Category: Mama Stuff

a parenting philosophy based on the principles of the attachment theory in developmental psychology

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Narnia Party Games Ideas

Home / Children's Parties / The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Narnia Party Games Ideas
by Luschka

Once you have a room beautifully decorated and you have food all good to go, you need to have a few games to keep your young adventurers occupied for an hour and a half (or two hours, or whatever). We always have parties somewhere with lots of room to run around, or in the woods so there’s plenty to keep the kids busy without the need for magicians or other paid entertainment. That said, we do like having some themed games at our parties, and if you do, here’s a run-down for you:Narnia Games Collage

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How To Make Peter’s Narnia Shield

Home / Children's Parties / How To Make Peter’s Narnia Shield
by Luschka

Whether for Halloween, a fancy dress party or, like we did, a goodie bag for a Narnia party, Peter’s shield as given by Father Christmas adds a nice touch. We made some in silver and some in gold – I only have a gold one left for photos but in the book Peter’s shield was silver.

“These are your presents,” was the answer, “and they are tools not toys. The time to use them is perhaps near at hand. Bear them well.” With these words he handed to Peter a shield and a sword. The shield was the colour of silver and across it there ramped a red lion, as bright as a ripe strawberry at the moment when you pick it. The hilt of the sword was of gold and it had a sheath and a sword belt and everything it needed, and it was just the right size and weight for Peter to use. Peter was silent and solemn as he received these gifts, for he felt they were a very serious kind of present.

Peter Pevensie Shield

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Make Lucy’s Fire Flower Cordial For A Narnia Party

Home / Children's Parties / Make Lucy’s Fire Flower Cordial For A Narnia Party
by Luschka

Whether you’re having a fully-fledged Narnia party or just reading the book and want to add some 4-D to your reading experience, Lucy’s Fire Flower cordial is pretty to look at but is still safe to be used as ‘drops’ like Lucy does.

Fire-Flowers grew in the mountains and valleys of the Sun. The juice from their berries was used to make the healing cordial given to Lucy by Father Christmas. A single drop would cure almost any illness or wound, even bringing people back from the brink of death. The bottle of the cordial was in what was said to be made of pure diamond.

Fire Flower Cordial CoverRead more: Make Lucy’s Fire Flower Cordial For A Narnia Party

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Narnia Party Food Ideas

Home / Children's Parties / The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Narnia Party Food Ideas
by Luschka

My first Narnia party post was about Narnia party decor ideas, in which I explained that we set the party up in zones – war time England, Mr Tumnis’ house, the Beaver’s house, the White Witch, the battle field and the cake.

Rather than one table full of food, the party food was spread out across the room.

We started outside with ‘war-time Engalnd’ – baked potatoes, vegetable soup, toast (but no butter!)Narnia Party Food

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Make A ‘Not Back To School’ Tote With Pencil Holder And Notebooks {BostikBloggers}

Home / Bostik Bloggers / Make A ‘Not Back To School’ Tote With Pencil Holder And Notebooks {BostikBloggers}
by Luschka

The theme for this month’s #BostikBloggers is Back to School, which is obviously a bit problematic for us, so we decided to do a Not Back To School craft instead. For this month’s #BostikBloggers we’ve made a Tote Bag with a playful ‘Not Back To School’ checklist, decorated two notebooks and made a pencil holder to sit on our desk. We’ve also made an on-the-go pencil case for when we’re out and about, but I’ll pop that in a different post.

I’m actually really pleased with how this month’s craft worked out, not least because it’s something we’ll actually be able to use over the next few weeks. Not back to school

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Managing Expectation With The Usually Fearless Child

Home / Letters to Ameli / Managing Expectation With The Usually Fearless Child
by Luschka

I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I sometimes look at my children and am surprised by how incredibly small they actually still are. Because at any given moment, they are at the biggest they’ve ever been, and they’ll never be that small again, it’s easy to forget that on a whole, they’re still actually very small. Especially when it comes to Ameli, my 7 year old. Sorry, my 7 and 3/4 year old. An important point whenever she’s asked.  Ameli is an incredibly fearless child. She could run at 9 months, before her brain could register danger, and she’s never stopped. By 2 she’d been to 20 countries, because she made it all so easy. She was fearless. She still is. fearless child

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Childcare And The Working Parent

Home / Mama Stuff / Childcare And The Working Parent
by Luschka

I recently asked a question on a Facebook group about babysitters, and whether people use them at all. The responses were a very mixed bag with everything from ‘yes, all the time’ to ‘no, never’.

