Christmas Gifts for Boys

So it's coming up to christmas and this year my gift guide is for boys! Since my pair are now five and eight, we are into getting them things that they can play with either together or on their own! This year this guide is in collaboration with Buzz Retail who have very kindly sent us a few things that the boys can play with together or apart!

First up we have Air Ball! Now this is something I think the boys are going to love! 

This can be played with on most floorings, the ball creates an air bubble underneath it, so its not actually on the ground it is actually hovering above!! 

I think the boys are going to have so much fun playing with this! Everytime one of them has a birthday they end up kicking balloons around the lounge and kitchen, so i think this is going to be a game changer as all we will need to do is keep replacing the batteries! This takes 4AA batteries which are not included!

This is currently retailing at £15.00 and can be purchased here

Next up we have Buzzing Stickerz.

Like most kids, James and Freddie adore stickers! I find them stuck all over the house when they get kids magazines containing them! In fact I still have Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly stickers stuck to the washing machine from when James was about three or four!

This kit can create over 180 3D holographic and metallic stickers! I can see this giving them hours of fun over the Christmas holidays especially if we are still in a high tier and not able to see nana and gaga!

This is currently retailing for £15.00 and can be purchased here

Next up we have Micro Jet!

This is aimed at ages 8 plus, so it is more something that James can play with , although I have a feeling Freddie will be trying to chase it!

James has been asking us for the last couple of years if he can have a drone, so I think this will be the next best thing for him till he is a bit older and can get an actual drone or he goes off the idea!

The drone itsself is rechargeable, but he remote takes 3AA batteries! I cant wait to see what the boys make of this come Christmas

This currently retails at £40.00 and can be purchased here!

And Finally we have Buzz Snow!

This is a polymer powder that when it is hydrated it looks and feels just like real snow except it never actually melts!

What we love about this is that it is eco friendly and non toxic making it safe for children and animals!

It expands to 100x its original size and will last up to two and a half weeks before it dehydrates and returns to its powder form ready to be hydrated and used again!

Where we live, we rarely get much snow, so something like this I can see giving the boys hours of fun, especially if we are stuck at home a lot over the school holidays!

This currently retails at £15.00 and can be purchased here!

(AD) Christmas Gift Guide for 7 Year Olds

So its nearly Christmas and parents all over are trying to work out what to get their kids for Christmas. As a parent of a 7 year old I sometimes struggle with what to get him. I'm hoping that some of the things in this gift guide will give other parents of 7 year olds some good ideas on what to get them for Christmas or even 7th birthdays!

The first item we are looking at for James is Little Brain Paint Sticks. He has seen these advertised on TV for months and they look brilliant! 

Science Mad Chemistry Lab. James has started to do science at school this year and they have been doing experiments in their classroom. 

Even though this is for age 10+ we felt it was something that James would get a lot out of and that it would help him with his education. He has really taken to starting science this year in year 3 and he comes home raving about what he has been doing. A few years ago, James had a volcano kit when you added water to the two chemicals and it flowed like lava.

Then we have Heelys! Now James only found out these existed a few weeks ago when he saw his school friend with a pair on one night when we were on our way to Beavers. 

He had been asking for roller skates but we figured something like this would be safer for him! I cannot wait to see his face when he opens these. James unfortunately has inherited his clumsy gene from mummy, and mummy thought if he had roller skates he would probably end up in a&e with a broken bone!

Next up with have Paint Sticks from Little Brain. James has seen these advertised for months on TV and has been banging on about us getting some. 

The reason I like these is the fact they are twisty like crayons and you don't need water or brushes. I have always avoided paint with the kids, but these are something I can see James having a lot of fun with. 

Then we have the Which Way Game. This is another STEM item which we think is fantastic. We have been looking at a lot of STEM items for James this year as he is now in Year Three at school and we want him to enjoy his learning at school and at home. 

Its based around a programme on Cbeebies called Messy goes to Okido. The aim of the game is to help Messy get across the board to his friends.

