Happy Spaces at Baby Zilli Launch

A little while back Happy Spaces were invited to attend the launch of Baby Zilli, the new organic baby food range from celebrity chef Aldo Zilli.

The launch was a great success. One of the highlights for me was the balloon maker. By far the best I have honestly ever seen, creating anything from colourful giant octopuses to space men with radar guns! (a great idea for a kid’s party).

Happy Spaces were very proud to be there to represent our beautiful wall art for children. We also provided a unique fine art print for each of the celebrity goodie bags from our new range being released online in June (watch this space for details).

At the end of the event the kiddies looked content and full to the brim and we took home some yummy Baby Zilli food pouches to try out with our little ones.

Thanks for the invite Baby Zilli!

Outside Fun for the Kids

As a mum of a 3 year old boy who wants to spend every waking hour outside, I am always trying to find fun things for him to do outside to teach him about nature and keep him stimulated (and me too!). The other day I stumbled upon a little gem of a website run by The Woodland Trust and aptly named Nature Detectives. It is packed full to the brim of outdoor activities that you can download and print out, from scavenger hunts to snail racing and amazingly enough you get all this for... NOTHING!!! Yes, that’s right all this for not even a penny – truly amazing these days! However, if you would rather not download and print all the activities yourself then you can just join the club for £12 per year and get printed material for 350 activities.

So there you go, summer in the garden with the little ones sorted – enjoy!

Happy Spaces Kids' Wall Art is “A Listed”

Happy Spaces are very proud to have appeared in the Daily Telegraph "A List" this weekend (14th May 2011). Compiled by lifestyle journalist and home expert Alison Cork, the guide features 150 need-to-know names in homes and interiors and serves as an indispensable style reference for your home. For your very own copy and great discounts download the 16 page supplement here.

Win in our 'Happy Spaces Happy Kid of the Month' competition

Upload a photo of your little one in their favourite “HAPPY SPACE” onto our facebook page this month and they could be featured as our HAPPY SPACES HAPPY KID of the month! The chosen photo will also receive a FREE Happy Spaces fine art print from our brand new range of 11 select prints to be released this month.

Here is the first photo to get you started: Jake, 3yrs, loving the sea at his favourite Happy Space, the beach!

How to enter

Step 1: Click ‘Like’ on our facebook page (if you are not a fan already)

Step 2: Upload your photo onto our facebook wall and include the name of your HAPPY KID, their age and the name of their HAPPY SPACE along with your photo.

Step 3: Send your name and e-mail address to us at info@happyspacces.co.uk so we can get hold of you if you are the lucky winner!

The winner will be announced and their photo featured at the end of May 2011 on our Facebook page. Good Luck!

Click Here to Enter

Eating out with kiddo’s can still be a treat!

Great news - The long respected Harden’s Restaurant Guides have launched a new edition especially for parents wishing to eat out with their little ones!

The first “Harden's Eating Out With Babies and Toddlers” is now available (£5.95 at amazon.co.uk) and lists the top baby and toddler friendly restaurants and cafés in the country. The release of the guide follows a survey which revealed – along with other shocking truths – that almost a third of parents have been turned away from a restaurant or café when they arrive with their young family in tow.

Other issues highlighted by the survey that were regulary encountered by parents included a lack of entertainment in restaurants for babies and toddlers (91 %), a lack of baby-changing facilities (85%) and no high chairs (76%).

The guide names The ‘chic’ Wolseley, in London, as the nation’s most baby-friendly independent restaurant and Giraffe as the UK's most baby-friendly restaurant chain, followed by Pizza Express and Carluccio’s.
The guide lists more than 1,000 venues and is based on feedback from 8,000 restaurant-going parents.

I'm ordering one! Sounds like a great gift too.

Don’t say ssshhhush!

Looking for something fun, yet culturally satisfying to do with the kiddies over the Easter weekend? How about a trip to the local museum?

Before you shudder in horror at the thought of traipsing your poor little ones around a stuffy old building full of adults, giving you the evil eye – read on!

‘Kids in Museums’ have recently led a series of undercover visits by ‘actual kids’ and their parents in local museums. The results are a list of this year's most family-friendly museums. No more telling the kids to keep it down! These museums are offering a host of interactivity. We’re talking about signing, make your own stone carvings, grinding wheat, colouring in every room, aquariums, dressing up and more.

For the winner and shortlist see their results below:

• Mansfield Museum in Nottinghamshire (WINNER)
• Corinium Museum, Cirencester
• The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent
• Kilmartin House Museum, Argyll
• Horniman Museum, London
• Abbey House Museum, Leeds

To find out more about Kids in Museums or their awards check out their website here.

To buy or NOT to buy

I am a first time mum, expecting a little one to grace us soon with the joys and challenges of parent hood! And like many other first time parents I have spoken to out there, I am some what ‘befuzzled’ by the mind boggling amount of baby gadgets that are available to purchase for a new born.

As the due date steadily approaches the inevitable question of WHAT to buy rears its head and whilst I am excited at the thought of kitting out my nursery with the most beautiful, funky and latest gear for my baby, I am even more conscious of space and money (and the lack there of !).

Therefore I was very interested to read the latest survey by consumer group Which? That asked 1000 parents what their most useful and indeed their most useless baby purchases were. I am a huge fan of benefiting from the experience of hardworking parents that have been there and done that before me. So if you’re in need of a little advice before your baby shopping spree take a look at the results below. For full details of the survey check out which consumer website here.


10 Least Useful Baby Products bought by parents

1. Fabric sling
2. Nappy stacker
3. Baby washing (top and tail) bowls
4. Nappy disposal bin
5. Bumbo seat (plastic seat which helps your baby to sit upright – if you didn’t
know like me!)
6. Door baby bouncer
7. Baby carrier
8. Ride-on toddler board for buggy/pushchair
9. Night light
10. Baby reins


10 Most Useful Baby Products bought by parents.

1. Stair gate
2. Baby sleeping bag
3. Baby monitor
4. Changing mat
5. Baby change bag
6. Dummy/pacifier
7. Electric steam steriliser kit
8. Travel cot
9. Microwave steam steriliser kit
10. Digital ear thermometer

One last useful purchase you may be on the search for that we can help with: bright, beautiful and original ways to decorate your little one’s nursery walls? If so - look no further than our online gallery at happyspaces.co.uk which has over 180 designs by acclaimed artists for discerning parents (such as yourself) to choose from, order and deliver all from the comfort of your home.