Why Pretend Play is so Important

We have had our little play kitchen for three years now and it's still played with regularly by both of the kids. Little Man loves to chop the fruit and make coffees, while Miss M feeds her dolls. Pretend play is such an important part of early childhood development for so many reasons (which I'll get into later in the post).

After a while though, it's always good to change things around and provide different play opportunities. We were lucky enough to be gifted this Large Retro Grocery Store thanks to Tiny Tiny Shop Shop. So we've relocated the play kitchen to another part of the family room to make room for the shop and to provide some new play opportunities. The kids are absolutely loving it and they are surprisingly playing really well together!

Gifted for the purpose of this review. 

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Learn and Grow with the New Officeworks Range

Don't you just love wandering the aisles of Officeworks? All that pretty colour coded and matching stationery makes me feel like I could be the most organised teacher ever. Miss M shares my love of pretty stationery and is always so excited to simply just buy a new pen or notepad, but Officeworks recently launched their new Learn and Grow range, opening up a whole new world of kid's products and I'm sure it will fast become one of their favourite shops too!

Please note, this is not a sponsored post, although we were lucky enough to be invited to the launch of this new product range which included a very generous goodie bag! I couldn't help but show you some of the products in more detail here on the blog. 

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Teacher Carry All Review + GIVEAWAY!

One thing that most teachers have in common is that we seem to cart everything except the kitchen sink to and from school. Folders, planners, student books and papers to mark, picture books, toys, resources, laminating, art supplies, ingredients, materials, storage, not to mention our lunch and drink (because, you know, we need to remember to eat and can't survive on coffee all day!)

I was in desperate need of a new teacher bag, so I was thrilled to recently discover the Teacher Carry All! Keep reading for all the info AND a sneaky giveaway that's happening over on my Instagram RIGHT NOW!

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. 

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A Little Penguin's Guide to Life {Book Review}

When the title of this book first popped up in my Facebook feed, it immediately caught my eye. I was intrigued! I fell in love with the book even more when I received it, turned to the first page and began reading it to my children.

*cue heart melting

A Little Penguin's Guide to Life is a children's book about life's most important lessons (ten to be precise). In the words of the creator herself, it's more than a picture book. It's an emotional developmental tool. Think of it like a handbook.

The book has been written and developed by Chantelle and Ali Terai, and 'Little Penguin' is based on their son Marcel. He was at the forefront of their minds when writing the book. Chantelle, like me is a school teacher and Ali who has previously worked in education and now runs his own business. They are just your ordinary couple who dreamed of creating something special - and they have! So that's why I'm helping them to spread the word.

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. Not sponsored. 

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LATEST Book Release from Zanni Louise!

*1st March launch

You may have heard of the Australian author Zanni Louise as I've reviewed two of her books before; Archie and the Bear and Too Busy Sleeping (which is still a favourite of Miss M's - she's actually bringing it in to school for show and tell as her favourite book). Well, today on her launch day, I'd like to introduce you to a new super fun and quirky character who has just started school.

Everyone, meet Tiggy.

"Tiggy's special magic paintbrush can help her solve any problem... except sometimes her magic paintbrush creates brand new problems for Tiggy and her imagination to fix!"

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. 

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"I Want to be an Artist" {My Creative Child Review}

You might remember when I took Miss M to an art class at Little Picassos last year. These beautiful art experiences for young children are held at Glenelg and Hyde Park studios (both of which are not near me!). So I was thrilled when I found out they are offering subscription art kits from their new side business called My Creative Child, because it means Miss M and I can create beautiful art together at home.

The February Art Pack was kindly gifted for the purpose of this review. 

Everything you need to create the art is included, already cut to size or pre-prepared, and the materials are of a beautiful quality (Miss M got her first set of oil pastels which she's so excited about, now that she's a school girl).

There are 5 activities included in the pack, all carefully planned out and tied in with a particular theme for that month. I noticed a similarity between the activities and the art classes themselves; let me explain more..