Its aimed at 4-8 year olds so I can see this being something we can play as a family to teach both boys coding skills. Four fantastic new games from OjO for STEM fans are open for investment through the Kickstartercrowdfunding platform until 25th November 2019.

So these are just a few items that would be suitable for boys and girls aged seven plus. I think James is going to really enjoy using these. 

**We were sent these items free of charge in exchange for featuring in this Christmas 2019 Seven Plus Gift Guide**

(AD) Christmas Gift Guide for 4 Year Olds

So its Christmas, well it will be in around four weeks and its time for us here at victoriahockley.co.uk to publish our Christmas gift guides for 2019!

Today I am featuring gifts that are suitable for four year old boys and girls. Freddie isn’t actually four yet and wont be for another couple of weeks, so some of these gifts could also be used as fourth birthday presents as well!

The first item is the Pink Fong Baby Shark Song Puppet. Freddie is totally obsessed with Baby Shark and will constantly dance around doing the dance routine when it is played in the house. 

If we are early for picking up James from school he will often sit on the chairs by the back gate and ask me to put Baby Shark on YouTube for him. To use the puppet you move the mouth to start up the music of the entire song. 

Basically the faster you move the shark’s mouth, the faster the song will play or the slower you move its mouth the slower the song will play! I think this will be a huge hit with Freddie and probably also James who is seven!

Next we have the Mr Tumble learning pad. This comes with six activities to choose from including learning numbers, colours, shapes, letters and much more! 

Freddie has just started at our school nursery so something like this I think will help him so much, especially has the foundation curriculum has changed so much since James was in nursery, now children are expected to know how to write their own names before they move into reception class, which I think is crazy as James couldn't really write his own name till half way though reception. But he was the youngest in his class and was virtually a year younger than some of his classmates!

Next we have The Amazing Mystery Box. This product was originally launched in 2015 at Comic Con in London. 

Boxes can be bought on a subscription or as a one off. The box we received was the 24.99 one off box, with the value of the items being around £40. The items we received are fantastic. There are two model engines, a drink cup, a wallet, a backpack and a colour in table cloth which can be washed and recoloured! 

I have also been looking on their website and there are a few boxes that would be fantastic for James. As a special treat The Amazing Mystery Box have given us the code MYSTERYBLINDBAG and they will add in an extra treat with any box ordered!

**We were sent these items free of charge in exchange for featuring in this Christmas 2019 Gift Guide for Four Years Plus**

Mother's Day Gift Guide

Mothers day is fast approaching and what better way to start the countdown than a gift guide as to what you could get for your mum or what your partner could get for you!

Last year James dictated what mummy got and he told daddy something pretty and some chocolate so I got a lovely box of posh truffles and a Swarovski rose. 

This year I have no idea what James is going to suggest! Hopefully this post will give people a few ideas!!

First up we have the awesome "Motherhoodie" from Ada & Alfred. This sweatshirt is available in three colours of dusky pink, slate grey and nude. 

For me I would chose the slate grey as I'm not much of a pink wearer! 

It also has some brilliant features such as a Hidden earphone cord feed, a Kangaroo pouch pocket, Ribbed cuffs and hem and made from 80% cotton. This is priced at £35.00. You could always twin with your child and buy them the "Childhoodie"



Also from Ada & Alfred we have this brilliant "Lioness" sweatshirt. 

I think this will be a popular slogan this year with the women's world cup and the England ladies team aka the lionesses there! What better way to support our national ladies team than to wear a top with their name on!

This is priced at £30

A personalised phone case is always a good choice for a mum. Sadly since I am using Andy's old phone, nowhere actually makes cases for it! In fact even when it was a brand new phone you still could not get personalised phone cases for it!

Another good present for a mum is the Tesalate towel. I've been using mine for a few weeks now and I adore it. We also have a fantastic discount code for you: vickih15 to get you 15% off the towel.

These are so lightweight and dry so fast! Plus it folds up so small and has its own travel bag, so if you are taking it away with you it won't take up too much room in your bag!

