Big Book of 100 Little Activities, The

There are times when keeping your young children occupied and entertained can be a real challenge, no matter how super-organised or imaginative your parenting skills. This bumper book of 100 boredom-busting craft activities is all you need to be inspired during those long rainy afternoons or times when the little ones are climbing the walls (and so are you!).

Dip in and discover the eight handy sections: Nature lovers, Messy makes, Rainy day, Sunny day, Little laboratory, Paint and print, Playing and performing, and Dressing up. Each one is packed with things to do that range from spur-of-the-moment creative play, involving little or no preparation, to mini projects with step-by-step instructions.

No matter what your pre-schooler is into, there will be something to stimulate their senses: making giant bubbles, wooden-spoon puppets, cardboard-tube marble run, balloon tennis, bug hunting, firework painting, hanging pompom bees and paper-plate animal masks are just a few of the ingenious ideas on offer.

The Big Book of 100 Little Activities is authored by Laura Minter and Tia Williams, two creative mums based in Brighton, UK. They started Little Button Diaries, their crafting and baking blog, in 2013 to show that having children doesn't mean you have to stop doing the things you love. They have won Best Craft Blog at the 2014 Mum and Dad (MAD) Blog Awards and a 2015 Brilliance in Blogging award in the crafts section.

Laura and Tia also write craft tutorials for craft superstore Hobbycraft, work on blog projects with high-street stationers Paperchase and Laura Ashley, and write a monthly craft or baking project for one of their local parenting websites, brightonmums.com. Their previous books for GMC Publications are: The Princess Craft Book, The Knight Craft Book, and Mini Makers.