5 things I’ve bought to prepare for a family holiday at home

Craft kits
In recent weeks we’ve ordered plenty of craft kits from Baker Ross – first the plan was to take them abroad on holiday to keep the children entertained on the go, and now the plan has been to have more fun activities to do at home as our travel plans have changed. We’ll be decorating canvas carrier bags with fabric markers, decorating wooden magnets with deco paint pens and jewels and gems, making foam sticker bookmarks and much more.

LEGO
Building LEGO is a favourite activity with several members of our family, and as a special treat for Easter, we plan to have more LEGO sets to build. I’ve noticed Debenhams currently offers 30% off a range of LEGO sets, and I’ve also bought direct from the official online LEGO store, where offers currently include free sets with purchases over different amounts.

Books for kids and adults
When I was last in Nomad on Fulham Road, I called to ask if Daddy T needed some new books. I regularly buy books for the kids, but I’m now expecting to get a chance to read more myself too, as I’m getting ready for Easter at home. For escapism this winter, I’ve been reading feel-good rom coms by Mhairi McFarlane and Sally Thorne, with my favourite being If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane (HarperCollins, £8.99). For suggestions for funny books for ages 5 to 8, see my suggestions HERE; for a few book suggestions for 8 and overs, see HERE; and for Easter-themed picture books, see an old blog post HERE. I plan to continue to regularly post about children’s books in the coming weeks.

Cupcake decorations
My recent food shopping has included cake toppings and cupcake ingredients. I seldom find the time to do baking with the children these days, and the Easter holiday might be the perfect time to get back into cupcake-making. A few years ago, I used to make lemon poppy seed cupcakes and I would sometimes keep bags with them in the freezer, so there were cupcakes to decorate when we needed a fun afternoon activity.

Easter eggs
We were meant to go to a hotel Easter egg hunt abroad this Easter, but we’ve had to cancel our travel plans, and now I’ve bought empty Easter eggs, little stamps, mini maze games, chocolate eggs and bunnies to fill eggs and organise a similar style Easter-egg hunt for the children at home instead.