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Helping your child learn to read with Reading Eggs

Learning to read is one of the most important skills your child will learn. Naturally as a parent you want to know how you can help them learn to read at home. The first thing I always recommend is reading aloud to your children every night, but as they begin to show an interest in letters, words, and 'having a go' at reading themselves - I'd suggest you grab your device and give Reading Eggs a try (Right now, they are offering a limited time 4 week free trial when you sign up at www.readingeggs.com.au/teachertypes before 20 Feb!) 

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own :)

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WIN New Release Kazoops Figurines

Isn't it great when you find a kid's TV show that you actually don't mind watching as well? Well that's how it is in our house with Kazoops! It's such a fantastic show for preschoolers and encourages them to use their imaginations, problem solve and become critical and creative thinkers (read more on how great it is here...)

Well, following in the footsteps of many other popular TV shows, Kazoops have now released a new range of plush toys and figurines. Not only were we kindly gifted this set you see below, but the team at Cheeky Little Media are giving away another to one of my lovely followers! Read until the end of this post to find out how to enter.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

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This Month's STEM Nest Activity Kits

You all know how much I love STEM right? Well it's time for another update on what we've been doing with our monthly STEM Nest activity kits. We have got to experience so much already - constructing, designing, building, experimenting, recording, freezing, melting, pouring, mixing, stacking and exploring our senses. Incase you missed them - check out my previous posts here...

• New Exciting Products from STEM Nest
• Teaching STEM to Preschoolers
• Celebrating Science Week

This month was all about living things - in particular, germinating seeds!

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New Exciting Products from STEM Nest

Over the past four months, we've been sampling the STEM Nest and Little STEMies activity kits. I've been so impressed with the variety of activities. and learning opportunities in which they have provided. This month, Karlie, the owner of STEM Nest (also from Adelaide) has expanded her online store range to include some fantastic educational products, toys and resources to encourage STEM thinking.

This is a sponsored post as part of my Brand Ambassadorship with STEM Nest. 

Here's just a few of my favourites...(well my top 5 actually) but there are many more on the site!

Firstly are the Neoformers magnetic shapes. You may have seen similar products to this one around (but this one is much more affordable) and it's such a great construction toy. The shapes cleverly attach together with magnets making structures more stable. This set comes with triangles and squares which allows for many possible structures and shapes. Learning about magnets is more certainly a part of science, however this toy pretty much ticks all of the STEM boxes.

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Adelaide's BEST Nature Playgrounds

The October school holidays fall at such a beautiful time of year. The weather is just perfect to get outside and experience our natural world. Gorgeous nature playgrounds and spaces are popping up all over Adelaide and are becoming increasingly popular as our communities are seeing the value in getting kids climbing trees, taking responsible risks, getting dirty and connecting with their environments.

So as you start thinking about how you're going to fill the next two weeks - schedule in some time to visit some of Adelaide's best nature playgrounds.

Glenelg Foreshore

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How KAZOOPS Will Encourage Imaginative Play in your Child

One of the fundamental principals of child development I learnt when I was at Uni was that children learn through play. They make sense of their world, act out familiar experiences when playing and use their imaginations to process and solidify their understanding. Just a few examples you may have seen or experienced include home corner play, acting out "mums and dads", feeding dolls, pushing trains along a train track, making animal noises as they play with toys - it's all imaginary play! They are learning while they're playing and using their imaginations. An essential ingredient to a well rounded childhood.

The TV show Kazoops is embracing this philosophy as imagination is the key theme throughout each episode. Targeted to preschoolers, young children will be encouraged to use their own imaginations as they watch, and chances are it will spark some learning through play experiences of their own.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. 

