We all know the value of enjoying books from an early age. Quarto Kids have a charming starter book illustrated by Camilla Falsini designed to grab the attention of little ones with a colourful and interactive look at Shapes. 5 Wild Shapes will appeal to children and parents. Read on to discover more and for your chance to win a copy.

More about 5 wild Shapes

The bold colour themes and shapes on every double page are eye catching. A short story of a couple of sentences ties the illustrations and shapes together while the reader is encouraged to get physical and move the counter around each shape. It is an adorable way for youngsters to learn about shapes and discover a little about animals and their habitats.  

Find circle as a flower, triangle as a tree, heart as leaves on the trees, wavy as the sea and hexagon as a bees hive and square as a Farmer’s field. Well not Farmer Nick’s farm fields perhaps, but that’s another story! The chunky hardback book is designed to withstand handling by the most destructive toddler, while the wipe clean surface to each hardback page will ensure sticky fingers are not a problem.

Educational Benefits

• Develops hand eye coordination
• Builds cognitive skills
• Inspires a deeper knowledge of the world

Video insight into 5 wild Shapes

Need to Know

Win your copy of 5 Wild Shapes with Quarto and Coombe Mill

For your chance to win a copy of this fun learning book simply follow the instructions below.

5 Wild Things Book

Disclosure

We were sent our copy of 5 wild shapes for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.  Our copy can be borrowed from the Coombe Mill Games Room for our guests to borrow on holiday.  

As the beautiful autumn colours begin to take over our landscape, our thoughts turn to the clocks going back, a busy term for the children at school and Christmas. I hope you can take a few minutes out from it all and see what we have been up to here on the farm, along with some changes going forward. Our Cornish Events Guide October 2019 is handy if you are heading this way with your family.

All change for the cottages from November.

You’ll see from our pricing and availability page that the cottages over the road (Tree Roots, Willow and Honeysuckle) are no longer available to book. They are still owned by us but will be rentable via Sykes Cottages from November 2019. However, they will not be part of Coombe Mill, so no feed run, train rides or crazy golf. The train and crazy golf will move over the road to remain with Coombe Mill Holidays. This will take place over the winter and be a big project keeping Farmer Nick busy. We have done this to try and widen our appeal to an audience that may not have young children. For those of you who know and love Coombe Mill please do share us with friends and remember the ‘refer a friend’ scheme saves you money as well as anyone you refer. Miller’s House will now be the largest property sleeping 10, followed by Heligan Lodge for 8.

Christmas is coming.

Love or loath the subject of Christmas in October, there is no getting away from the fact it is only weeks away. If you’d rather hand all the stress over then why not bring the family to Coombe Mill? The feed run even runs on Christmas morning with a very festive Farmer Nick and our log burners make the perfect warming backdrop to all your festivities.  We run 10 nights for the price of 7 up to or from 27th or you can book short breaks on most dates over the festive period to suit you.

Blackberry fun

Activity hour ended for the summer season with making the most of the huge supply of blackberries on the farm. We squished them, pulped them, made tie dye flags and yummy muffins. The next activity hour will be Halloween, watch out for some ghostly fun if you are with us then!

Thank you for all your photos and kind words

I have been sharing some wonderful posts on Facebook and Instagram from the #CoombeMillHolidays hashtag. Thank you for all the lovely photos and thoughtful things you’ve said about your stay with us. These, together with posts to our Facebook Group and Facebook Reviews are so valuable to us as recommendations for those who have not stayed before.  My favourite this month has to be from Angela Cavanagh, You couldn’t make this up if you tried! Thank you to Angela for sharing.  

On the Farm

Lambo is Pregnant

Who remembers hand feeding Lambo a bottle of milk in 2018? Well we thought she would never be strong enough to carry babies and left her for the summer season as company for Rambo, our breading Ram. Nick and I were both looking at her the other day and have decided she is actually pregnant! It could be a Christmas lamb for Coombe Mill. We will bring her indoors when the weather turns and watch her closely over the winter months.

Billy has his girls back

When there is a strong whiff of goats’ cheese passing through the farm we know that autumn is here and Billy Goat Gruff is keen to visit our nanny goats. There is no fighting nature on this one and they are all reunited for the winter season. This includes Dusty who was  sent to the naughty step for escaping during the summer months. Fingers crossed they all be happy together and even reward us with a kid goat in spring.

Cornish Events October 2019 

Nb: I have not been paid or sponsored to mention these places, they are just the Cornish events October 2019 that I feel would be of interest to Coombe Mill Guests.

I hope you have a happy October. Pack in those autumn walks with wellies crunching through fallen leaves and admire the wonderful colours as the season changes.