Wireless headphones are another good gift for a mum! Andy actually bought me some as a wedding anniversary present as my big headphones that fold are a bit bulky for taking out and about with me, the ones he got me are perfect so I can also use them in bed if I want to watch Netflix or something on my tablet!

I hope these have given you a few ideas on what you can buy the mum in your life for Mothers Day!

Blogmas Day Nine

This Christmas is a bit different for us as it is the first Christmas that Freddie has been totally dairy and soya free. So buying traditional chocolate coins and selection boxes has been quite hard!

The first thing we have brought for Freddie is a Moo Free Advent Calendar. 

Moo Free Chocolate is both Dairy and Soya free so this is perfect for Freddie so he is not left out when James has a chocolate calendar to open.

Moo Free chocolate is made in a factory that does NOT manufacture milk chocolate or any other milk, gluten or soya based products. For me this is fantastic as it means Freddie can enjoy chocolate treats over Christmas like James and he won't get a poorly tummy.

The next thing we have bought is also by Moo Free and it's a selection box. James always gets a chocolate selection box for christmas. So when I found a Moo Free one in our local Aldi I was thrilled that Freddie will not be left out this year!

We have also bought him some Moo Free mini chocolate Santas which you can also find in the selection box. 

You can find Moo Free Chocolate in Asda, Holland and Barrett, Sainsburys, Waitrose and many other independent shops around the country!

Blogmas Day eight

Today's post is all about the end of term and what the boys have been up to at school and playgroup and also what is going to be happening in the last couple of weeks of term!

James has been very busy so far this December, He's had his school Christmas fair and preparations are well underway for the Key Stage One Nativity. 

We have also the Project outcome presentation for parents on what the kids have learned this term. Mummy had a really good time at the project outcome as the kids sung a sea shanty which James has been singing for weeks in the house! In fact he has sung it so much that Freddie knows some of it!

When it was the fair day, mummy got to pick James up at half past one so he could enjoy the fair with me and get an early finish from school!!

Freddie again has been doing lots of crafty things at playgroup, The playgroup decorated a community tree at one of the local churches last week that sadly we couldn't go to as it clashed with James school fair and there is a planned visit to Santa in a couple of weeks. Mummy is not sure yet if we are going to go to that as Freddie wasn't too keen on santa when we went to see him a few weeks ago! And finally the last day of term is party day for playgroup where Freddie will be given a time to go in even though it is not one of his normal days! Its strange to think hes only got a couple more weeks of just two sessions a week before he goes 15 hours a week from 7th January!

What Christmas activities have your children been up to at school?

Blogmas Day Seven

Welcome back to Blogmas - a blog post every day in the run up to Christmas! 

Today's post is a christmas gift guide for mums!

Gifts for a Girl

First up we have this gorgeous luxurious faux leather yellow and peach card holder by Alice Scott. This makes a super gift for young ladies and grown up girls (I’m including myself in this category) for Christmas. It features 2 card pockets and a middle slip ideal for receipts and cash.

This would be something that I would love to receive at Christmas as there are days when I am doing the school run with the boys and I don't want to take the changing bag with me, so I have to put my debit card or cash into my pocket. Then I have a bad habit of forgetting to put my card back into my main wallet! This can be found on Gifts for a Girl priced at £9.99

Gifts for a Girl

Next up we have this Handy Pocket Compact Mirror with Style. This is a stylish gift that will help you get prepared for the perfect selfie. As it’s pocket sized, it means you’ll be able to carry it with you at all times!

Again this would be something I would love to find in my Christmas stocking! There are times when you just need to have a mirror on you and then you find you dont have one! This would come in handy not just for mum but also for checking injuries on kids.James had a sore eye the other week and something like this would have helped me to check his eye a lot easier! You can find this on Gifts for a Girl priced at £5.00

Gifts for a Girl

For the mum who likes crafting we have this gorgeous 

Baby Penguins Felt Craft Kit. You can sew together a waddle of 3 cute penguins!