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Tips for Teaching STEM to Preschoolers

There's been a lot of talk about STEM and STEAM on my blog lately, and for good reason! I've been working with a new small Adelaide based business called STEM Nest who are all about bringing STEM into your everyday life at home - no matter the age of your child! You may remember my post on school aged children's activity kits and I'm so pleased this month to be able to give you an idea of what Karlie from STEM Nest is able to provide to preschoolers (or "Little STEMies"). It's all about hands on learning, exploring materials, sensory play and encouraging our little ones to be little innovators before they've even started school.

Sound like something your little one might like? Read on!

This is a sponsored post as part of my Brand Ambassadorship with STEM Nest. These products were kindly gifted.

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Celebrating Science Week with STEM Nest Activity Kits

It's Science Week, hooray! Term 3 is always a busy one for us with lots of things happening but Science Week is one of my favourites - especially since it's the speciality subject I've been teaching this year in my part time role. You may remember this post I wrote recently on an introduction to STEM, and I wanted to share more of the fantastic activity kits you can get via a subscription with STEM Nest for all different ages.

This is a sponsored post for my Brand Ambassadorship with STEM Nest. 

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Be Inspired by Inspire Book Box

I'm a big fan of monthly subscription packs for kids, and I've been lucky enough to review a few of them on the blog (I'm actually planning a round up post of all of them!). But this month I actually got to contribute to one! Roxanne from Inspire Book Box contacted me to see if I'd be interested in partnering with her business to come up with a book inspired art + craft activity to be included with the July book boxes. I have always said that a child can never have too many books - so I thought this subscription program was a fantastic idea! This month's theme was friendship and the key text was "Oliver and Patch" by Claire Freedman. So I got my thinking cap on and got to work...

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review (not sponsored). 

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Toy Storage Ideas With Play Pouch

Is this story familiar to you?

Kid digging through the huge tub of lego.
"Mum, I need the skinny red piece..."
Mum helps kid to find the exact piece they want.
1 minute later...
"Mum, I need the blue square piece."
Mum helps kid to find it
"Mum I can't find the ..."
*Tantrum imminent
Kid tips out entire tub of lego to find the piece they want. 
Later on mum ends up stepping on lego, followed by cleaning it up when kids have gone to bed. 

Well I've discovered a solution to this ever so common problem of where and how to store your gigantic collection of Lego and/or Duplo. Introducing the Play Pouch!
*Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review

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Fairytale Inspired Imaginary Play {With Little Peggys}

It's been a while since my last small business product review so today I'm really pleased to introduce you to "Little Peggys". Hand painted peg dolls ideal for imaginary play and perfect for little hands. We were lucky enough to sample the Goldilocks set + The Three Little Pigs set and I watched them unlock a whole heap of pretend play possibilities, language development and story telling. Both of my kids love playing with them.

*Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review.

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Games & Story Telling {My Little Set}

Hi everyone!
The blog has been a little quieter than normal this month, I've been busy at work taking on some extra relief days in a variety of classes across the school (which I've been loving) and of course the kids can be a handful when we're at home!

So today I'm pleased to bring you another brilliant product review with a focus on early learning (by the way if you're ever interested in browsing the other product reviews I've done, just look for the "review" label on my side bar, or if you're on mobile, scroll to the end and you should find it). 

We were recently sent two "My Little Set" sets of wooden discs that I'd love to share with you (kindly gifted for the purpose of this review).

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Archie and The Bear {Book Review}

Book reviews are one of my favourite types of posts here at Teacher Types! Books are such an important part of childhood and if I can introduce you to a new book, or give you some activity ideas based on a brilliant book - well then I'm going to do just that.

You may remember Zanni Louise, author of Too Busy Sleeping (which I reviewed back in 2015 before Little Man's arrival and it's still a favourite in this house). I was so excited to hear that Zanni's new book Archie and the Bear was going on a blog tour and of course I put my hand up! Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review.

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A First Pen Pal {Jack the Wombat}

Encouraging children to read and write in a fun way, from an early age can be so instrumental to how they'll flourish at school. Whenever I come across a brilliant product, brand or business which is trying to do just that, I can't help but share!

(Not sponsored)

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