For all our new products for 2020 we have set ourselves the challenge of adding an extra item, to be accessed here on our blog that you can enhance the play activity! It could be a printable craft activity to be played with alongside the toy, or it could be something to add to the playing experience of the product....a bit like this gorgeous printable menu card which we are giving you to play alongside our beautiful brand new Bird's Nest Cafe - your little one can print it out and fill in just like a real waitress or cafe shop owner!

Click here to download the menu card and print out on your home printer!

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Children love to pretend play and re-enact daily events familiar to them; creating scenarios base on real life events can help your child become more confident as they develop important language skills and learn about social interaction.

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Here's a cute kitty to colour in! And we've left a space to design a collar for your cat too. Don’t forget to give them a name and perhaps a little fish to eat?!

This free print out is available from HERE

We've rounded up some great links below to help your child with colouring techniques...

Art is Fun has some great tips for colouring in with pencils:
https://www.art-is-fun.com/colored-pencil-instruction

The \"go to\" crayon, Crayola has some wonderful ideas here:

https://www.crayola.com/t…/how-to-landing/creative-coloring/

They also have lots of free colouring print outs on their site:
https://www.crayola.com/featured/free-coloring-pages/

And remember colouring is not just for the kids! It's very therapeutic, so why not print out a few copies for the whole family, young and old?

The illustrator Millie Marotta has created a beautiful and de-stressing colouring-in sheet to download.

\"Colouring is a great way to get creative indoors. It’s also a relaxing activity that can help keep anxious thoughts at bay. In this time of crisis, many of us are feeling worried. Millie Marotta’s Love NHS initiative offers a way to de-stress through the mindful activity of colouring in while celebrating the heroes working in the National Health Service.

Download from here:
https://www.pavilionbooks.com/…/28/millie-marottas-love-nhs/

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We love to idea of a window Easter Egg hunt, started by New Zealand’s prime minister @jacindaardern as an alternative to a traditional Easter egg hunt.

Ms Ardern suggested children colouring in an Easter egg and place them in the windows of their homes for neighbours and friends to spot.

If you fancy tying this we’ve created our own egg to colour.

Click here

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There are so many wonderful recipes and fun bakes popping up recently, and so much inspiration for things to do with the little ones!

Lots of our lovely friends and families have been sending us photos of their little'ns wearing aprons, causing havoc, mess and getting crafty, and we absolutely love it!

With so many people home schooling, we have decided to share one of our favourite recipes with you. Edd Kimber, A.K.A The Boy Who Bakes is one of our biggest inspirations at the moment, his recipes and ideas are phenomenal! We have tried out loads of his bakes ourselves, and have had such fun along the way!

https://www.theboywhobakes.co.uk/

One of our favourites has been the queen of hearts cookies, they were fun to make and a little lower maintenance so an easier one to do with the little ones! If you like jam, you'll like these little beauties.

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Heres how to make them, and the link to his fabulous post:

https://www.theboywhobakes.co.uk/recipes/2019/1/18/hazelnut-linzers

Hazelnut Linzer Cookies
Makes about 30

300g plain flour
75g ground hazelnuts
1/2 tsp salt
200g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla extract
raspberry jam to fill the cookies

To make the cookie dough mix together the flour, hazelnuts and salt. In a large bowl using an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. You’re not looking for cake levels of light and fluffy but you do want to work a little lightness into the mixture to make a lighter, better textured cookie, mixing for about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and beat to until fully combined before adding in the egg. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the flour is just worked into the dough. Be careful not to overmix the dough at this stage as it will make the cookies tough and chewy.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and use your hands to gently form into a uniform dough. Divide into two equal portions and press into discs, wrapping in clingfilm and then refrigerating until firm.

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When you’re ready to roll out the cookies preheat the oven to 160C (140C fan) and line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured worksurface roll out a portion of dough until it is about 3-4mm thick and then using a 6cm round cookie cutter cut as many cookies as possible, setting the scraps aside. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking trays and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat this process with the second portion of dough. Gently reform the scraps of dough into a ball and then refrigerate as before whilst you bake off the cookies. This dough can be rolled out again for more cookies.

Take the cookies from the fridge and use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to remove the middle from half of the cookies. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes or until just starting to turn golden on the edges. I bake the cookies lower than usual as it crisps the cookies evenly throughout without too much browning. Allow to cool on the baking tray for a couple minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble the cookies place a teaspoon of raspberry jam onto each base cookie and spread slightly towards the edge. Dust all the top cookies with icing sugar then place one on top of each bottom cookie, sandwiching together. Once assembled the cookies are best on that day as the jam will eventually soften the cookies.

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See the rest of the series on easy children's recipes.

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ThreadBear Design news.

Bird's Nest Cafe printable

Design a Cat Collar!

Easter Egg Hunt colouring in page

Baking Days!