Buy

Author of ‘Your Wild Imagination’, Brooke Davis, has announced a follow up book to the nature play activity book released in 2019, entitled ‘Your Wild Child’. Pre orders are available now, and you’ll be able to secure the book up to 20% off, as well as a few extra special bonuses for ordering early.

Adelaide Hills based company The Good Dough Co. is taking playdough back to the bare essentials; literally. Scented with essential oils or natural food based scents, the hand made sensory playdough is all natural and perfect for squishing in little (and big!) hands.

Super cool Melbourne based kids clothes brand Goldie + Ace have released their winter new styles, just in time for the July deep freeze, and we think you’ll love these parachute track sets with a hint of retro and a heap of chic!

The Cotton On x Kip&Co collab is officially launched online! This range is full of awesome signature Kip&Co prints for your whole tribe – bubs, girls, boys, teens and women – on all the all time favourite Cotton On styles. It’s a rainbow-coloured dream come true!

At KIDDO, we know there’s no reason your kids bed linen can’t be cosy and warm but also super cool at the same time. So here’s a round up of our favourite quilt cover sets for the season; we’ve done all the work for you; all you need to do is add to cart and tuck them in!

Buddy and Biggie has exclusively launched its new line of personalised initial embroidered beanies, just in time to keep you and your kiddo’s noggins warm this winter!

You don’t have to be knee deep in muddy clothes this winter, Nature Play SA’s popular waterproof onesie has got you (and your little one!) covered. Fitting easily over clothing and, coupled with gumboots, these onesies will keep your children dry all day.

The baby product market is inundated with promises and fineprints. It can be overwhelming knowing which brands to trust and what nasties to look out for. Luckily, we are here to point you in the right direction! Bunjie is an Australian 100% naturally derived prebiotic + probiotic baby skincare brand. Their products are plant powered and promise to use only obsessively-researched, squeaky clean ingredients that benefit little skin & won’t disrupt its protective microbiome or the planet’s good vibes. Make the first 1000 days count! Junk-filled baby products aren’t doing little skin any favours, so Bunjie have made one that will! Building a happier skin microbiome during the first 1000 days means healthier little humans for life. Modern lifestyle is disrupting the natural development of baby’s skin & has led to a global epidemic in skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis & psoriasis. The skin microbiome is the eyes & ears of a baby’s immune system & their first line of defence. Just like the gut, it needs good bacteria to stay happy, trouble-free & protect them from day 1. Bunjie’s Minibiotics are designed to boost baby’s immune system from the get-go. Snug As A Bug Moisturiser Lotion Transforms itchy scratchies into happy softies.Say hello to a squidgy hug of do-goodie moisture that works around the clock to keep growing little skin oh-so-soft & happy. It’s A Curl Gentle Shampoo Whether it’s just one curl or a head full of locks that would make Rapunzel jealous, these do-goodie bubbles make every day a happy hair day! Wave goodbye to itchy little scalps. Nip It In The Bub Nappy and Barrier Cream No ifs, just happy little butts with this swipeable hero that comes to the rescue of cranky little skin. Blowout after blowout, this plant powered barrier will not be defeated by damp little nappies! Mybunjie.com@bunjie.au

It’s quite common for people to buy and sell second hand car seats online, at markets or between friends and family. While it’s a way to save money, and get some more use out of a car seat, there are some things you need to look out for when buying privately to protect yourself and your child. You want visual confirmation of the following things before you purchase a car seat;The SAI Global 5 Tick Sticker – Located on the car seat shell. This tells you it is a certified Australian car seat that has been tested to the Australian Standard The Date of Manufacture – Either a sticker on the shell, or dials moulded into the plastic. This will tell you whether the car seat is still within the recommended 10 years from date of manufacture. If it is beyond that, the seat should be destroyed. It’s also nice to have Proof of Purchase – a copy of the receipt tells you that this is the original owner, and wasn’t already a secondhand car seat. It’s extremely important to understand that it is essentially impossible to know if a car seat has been in an accident. You are taking the seller’s word at face value. This is one reason we recommend only dealing with people you know and trust in real life when it comes to using secondhand car seats. It’s worth noting that Red Cross Baby Seats sells a number of budget car seats. Oftentimes a new budget seat can work out to be cheaper than a secondhand car seat purchased online.If you have any doubts about a secondhand car seat, the best rule is not to buy it. Red Cross Car Seats have a specialised team that can answer your questions and also fit your child with the perfect seat. 08 8443 9700125 Henley Beach Rd, Mile Endredcross.org.au/babyseats

