Having organised many children’s (and grown-ups!) parties, we decided to let you know the five most simple steps you can take, that we have learnt along the way to make sure your party is a successful one, and here they are! 

1. Get your child involved with organising the party

Not only will it be a great lesson in making ethical product choices, it will help your child to understand the importance of choosing products carefully and making sure they know why they are choosing the products they are.

For example, every party product we sell has a great story, if you can incorporate that into your selections it can be a really fun exercise, which means something. We have sugarcane plates, natural starch cups, and corn starch straws, not to mention a whole range of tableware made from natural palm leaf and all of these are sure to get your child really excited about their ethical party supplies!

This extends to choices for your party bags too; choosing a recycled paper party bags and popping in a small selection of ethical wooden toys such as a bracelet and hair slides for girls and a spinning top and train for boys is a great way to teach children about decision making, organisation and the value of wooden toys.

2. Have more games and activities then you think you will need

We have found that by having a few more children’s party games up your sleeve it really helps on the day! You will find that some activities take less time than you thought they would and some will just not work as well as you thought… having a few other options on your list will help you to save the day if you sense that a party game isn’t going as well as expected.

3. Have more prizes than you need

Sometimes, as we all know, children can get upset at the prospect of not winning a game. Although it is a good lesson in life, it’s actually a good idea to have a few consolation prizes. Make them token gifts so everyone feels special.

4. Don’t display your party bags in reach of the children

We have found that storing your party bags in a separate room until near the end of the party keeps the children’s attention on the party fun rather than the party bag. Sometimes this is a shame, especially if you want to show your party bags off, a good idea would be to use sticker closures on paper bags and tie up cotton bags in a good bow so the kids do just shove their hands in!

5. Have a plan, but don’t be afraid to change it

Having a plan will keep the activities and party on track, but be prepared to compromise depending on how the party goes. If a child gets a bit tired from the games and excitement and would rather sit out a play with toys, that’s fine, move on to the next activity and chances are, they will join back in again soon!

We update our tips and advice with your help, so please do get in touch with us if you have a great idea and would like to see it published.

We offer a prize for the best tip so you never know, your tip might help you win the party bags for your next party!

Contact us on littleidea@littlecherry.co.uk or give us a call on 01784 470570, and good luck with your party!

We have teamed up with Juliet who sells Barefoot Books from her home in Surrey.  A Mum to Harry and Charlie, Juliet is offering a 15% discount to all Little Cherry customers who purchase from her website this month. 

Juliet says ‘Barefoot books are fantastic , it is as simple as that!  The diverse range offers something for everyone: from tales from around the world, to books on princesses, pirates and monsters!!!   All the books are printed on forest friendly paper and the Company is committed to being as ‘green’ as possible.   My three year old son loves Port Side Pirates which comes with a catchy singalong CD, whilst Charlie loves dancing and singing to The Animal Boogie! ‘

Take a look for yourself at http://julietpritchard.barefootbooks.com  

Just enter  SCSHFT  in the special offer code at the checkout.  Please note that the offer can only be used once per customer before the end of the year.  
Juliet Pritchard 07879 617473  email:  handjpritchard@tiscali.co.uk 

TEA-TIME ENTERTAINMENT SHOW LOOKING FOR FUN LOVING KIDS BETWEEN 3-5 YRS OLD

‘My Little Soldier’ is a TV show where your children are the stars! So, if you want to have fun and appear with your son or daughter on TV then get in touch with us. Please don’t tell your child what you’re doing yet as we might need to surprise them on the show!

Parents set their children simple missions in order to see how they get on. This results in a great sense of achievement for the child and lots of pride for the parent, with a few laughs along the way.

Please call Susannah on 0207 502 5847 for more information or email Susannah.haley@northonetv.com

20% off subscription: Until the end of the month, use the code littlecherry

NannyShare.co.uk gets a makeover
by the Nanny Share team

Considered sharing a nanny?

Sharing a nanny with another family can be an ideal childcare solution.

Nanny Share’s postcode search lets you find families near you who want to share a nanny. Together you can find flexible, quality childcare at an affordable price.

The massive www.nannyshare.co.uk website change in 2009 is our biggest news right now. New colours, new kids artwork… but more importantly the site now gives parents more online options:

- Search for & contact local families
- Add families to your favourites
- Contact families online with our new messaging system
- Find your best matches, so you can start sharing childcare costs
- Increased flexibility - childcare, your way
- Childcare jobs - view and post jobs.

About NannyShare.co.uk

Nanny Share has been developed by several leading names in the UK childcare industry. Hopefully everything is self explanatory and you’ll be able to sign up and start looking for families with similar needs, find a nanny and/or post a nanny job with greater ease than before.

