum now, and part castle. It was a small walk up to the front door of the museum, and from there we were shown the lift we could have taken… Anyway, it was easy enough with two little boys charging up the ramp! It is free to enter if you don’t want to see the museums. There is also a cathedral, with gorgeous ceilings. As in many religious places, you need to dress modestly, and cover shoulders and legs. I was initially refused entry as I had shorts on, and I was asked to cover my knees. Tried, couldn’t, apologised, and let in anyway.

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We also caught a bus to the beach, where a huge ice cream cost almost nothing, and tasted delicious, and the boys spent a good length of time collecting pebbles to mend the pavements with. The stuff memories of holidays are made of.

Have you been to Malta? These were just six places to visit with kids, but we loved all of Malta and our little trip to Gozo, too. This blog post about Malta could have been several more pages long!

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Playing with numbers 1–10 with Brio Abacus

Helena — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 21:32:36 GMT

PR Sample

We were sent this Brio Abacus with Clock for the purposes of this review. We used it to count to ten, add two sets together and find the total. It has a clock on to help with learning the time, which is something we’ll be working on in the future.

They say:

A classic abacus toy with clock for an early and playful introduction to numbers, counting and learning to tell time. Made of wood and plastic, with ten colorful beads and a clock with moveable hands. As stylish on the shelf as it is pedagogic, this is an abacus toy to keep as your child grows.

Different types of beads

We noticed that the Brio abacus has two rows of beads. The top row has red beads on, while the bottom row has a pattern of yellow and green beads. The beads feel different, and we talked about that as well as noticing that the shapes of the types of beads match the shadow shapes on the board under the rows of beads.

So we decided to use the red beads to count big cars, and used the coloured wooden beads to count small cars.

Team work

James directed Noah, who drove the cars over to James for counting. James said, “I would like two big cars,” and slid two red beads over to the left of the metal row. Noah selected the cars and took them to James.

Next time we try this game, I think we’ll write down the number of each type of car and add them up, then write the total number.

Clock work

The clock on the back of the abacus will be useful for learning to tell the time as the boys get bigger. We’ve not really tackled it yet as every time seems to be “20 past five” if you ask Noah! James is closer to the age of learning to tell the time but he’s not as motivated to try it as he is to learn to read. So we’re keeping to what he wants to do as it’s probably the easiest route!

This is a solidly made toy, which has a variety of ways of playing with it. For babies, I imagine the textures are more interesting, as well as the fact the beads slide from side to side. Now my boys are five and three, we’ve been able to bring it into a different kind of play, so this Brio abacus is something that will grow with the child and last for a long time.

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We were sent the Brio Abacus with Clock for the purposes of this review. All opinions my own.

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Stories by Helena on Medium

Review: BRIO Classic Figure of 8 Train Set

Products from Amazon.co.uk

8 DIY play scenes for kids’ imaginative role play

3 DIY play scenes — transport and towns

Recycled boxes to make a town

With FREE printables of windows and doors

Toilet roll car wash

Doll House

Construction site

Travel by Foote around India

Planning our trip to India

Assistance with our trip to India

Planes, trains, and automobiles

A car and driver

Vaccinations and Visas

Indian culture

Products from Amazon.co.uk

Planning what to pack

Map of our trip

Get Directions

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6 things we loved in Malta

6 things to see in Malta with kids

Mdina

Plan your trip to Mdina using this free, fully customisable itinerary!

Popeye Village

Save £300 on selected holidays with Thomas Cook

St John’s Cathedral, Valletta

Gozo Ferry

Parish church of Mellieha

Citadel, Gozo

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Playing with numbers 1–10 with Brio Abacus

Different types of beads

Team work

Clock work

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