Little Hands Learning | Friendship box review

“A monthly subscription box, inspired by the magic of books”.

Last month, I blogged about our first ever Little Hands Learning box – and good news if you enjoyed that post, I signed up to a three month subscription, so here is October's Box. Titled ‘friendship’, as always, there were four activities inspired by a book and these were all centred around the theme of friendship.

The book was The Boy and the Bear, written by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Sarah Massini. The two title characters spark up an unlikely friendship – the boy is looking for someone to play with, and the bear is not only a bear, but also very shy. They start communicating via notes on paper boats and then become friends. As the seasons change, the bear goes away, and the boy is on his own again. But thankfully there's a happy ending and the bear returns – the boy is no longer lonely. It's a really sweet story which Alfie and I love reading together.

The activities included in the box were:

• Paper boat crafting
• Design and play your own game
• Bear hunt
• Boy and Bear small world

Let's sail away…

The first activity we did together was making the paper boats. We were supplied with three pieces of coloured paper – high quality stuff that even withstood water, without going completely soggy and ending up in a crumpled heap. There were also some crayons for decorating. And thankfully for me there was a QR code to scan which took us to a YouTube video on how to fold the paper to make the boats. Now I've done origami in the past, but I'm certainly not an expert.

The video was really easy to follow, although I did have to re-watch it to make the other two boats afterwards. Once they were folded, it was time to decorate. I followed the book and decided to write a “Hello” message, while Alfie went wild with an orange felt tip pen. We then tried them out in a paint tray which I filled with warm water and bubbles, and they floated well.

Time to play…

Oh, I was in my element with the game. We received another sheet of card which had a 5x5 grid on it, and those crayons from earlier came in handy. As well as the game board, we were also provided with a large wooden dice and two peg dolls to play the game. At this stage, we hadn't decorated ours and just had to remember who each peg was when it came round to playing.

Again, I decided to base the game on the story, to some extent. Keeping with the change of seasons, we had snow and ice, wind, and sunshine – and I added some fun elements too. Once I got started, I had some kinda creativity spark and literally couldn't stop. The board ended up getting it a little crazy with plenty of actions and illustrations, but Alfie loves playing the game – even if he always lands on the same two spaces: “Go back to the start” or “Go back a space”.

We're going on a bear hunt!

We have also loved exploring the garden and neighbourhood, using the bear frame. Seeing different scenery at different times of day, and weather conditions, and so much more. I've not been able to take any photos, and on our most recent trip, it was so windy, I couldn't get the perfect frame shot I was after. But autumn is the best time for an activity like this: the piles of different coloured leaves on the floor, the bare trees, the moody skies. And what a frame for firework night, too!

We also decided we'll use the frame to trace some more bear shapes onto card and create collages using natural treasures and items from the cupboard like lentils or pasta… A collection of bears ready to hunt for another time.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, all the items can be reused or recycled, and if there wasn't enough fun in the box, there’s also a QR code to scan in the lid, which offers even more activity ideas and fun. I 100% appreciated the Clippers tea bag, which was the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon of crafting.

November's box is here, and I cannot wait to share it. Keep your eyes peeled next month. In the meantime, head to the website to find out more on subscription boxes, gifting boxes or even purchasing a one-off box and enter discount code: LUCYLOCKET at checkout. And follow Little Hands Learning on Instagram for the latest news, experiments and inspiration.

Love, Lucy xx