Home and Family

Guide to Thomas the Tank Engine Toys, Trains and Games

November 26, 2012 By Charles H

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends have been around for nearly 70 years and is still just as popular today as it was back then…

The tracks, trains, games and books can really help with your child’s development, depending on which Thomas the Tank Engine toys they play with, as each can offer a range of different skills.

These include:
• Encouraging them to expand their social interaction skills – teaching them to make friends and enjoy company;
• Stimulate their senses,
• Encourage problem solving skills,
• Help with hand to eye coordination to develop their reflexes
• Teaching them to enjoy using their imagination through play.

Thomas the Tank Engine can really stay as his favourite toy throughout the years, as the range offers fun and educational toys from the age of 12 months to 6 years+.

For your little one’s first introduction to Thomas, the Thomas & Friends Little Musical Note Book, for 18 months+, is ideal. This fun toy really encourages children to start reading for themselves; pressing the six buttons on the musical note module will play songs and lyrics are printed inside the book so they can have fun singing along.

A popular toy from the range is the Thomas & Friends foot-to-floor ride-on. Suitable for 12 months+, the toy helps with you child’s physical development – with coordination, balance and strength and instils confidence. It comes with a steering wheel, non-removable handle, safety belt and a seat that opens up for storage.

Sets such as the Thomas & Friends TrackMaster Mountain of Track or Deluxe Track Accessory Pack are also really popular among kids, as it allows them to have a real hands-on approach, as well as encouraging them to use their imagination. And then once they have a set they can start adding accessories, like the Deluxe crossing, which allows him to move signs to block rail or road traffic and comes with realistic lights and sounds, and of course his favourite characters, such as Gordon, Henry, James, Percy and Thomas himself!

The latest Thomas & Friends Vtech games are really handy for teaching your child problem-solving skills by playing games involving colours, numbers, counting, vocabulary, matching, memory, reading and many more. The games are available for the Vtech InnoTab Learning software (suitable for 4 years+), Vtech MobiGo software (from 3 years) and Vtech Storio software (from 3 years). These will allow your child to have fun while learning!

Your child will love being apart of and collecting the wide range of Thomas and Friends toys. Whether it’s the track extensions, trains, play figures or games, you can rest assure that you’ll be getting toys with durability, great quality and value for money.

Recreate childhood holiday memories for the next generation

October 23, 2012 By Charles H

Most people remember their holidays as a child with fondness, especially if they returned to the same destination year after year. There’s a warm association with the place that you spent your childhood holidays in – both for the place itself and the times you had when you were there.

If you now have your own family and are looking to create those magical holiday memories for your children, you need to find a place that you’ll all enjoy visiting. While you may not immediately find a place that you want to go back to, you may just stumble upon the perfect place on your first visit somewhere.

The key to having a good time on holiday is not to have too great a level of expectation. Doing so only leads to disappointment.

If they’re old enough, talk to your kids about what they hope the holiday will be like; so you can bear this in mind when choosing a location. Most children love to be out in the open air, in places where they can run about and have fun, so city breaks probably won’t feature high up on their list of requirements!

A great choice for young children is to stay on a camping or caravanning park. You may not fancy the idea of camping yourself, but for many children it’s a dream come true. However, if you really can’t face the idea of being under canvas for two weeks, you could always stay somewhere where you can rent a static caravan or holiday lodge. This way, you still get all the benefits of being on a campsite – the swimming pool complex, the playgrounds and entertainment that’s on offer, but you can have a few home comforts around you too.

Parkdean has holiday parks spread through some beautiful locations in Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Dorset, Wales, Norfolk and Scotland. For example, there are two Tenby caravan parks to choose from – Pendine Sands and Trecco Bay. Both are located near beautiful beaches, but within easy reach of stunning countryside and interesting towns to explore.

Good times on holiday are down to the place you stay, the people you’re with and that thing that in Britain no-one can ever rely on – the weather. But staying on a holiday park there’s plenty to do under cover, so you should have a great time, whatever the weather!

Filed Under: Home and Family, Travel Tagged With: caravan parks, childhood, holidays

How a Smart Trike Kept My Kids Peddling for Years

October 16, 2012 By Charles H

The Smart Trike 3 in 1 range is both traditional and innovative. With their range, Smart Trike have created trikes and bikes which parents love for safety and children love for colour and fresh ideas.

