Little Owls Day Nursery’s Weekend Bag – A Parent’s Review

Last weekend we were invited to try out and review one of the new weekend bags that are on offer for you to take home.
Inside there is an activity to do with your little person, the equipment needed to do it, as well as helpful hints about how to engage and talk about what you are doing with your little person.
We chose the ‘Autumn shortbread’ bag as Elijah enjoys baking, and there is also an Autumn Crown activity bag too.
The themes/activities of the bag will change throughout the year so you can have a chance to try out all of the different ones.
With it being a rainy weekend it was the perfect time to try out the weekend bag, after cabin fever has begun to set in!
I sometimes find it hard to think of things to do whilst you are stuck indoors, and these bags are perfect as they are a ready-made inside activity all ready for you to try!
They also tie in with the themes and subjects of what the children have been exploring that half term too.
Elijah enjoyed getting everything out of the bag, which included;
• Ingredients list
• Recipe
• Conversation ‘during your activity’ sheet
• Shortbread autumn leaves cutters
We started off by getting together everything we needed and we spoke about the quantities of flour, butter etc needed, and how much we needed to pop on the scales.
Elijah has begun to recognise higher numbers, so the quantities were a really good way of discussing larger numbers as well as the idea of more or less.
The method was quite straightforward which meant Elijah was easily able to follow direction and complete each step fairly independently.
From mixing, to rolling and cutting we spoke a lot about what the ingredients would look like if we did a certain step such as mixing, or kneading.
The cutters that are provided were very fun to use, and Elijah had great fun popping the cut shortbread out.
The house also smelt amazing whilst they were cooking and we spoke about how long they would take.
Elijah then quickly abandoned the room when the words ‘washing up’ were uttered and left me to it!
When it was time to decorate, promoted by the discussion sheet we counted out a certain number of raisins for each biscuit.
It was then decided that Elijah wanted to share his yummy bakes with the staff and other Barn Owl children so decided to pop them in a tin and take them into nursery.
We are told that everyone enjoyed the biscuits at snack time!
We would thoroughly recommend taking home one of the weekend bags, there are not many activities that Elijah will really engage with, and normally leaves me on my own finishing it off but he loved making the biscuits himself and was very proud to taken them into his friends!
With winter fast approaching, now is the perfect time to check out one of the weekend bags to keep your little ones busy on a cold and miserable day!
I found it also really strengthened the home/ nursery link as we uploaded photos on Tapestry, as well as Elijah taking his bakes in for his friends.
To take home a weekend bag, speak to one of the nursery nurses who will be able to advise you further.
We will be trying out the other weekend bags on offer too now!

Vicki Cockerill is a Freelance Content Writer and NICU/CHD Mum to two boys, she authors The Honest Confessions Of A NICU Mum Blog, founded and runs The NICU Parent Partnership Organisation and co-hosts @KnackeredandNorwich Social Club.. You can contact her via her blog or social media;
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