Nanny Share helps families across the UK find each other and reduce their childcare costs by sharing - we’re very proud of that. It’s almost obligatory at this point to say “in the current climate”. Sharing has always been a good flexible childcare option. It’s more so now in the days of the ‘credit crunch’.

It might seem like an odd comparison if you’re looking for childcare, or a family to share that childcare with, but Nanny Share works in a similar way to a dating site. You sign up, search family profiles, select families you like the sound of - then get in touch. It’s that simple. You and your children might even make some great friends.

Find a nanny sharer

NannyShare.co.uk has helped thousands of families over the years. Sharing your nanny with another family could be the solution for you.

Parents are going to knock on every door (or in this case website) to try and find what they need. Nanny Share won’t push you to use any of our partners or friends that operate within the realm of childcare. We might let you know they’re out there, and any benefits you might receive by using their services.

Create a family profile with Nanny Share: www.nannyshare.co.uk

20% off subscription: Until the end of the month, use the code littlecherry

Why Share a Nanny?
by Rachel Willits of NannyShare.co.uk

“A nanny has always been my preferred childcare choice - high quality and flexible home care, but oh so expensive!
For me, a nannyshare is the best of both worlds, the childcare I’m after at a much more manageable cost, and depending on how the share works, a really sociable solution too.
Nannyshares can work in all sorts of ways. I’ve now had 4 nannyshares, all different but equally effective. I consider myself a bit of an expert now!”

Sharing a nanny for the 1st time?

“My first experience of sharing a nanny came when I was expecting my second child. I couldn’t afford to keep my full time nanny whilst on maternity leave but didn’t want to lose my fabulous nanny. I found another family who needed a part time nanny and we shared Victoria between us. I kept her for 2 days a week, the other family for 3, until I was ready to go back to work.

I did another similar share when we moved to Northamptonshire and then when I became involved in Nanny Share I actually shared a nanny with my neighbour. Our daughters were the same age and the best of friends and the nanny looked after them both for 3 days a week in whichever of our houses was most convenient.

My current share is probably the most complicated. A friend and I employ our nanny full time between us, the nanny works for me 1 day a week, for my friend 2 days a week and the remaining 2 days she works for us both, looking after all of our children (5 in total!) together. It’s sometimes chaotic, always lots of fun and the children have a ball. We’re all as flexible as we can be which means we both get the benefit of a nanny being available 5 days a week, at a fraction of the usual cost.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to sharing a nanny, you just need to find out what works for you. It’s important to be as open and flexible as you can be and regular communication is vital.

Good luck!”
Rachel x

Create your family profile today: www.nannyshare.co.uk
NannyShare.co.uk

London Mum’s Blog has recently given us a lovely review, which you can read here.

Here is what she thought…

How cool is this?! Eco party bags and supplies

Are you fed up with party bags that are filled with plastic toys that end up in the bin? Tired of feeling guilty about the amount of waste from your last party?

Lucy from Little Cherry was in touch the other day and really opened my eyes regarding party bags and products. She sent me a nice box of samples and my girls had a ball playing with everything. And I was surprised (and happy) to learn that most of the items could go right into the compost bin after use.

My greatest discovery was the biodegradable balloons. A party isn’t really a party without them. These balloons are made of natural latex, which is tapped from rubber sustainably. They have been FSC certified, are traded fairly and packaged in a compostable bag with a recycled paper label. They come in seven colours and you get 10 for £1.99. I got pink ones for my daughter’s party. They were easy to blow up and lasted a few days. Now they are with the worms.

My second coolest discovery was the compostable cups, which are made of bio plastic which can be described as a greenhouse neutral polymer which means they have a low carbon emission footprint. They are available in pint (.18) and half pint (.15) sizes. They are durable (and reusable) and look great — I would use them for adults as well. The best part is when you are done with them, they can be composted.

The party bags are excellent. They are all made of cotton and contain a selection of eco-friendly toys made from sustainable wood and painted in non-toxic paints by fully vetted manufactures who pay fair wages and ensure good working practises. They come in three categories per child: less than £4; £4 to £7, and more. The £3 and £4 bags have some cute stuff like clips, bracelets, spinning tops and door hangers.

Also cool: the palm leaf bowls, which are made from naturally fallen leafs, which are then soaked in spring water before being stamped into shape. They are made in a rural community in India where the producers are supported and earn a fair wage. There is a large range that includes serving plates, bowls, dip bowls, and others.

This stuff doesn’t come from Tesco, and will eat into your wallet. But why not cut back in other areas and help save the Earth. That’s the best birthday present you could give your children.

This post was written by Susanna, a London Mums Blog founding contributor. You can read more at her blog, A Modern Mother.