Time moves so quickly, doesn’t it? When my wife and I first started looking for little vehicles to put our baby Bobby in, my first thought was safety and my second thought was that we needed to find something that out baby could grow with. OK, so Bobby was a baby when we were looking, but I knew and my wife knew that in a year’s time, that wouldn’t be the case any more. Much as we wanted to enjoy spending time with our baby as a baby, we also had to consider finances and make every penny count.

The problem was, most of the trikes and things we looked at were only good for a baby or a toddler. They served one purpose only and that was a concern. To start with, we couldn’t find anything that would transform into another kind of little vehicle that our rapidly growing child would be able to use, even though we knew these things were out there somewhere. But then, at the time we were hardly experts so it took a while.

Then one day, while looking in one of the bigger children’s toy shops, we came across a display for the Smart Trike 3 in 1 range. I forget exactly what the model was called, now, but I know one thing. You could instantly see that this was what we’d been looking for all along. After some discussion with one of the employee’s, we decided on buying it. Since that day, we haven’t looked back.

The first amazing thing about the Smart Trike was just how easy to put together it was. I remember that I went downstairs to make tea, and I was thinking about how it might be stressful, putting this thing together. Except it wasn’t. Ten minutes later I went back upstairs and found my wife crouched beside the Smart Trike with our happy baby kicking her legs in it.

For the next few months, our little baby Bobby had the best time ever. Everywhere he went, so did the Smart Trike. The most impressive thing, as far as I was concerned,was that nothing fell off and nothing broke. One of our fears had been that the build-quality might be poor, due to the too-good-to-be-true price, yet the Smart Trike seemed to be built as well as anything that adults might use.

Some months after that, we realised one day that Bobby was getting too big for the push along ride. That was when my wife said that we needed to turn it into the next model in line, by removing some parts and following the instructions. I was not surprised when I came back in the room a few minutes later and there Bobby was, on his independent ride-on, smiling and looking forward to more fun. Some months after that, Bobby took the next big step in his progress of playing. This time, my wife and I turned the Smart Trike into its final phase of being. A sturdy 4-wheeled scooter with its very own steerable handlebar and some great stabilisers that really gave us peace-of-mind that Bobby wouldn’t do himself a mischief. By this time, my wife and I had had our second child, Amy. Sure enough, the Smart Trike was still in almost perfect condition when Amy was a few months old and ready to use the vehicle. By now, I had become a bit of an expert at transforming the thing into whatever model we needed it to be. I was also realising that we’d really got our money’s worth, and so when our friends asked us if the Smart Trike range was any good, we told them that it had been possibly the best investment for our family that we had ever made.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: family, kids, trikes

Designing a contemporary home

September 23, 2012 By Charles H

If you’re the proud owner of a contemporary home, you’re very probably going to want to create a contemporary interior to match it. But what exactly is “contemporary design”? There is no strict definition as contemporary is simply the opposite of “traditional” but to say the lines between the two are somewhat blurred would be an understatement.

Broadly speaking, though, it’s fair to say that a contemporary style is one which is simple, with clean lines and an overall uncluttered look.

Of course, individual pieces of furniture are essential elements of contemporary styling. The materials are also important, but don’t dictate the look as you may imagine. So, for example, the most traditional material of all for furnishings, namely oak, can be contemporary, or traditional – or any one of endless shades of grey in between the two.

But if you want contemporary bedroom oak furniture, for example, then it’s best to go for a sleek look; one which is not overly ornate or too decorous or decorative for that matter. Many modern oak furnishings achieve a sleek look, or a boxed, chunky look, which manages to feel both rustic and contemporary at the same time – most notably when set against a plain pale backdrop – with few other furnishings around.

Less is most certainly more when it comes to contemporary styling. But we also have practical interior design needs, of course, so it may be necessary in practice to find clever ways of balancing your desire for a contemporary look with some practical considerations.

Take a look, for example, at a nest of tables from Furnishing Homes for a look which manages to balance both requirements. There are many options available.

Lighting is also crucial in contemporary styling; lights are usually subtle, somewhat utilitarian in appearance and designed to highlight specific furnishings or paintings and pictures etc. Also, track and recessed lighting are often used to light a room in a contemporary “less is more” style.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: contemporary home, home and family, home design

Minimalist design in the bathroom

September 20, 2012 By Charles H

Introducing minimalist design into your home is a sure-fire way to immediately bring your house bang up to date and give it a current, modern look and feel that is sure to impress everyone, from guests to prospective buyers if you are selling a property. The minimalist look is one that translates well into almost any home and can easily be tweaked and customised in order to reflect different, individual tastes.

