Scratch map – Geography for kids

Scratch Map is an interesting way of teaching geography to kids.

Out of the box you have a good-sized world map.  Every week I try and teach the children about the Capitals or each country.  And if they get it right they can scratch off the gold foil – the edge of a coin will do.

Yes it’s low-tech, but it’s something we do together.  And it’s not a computer.

The Scratch Map costs £14.00 plus postage.

My Scratch Map

Alternatively, if you are a Globe trotting Phileas Fogg type then you can use it to catalogue all the places you have visited across the world.  But lets take stock here.  This is a kids toy!

There are not to many Cosmo-World-travellers that are going to regal their dinner guest with the latest trip to Namibia and then whip out the My Scratch Map and say “that’s another one off the list”. Get Real.

Dimensions of the scratch map

The My Scratch Map is 81.9 (W) x 58.2 (H)cm’s, which is approx 2.5 rulers by nearly 2 rulers.

It is also supplied in a protective tube

Did you know that I am planning a trip to the Arctic?  Read more about how the planning and sponsorship is going at Arctic Mummy.

At Simply Stuck we are constantly on the look out for things that make life a little easier.

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School name labels

School name labels

The summer holidays are now behind us and our children are back at school. With new shoes, sports kits and uniforms the ultimate value pack of labels made my life easier, I just simply fixed the personalised stickers and labels to their personal items.

The value pack of labels available from Simply Stuck is great value for money. They’re easy to apply to clothes and accessories, are waterproof and won’t fade in the wash.

What did I get for my money?

• The 140 label value pack is priced at £16.50 and contains:
• 40 Hugely versatile sticky labels 7mm x 48mm to apply to their books and bags.
• 30 Supremely useful mini labels.
• 8 free clear shoe labels are provided in every pack and extra shoe labels can be ordered for shoe fanatics or sporty kids.
• 40 Magic Iron-on labels perfect for school clothing.
• 30 Mini Magics (5mm x 35mm) labels are ideal for labelling smaller items such as pens and accessories.

School name labels value pack

How did I order the labels?

It is quick and easy to personalise the stickers online in four easy steps:

1. Your child can choose their favourite icon, from a selection of 32 pictures, to appear next to their name. Girls will love the flower, heart, horse, and butterfly shapes and boys can choose a football, rugby ball, car, and rocket motif. A preview of the label design will be shown as you make your selection.
2. Next you enter up to a maximum of 20 characters including spaces for the name with four text fonts to choose from –  Comic Sans, Arial, Verdana or Times new Roman.
3. Select from a choice of six colours for the text / background and icon – black, red, pink, blue, green and orange (note that the St Georges Cross Stickers are only available in Red). The Magics labels are available in five text colours and printed on a white background.
4. Click on ‘Buy Now’ to complete the steps.

School Name labels for clothes

Looking to raise extra funds for your School / Nursery?

If you are look to raise extra funds for your School or Nursery complete Simply Stuck’s online registration form and they will despatch FREE easy to use packs which promote labelling, help reduce lost property and raise funds for your School, Club or Nursery. You can also signup to receive Simply Stuck’s newsletter so you’ll be notified of special online promotions.

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History for Kids

The Normans

If you are like me I want to keep my kids active both physically and mentally over the summer holidays.

At Simply Stuck we always try and keep kids active and come up with ideas that are easy and fun.

So on rainy days the family will sit down and try and learn something new. I recently stumbled across an excellent resource in the BBC website called “Have your Own Norman Adventure” as part of the Hands on History campaign.

Did you know that books were published to tell people how to behave at feasts and one warned diners not to pass wind, scratch flea bites, or pick their noses.

There are some fantastic resources available including;

• Downloadable Hand on History Activity pack
• Norman pull out timeline
• Photos and videos

If you are interested in other child friendly resources why not try Maths, learn about the vikings, or the children of World War 2.