TABOO SANITARY PRODUCTS  Three years ago, two 18-year-old girls, fresh out of High School had a bloody good idea and now it’s time for us all to cotton on! Co-Founders Eloise Hall & Isobel Marshall decided to join the menstrual market after a Bond University Leadership Conference. The girls were left inspired to establish a business that enabled the everyday purchases of Australians to improve the lives of people around the world. The net profits of their company TABOO Sanitary Products are directly donated to OneGirl; an organisation working in Sierra Leone and Uganda. OneGirl uses a Microfinance model that employs local women to distribute biodegradable pads to other women in their community. This access to pads enables young women to go to school on their period whilst supporting the local economy in a sustainable way. Half of all Australians will need sanitary products for a large part of their lives, and they usually need to purchase them every month. In fact, Australians spend $300 million on sanitary products annually. Knowing this, TABOO Co-founder Isobel also wanted to help women closer to home, ‘We are very aware of the need that exists in Australia too. For that reason, we have partnered with NPY Women’s Council and Vinnie’s Crisis Centre to give our customers the opportunity to subscribe to our product on behalf of a woman in community Australia or a woman requiring emergency care in SA.’ Over the past three years Isobel and Eloise have spent their time presenting to school and community groups in Australia, releasing a line of conversation-starting merchandise and doing whatever they can to share their message. All of these activities have the primary goal of starting the conversation around menstruation in a global context – let’s break that stigma ladies! TABOO was initially available online through a subscription model, however their products are now also available in IGA Malvern, Adelaide. Keep an eye out for them on other supermarket shelves soon! tabooau.co @taboosanitaryproducts

Being a mum basically requires superpowers, you need to be in two places at once, have eyes in the back of your head and come fully prepared for anything at any moment….but how does one achieve this? With a Mary Poppins bag of everything, of course! Nappies, bottles, snacks, bibs, toys, dummies… these things don’t fit into your classic Chanel Flap Bag. Willow Bay bags are a whole different story. Founders Tammy Bishop and Hayley Norman wanted to create stylish handbags that were both functional and versatile. They are the kind of bags that are deceptively spacious and have compartments for just about everything, aka MUM PROOF. They also have an adorable kids range! Both Hayley and Tammy are mums of school aged children who were initially operating out of their garages. In just 12 months Willow Bay were able to turn over $1million revenue and have only continued exponential growth since. We chatted to Tammy and Hayley to find our more about their amazing Australian business: What did your career look like prior to Willow Bay? Pre Willow Bay career for Hayley was firstly in finance and client management and then running her own skincare business whilst raising a family. For Tammy it was 12 years of retail management with a business she owned in Hyde Park, also freelance photography for the 4 years previous to Willow Bay while raising her 3 children and supporting her husband grow his business. Did you expect your business to grow so quickly? We never expected our business to grow so fast, we experimented with bold colours and patterns and put huge emphasis on our customer service and it really paid off. What’s the secret to juggling being business women and mummas? If you find the secret please let us know! As all working mums would know, it’s a daily juggle. Supportive husbands are a big help and for both of us partners having each other to take the load when the other has had family commitments has been a blessing. Also having a good work/life balance where we can switch off from work and spend quality time with our family has become a high priority because in the early days we spent a lot of time on the business and it became detrimental to our families. Our personal secret is that we support one another, we are both equally as hard working and can rely on each other to take the load when the other needs time for all of the other 100’s of things you need to worry about being a wife and mother, and we both appreciate how rare this is in a working partnership. What’s in the future for Willow Bay? Are you considering any other products? Our range is always growing and evolving, we will continue to experiment with different colours, fabrics and designs as always and we’ll be expanding our newly released, really popular, Vogue collection. We continue to be inspired by fashion and colour trends from all over the world, plus what our customers ask for. Our ever growing international presence is very exciting for us as we continue to expand into new countries. If you were a Willow Bay bag which one would you be? If Tammy was a Willow Bay bag she would be the Boutique Zip because she is versatile, loves to travel and adapts easily to any situation. Despite her fondness for bold colours and quirky patterns, she almost always wears black.Hayley on the other hand, would be an Express Duffel, she loves the outdoors, she’s a little quirky and unique, pretty with personality. She also tries to live a minimalist life, just don’t ask to see her handbag stash! Willowbayaustralia.com @willowbayaustralia

