This Dizzy Mummy and Her Playday Experience

For those of you who don't know today is National Playday, sponsored by Savlon. I have written two posts about it here and here.

Due to it being holiday season and not many people being around, I decided to meet up with a friend and her girls and just have our own little Playday in the park, after all its not about how big your event is...its just about getting your children to play outdoors! Unfortunately her eldest has had a temperature since yesterday and is not very well so I had to have a change of plan.

Having recently looked up Playday's in this area, the nearest was Paignton. I wasn't too bothered about going there but this morning I randomly typed in Dartmouth Playdays and came up with this advert here. Distracted by my daughters and not reading the advert properly, I was thrilled to discover there was an event next to my Daughters nursery with face painting and a bouncy castle and all those things children love. So I packed a picnic, snacks and drinks and set off.

Unfortunately I did not check the date...when I turned up to the children's centre, the staff did not know anything about Playday or an event.  The very nice lady checked out the advert I had seen on the internet and it was in fact the right place but the date was 2007...whoops!! I felt very silly as you can imagine.

With an upset three year old who wanted her face painted, the park was not going to do, so I decided off to Paignton we would head. They had an event at the the local Community College organised by Torbay Council's Early Years, Play and Childcare Service. There was lots of planned events including archery, sports coaching, bouncy castle assault courses and paint your own pottery. There was even clowns with a magic show and balloon modelling, a "jungle Jim" ventriloquist show and a chance to meet some exciting animals.

Poppy had a great time. She especially loved the animals, the magic show and balloon modelling.Rosie had fun too. She loved crawling about on the grass and practising standing up and sitting down, her favourite past time at the moment.  I think she might be walking very soon.

Here are a few photos:

There was plenty to keep you busy but I think this particular one was aimed at older children. However, despite the day not turning out quite as planned I am glad we joined in and supported the event.  We even bumped into a family we knew.

Next year though, I would like to host my own event like my Sister Not Yet A Yummy Mummy and Mummy and The Beastie. Check out their sites for details of their joint event in Richmond Park.  I would have loved to join in with that one but its soo far away!

Hope you all enjoyed your day and that your children enjoyed playing outside.

Karen x

Fresh Air and Fun - Kids Need To Play Outdoors

For those of you who don't yet know Wednesday is National Playday, sponsored by savlon.  I have already written a post about it which you can read here but the idea behind it is that we need to get our children playing outside more. 

Some pretty shocking statistics came out of their research. these included:

• 42 per cent of children have never made a daisy chain
• 32 per cent have never climbed a tree
• a quarter of children have never rolled down a hill
• a third of children have never played hopscotch 
• one in ten children have never ridden a bike    

We have been fortunate to have just spent a glorious week with my parents. They have a huge back garden and lots of outside toys. This coupled with the beautiful warm sunshine meant my children did not want to come indoors.


Poppy enjoyed running, skipping, jumping and hopping as well as football, catch and the hula hoop. She loved the new tree house her Gramps has built for the grandchildren and enjoy playing inside it as well as sliding down the slide.


Rosie loved the slide as well as crawling and trying to stand. She enjoyed the feel of the grass under her feet, picking up and dropping the pebbles as well as water play.  Nanny and Gramps have a sand and water table but they also turned the hose on too...great fun!!


I thought the best way to demonstrate what a lovely week we have had is to show you through pictures (just a tip don't bother putting it on full screen as it doesn't like it)!:

As you can see they had great fun and really enjoyed their break.

Playing outside and fresh air is so good for our little ones and its free too. It doesn't matter if you dont have a garden, there are plenty of parks around.

Karen x

Prepared For Everything Thanks To Savlon

I very excited to receive this fantastic goody bag from Savlon and Lypsyl. Now if any of the girls fall over and hurt themselves (or each other) this Summer, thanks to them I now feel ready for anything:

Talking about Savlon, they are the sponsors of Play day.  Have you heard about this yet? No? well if not, don't worry I have the details here for you.  

Wednesday 3rd August 2011 is  National Play Day. This follows research recently undertook by Savlon which shows that the children of today just do not get outdoors and play as much as they used to.  For example their research showed that: 

• 42 per cent of children have never made a daisy chain
• 32 per cent have never climbed a tree
• a quarter of children have never rolled down a hill
• a third of children have never played hopscotch 
• one in ten children have never ridden a bike    

Shocking isn't it? Well I for one make sure my girls get outside daily.  We don't have much of a garden but do have a patio area with a small trampoline and garden toys on it including hopskotch.  We also have play parks nearby and lots of rolling countryside and beaches. We go out as a family every weekend as we all love being outdoors and best of all its free. 


Getting out and about doesn't cost anything so why aren't we all doing it? My eldest loves going to the beach, running, splashing, throwing pebbles into the sea and crabbing. She also loves splashing in puddles and picking up sticks and leaves to make pictures with at home. The youngest loves the feel of the wind in her face...it makes her giggle and she loves looking around at everything.

Anyway back to Play day.  You can find all the information you will need here on both play dates in your area or hosting your own.  It doesn't matter how big or small the event is, its just all about getting our children playing outside. I am definitely going to be doing something here in Dartmouth.  If anyone wants to join me my email is:

 wouldliketobeayummymumy at gmail dot com. 

Happy playing and thank you Savlon.


Karen x