Three fun penguins felt kit, this box has everything you need to create a waddle (the collective noun for penguins on land) of penguins in a child’s bedroom or use as Christmas decorations. For children who are just beginners in sewing, this kit is ideal because it arrives with very clear instructions. A super gift for creative girls who love making beautiful things. I would love to try to make something like this but I think I would probably fail as I literally do not have the patients to sit and do crafting. This can be found on Gifts for a Girl priced at £14.40

Another gift I would love to unwrap this Christmas would be an Ada and Alfred Motherhoodie sweatshirt! I would love to have the storm grey version as I tend to wear mostly dark coloured hoodies as having two boys one being only three I tend to get covered in muck very easily! 

This hoody has some fantastic features such as a kangaroo pouch pocket and hidden earphone cord feed! I know when I get to listen to music the cord from my headphones does tend to get in the way! 

This is priced at £35.00 and is available from Ada and Alfred

So this is just a few things you could get the mum in your life this coming Christmas. 

Blogmas Day Five

Having two boys only three years apart makes Christmas shopping quite difficult! Especially when the youngest has a birthday near Christmas as well! When we have been looking for gifts this year we have also been looking at things the boys can share or that we can get for Freddie and James can play along with him. 

First up we have this awesome power dough set from Canal Toys. This set is a bit like modeling clay but you can make the the creations light up and move thanks to battery power! We were sent the small unicorn set. 

The boys have loved playing with this. James was able to show Freddie what to do and Freddie loved seeing their creation come to life! This set retails at around £13.00 on Amazon and it is for ages three and up! This was a perfect activity for a quite weekend at home in the run up to Christmas. 

Next up we have a lovely floor puzzle from Crocodile Creek. This is the one all about the different seasons, but there are many different ones. While having a look online I found pirates and also unicorns!

 This is something that James would love and that Freddie would grow into as he is only just 3 and is only starting to take a small interest in puzzles. Crocodile Creek products can be bought online from Trotters. 

Prices start at £12.00

Now we have something a bit different - Jofli The Journey of Life Bear. The idea for Jofli came from a 1998 school project for Suzi O'Neill. Jofli was created to encourage families to have adventures and record them in a journal

Both my boys have their special bears or in Freddie's case a cow! CB who is James and Freddie's cow Moo literally go everywhere! 

When we were on holiday both CB and Moo came with us, while CB stayed in the hotel room during the day Freddie literally had Moo attached to the straps on his stroller! 

The idea of the Journal is a brilliant one! I really wish we had thought to write down some of the adventures of CB and Moo from Majorca! These are priced from £30.00 for a mini pack to £50.00 for the double pack. You can also buy extra journals and outfits etc. Jofli is available from jofli.com

**This is a collaborative post**

Blogmas Day Four

Today's post is all about clothing I want to buy for the boys this Christmas and into the New Year. 

Geordie Genes

The first thing is these t-shirts from a local company called Geordie Genes. This year I definitely want to buy clothing from independent retailers 

 I have been looking at these for the boys for ages as I call them both a worky ticket. These are available from age two to age twelve. They can be bought in both black and white and are priced at £12.95.

They can be bought in a few local shops in Newcastle City Centre and also intu Metrocentre. 

Another independent retailer I love is Ada & Alfred and I have bought a few things from them already this year! 

For Freddie I have been looking at a few items. My favourite has got to be this t-shirt saying "Wild One"

 Freddie is definitely a wild one! His favourite word has got to be No and well he doesn't listen. 

He really does have a wild streak and letting him walk on the school run even on his reins normally ended up with him being picked up and carried while he screams his head off shouting "No mummy" These are priced from £12.00

I really like this sweatshirt for James. It is down as a Christmas top, But I think it is something James would actually wear all year round!

He has a lot of grey sweatshirts and its a colour that really looks good on him. 

These are priced from £20.00 and start at a size 3/4 and go upto a size 12/13.

Another place I have been looking at clothes for the boys is a local company called Longsands Clothing Co. Longsands have just opened a new clothing store in a shipping yard container outlet in Newcastle City Centre and it is fantastic! They have some gorgeous items for example I adore these chunky beany hats These are priced at £14.00 and can be bought either online or in one of their stores!