I am really pleased to see such a wonderful article about Little Cherry in this months Berkshire Life magazine! Buy it and see page 109 - Entitled Little Cherry proving fruitful in the business inspiration section!

I have had one question on my mind over the past few weeks… will the recession have a major affect on consumer desire for green products?

This question is especially pertinent as my eco-friendly party supplies business, Little Cherry is a relatively young business, trading in this sector. My concern really lies within the message that has been thrust on us recently about cutting back on our spending and choosing only products we ‘need’ rather than being frivolous with those we ‘want’. Having an eco-friendly party; is it something we ‘need’? Or ‘want’? Will saving the planet take a back seat as saving money becomes so important?

So as the housing market slows, and people have less access to equity, as more people are made redundant and therefore have less cash to play with, will they opt for less expensive non-green products, which have a detrimental effect on the environment?

Not so, according to findings from the 2007 ImagePower Green Brands Survey*, spending on green products is set to almost double this year. In addition to these finding, the survey found that peoples perception of ‘green’ has shifted somewhat to now symbolise a positive refection of their social status, and equate it with saving money and caring for self, and society.

My thoughts are that I hope the finding come to fruition so I can stay in this nice comfy bubble; I hope people will equate being green as a way to save money in the long term and will realise the major benefits with choosing sustainable products over planet clogging ones. I hope they will make a statement by sticking to their morals rather than converting back to less expensive (in the short term) products, which are more damaging in the long term.

I also hope that in this tide of recession, people won’t be talking about the economy so much that they forget about the environment, because the reality is that if we don’t all make an effort both in the short and long term, nothing will change.

* Conducted by WPP’s Landor Associates, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Cohn & Wolfe

Ok, now I can take a breath and step down from my soap box!
xXx

At Little Cherry we like to support other small businesses like ourselves. Businesses who are making a diffrence with the products they sell, with the producers they use and with their ethos towards life. Here is one of our great friends, INCOGNITO.

What is incognito?

incognito is a powerful anti-mosquito protection spray.  It is a 100% natural, non-greasy formulation.  It also has a fresh pleasant smell.  Most of the ingredients have been used for centuries by indigenous peoples of Asia to protect themselves from insects and the diseases they carry.  It can be used by all the family including babies.

incognito contains the maximum amount of citronella that can be used safely by humans, along with eucalyptus and a secret ingredient.  All of these combined actually make you ‘invisible’ to all small things that biteä!  How come?  Basically, the insects that need to feed off us cannot sense our kairomones so they literally fly-by! 

What are kairomones? Just as humans are attracted to each other’s pheromones, insects are attracted to their hosts by kairomones – the kairomone mosquitoes are particularly attracted to is carbon dioxide. Others include lactic and carboxylic acids.  All these kairomones are eliminated by the body in proportion to the rate of metabolism. Therefore the more active you are, the more attractive (a meal) you are!  Kairomones can be detected by the female mosquito up to 1km away!

Mosquitoes sense these chemicals in a variety of ways, one way being the hairs on their antennae.  One recent research project shows another way that mosquitoes smell us is through a nose located in their mouth!

incognito works by masking most of these kairomones, thus cloaking or camouflaging and protecting us like an invisibility cloak!   

Although no product, not even the most toxic insecticides offer total protection, incognito will protect you as effectively as those chemicals with one important difference: safety. According to two recent studies on oil of lemon eucalyptus and citronella they are as effective as 30% Deet.

incognito also interferes with a mosquitoes’ inbuilt target-seeking process thus providing a further shield.  Mosquitoes have poor eyesight, but are highly light sensitive, so are able to differentiate easily between light and dark, which is also why they zero in on those with paler skin tones.

Many people are fed up using chemicals on their skin, which is not surprising as DEET melts plastic and can cause scarring of the tissue and worse. incognito is 100% natural with most of the ingredients certified organic.

incognito is a small ethically minded company which trades fairly with everyone.  We also do our bit for the environment as you can see if you visit the ‘kind to our planet’ page on our website: http://www.lessmosquito.com

which has a wealth of tips on avoiding bites from insects on the “Avoiding Bites” Page.

incognito is the mosquito deterrent of choice for several high profile people and expeditions with an interest in the environment.

As you can see on their website incognito was recommended by The Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and The Observer. It is will be used by the England Cricket Team on their forthcoming tour.

Our global obsession with the water we drink is not surprising given that water makes up over 60% of our body’s composition, it is vital to our life and health.

The marketing genius that led to the explosion of the bottled water market is now happily past its peak as we have become a bit more discerning and savvy about this bizarre ritual of buying our water. 

We know that bottled water accounts for a huge carbon footprint, landfill problems and marine debris. And that plastic bottles contain BPA, linked to cancers, autism and genetic damage. The photo on the front of your bottled water may show glaciers and mountains but the reality of the source of the water and the actual purity of the water may be deceptive according to the Natural resources Defence Council (ref 1) In fact Pepsi’s Aquafina water, the No1 seller in the US, now must clearly show on their labels that their source is………tap water.