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Frog & Bug Border Wall Sticker

Children love to explore outdoors, learning about nature and the natural environment. Children are particularly attracted to wooded areas with that added sense of mystery and discovery. Woods are the ideal playground for hide and seek, collecting nuts and seeds or for building dens. It is also a great opportunity to learn through play as they discover their natural environment and learn a little about problem solving and how to handle risk.

For other wildlife adventures then visiting a nature reserve with your child is a great way for them to learn about flora and fauna. Your local Wildlife Trust organises fully interactive and fun wildlife activities for all the family throughout the summer months, giving children the chance to try pond dipping and discover the underwater world of frogs, boatmen, beetles and water bugs.

If your kids are in love with nature Simply Stuck have some fantastic border and wall stickers that can introduce a wildlife theme into your children’s bedroom.

Frog Border Wall Stickers

Frog Border Wall Sticker

The long colourful frog border is printed on self adhesive laminated and peelable material. The border features a continuous design with no repeats and is sure to fire your childs imagination. The Wall border is easy to wipe clean and remove with no sticky residue. The border is up to 5m long and priced at £15.

Bug Border Wall Sticker

If your child loves caterpillars and ladybirds then they will love the Long Bugs Border. It measures up to 5m long and is available online for £15.00.

Big Frog Stickers

Big frog stickers

The characters featured in the Frog and Bug Wall border can also be bought as individual stickers. The bug and frog stickers are printed onto A4 sheets.  The huge stickers are printed on self adhesive, laminated and peelable material, making them easy to clean and remove. The Big Bug stickers are very life-like and feature grass hoppers and ladybirds. The Big Frog and Big Bug sticker packs are available to buy separately for £14.00.

The stickers are easy to order online from Simply Stuck and delivered within 3 working days. Happy wildlife hunting.

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Summer Crafts

With long evenings and warmer weather children are keen to spend more time outdoors. Take advantage of a glorious summer day to entertain the kids with an outdoor craft or creative activity.

Children of all ages love craft activities, enjoying the freedom to express themselves with creative and imaginative designs. Simply Stuck have come up with three fun ideas that are easy to adapt, and can be made using everyday items.

Painting & Garden Collage

Kids painting

Kids can take their favourite paints, craft papers and junk modelling pieces outside, spread them out on the grass, and let their imaginations run wild. Left over wall paper can be put to good use and is ideal for painting large landscape scenes. Plants, flowers, trees and insects can be used as inspiration or children can create their own abstract drawings.

Children love to experiment with creating their own colour mixes. From an early age they can learn about the primary colours red, blue, and yellow –  three colours that cannot be made by mixing other colours – and using two of these three colours to create a secondary colour.

Leaves and twigs can be added to give the painting a 3D dimension and add texture. They may need help with gluing heavier objects.

If they are not confident in drawing flowers, they can cut examples from magazines and add them to their creative collage.

Flower Mask Craft

Girls will love creating a floral face mass. The materials you will need are:

• A paper plate or a card circle made from an empty cereal box.
• Craft paper, white or coloured
• Glue or cellotape
• Lolly pop stick

Instructions:

• Cut the craft paper into the shape of a petal, you can get two petals per page.
• Decorate the petals with paints or markers, adding glitter for extra sparkly effect.
• Cut out the centre of the paper plate so the child’s head becomes the centre of the flower.
• Glue the petals all the way around the edge.
• Finally glue or celotape on the lolly pop stick as a handle.

Now the child can peek through the flower!

Boat Race

Paper boat

If it is not warm enough to go swimming in the paddling pool, why not make a fleet of boats and hold a boat race instead.

First make a large paper flag for each boat, painting them in different colours. Attach the flag to a lolly stick to create a sail and then use lots of celotape to attach the stick to the centre of a margarine tub or similar shape plastic tray. Place the boats in the paddling pool and blow on the sail.

The kids will have hours of fun , and enjoy lots of fresh air, with these summer craft ideas. If you want to add further to their creative designs take a look at the huge range of Simply Stuck stickers which will compliment any craft box of everyday household items. We have a huge variety of designs which are easy to use.

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#Grabthekids for Half Term week

Dread it and love it, Summer Half Term week is nearly upon us. Between the 31 May and 4 June can sometimes fill fear into the hearts of parents.

