Magpie Monday - 9th July 2012

Many of the blogs that I read are regular participants in Magpie Monday, which is hosted weekly over at Me and My Shadow. I know that charity shops are brilliant, and I've had many bargains over the years, but these days we don't tend to go into town centres that often, and I never really have the time to browse in shops when I have one small child pulling at me because he's bored and another whinging in the pushchair. So when I found myself unexpectedly child free and at a loose end in Horsham town centre, I couldn't resist a quick trip into the St Catherine's Hospice shop.

I was really pleased with my purchases - all for Harry. The first game - "Pass the Bag"- is one that I remember having as a child. It has lots of little wooden pieces, all in different shapes and colours, that match up to one of four game cards. You can play various games with it, I suppose it's a bit like Bingo. To start with I think Harry will have fun just matching the pieces to the cards.

Another game "Hide and Seek" I didn't recognise, but it's in the same series as another old game that I have from when I was small, and Ravensburger games and toys are always good quality. It's a memory game, with lots of gorgeous vintage picture cards. Harry surprises me with how good he is at memory games, I don't need to make any allowances for him as he is just as good as me! This one might be a bit difficult for him yet, but I'm hoping we can come up with some different ways to play with it.

Finally a set of alphabet and number cards. We don't really have anything like this, and he is showing such an interest in his letters that I think he will enjoy looking through them.

Good quality games for children can be very expensive, and at £4 in total I think I've done pretty well - they will keep us busy for a long time! And now that I'm back at work there are a couple of out of town (i.e. cheaper) charity shops within just a few minutes walk from my desk, so hopefully I will be back!