Canada has led the World in the total Ban on BPA from baby bottles/beverages, with Walmart and Toys R Us following suit. The National Childbirth Trust in the UK is demanding that all products containing BPA be clearly labelled. Are we finally reversing our love affair with buying plastic bottles?

There is some good news however as the task of ridding our world of plastic has just been made easier thanks to One Green Bottle (www.onegreenbottle.com), a brilliant new alternative to the endless use of harmful plastic bottles. Developed and marketed by a forward thinking eco-friendly company in East Sussex this stylish range of ‘Mudpuppy’ branded stainless steel bottles provide a real opportunity  to change the way we consume water and drinks.

One Green Bottle has developed the BPA Free Mudpuppy range using ‘304’ grade stainless steel, which is recognised by the beverage and food industry for its hygienic benefits and non-toxic properties. Switching to a stainless steel drinks bottle which does not leach chemicals into the water eliminates the risks associated with BPA’s and you will immediately taste the difference. Stainless steel can also be used with just about any beverage, is durable and easy to clean. The payback for buying a Mudpuppy bottle is very short (less than a month), you are assured of being toxin free and can feel satisfied that you are doing your bit in reducing the devastating effect of plastic refuse on this planet.

In the US over 250,000 stainless steel bottles are sold every month. BPA Free drinking bottles by One Green bottle have now launched in the UK for the first time. A great selection of stylish bottles ideal for use in the school, nursery, office, gym or on a picnic.
Heather Nicholson, director of One Green Bottle, explains the ethos behind the company. She says: “I was looking for a clean, odourless sports bottle for my son to take to school each day and I couldn’t get one in the UK. When I investigated plastics and the alternatives, I became determined to do something positive. Plastic is an overwhelming threat to our environment. As a reformed plastic bottle drinker, I’ve never felt better since I switched to stainless steel. It saves money, time and effort, tastes purer and I know it isn’t manufactured using harmful chemicals.”

Ms Nicholson says: “It’s a simple step to reduce plastic bottle usage and experience the benefits. Bisphenol A readily ‘leaches’ into the fluids contained in plastic bottles, and many parents will naturally want to ensure their kids are using safe drinking vessels. Furthermore, by using our bottles, children will understand the causal relationship between responsibility and the future of the planet. If each generation takes more care of the environment than its predecessors, our children and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries.”

Just One Green Bottle can keep heaps of plastic debris off our planet.
It takes just one green bottle to make a positive difference to your health, the planet and your bank balance. I’ll drink to that.
Ends/…

Media Contact
Heather Nicholson, director, One Green Bottle Ltd
Telephone: 0845 293 8355 / 07921 866473
Email: heather@onegreenbottle.com

Ref 1 http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap5.asp

Hints and tips for a GREEN HALLOWEEN!

Halloween parties are always a great treat for little monsters. And with a little planning, you can make sure they are a treat for our planet too! Here are some tips to get you started thinking about a clean, green Halloween:

- Use organic, locally grown pumpkins and apples for carving jack-o-lanterns and for apple bobbing. The pumpkin seeds removed whilst carving can be roasted and make a delicious and highly nutritious snack for party guests.

- When the party is over, the fruits and vegetables can be used for cooking pies, soups and other dishes.

- The fruit and vegetable scraps are then suitable for compost for your garden. You could even use them to nourish your vegetable garden, helping to grow what will become next years Halloween pumpkins!

Composting reduces the amount of waste you send to landfill.

- Instead of buying a disposable Halloween costume your children will only wear once, why not create a costume from clothes you no longer wear or cheap charity shop clothing? Kids enjoy helping to design and make their very own outfit.

- After the party, you can store the costume for re-use another year, pass them on to or swap them with friends, or donate the clothing they were made from to charity.

- If your children are trick-or-treating, be sure they carry a reusable bag rather than a plastic one. Plastic bags end up as litter, kill thousands of marine animals every year, break down into particles that pollute soil and water, and also require large amounts of fossil fuels during production. Kids will enjoy helping to decorate old pillowcases or cloth or canvas shopping bags to use instead. Try reusable cotton bags from Little Cherry, whch have been handmade in the UK! Halloween themed shapes such as ghosts and pumpkins can be cut from old fabric and sewn on; and the bag can be reused again next year.

- If you are giving treats to trick-or-treating children, ensure they are an environmentally friendly option. Give organic chocolate and sweets with little or no packaging, or give more useful, longer life treats such as pencils and toys. Little Cherry has a huge range of eco-friendly toys and treats to choose from!