Will it rain? Do you need to work? Do you have child-care in place, will the kids been entertained? All questions that keep parents awake at night. To try and help, just a little, is our list of activities available this Half Term week.

A word to the wise

Children's durable ID bracelet

Wandering children is an occupational hazard. Even the most obedient of our little treasures can decide at a moments notice that there is something infinitely more interesting to do away from your immediate side.

So before you book your time away it’s worth making sure that you order some ID bracelets. Simply Stick has an excellent range of simple and durable children’s ID bracelets, which you can personalise. “If lost please call…” is usually enough.

The ID bracelet has room for up to 20 characters including spaces for the mobile number. The ID bracelet pack priced at £9.00 contains 10 stickers, 10 wrist bands and the stickers can be printed as pink or blue text on a white background.

Children’s centres across the UK

This Daily Telegraph article contains six of the best children’s centres across the UK. Try and pick the one that seems most relevant to the type of child you have. The Daily Telegraph

The Woodland Trust

What about some fresh air. The Woodland Trust website a an excellent search tool for find woodlands for you to explore in your area.

City walking tours

These are provided gratis by some cities: Bath, for example, offers free two-hour general tours each day, and a Jane Austen audio tour that you can freely download on to an MP3 player; see  Visit Bath website.

London

It’s easy to have a good day out in London as they is so much to do. Not accessible to everyone, but if you live close up it’s well worth the effort. There are a few resources to help you here.

Visit London website

The Evenings Standard newspaper

The weather’s terrible

If you are stuck inside this summer ½ term you could consider sprucing up the children’s bedroom.

The key to get this right is to understand what interests you child. There are lots of great themes available from Simply Stick

Toy soliders

Toy Soldier Stickers

The new toy soldier stickers are available from Simply Stick and come flat packed in A4 sheets in a cellophane bag toy. The soldier stickers are pre-saved in assorted poses and children can stick them in a scrap book, diaries or on the wall. You can inject a bit of nostalgia into your child’s room and set up a combat force army in two different colours and let them get creative.

There are 12 soldiers per set with an average height of 8cm. The available soldier set colours include Black, Army Green, Grey and – wait for it – even Pink!

The Soldier set is priced at £10.00 and also includes 2 flags.

Designer Letter Wall Stickers

Designer Letter Wall Stickers

Let your children be creative with Simply Sticks designer letters. The removable and repositionable letter stickers are 15cm in height in Arial style font and available in a range of bright designs for easy and fun decoration. They can be used to make a fashion statement in a bedroom or playroom or to personalise a door or toy box.

The letters are purchased individually and you can enjoy mixing and matching the different patterns – design styles include girl camouflage, boy camouflage, flowers, stars, stripes, stars n’ stripes and union jack.

You will be dazzled by the results!

The On the Road sticker pack is perfect for boys who love to get creative and construct their own traffic scene. Boys are best at building the road sections, laying out the straight, curved and zebra crossing components until they are happy with the results.

The vehicles including bus, pickup truck, bicycle and delivery van can then be added to complete the scene. The peelable scene stickers include 15 road section repositionable stickers and 6 cars, with straight road sections measuring 28cm x 8.3cm. The ‘On the road’ theme stickers are supplied on 6 x A4 sheets and priced at £20.00.

Educational Wall Borders

Educational Wall Borders

A new style of extra long Educational Wall Borders that are ideal for bedrooms, playrooms and classrooms.

Designed to be easily stuck to any wall, these borders can be wiped clean and repositioned if you need to.

Available in a range of graphics including Alphabet Border, Rain Forest and Frog Border, Big Bug Border (a persoanl favourite with our kids!) and Henry the Eighth and his six wives.

These 3-5m borders look absolutely fantastic when they are up.

Alternatively, you could cook up some wacky experiments at home care of the Planet Science website. Fun for under and over 11’s there are loads of activities to keep them amused for at least a few hours.

Whatever your choice of sticker Simply Stick has a wide variety of stick that will suit most needs.

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