Room to Grow – April Edition This edition is all about introducing the exciting world of colour into your family home through art work and decorative pieces. It’s now more important than ever in a world of uncertainty to be aware of how we can manipulate colour to help manage our mood and sense of wellbeing in the family home. Kids take in the world around them through their eyes, and bright colours are one of the first aspects of sight that help them distinguish form and categorize objects. This is because bright colours are easier for them to see while their eyes are still developing. Colour also affects mood and behaviour – warm colours like orange and yellow evoke happiness and comfort, red increases alertness while blues and greens have a calming effect. Colour through decorative pieces can easily set the mood and tone that you are after. Surprisingly, wall decoration and décor are the most common enquiries we have at Asser & Co. Many people are challenged by this aspect of their interior and say that their living areas or bedrooms feel incomplete. It’s important to realise that budget should not restrict your ability to address this. With the latest 2020 Additions Collection from HKliving, there are loads of artwork and decoration items to pique your children’s interest in shapes and forms which work perfectly in both kids’ and grown ups’ spaces. Don’t underestimate the power of a “grown up” choices. I spent many childhood years gazing at my mother’s accidental genius selection of Laura Ashley wallpaper for my bedroom. It helped ignite a lifelong passion for design! With colour, it’s not a matter of blindly following trends – just stick to the number one rule: stay with your own personal taste so that your interior is a reflection of you. The best bet is to choose a neutral paint scheme and 2 accent colours for furnishings and artworks which make up 30% and 10% of the room. Then it’s easier to change as you and your family grows, or your tastes change. As our lifestyle shots show, there is plenty of opportunity to push the boundaries with colour schemes. You can choose to go with a number of schemes: monochromatic (various shades of one colour); complimentary (different colours on the opposite side of the colour wheel that work well together); or analogous palette (similar colours that work harmoniously together) -there is a unique look for everyone. Finally, remember to bring visual relief into the palette through neutrals and materials such as timber, stone and different textured fabrics. Colour is important not only for creating a beautiful space, but is also great for your child’s development, and an essential building block that they will use for learning in all areas of their life! 147 Magill Road, Stepney, SA, 5069asserco.com.au@asser.and.co

Mini Mindfulness It’s one thing keeping up with your own self-love/mindful/diet/fitness regime, but what about one for your little one too? Whether it’s enrolling them in gymnastics, taking them to Nature Play or buying the latest fad sensory toy, we all try to encourage healthy mental and physical habits for our kiddos. Keeping fun in mind through all of this is also an art. Lucky for us, local artist and illustrator Jana Rushforth has come up with an easy and ADORABLE way to encourage mini mindfulness… Happiful Journal, a print-at-home daily gratitude journal for kiddos. This 98 page ebook is a place for your child to connect with their emotions, cultivate gratitude and nurture their curious mind. In addition, there are 20+ fun activity pages for your child to do during the school holidays, when you go out to dinner or even on a rainy day! Kiddos can also customise the journals by choosing the hair colour, style and skin tone of their cover. The journal is available in colour and monochrome too, which kiddos can colour-in themselves! We chatted to Jana about her new journal and inspirations: What skills, both practical and mental, do you think Happiful Journal will assist kiddos with? The Happiful Journal can assist kiddos with their bedtime routine and help them relax and unwind before sleep. It also shows kiddos it’s important to prioritise self-care, by taking 10 minutes to mindfully write or draw about their day. I designed the journal with illustrations, written prompts and exercises for kids to use their creativity. These encourage them to use their creative skills like drawing, writing or colouring-in to quiet their thinking minds. The journal also helps kids process their emotions by introducing them to the idea of seeing and identifying emotions through cute emoji illustrations. How did you learn mindfulness and gratitude yourself? Or what practices do you use yourself? I experienced post-natal depression and to help me I started journaling what I was grateful for each day. I found each day I could find three things I was grateful for and this practice really helped my mental health. I use drawing as a mindfulness practice to process my feelings and thoughts, it brings me back to the present moment and stops my brain overthinking. I also make sure that every day I go outside and just be present in nature. This could be looking at the clouds, picking a flower, watering the garden or watching a bee. I find doing all these things brings mindfulness and gratitude to my daily life. *10% of the journal sale will be donated to Kids Helpline. The Happiful Journal is available at www.wordfinders.clubThe print-at-home ebook is $24 and the made to order hardcopy is $45.There is also a free printable daily journal page at: www.wordfinders.club/printables