Christmas TRH Book Advent Simple #Review Day 8

Sometimes we just need something simple. If you are trying to make your Christmas TRH book advent calendar daily it can also become a bit much doing things that are complicated and there are many other factors going on around you (shopping, pantomimes, school productions, writing cards, decorating the tree). Or maybe your child is still young and so you need something that is not too much for them. So today I have teamed up two more simple things.

I’m going to do things the opposite way today and start with the toilet roll holder craft – simply a star. I tried it on a red background first (for a Christmassy feel) but my husband really didn’t think it looked right. I’d also made it by using two triangles – and again my husband didn’t think it really looked like a star. Being a doer my husband set straight to work in helping me with my very simple idea – and got the star cookie cutter out of the cupboard – genius! Then he drew around the star on some of the shiny paper (scrap bits from Christmas present wrapping) and cut it out (you could use foil). He thought it would look better on a black TRH to represent the night. So after painting the TRH we simply glued the star on – viola simple Christmas TRH Star craft.

Sometimes getting children to read isn’t a simple task. Did you know that the UK has one of the worst literacy and numeracy levels in the developed World? With more and more people turning away from books I was pleased to be approached by card company cardooo who are trying to encourage people reading again by publishing stories (and other activities) inside a greetings card. This also means that you can send them through the post for the cost of a first class stamp.

They come in a range of card formats, just liked you’d expect, get well soon (with puzzles great for those stuck in bed), birthdays, new home, valentines, mothers and fathers’ day. The most exciting for me is Christmas cards: 4 Christmas Activity cards with stickers, games and mini-envelopes,1 Christmas Advent card with a surprise within (not chocolate!), 4 Christmas Story cards with beautifully illustrated Christmassy stories, 6 Christmas Calendar cards perfect for all your friends which fold out into a desktop calendar for 2014:

Just because the cards were in card format, as opposed to a book, did not mean the quality was compromised. There were good illustrations and classic tales inside the cards I received. These definitely would not just sit on the shelf collecting dust, but something you could pick up and read time and time again.

I received “Twas The Night Before Christmas,” priced £3.50 – not bad value when you consider you are getting both a book and a card all in one. This is a really good idea to cut down on postage costs for my family who do not live nearby too.

And “The Story of Little Red Riding Hood (and the Wolf)” was a blank card leaving for me to decide on the occasion – maybe I could give it as a reward for good behaviour, or a special achievement – also priced £3.50.

If you still really would rather receive a book then do check out Grace Sandford’s Tell Me A Story – 250 Great Books for Kids. This comprehensive book shares with the reader books for different age groups – 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, and 12-15. The book explains that these ages are a guide but with an explanation to the books in each category it is easy to make your mind up about suitability. This makes knowing which books to buy as a gift this Christmas much easier. Grace believes that matching the right book to the right child is essential to helping them nurture good reading habits.

This book is available for free on Amazon on Thursday 21^st November 2013 and Friday 22^nd November 2013 .

However, I am boycotting Amazon until they remove the book “to train up a child” – read more about it over on A Dad Called Spen

I was gifted 2 sample cards and the Tell me a Story book in order to review them. All thoughts and opinions are my own.