Very Hungry Caterpillar - 45th Anniversary Gifts

This year marks the 45th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and we've absolutely loved exploring all of the new books, games and accessories available with the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. We've been trying out a few extra special items that are now available to buy, just in time for Christmas.

My girls both LOVE to spend their weekends getting creative in our front room and Holly loves to try and mimic her big sister's beautiful drawings; these fun Chunky Strawberry Chalks are perfect for her small hands and make drawing on the chalkboard, or coloured card a really fun activity.

Lara most enjoys rubber stamping (her Grandma will attest to that) and these Very Hungry Caterpillar rubber stamps have been used to adorn many a birthday card or picture over the past few weeks - they add a little personal touch.

At dinner time we have added to our collection of Very Hungry Caterpillar favourites with this brilliant Divided Plate which has become one of our most-used pieces of crockery for Holly. The tulip design is really beautiful and each compartment can be used to place different types of food; perfect for picnic foods, snacks or for foods which your child doesn't like to mix. Holly likes to use one corner for ketchup!

After dinner we take the girls upstairs for a bath and to brush their teeth.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar now also features in a new range of children's bathtime products such as Bubble Bath and Hand Soap which come in 250ml bottles.  The girls have their own bottle of VHC soap in the family bathroom but they even asked for a bottle of the soap to be kept in our en-suite as well!

And bedtimes wouldn't be bedtimes without the daily toothbrushing battle... or would they?  Holly's toothbrushing has been revolutionised since she was given this Very Hungry Caterpillar Toothbrush.  If I had known that a caterpillar toothbrush could make this much difference to her behaviour, I'd have bought one months ago!

Look out for beautiful Very Hungry Caterpillar pop-up books and soft baby books in the run up to Christmas - there are VHC anniversary gifts suitable for all ages!

   

Celebrating 45 years of the Very Hungry Caterpillar #VHC45

Today has been a fun day - not only is it my wedding anniversary, but it was also an opportunity for us to have a little celebration in aid of the 45th anniversary of the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Over the past week my girls have been helping we to make decorations for our little party - we made paper chain garlands for the living room using The Very Hungry Caterpillar Paper Chain Garland set (£5.95 from John Lewis or Bloomsbury) and party bunting saying "Happy Birthday" to our friend the caterpillar and an array of his favourite foods.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar Bunting Making Kit has so many different options for fun party bunting and costs £8.95 from John Lewis and Bloomsbury.

Holly was very excited by our party preparations and has recently learned the words to "Happy Birthday" so was singing until her heart's content.  Our party involved lots of different Very Hungry Caterpillar activities (and breakfast from our VHC crockery too!).

The first thing that the girls wanted to do was to make birthday cards - this card-making kit costs £8 and is available from John Lewis and Bloomsbury. It is packed full of base cards with stickers and decoupage pieces that allow you to personalise your cards for lots of different occasions.  The girls used their tin of chunky Very Hungry Caterpillar colouring pencils to further decorate their cards - we LOVE these pencils as they are brilliant quality and even come with their own wooden pencil sharpener.  The tin makes them great for taking out and about (or on holidays).

Lara was extremely proud of her birthday card for the Very Hungry Caterpillar and she loved layering the pieces to make a 3 dimensional effect.  I can see us doing lots more of these.  If you aren't the creative type, www.ukgreetings.co.uk have a big range of Very Hungry Caterpillar Every-day Greetings cards on offer.

The main part of our morning was spent playing VHC games and puzzles in our party room.  Holly really discovered the joys of jigsaw puzzles with the Very Hungry Caterpillar My First Puzzles by Ravensburger (£5.99) which is a set of 4 small puzzles that range from 2 pieces to 5 pieces and is suitable from 18 months upwards.  Lara and Holly were beautiful sisters playing together at The Very Hungry Caterpillar Mini Memory Game (£3.99) - Lara even taught her sister how to play it by turning the pieces over so that Holly could understand that she had to look for matching pictures.  It was a great morning and the girls very much enjoyed themselves.

 

Find out more about the anniversary celebrations at facebook.com/theworldofEricCarle

 

Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby and Toddler Book Review

We are very much enjoying being reviewers for the 45th Anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  Next month the celebrations over on the official website www.eric-carle.com and on Facebook will come to a climax with lots of fun events and activities.

This month my two girls have been reviewing Very Hungry Caterpillar activity books for babies and toddlers.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Touch and Feel Playbook is ABSOLUTELY perfect for Holly right now - this is her favourite kind of book.  It is a large hardback book with lots of colours, shapes and textures for her to explore on every page.  There are words about animals and weather and colours for us to share together and she really likes to sit down and explore each page in detail.  There are a few lift-the-flap surprises too.  It is a good sturdy book which is suitable for older babies, toddlers and preschoolers.  I love this book and at £8.99 I think it is great value and likely to become as much a family classic as our traditional Very Hungry Caterpillar story book.