Fiona x

It can be so easy to become wrapped up in our own lives. The day to day of family life, school, homework, clubs and playtime can be all consuming. However have you ever stopped to wonder how similar, or different, your child’s upbringing might be from others around the world? In “This Is My World” from Lonely Planet Kids, 84 children age 7 to 10 from around the globe sum up their life in words and pictures.  For anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of how different cultures live, this book is a fascinating insight. Read on to discover more and for you chance to win a copy.

More about This Is My World

Discover what it is like to grow up in hot and cold climates, in rich or poor countries, in a house, an orphanage or a flat, a large family or a small one and what impact these things have on the children concerned.  Lonely planet Kids and have carefully researched the backgrounds of 84 different children. They have brought each life story to the reader over beautifully arranged double page spreads.

What we love

• Bite sized chunks of information from each child on their family and the things that are important in their lives.
• Photos of the children with their families, their country and the things that are important to them.
• A helpful colour coded reference guide to different continents
• A fun to answer quiz at the end.  
• An aid to social understanding, and human geography within the school curriculum
• Good to know: £1 from every UK copy sold goes to War child UK – a registered charity helping children in war torn countries to a brighter future.

Need to know

Win a copy of “This Is My World” by Lonely Planet Kids and Coombe Mill

For your chance to win a copy of this lovely recourse book and broaden your child’s appreciation of children around the world, simply follow the instructions below. Good luck to all taking part.

This is my World from Lonely Planet Kids

Disclosure

We were sent our copy of this is my World for the purpose of this review. However all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own. Our copy can be found in the Coombe Mill Games room library for our holiday guests to borrow.

I do enjoy the school holidays with an older group of children keen to embark on an adventure. It is a chance for me to indulge in some of the childhood fun I enjoyed with my own children.  I had been toying with making teepees’ for a while. With just the right place in mind and the perfect age group signed up to activity hour, I seized the opportunity.

Welly Walk Challenge

The Welly Walk was my chosen campsite. It is accessed across the farm so I set the children up with a fun activity sheet for the journey and had all the things we needed already down there.

How to Make a DIY Teepee

Having collected a duvet cover, 3 bamboo canes and some farm bailer twine the kids set to work creating their own bespoke Teepee.  I showed them a photo and recommended style and then sat back to watch them create.

Spray painting DIY Teepee Designs

It wasn’t long before the teepees were taking shape. I opened up a bag of watered down poster paint in old window cleaner bottles and invited the children to spray paint their own personalised designs on the covers. It was such a lovely activity, the paint easily washed off clothes and skin and there was nothing to spoil or worry about. We even had a handy babbling stream next to us to rinse hands.

Making Teepee Flags

The final touch was stapling a square of material around a stick for a camp flag.

The kids were thrilled with the finished results and piled into their camps. It was lovely to see how much the parents enjoyed it all too.

Campfire Cooking

While we were busy building our DIY teepees Guy had been making a fire pit campfire for us. The children wasted no time crowding round to take a marshmallow or lump of cookie dough to toast. There were some hungry children after all that creative camp building happy to indulge.

Rope Swing

the benefit of my chosen location was in any spare minute not only was there the stream to splash around in but also the Coombe Mill rope swing to enjoy.

No wonder I ended up heading home and leaving families enjoying the afternoon at their newly made camps.   

Tips for Making your own DIY Teepee with Children

I’ll take a bet that you can visualise a Van Gogh painting, but who really knows the story behind the artist? The same is true for Mexican born Frida Kahlo. Both made such an impact on the world of art yet less is understood about the incredible personal stories that inspired their work. Read on to discover more about the artists behind the masterpieces and for your chance to win a copy of both books. This is one for young budding history of art enthusiasts.

Portrait of an artist: Vincent Van Gogh

The story behind Vincent Van Gogh is told in a child friendly manner, despite the difficult areas of his mental health and cutting of his ear.  Reading the book with its beautiful illustrations, you gain an insight into a troubled mind in a sensitive and caring way. Through this insight come the amazing paintings we remember him by to this day. Both books make a perfect introduction to the history of art, suitable for age 7+.

Portrait of an artist: Frida Kahlo

Frida was born in Mexico. She ended up travelling through her work and marriage, but Mexico held her heart and inspired her now famous paintings. Frida spoke out for individuality, the need for women to be taken seriously in art, and became a real inspirational woman of her era. Her story will inspire young girls the world over to achieve their goals in life.

Need to Know

Video preview of both Books

Win your copy of Vincent Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo with Coombe Mill and Quarto Kids

For your chance to win these two inspirational books in the Portrait of an artist series with Quarto Kids simply follow the instructions below. Good luck to all taking part.

Portrait of an Artist: Vincent Van Gogh & Frida Kahlo Books

Disclosure

We were sent our copies of these educational books for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and options expressed are my own. Our copy of the books can be found in the Coombe Mill book library for guests to enjoy.