Lucky Gecko

18/06/2021

Absolutely thrilled to learn that we’ve been nominated for the incredible awards! If you have a spare minute and want to make some small business owners very happy, head over to the website and vote for all your favourites across a host of categories. And I’m not ashamed to admit that any votes for Lucky Gecko will elicit both squeals of delight and extreme grinning at LGHQ 😁 Link in bio and HUGE thanks in advance - just being in the mix with so many other brilliant businesses means the world 🥰
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03/12/2020

SHOPPING LOCAL FOR KIDS AT XMAS
As you know, our main purpose is to encourage you all to look to our wonderful local independent businesses before sourcing products and services from chains or generic retailers. ☺️

We think Xmas can most definitely be small, local and beautiful, but when it comes to buying toys (you know the big plastic branded ones the kids always want), we often rely on online retailers or larger chain stores.

For those of you who want to make your toy purchases local this year, we did some investigations and we have a couple of suggestions for you.

Hamlins Toys Berkhamsted are offering online sales via their page and an hour a day delivery slots
They also have sites in Marlow, Thame & Bicester offering the same service.

Ring o' Roses in Amersham are also offering sales for collection and have more detailed instructions on their social media

If you know of any more independent toy businesses in the 3 Counties, we would love to add them to the list, so please let us know.😊

While they dont sell the big generic brands, our lovely member Have a Mooch also have some really gorgeous and different gifts for kids.

We also love a Lucky Gecko box for something that can hold the kids interest over the Xmas period.

https://tringbuzz.com/shop-local #/

Happy shopping guys! 🤩

03/12/2020

03/12/2020

Sharing some handy craft and creative sites for kids that we love and find useful for our family that may be just what you are looking for

23/04/2020

The fabulous Hiya Bucks have asked me to write a few pieces to help parents during the school closures. You may know that I was a tutor for over 10 years before I had my own kids, so I’ve had lots of experience teaching children of all ages and abilities. The first two articles are live on their website now so do go and take a look. There’s some (hopefully) reassuring comments about how to approach teaching your own children without it coming to blows. Then there are a few more specific tips on homeschooling. You can find the articles via the link in the comments below. I hope they’re helpful!

@ Tring, Hertfordshire

22/04/2020

For those of you looking for a modern classic which will probably make you cry (or maybe that’s just me...?), I can’t recommend this highly enough. can do no wrong in this house, and Here We Are lives up to all our expectations. Written as an attempt to explain what really matters to his newborn son, it’s heartfelt and meaningful but still funny and simplistic enough to reach children of any age. Beautifully illustrated, as with all his books, this is a coffee table kids’ book - not one to be tucked away on a child’s bookshelf.
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@ Tring, Hertfordshire

22/04/2020

Eek! With all the homeschooling madness, we’re a day late for World Creativity and Innovation Day! But here are our top picks for books to encourage any young inventors out there. They both highlight the value of perseverance and tenacity, and Izzy Gizmo also helps to show children how to build their emotional resilience and manage their frustrations when things go wrong. Great books to read together with young children, or for early independent readers. We love them in our house!
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@ Tring, Hertfordshire

21/04/2020

Here’s a fab book review from Olivia, aged 12. Sounds like this book is well worth a look if you’re a fan of a good mystery. Thanks so much for the recommendation Olivia! 👍
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@ Tring, Hertfordshire

21/04/2020

Has anyone else rediscovered the joy of handwritten letters? This little gem was sent by my wonderful, talented friend Glass Paper Stone after a FaceTime conversation where I was whinging about a recent drought of halloumi in our local shops (yes, I realise that this is an incredibly insignificant thing to whinge about...!). She’s always been so good at sending “proper” post, so I have a stack of letters and cards going back through our 28 (😳🤫) years of friendship.

During the lockdown, my daughter has also started sending letters and cards to her friends and is loving the excitement of opening the replies. It’s a lovely, fun way to encourage kids to write and such a great way for them to connect. Some of her letters have only been two sentences long, but they’ve all been gratefully received and I’m sure will be treasured for many years. Hopefully, she’s starting a habit which will keep her smiling throughout her lifetime. And hopefully she’ll have friends as wonderful as mine to sympathise with her cheese-related woes.

19/04/2020

I’m just about to start on this... apparently it’s “perfect for fans of Percy Jackson”. Have any of the younger members of Team Gecko read it? I’d love to know their thoughts! Remember that we’re always looking for book reviews so do encourage your children to email us with their recommendations and comments. We’re always happy to chat - especially when it’s about books! 😁
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15/04/2020

The latest News post on our website gives some book recommendations for kids who are a little anxious at the moment. If you have any other suggestions, do let us know in the comments below. We love being able to share recommendations with our lovely Gecko community. And head over to the website if you want to read our thoughts on these four fabulous books 😊

14/04/2020

We were recommended this podcast by a friend recently and my almost 6yo is loving it! Kids send in their questions and the host (the very engaging MollyOldfield) finds experts to answer them.

It’s the perfect length for my daughter’s attention span, as well as entertaining, informative, friendly and funny. We highly recommend it! The perfect accompaniment to some colouring or crafting (and, perhaps, one day in the faaaar distant future, the school run).

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re just off to find out how long it would take us to grow our hair as long as Rapunzel’s...