This is The  Very Hungry Caterpillar's Little Book.  It is a small square board book which contains all of the coloured fruits that the caterpillar munches his way through during the week.  Through the middle there is a big hole and from the back of the book there is a red plush finger puppet which can act as the munching crunching caterpillar as he munches through the book.  Holly really likes finger puppet books and this has been a fun way of her learning the names and colours of the fruits as well as starting to talk about numbers together.  I'd recommend this little board book for babies from birth up to about 3 years old.  It costs £4.99.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Placemats, Carry Set and Activity Fun Pack Review

This year the Very Hungry Caterpillar is celebrating its 45th Anniversary and there are a number of fantastic Very Hungry Caterpillar products launching - we've been trying out a few creative and activity ideas for children.

This Very Hungry Caterpillar Carry Pack is a fab idea for taking on holiday or to a relatives house to provide lots of ideas for fun activities.  The pack contains a couple of wipe-clean colouring pages, a door hanger to make, re-usable stickers, a giant poster, a colouring poster and a height chart.  Both of the girls went straight for the colouring pages and stickers.  It costs just £3.99 for plenty of entertainment value.

Holly was particularly taken with the Very Hungry Caterpillar Activity Fun Pack which is a more compact travel kit containing a colouring pad with images to colour in, a set of small colouring pencils and a small sheet of stickers.  It was a nice small size for her and she loved all the images which are inspired by Eric Carle illustrations.  This smaller Activity Fun Pack also costs £3.99.

But the item I am most impressed with is these Very Hungry Caterpillar Placements which come in a pad of around 30 perforated tear-off sheets which can be used as disposable placements.  Each placemat features an activity of some sort - sometimes a puzzle, sometimes a challenge, sometimes a colouring sheet.  The girls LOVE them.

This does, of course, mean that I now need to put colouring pencils or crayons up at the dinner table... not something I would normally encourage... but it is a bit of fun and it makes Lara feel like she is out at a restaurant.  I think these placements, at £5.99 for a pad, would make a great addition to a birthday party or a special meal.  The Very Hungry Caterprillar placemats are available at Debenhams.

You can find out more about the Very Hungry Caterpillar 45th Anniversary activities on the official website and facebook page.

  

Very Hungry Caterpillar 2014 Calendar and Make & Play Mask Set Review

http://www.eric-carle.com

To celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the Very Hungry Caterpillar we are trying out some of the brand new line of products that you will see available over the coming months.

First up is this fun Eric Carle Make and Play Mask Set which is available in John Lewis, Argos and Tesco for around £6.99.

Holly and I spent a great afternoon sticking the foam mask sets together.  The pack contains everything you need to create two different Very Hungry Caterpillar masks, one of the caterpillar himself and one of the beautiful butterfly.  Each pack includes the foam pieces, the main mask piece with two holes already made for the elastic to go through.  The pack also includes a PVA glue stick with a lid - I thought that this bit was very well thought out for children and Holly found it very easy to use.

The two masks took quite a while to dry but once I had threaded the elastics then both girls couldn't wait to wear them.  They've worn them regularly over the past two weeks and they are still going strong!

Next up is the Very Hungry Caterpillar 2014 Family Planner which is so much more than a calendar.  Each double page represents a month and there is lots of space on each to record your activities across the month.  At the bottom of each page there is a reward chart area where you can record rewards for upto three children each month.

The calendar comes with a large sheet of re-placeable reward stickers small enough to either fit in these boxes or on the days above.  I think it is a great idea and I will definitely be using it for both of my girls next year - I've already pinned it to the noticeboard in their playroom.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 2014 Family Planner is available from Calendar Club for £9.99.

You can find out more about the Very Hungry Caterpillar anniversary activities on the facebook page www.facebook.com/theworldofEricCarle

Very Hungry Caterpillar Umbrella and Backpack Review

Holly loves being a Very Hungry Caterpillar ambassador.  We're celebrating the 45th anniversary of Eric Carle's classic picture book by exploring the new range of Very Hungry Caterpillar gifts.

Holly is a MASSIVE fan so she was over the moon when she discovered this little backpack.  With the big red face of the caterpillar on the back and fun purple antennae poking up from the top of the bag, this backpack put a smile on Holly's face from day one.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar backpack is the perfect size for Holly to take with her to nursery or to a friends house to hold a spare outfit and a few basics like a cup, a pack of wipes and a spare nappy.  I love the fact that this backpack is different to most kids character bags - the shape is unique and there are fun little details such as the little caterpillars on the zips to help small hands grab hold. The bag has been well thought out for small people with adjustable straps and wipe clean materials... perfect for toddlers.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar backpack costs around £10 and is available from Mothercare, Amazon and Jojo Maman Bebe.

Holly also looks the part with her Very Hungry Caterpillar dome umbrella which is totally perfect!

Holly really feels very grown up now that she has her own umbrella. It is transparent through every other panel so that she can see where she is going.  The handle seems easy for her to hold.  I have noticed that Holly does lose interest in holding it after a while and starts dragging it along the floor but she'll grow into it...Lara manages a lot better and in fact the two girls argue over the brolly.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Umbrella is finger-friendly in that it doesn't have a catch you have to press to collapse it, you just pull and push the handle and the design is such that it should reduce the chance of sore nipped fingers when you collapse the umbrella.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Dome Umbrella costs around £9 from Mothercare, Amazon and Jojo Maman Bebe.