Another item I love for the boys is this Made in the North Hoody! I just think this is very apt as both boys were born in the North East whereas the rest of their dads side of the family is from the south. 

These are currently priced at £14.00 online and start at a size 3-4.





**We were not asked to write this post, These are just clothes I have seen online and would love to get this Christmas/New Year!**

Christmas Gift Guide

o it's finally that time of year to start your Christmas shopping! Hopefully you might have already started and be nearly finished! But in case you are not I've put together his little guide of some bits for mummy and kids!

First off we have the gorgeous Pouch of Power from the etsy store Splendid Elk! I actually won this in an Instagram competition a few months ago and I literally adore it! It's a perfect size to put my iPad in if I need to take it out with me. I also use it to keep my wallet and James wallet in in the changing bag so things do not get lost! This retails at £15.00 and can be found on the etsy shop here! 

Next up we have two fantastic products from Cuddledry. First we have the original Cuddledry handsfree baby bath towel. This is an apron style towel which keeps mum/dad dry when doing bath time. It has a double layer, with a hood which draws moisture away from babies skin and hair. I so wish we had invested in one of these for Freddie as he always soaked us at bath time! This retails at £29.95 and can be purchased here direct from Cuddledry or you can also find them on Amazon.co.uk 

Our second product is the fantastic Cuddleroar toddler towel. We actually reviewed this with Freddie and totally fell in love with it! In fact Freddie likes wearing it over his clothes too! This is brilliant for a wriggling toddler who likes nothing more at bath time than squirming out of his towel and running off naked around the upstairs of our house. Our Oldest son James is 5 and it actually fits him as well, This retails for £34.99 and can be bought direct from Cuddledry and also Amazon.co.uk 

Now we have two gorgeous products from Nibbling! Freddie is teething badly again with his last molars and when he has his dummy clipped to him, he is always chewing the cord it's on. That's where this amazing dummy clip comes in! The Octo dummy clip is made from 100% food grade silicon and is BPA free, meaning it is perfectly safe to be in a little mouth! Freddie fell in love with it as soon as it was clipped to him! He's had it in his mouth chewing on it to relieve the pain of teething! Plus it means no more soggy ribbon that mummy needs to put in the dryer with the washing! And when he was sick on it, like he has been on his fabric ones before, it was rinsed under the tap with hot water and a new dummy attached and handed back to him. The sicky fabric ones needed to go into the washing machine, which is a pain as then they need to be left to dry! This retails for £14 and can be purchased here!

Our next nibbling product is this fabulous puzzle piece necklace. I absolutely love this as when I have Freddie in his carrier he is normally trying to either chew the carrier or chew what ever I am wearing. It was not too pleasant having to wring out my hoody strings after Freddie had been sucking and chewing them! They would get so wet and a lot of drool would come out of them!

 Now he will grab onto the puzzle piece and shove it into his mouth! He has got really painful gums as his final molars are coming through and the rough side of the puzzle piece really soothes him. This retails for £14 and can be purchased here!

Next up is the awesome Lamb and Bear! This fantastic unisex clothing brand is ran by one of my lovely blogger friends Alex. Freddie has had a couple of pairs of her leggings and they really suit him! They wash really well and well Freddie just looks adorable in them!!

Her latest collection has a mustard rhino print and a gorgeous flamingo print! Along with her signature Lamb and Bear print. She also does a gorgeous swaddle blanket, a zippy sleepsuit and matching mummy and baby headbands!

Freddie currently wears the rhinos in age 18-24 months and he is just about to turn 2 and he still has plenty of growing room in them! His last pair were in size 12-18 and he was still fitting into them at 20 months old! Prices start at £7 for a baby headband and leggings from £16!! The lovely Alex has a discount code for all you lovely readers! Just add the code LBFRIEND10 to get ten percent of your order!

I would like to say thank you to Cuddledry, Splendid Elk, Nibbling and Lamb and Bear for taking part in this gift guide for 2017!

**I was sent products in exchange for this gift guide and some I have purchased myself and added in as I love them so much!**