During our strict lockdown, we created a “homeschool” routine for our girls. A fun daily planner that we could all plan around, and create some structure in our chaos. One of the morning sessions included homeschool ideas, educational activities and then eventually online learning from our girls’ schools.

I have had many people ask me to please share the worksheets, activities and resources that we found, downloaded, printed or purchased along the way. And even though so many schools went back and will be going back, and some private schools are still back – school looks very different for everyone at the moment. The reality is that many young children are staying at home – this is the only option that works for the family and working parents, health reasons and financial reasons.

I thought it would be a wonderful way to share so many amazing resources that we have used, and are still using at home. These resources cover the ages 3y, 6y and 8y (more specifically pre-school, Grade R and Grade 2) but I have also found that so many of these activities can be adapted to suit all ages in some way.

Our first feature today is: Hops Collection

Holly (Hops) is one of my closest friends, SIL and she is nothing short of hilarious. Her wit, dry sense of humour and sarcasm have me in fits of giggles, and don’t be fooled – she may be small in size and younger than me in age, but she is all sorts of mature and wise and wonderful. Hops has a 5 year old son, Max and twin girls, Remy and Liv who are two. Hops is a qualified occupational therapist and a one of a kind mama. She is fiercely protective, intentional and present, and is one of those gets-down-on-the-floor and gets-stuck-in-the-mud with her kids, moms (and is totally fine with snakes slithering around her home for the benefit of little Max’s snake obsession!). She is a real source of inspiration to so many mamas out there. Her other “baby” is Hops Collection. Hops Collection is an online store and website which sells incredible products for babies and children, but our firm favourite of her products are the:

Felt Busybooks 

“Our busy books are designed to help you aid your little ones skills, not keep them quiet. Skills such as visual perception, hand eye co-ordination, fine motor skills and so much more. They are suitable for children aged 2-5 years, depending on your individual child’s abilities and interests. 

The activities within the book aim at improving basic concepts such as numbers, colours and shapes. The busy book pages can be untied and unbound to allow for them to be shared out amongst a group. Each book contains between 10-12 activities. And there are three editions available”

We recently purchased all three editions, after purchasing the first two editions and the Christmas edition last year and sharing them between friends and even losing some pieces – we had to have them again and include the new Third edition. And our little ZB is obsessed (although big sisters also love to get involved and whizz through the activities too!). We have had so much fun with our busybooks and it is so special to watch ZB navigate each page – some pages she finds super easy like matching the colours with velcro, and others are really challenging for her, like threading the laces through loops and pulling off the clip buttons. By far her favourite page, is the last page of the Third edition – with Peppa and George pig.

These busy books are a must for your childs toy collection, homeschool routine, playroom and make the most wonderful birthday gifts.

The GREAT NEWS is the next pre-order for the busy books is TOMORROW.

Set your alarm for tomorrow morning at 9am, log in to the website and place your pre-order for your busy books. Don’t snooze because you will lose – these busy books sell like hot cakes and they aren’t available for very long! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Place your pre-order: HERE

Visit the Instagram page: HERE

Visit the website: HERE

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