As a working parent, and more specifically a work-from-home parent, I often find myself with a different need: someone to be at home with the children, while I’m there, but working. It can be really hard to get in the ‘flow’ of work when you’re constantly interrupted for a glass of water, or because someone looked at someone else for a second longer than was acceptable! Having someone who can keep the kids busy, do art and craft with them, and generally just fill my role for a few hours a day or week, makes a huge difference.

childcare and the working parent

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Create A DIY Space Light With #BostikBloggers

Home / Bostik Bloggers / Create A DIY Space Light With #BostikBloggers
by Luschka

We were very excited this month when we received our #BostikBloggers box and found it full of space themed goodies. There’s something wonderfully imaginative about space, mesmerising even, and we were excited to make something a little different, so we made a night light, and I must admit I’m very happy with how it turned out!

#BostikBloggers Space LightRead more: Create A DIY Space Light With #BostikBloggers

Identifying Where Nature Can Improve Your Mental Health #30DaysWild

Home / 30DaysWild / Identifying Where Nature Can Improve Your Mental Health #30DaysWild
by Luschka

Well, the best laid plans, and all that! I’d intended to post every day for 30 days, sharing our #30dayswild journey, but yeah, life happens, doesn’t it. Never mind, new goal: post when  I can! So far so good!

Last year the girls and I spent some time on Feelings And Emotions, learning about different emotions, what they feel like, how they make us act and so on. It was a very good series of activities, and they still refer back to it.  I decided for one of last week’s #30dayswild activities to go back to one of those activities, a printout of leading questions I designed to make the girls identify how being in specific places makes them feel. (Find that activity and printout here.)Nature Can Improve Mental Health

As they change and grow, I think it’s useful to revisit some activities because it shows them and me how much they have developed on the inside too.

The questions on this sheet of paper are leading questions, about how we feel in different places:

“On the beach, with the waves at my feet, my toes in the sand, I feel…. ”

“In the forest, with the trees overhead, and the birds chirping, I feel…”

and then there are questions about a shopping centre and their own bedroom.

(Words on the actual page vary a bit, but you get the idea.

Using these questions on the printed sheet gave us the opportunity for some quiet reflection. In the forest, for example, we closed our eyes, described what we could feel on our skins, smell in the air, taste on the air, hear… and the same on the beach.

A post shared by Luschka (@luschkavo) on


I was pleased to find that Ameli’s questions have grown from ‘makes me want ice cream’ to something along the lines of “On the beach I feel refreshed and happy. Its a good place to come when I’m feeling blue”. Similarly, her response to the forest was “In the forest I feel at home.”

I think it’s really valuable to be able to identify how specific places feel, so that they can use their environment to help manage their emotions.

I know I’m feeling really irritable and ‘scratchy’ at the moment, so we’ve decided to camp at a local campsite this week. I know that waking under canvas for a few days will improve the way I feel. I hope that my children can identify where nature contributes to their general mental health too.

Flowery Encouragement Notes {BostikBloggers}

Home / Bostik Bloggers / Flowery Encouragement Notes {BostikBloggers}
by Luschka

Sometimes your children do something completely of their own accord that makes you sit back and think ‘Wow! I’m actually raising a decent person here!” Yesterday, Ameli did just that. I was busy simultaneously preparing for lunch, washing dishes and getting ready for our camping trip, when I walked into the living room and found Ameli folding papers. I asked her what she was doing, and she said “Making encouraging messages for people”.

Her plan was to open the window and toss them out into the wind and let people pick them up. When I pointed out that people might consider them litter, she agreed, and then decided that she’d hand them out as we were walking through town.

I thought it was incredibly sweet, and generous. She went onto Google and searched for ‘encouraging phrases’, wrote them out and decorated each ‘note’. When she ran out and wanted to make more, I thought the Bostik Bloggers ‘Flowers’ theme would work really well, so gave her the craft box, and here’s what she came up with: Bostik FlowersRead more: Flowery Encouragement Notes {BostikBloggers}