Heidi Scrimgeour

About Heidi Scrimgeour

Heidi is a journalist who now lives in Northern Ireland with her husband and three children. She enjoys writing about a variety of topics ranging from parenting to travel. Heidi loves reading a chapter of a good book, spending time with her mom friends, and indulging in occasional spa days. Her family enjoys going on bike rides, exploring rock pools at the beach, and watching movies together.

Family interest

Language & Literacy

In house speciality

English, Drama, PR and Public Communcation

Education

St Mary's University Twickenham London

Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English and Drama
Master of Arts specializing in PR and Public Communcation

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Recent Work

50 Best Books For Year One Kids (Aged 5-6)

What better way to ease the boredom of lockdown than by surrounding yourself with a pile of books and losing yourself in a good story?

Books are a brilliant way to while away the hours at home as a family without resorting to yet more screen-time. From the physical experience of turning a page to the excitement of reading a new book for the first time, reading in Year 1 is all about having fun and building confidence.

Before you hunker down, do check out this guide to building the perfect reading den idea for kids and don't forget that you can listen to stories every day with a children's author.

Whether children are already confident readers, racing through pages as quickly as they can, or only just getting to grips with reading, introducing them to new books and making sure they always have something interesting to read is a great way to encourage a love of learning and reading.

To encourage that, we've put together the ultimate reading list for you and your little ones.

Ages 0-99Books & Reading

Build Your Own Ping Pong Ball Launcher

Follow these instructions to make your own ping pong launcher for family fun at home!

Forget toy guns and expensive shooting gadgets, there's nothing quite like using science to try and create your own ping pong ball launcher. As well as being cheap and easy to make, this ping pong ball launcher is sure to keep your children entertained for ages, as they learn how far they can launch the ball.

For science-mad children or budding STEM scientists, this is also a great design activity that can help them learn about the transfer of energy. If you're homeschooling, you could try setting this as a launcher project.

Talk about what makes the ping pong ball move through the air and explore ideas like whether changing the design would change how far the ping pong balls travel and why.

Ages 0-99Arts, Crafts & Design

Best Girls Names Beginning With L

There are few moments on the road to new parenthood that are quite as exciting or memorable as reading through a list of names to choose the perfect name for your baby.

From scrolling through endless baby name articles to canvassing all your friends and family for their opinions on your favourite names, the search for the perfect name for your bundle of joy is a moment in life that is full of fun and anticipation.

It can be incredibly challenging to work out how to go about choosing the right name for your baby, so to help you narrow down your list of potential names when there are so many beautiful baby names out there, here's our list of girl names starting with 'L'.

Ages 0-99Names For Babies

Ninja Stress Balls For When It All Gets Too Much

There’s surely never been a better time to make your own stress balls.

Not just any stress ball either – what could be more fun than trying to make a stress ball that looks like a ninja? This is a fun DIY craft activity that’s ideal for kids aged 5-10 years old.

The best thing about making your own ninja stress balls is that you don’t need to spend lots of money on costly materials.

All the items you need to make these squishy stress-relieving balls are inexpensive and easy to come by. You’re likely to have everything you need at home or be able to grab the items easily the next time you’re popping to the shop.

The instructions are easy to follow, too, so kids aren’t likely to wander off and lose interest – they can actually get really involved in making these fun playtime accessories.

Ages 0-99Arts, Crafts & Design

Pile of pink and white jump marshmallows.

Marshmallow Challenge Instructions – Are You Ready?

What is the marshmallow game?

The marshmallow and spaghetti challenge is a design challenge that helps teams of people learn some important lessons about the way they work together.

To learn more about the spaghetti and marshmallow tower challenge you can watch Tom Wujec's TED Talk about it, linked at the bottom – he's used it with teams of people as a design challenge in workshops all around the world.

How do you build the tallest marshmallow challenge tower?

There's no single answer to this question – the way to meet the challenge is by building a prototype together and adapting it as you go along, based on what you discover as a team.

Ages 0-99Toys & Games

Rhythm Stick Activities For Curious Kids

There's nothing like a set of rhythm sticks for turning another day indoors into a memorable adventure full of fun and music.

It's amazing that something as inexpensive as a set of rhythm sticks can be so entertaining. It's also refreshing that children can get so much enjoyment out of something so simple – if you're looking for some affordable entertainment, forget all those expensive gadgets and noisy toys and check out these rhythm sticks activities instead!

Ages 0-99Music & Dance