Your home is your castle, especially in winter, when you’re spending heaps of time inside. We love finding child-friendly home items that are functional and look good, too. Here are our favourite interior essentials to help you enjoy the great indoors!
Turn the tables
Zaishu is an award-winning, slot-together seat/table combining cultural creativity and eco design. Zaishu collaborates internationally with artists such as David Bromley, Stewart Russell from Spacecraft and the Florence Broadhurst print archive. Zaishu also features artwork from various community groups, endangered tribal art, as well as hand-painted work from the last of the Bollywood artists. Designed and made in Australia from native plantation pine, using water-based inks and varnish, Zaishu has a Good Environmental Choice certification and comes flat-packed in collectable limited editions which simply slot together. Available from www.zaishu.com.
Make your own baby food the easy way
Making your own baby food doesn’t have to be a chore with the Mumi & Bubi Solids Starter Kit. Containing two stackable trays, a simple step-by-step guide and recipe book to help ease your baby’s transition to solid foods, the kit lets you prepare easy, nutritious, and economical meals right in your own home. Freeze baby food purées, breast milk or juice into pre-measured quantities that are easy to pop into freezer bags, containers, or leave right in the tray — the lids prevent freezer-burn. The included shopping lists will tell you exactly what you need to buy to fill two trays — no guesswork, no wasted food. Get your kit at www.mumiandbubi.co.nz.
Play house
Your toddler will love playing house with the MobileHome by Dutch company Kidsonroof. Blue on the outside, red on the inside, the MobileHome (46cm x 22.5cm x 36cm, RRP $39) is made from sturdy cardboard, making it lightweight and easy for your little one to tote from room to room — and on the road! With eight rooms, stairway openings, spy holes, and an attic for storage, it’s great for taking toys and dolls to sleepovers, bringing along on holiday, or visiting Grandma’s house. Available from BabyStar Wellington, IKOIKO Wellington and Auckland, www.yopie.co.nz, or visit www.sip.sinot.co.nz for other stockists and to find out more.
Good clean fun
We know you don’t like to clean — we don’t like housework, either! That’s why we’ve found Cinderella Essentials cleaning products. They come in funky packaging and pretty colours, and will help you to feel just a touch more glamorous when you’re scrubbing the tub and wiping the kitchen bench! Cinderella Essentials are 100% natural, smell great, work effectively, won’t dry out your skin or 
irritate your sinuses, and degrade quickly so there is minimum impact on the environment — and their super-stylish packaging begs to be left on the counter for all your friends to admire. Get them at your local supermarket or visit www.cinderella.com.au to find out more.