If you are a fan of minimalist design in the home then the good news is that the bathroom is probably one of the easiest rooms to get right when it comes to this particular design style. With its associations with cleanliness and hygiene, there is no better room to implement a minimalist design than in your bathroom. Keeping the bathroom design clean and clutter free will create a tranquil and calming room, ideal for relaxing in when you take your morning showers or evening baths.

Good colours to use in the bathroom if you wish to create a minimalist feel are neutral colours and clean lines, rather than lots of patterns and contrasting colours. So, think whites, light blue and even black for a truly modern feel.

Give your minimalist bathroom an edge with attractive bathroom fixtures and furnishings in modern and minimalist styles, such as baths, sinks, tubs, basins, bidets, towel rails and so on. There’s so much impressive modern design out there today that you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to designing your new, minimalist and modern bathroom.

When it comes to finishing touches to your minimalist bathroom, think modern art pieces such as a framed photo or fresh flowers in a carefully chosen modern vase, but keep these elements few and far between to avoid the clutter that is so contradictory to the minimalist design movement.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: bathroom design, home and family, home design

Do your research on home insurance

September 18, 2012 By Charles H

If you’re like many other people, you’ll open a letter from the insurance company once a year and find a renewal statement. There’s nothing you need to do to continue the home insurance policy you have – just don’t cancel the direct debit. This is all very convenient and time-saving, but it may not be the most cost-effective option.

Although there are few things in life as getting new contents and buildings insurance quotes, it has become a lot simpler thanks to the internet. Now, instead of having to ring round different insurance companies, you can use a price comparison website and only need to input all your data once in order to get quotes from a number of different companies.

Going through this process, you may find that you already have the best cover at the best available price, but even then it’s not time wasted – you’ve checked to see that there isn’t a money saving deal out there. More often than not, though, you’re likely to find a special offer for those people willing to switch insurers.

As well as using comparison websites for home insurance quotes UK consumers should also contact a couple of other insurers direct – as not all the companies feature on the price comparison sites. If you find that you get a better offer than with your current insurer, it’s worth going back to them to see if they will match the deal in order to keep your custom.

Other tips to reduce the cost of home insurance include combining a buildings and contents policy, as some insurers often a combined policy at a discount, as well as making sure you have adequate security measures in place to lower the risk of break-ins and damage through fire. Insurance companies will usually reduce premiums if they perceive there is a lower risk.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: home and family, home insurance, home insurance quote

Furniture shopping made easy

September 18, 2012 By Charles H

Buying furniture for our homes used to be a real headache. Not only did you have to choose what kind of style and look you wanted – the fun part – but you’d then have to traipse around numerous shops and towns looking for the perfect piece of furniture that fitted both your budget and your style. And once you’d actually picked items that you wanted to buy, you’d have to arrange delivery to your home which always added to the costs quite considerably.

Today, we’re almost spoilt for choice because of internet shopping. It has become so easy to choose the furnishings that you want and then whittle down your selection by putting in certain search criteria. You can then shop around to find the best price available and which retailers deliver for free. The only reason to go to the showrooms is to test out the particular feel of a fabric or check out the quality of the manufacture before you go home and buy online. Nine times out of ten online is cheaper.

And you can buy pretty much every piece of furniture on the internet. It’s possible to buy cheap dining room sets online that are suited to all kinds of styles and tastes; whether you prefer traditional old-school style or the contemporary look, you’ll find what you’re looking for with just a couple of searches. You can find more obscure items easily too, things like library chair step stools or bookcase ladders.

If you’re a savvy shopper, there are even greater deals to be had when buying online. For example, many stores offer great discounts the more items you buy in one order. So if you’re looking to update different rooms in the house, make sure you buy from a retailer that stocks furniture for the whole home – if they have beds and wardrobes for sale, can you also get a dining room table there? Think strategically about what you need to buy and when, and then pick the retailer you use accordingly.

Whatever you’re looking to buy, it’s worth doing a quick search online before you start hitting the road to go and visit showrooms. Not only will you save time and money, it’ll also give you access to far more choice than you’d find on the high street.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: buy cheap dining room furniture, furniture shopping, wardrobes for sale

Choosing The Best Bedroom Furniture

August 31, 2012 By Charles H

When you look for bedroom furniture, you’ll see that there’s an amazing of variety of styles and designs now on offer. Before you start looking – and get overwhelmed by the choice available – it’s a good idea to decide what kind of material you like best for furnishings so that you can refine your search.

