2011 A Year in Review & Blog Hop

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!

Wow, I can’t believe that we are already heading into the New Year, 2011 has simply flown by. To mark the event, a number of kid friendly bloggers got together and decided to share their favourite post of 2011. What a lovely way to explore and discover new blogs and get a feel for the site you are reading! If you visit only one new blog today, please make it The Golden Gleam, who had the idea of creating this blog hop!

DO JOIN IN. Link a CHILD RELEVANT post (be it, education, crafting or play), link it up and grab the blog hop code to share!

Soooooo, what was my favourite post of 2011? It is so so soooo hard to choose. As you may know, Red Ted Art is all about inspiring people to have a go. Give things a try and maybe discover an interest in something they never knew they had. It is all about confidence building and encouragement. What I love about Red Ted Art, is that it has had EXACTLY that effect on ME:  2011 has done so  many wonderful things for me. Red Ted Art has “taught” me to sew (even though I always insisted I was a no sew kind of girl), it has “taught” me to crochet! And I have had a go at cake pops (the most popular post on my site by page views). At the same time, it has developed Red Ted and Pip Squeak into fabulous little craft monsters. Red Ted loves nothing more than crafting out of recycled materials and Pip Squeak always has one (of my) pens in her hand.

But now to choose.. Just one…

I think I will pick the Boy & Penguin post:

Why did I pick this post?

* Because a year later we still have both of these “toys”. They are much loved and frequently played with. Pip Squeak particularly loves the penguins!

* Because I like to think of myself as a bit of a loo roll crafter… there are no limits to what you can make! And we particularly like loo roll men and pirates! Crafting with children should not cost the earth.

* Because making these “toys” resulted in a lot of play in our house… both The Englishman and I “put on a show” for the children. As did Red Ted for me… I have a number of little videos of a young Red Ted tell me his stories…

* Because this post serves as a reminder to me, that my children do not want expensive toys, they want time with The Englishman and me and they want a chance for the imagination to go wild…

* Because I love Oliver Jeffers and the book in the post really is lovely!

I hope you like my choice!

(PS Our Four Seasons was a close 2nd…)

Now.. it is your chance:

1) Check out the Blog Hop – try and visit 5 new blogs

2) Join the Blog Hop with ONE your favourite child friendly post of the year (unfortunately we will have to delete subsequent links, as we don’t want the blog hop to become TOO big)

3) Add the Blog Hop code!

Here is a list of the original bloggers you kicked off this fabulous blog hop!

The Magic Of Play, The Golden Gleam, hands on : as we grow, Toddler Approved, Red Ted Art, The Iowa Farmer’s Wife, The Outlaw Mom Blog, Let Kids Create,  Come Together Kids, Creative With Kids,  Science sparks, Mama Smiles,  Rainy Day Mum, teach mama, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, The Imagination Tree, JDaniel Fours Mom, Teach Preschool, De tout et de rien: Activités pour le Préscolaire, Tinkerlab, Mama Pea Pod, Crayon Freckles, Sun Hats & Wellie Boots, From Tantrums To Treasure Hunts, My Creative Family, Classified: Mom, Puddles and Gumboots, Art For Little Hands, Creative Connections for Kids, At home with Ali