I hope you have had a lovely month. Spring is on its way! I am sharing things our family (our 2 and 7 year old) loved in February 2026:
01// Colours book by Shirley Hughes - An older book by the wonderful Shirley Hughes that is simple and beautiful, illustrating items a particular colour on each page. It is a small book and perfect for a toddler, with realistic illustrations of things they would see in real life.
02// Habit tracker printable by Montessori Chapters - One for the parents today! A printable monthly habit tracker to help you keep track of the things you really want to add to your days, but maybe life gets busy and you don’t always remember them all in your head. Head over to the blog to download yours for free.
03// Citrus cake recipe by Melissa Hemsley - A really delicious lemon & orange cake that is made with almond flour (so is gluten free) and sweetened with maple syrup. Children can easily get involved in juicing the lemons and oranges. I sprinkled edible dried flowers to decorate ours (also a child friendly activity) and this has been on repeat in our house for Birthdays and celebrations! Find the recipe for free on Melissa's substack (which is a great read!) below.
04// Make a World Book by Ed Emberley - My son's been loving this book for drawing inspiration this month. It is a fun book, full of simple, step by step instructions to draw lots of little things like cars, trains, planes and people.
05// Wooden mandala rainbow eggs from Grapat - One of our most loved toys / activities in our home. We create treasure hunts around one room in the house for these and I'm always surprised at how much joy something so simple can bring. These have been loved by my toddler and older child and sometimes the treasure hunts are set up by me, other times by the children for eachother.
06// Bamboo Mirror - I realised that our bathroom mirror is too high up for our 7 year old, whilst the toddler self care station for our daughter has a mirror too low for him. I wanted to enquire there was one that suits him too, so found one that stands on the sink and it can be tilted so that it's at a perfect angle for him to be able to use.
07// Printable Woodland Animals Wall Art - LuxuriousArtLounge on Etsy - This is a set of 18 printable wall art designs which are beautiful and high quality. We currently have 2 in wooden poster hangers in my daughter's room, at her height.
08// Wooden matching tiles - these work great as shelf work for my toddler; a few pairs where they are all mixed together in a basket and she finds the matching ones and puts them together. They also worked for my 7 year old; we used around 12 pairs (24 tiles) from the set and placed them face down on the table. We each took turns to turn 2 over and try to find pairs that matched. We kept them if they did. Our set is second hand (I always look for realistic animals where possible for younger children's work) but I have found similar matching cards - see link below.
09// Jack Straws game - A vintage game that was loved by my Dad when he was little. He has kindly saved it and introduced our family to playing it. You empty all of the miniature plastic instruments onto the table and then use the tiny wire hook to take turns and try to remove one, without moving the others. I was surprised at how much my 7 year old (and at times with a friend) enjoyed this and sat very still and patient playing it!
10// USB Nightlight - Probably my number 1 favourite this month - a USB charged nightlight that has a white setting and also a rainbow gradient of colours that you can choose by swiping your finger along the top. I choose an amber toned one and set it up as a night light - it makes a huge difference in our rooms at night, compared to the harsh white and blue lights in places like our bathroom. It also has a little carry handle on the underside and is perfect for children to use, too. You could use it in dens, take it camping, etc too. We have four of these now!
11// 'Fairy floss' aka children's tooth floss from Jack N' Jill - We already have their toothpaste for our children and now I have discovered their child friendly tooth floss. My 7 year old was struggling with using our regular adult's floss and this one is perfect as it has a handle and a small floss area all ready to use. I am planning to introduce this to my 2 year old (supervised) next as well.
12// Dolls pram - Vertbaudet - This is a beautiful, well made dolls pram and one of my daughters favourites. She even asks to take it with her when she goes out! It fits her dolls and cuddly animals perfectly, and it also fits with our living room decor which I love. A bonus is that it can be folded up.