Many people like the look and feel of having solid wooden furnishings in their home. And with good reason. Wood is a great material for furniture as anything constructed from it will last for years and be robust and hardwearing.

Pine furniture is one of the most popular choices for wooden furnishings as it is relatively cheap, but still very attractive. It’s also very versatile and can be finished in numerous different ways including it being stained, waxed and varnished. So it’s possible to find many different styles – from the very modern and contemporary unfussy designs through to traditional pieces with beautifully turned legs and carved features.

Once you find a style that you like, it’s possible to buy all your bedroom furniture from the same collection, which brings the whole room together. It’s best to decide on the size and style of bed first, as all the other furniture needs to fit around this. Make sure that you measure up the room well so that you don’t make the room feel too cramped by having too much furniture in there.

As well as wardrobes, chests of drawers and beds, there is a whole range of different bedroom furniture you may want to include like dressing tables and blanket boxes which often look great at the foot of the bed.

And if you’ve chosen a wooden furniture collection, you may want to pick an accent piece in a different style – like a velvet chaise longue or dressing chair – to finish your bedroom styling with a unique touch.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: bedroom design, blanket boxes, oak, pine furniture

Install Double Glazing Yourself

August 23, 2012 By Charles H

Double-glazing salesmen on your doorstep? Nobody’s favourite visitor, perhaps, but, while their sales pitch may be annoying, the idea of installing double-glazing yourself might be rather daunting.

However, despite their “buy-on-get-one-free-but-only-if-you-sign-up-now” offers, it’s obvious that the double-glazing companies have to make a profit. So you’ll probably be paying more than you have to, for the units themselves and also for labour. If, like many first-time buyers and DIY-ers, you’re still putting up with sofa beds, 1980s bedroom furniture sets and ancient carpet due to budget constraints, it is worth taking the time to investigate whether you could do this job yourself.

Clearly some jobs are easier than others – I wouldn’t suggest you make your own carpet, for example, or construct an electric shower from scratch. And a solid oak four-poster bed might be a bit of a challenge – you’d be well-advised to Buy Solid Oak Furniture Online instead. But with double glazing, it’s basically a matter of remembering to measure your opening carefully (although many windows are now fairly standard when it comes to size) and ordering your units from a double glazing merchant or try a DIY store, at the best price you can get. The next step is to install it with care and attention. There are two types of double glazing – the sealed unit, which needs to be fitted into the window opening. Or the secondary glazing unit which can be fitted over the existing window – either the window frame itself or to a timber framework within the window frame. You don’t have to use glass; clear plastic sheeting or even plastic film will also work well.

Obviously the second type is the easier of the two, but if you have reasonable DIY skills and are prepared to do the research, then consider the first option too. Imagine the satisfaction of being able to tell the next door-to-door salesperson that you don’t need double-glazing – you’ve just installed it yourself!

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: diy, home and family, home improvement

Go Beyond The Basics In Your Living Room

August 21, 2012 By Charles H

When you first move into a home, the important thing to do is make sure that every room has the basic level of furniture you need to function.

So, of course, you need a bed in the bedroom, but the wardrobe and chest of drawers can come a little later. And downstairs, you’ll need a table and chairs to eat at – even if it’s not a proper dining table and is just a small breakfast table in the kitchen.

In the living room you need somewhere to sit. It’s all very well thinking you can manage without a sofa for a while, but after just a few days, you’ll see it’s one of those essential pieces of furniture you can’t do without. And it’s usually the focal piece of furniture for most living rooms, so it’s worth making sure you get this choice right. You may have a sofa that you’ve brought from your old house, but maybe you’ve taken the opportunity of moving to buy a new sofa.

There are so many different sofas to choose from today, the choice can be almost too varied. From leather sofas to corner sofas, to traditional Chesterfields to ultra-modern novelty shapes, you can find almost any colour sofa in any style. The style of your sofa can set the whole tone for your living room.

Of course, there are other essential items – a TV cabinet if you have a TV and a coffee table. But what often makes a living room really special is the other pieces of occasional furniture you choose for it. You may have an empty corner that a corner display unit would just help to complete the room, or you might want to have a sideboard in there to store all the board games and other things that you want in the living room but want to keep out of sight. Ottomans and blanket boxes can also be both useful and attractive pieces.

Many stores now sell collections of furniture in which you can find many different pieces like tables, bookcases and display units. Having a number of pieces from the same range can really help coordinate your living room. Check out Harveys Furniture on Facebook for some ideas.

Filed Under: Home and Family Tagged With: furniture, home, living room