There are a few surefire activities that keep my kids happy and entertained. One perennial favourite that I enjoy as much as them, is a good craft project. It’s amazing how some paper, cardboard, glue sticks, a good set of markers and a few bits and pieces can keep kids occupied for hours. When the project results in something extra special – like a birthday present or something to hang proudly on the walls — it’s hard to take their attention away with anything else.
In addition to the imaginative craft ideas floating around Pinterest or Instagram, I occasionally buy craft kits for the kids for inspiring ideas (especially great as birthday or holiday gifts). One of my favourite brands is Seedling, a New Zealand founded company that has built its reputation on creating activity kits that inspire imaginative play. When I told my kids I had been asked to partner with Seedling they could hardly contain themselves. Ivy instantly recalled all of the past Seedling kits she’d done in London and asked if we could do them all again!
Seedling offers activity kits that are popular with both boys and girls. We decided we’d try the Make Mini Mermaids kit, the Design Your Own Bird Wings (Ivy & Marlow were desperate to make these again), the Design Your Own Tutu kit (you can imagine how excited the girls were about this one) and the Colour the Earth kit, just so we could draw in a few memories from our past year of travel. All of these kits came with everything we needed to create the project from start to finish, which was handy since we’d shown up here in Australia with only our suitcases. We made our mermaids and the tutu in the course of an hour, while the bird wings, one side painted by Marlow, the other Ivy, were completed over the course of a couple of days. When we were finished, there was still plenty of ink in the markers and glitter in the glue to use the supplies again on our own projects.
For the past two weeks the girls have flown around town in their bird wings, twirled around the house in their tutu and made up countless games for their mermaids. In an age when toys and activities are becoming increasingly passive, it’s wonderful to be working with a brand that specializes in creating active products and growing young imaginations. My kids are already asking when we can order more Seedling kits, but I think the next round should be on Santa. : )
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Seedling. I only work with companies whose products I genuinely admire, and Seedling is a brand I have loved for many years. All of the opinions and text are entirely my own.
Fingers crossed that santa brings more! Love your post , couldn’t agree more. I’d personally love more posts on books ivy reads and likes and if your boys have ipads of any type. Schools now seem to be setting work on them in the UK! X
GORGEOUS!!!!love seedling
Our girls are 7 and almost 5 and they bug me for these sets everytime we see them at the store. The mermaids are perfect for summer time shenanigans. I dont think my fingers are nibble enough for tutu making though.
Oh my gosh, the tutu was SO easy to make! The kids did most of it all on their own (and there is no sewing required!!). Promise! : ) xx
Hi Michael and Courtney,
I have been following your instagram for so long and I feel like you are my family from far far away. A strange connection although our lives are nothing alike. I live in Greece and have a young toddler although hoping for more soon. I had two questions regarding parenting that I hope you wouldn’t mind sharing. The first one has to do with homeschooling. I understand that when you were traveling a lot of the homeschooling involved learning about the countries you visited. Do you follow a different or “set” pattern of teaching now that you are in a new place for longer that a few weeks? I guess my actual question is do you have particular age appropriate themes and goals for teaching or is there a more “free” approach?
My second question is, that I find as a parent, I tend to schedule my day and plan out activities with my toddler. I am also a no screen, no media parent so I try to pan out various activities for us to do together. I love your liberating parenting style and I always think “I wonder if Michael and Courtney, have schedules for their family?”. Not in a creepy way, just in a “can I do that too” kind of way? 🙂
I apologize in advance if you find my questions intrusive. I don’t mean to be. I’m just curious having followed your journey for so long..!
You can buy Seedling in TK Maxx (when they’re in stock!) for £7.99