Little things that brought you absolute joy as a child

[DevilledEgg]

For me it was silver balls on cupcakes. Such a simple thing but we didn't have them very often, so whenever I saw some on a cake I'd bubble with excitement. I bought a cake today with some on and I swear, I was five years old again!

Upthread the photocopier ink was mentioned

When the teacher said "I'm just going out to copy these Class 4 " we knew the pages would be wet and the smell of the ink was heaven. Cue 30 kids sniffing ink ( I turned out ok I have to add)
If she/he said "Hand these round" and gave one pupil a wedge of paper "Awww, darn it . "

When we were driving to the seaside on holiday or a daytrip and we'd come over the crest of a hill and see the sea in the distance, and we'd all try to be first to yell 'I see the sea!' Also my mum would keep sweets in the front of the car on long journeys and we'd have to ask 'Can I have a sweetie' at intervals.

As a teen, going on the Waltzer at the funfair and flirting with the lads that worked on it so they'd keep on spinning our car.

My 16 year old randomly decided to make a paperchain this Xmas, we used to make them when she was little 😍

Yes we used to love getting the bus when we went to stay at my granny's house because never got the bus at home. Best bit, sitting in the front at the top of a double decker obviously, pretending to drive.

Mine too! Unavoidable really!

As a former librarian it makes me very happy that so many people's happy memories involve libraries!

I enjoyed collecting sea glass at the beach. My mum liked it too, and kept it in a special ceramic pot with a lid. The lid of the pot made a lovely clinking noise and I swear the pot contained the faint sound of the sea (like when you put a shell against your ear, but quieter). There was something magical about it.

a treasured tin of toffees my gran bought me for my birthday. a round little tin with a dog in a basket on the lid. there was probably only a dozen toffees in it but i stretched them out so that they lasted ages!
real selection boxes at Christmas always one from my Uncle and they contain really good things some which we never had otherwise.
Friday being allowed to choose sweets out of the tin mum bought things to go in it and it was the only time we had sweets. same with fizzy pop that was a Christmas treat,
my aunt coming along to see us on a Saturday night and always bringing me a Bar 6 from her works canteen, soon as I had had my Sunday bath I was allowed it!
so many nice sweets then Spangles fruit polos so many and all tasted good not like now.
the jingle of the ice cream van usually it was mum's squash lollies made in plastic Tupperware moulds but now and again we were allowed to go to the van! Cider lollies when we thought we were having something naughty; Oysters with chocolate and coconut shells with creamy ice cream inside; screwballs with the strange sweet in the end; funny face lollies with chocolate eyes tasted delicious; so much choice

Growing a crystal garden in a jam jar.

I miss the magic of childhood!

I love this thread.

Mam used to work every other Saturday, so dad took me for lunch into town to Wimpy, then straight onto W H Smiths to buy a book. I still have all the books and treasure them.

Twice a year when visiting the dentist, mam let me choose any sweet I liked from the corner shop. Was so exciting.

Dad occasionally taking me to primary school on his bike - I used to sit sideways on the crossbar. My friends were jealous as their dads wouldn't do that. Looking back, it was very dangerous!!

One of my earliest memories is mam and I and her friends (my ' aunties') and their children going on a bike ride. I was sat in the chair attached to Mam's bike behind her seat, so I must have been very young, and all of my' aunties' riding down a hill with their legs out to the sides shouting 'Geronimo'. So simple, but such fun.

After a trip into town, mam and I used to nip into Woolworths to buy a few pick and mix sweets. I'll always remember both of us taking off the shiny gold paper of the small rectangle butterscotches, popping them into our mouths, smiling and saying 'mmmmmm' all the way to the bus stop to go home.

I have many many fond memories. I hope my children look back at their childhoods with such fondness. They certainly love hearing about all of my memories.

I had that exact one!

Making perfume out of rose petals
Making gardens in a tray of soil
Pretending to be Catweazle 😊

Looking through the Red House Book Club brochures. I used to love reading loads of fiction as a kid. GCSE English killed that of.

Aaand I bet the perfume was a bitter disappointment 😂

I did the same and it was hopeless.

On You Tube there is a video by Ernesto Bonchev ( ?) Bulgarian rose valley farm and it takes tonnes of Damask roses to make a few millilitres of rose oil .

It is incredibly valuable- YSL buy from him

That’s why our childish attempts don’t complete 😂

@mummysontheginalready You could STILL buy ice cream 🍦 🦪 oysters about 5 yrs ago

Loved those!
Home made squash lollies has a plasticky 👅 taste 😂

Dandelion clocks and sycamore helicopters

Post office set and Cadbury chocolate dispenser 2p

The process was definitely better than the result. Mine soon turned brown and smelt like weak herbal tea.

Yes! Faint brown water with colourless petals
smelt not very nice .

The Rose Valley vid was fascinating- they have to put bindings and seals on the oil collection bottle that is attached to a massive steam still.

The oil is a golden colour.
Would smell amazing 🤩

How did they do it?

New shoes and seeing the pictures in a picture advent calendar. I remember finding it so exciting to see what it would be.

Fuzzy Felt
Some stickers that had like an iridescent oily liquid in them that you could squish around with your finger

Toys in cereal. I remember collecting the Puppy/Kitty in my pocket when they put them in that time and the excitement at finding one that I didn't have already inside.

Woolworth pick a mix! Hard to find a nice one these days and not the same either. And going to the corner shop with their penny sweet selection.

Those windmills you get at the sea side.

Smell of a new paddling pool..that plastic smell!

Body shop shower gels and soup. My nan always used to get me one for Christmas.
And the loreal kids shampoo that always smelt so nice!

We didn't have chocolate knocking around like I always did for my DS. And I was never allowed sweets because they were shit (according to my DF). But every Friday my DF bought my comics and chocolate buttons! Chocolate buttons still make me smile.

The Puffin Club!

Can't remember if I was actually a member or whether we just ordered books from a catalogue that was distributed from time to time at school. But I can remember the massive excitement of looking through it and choosing a book to order. Seem to remember we got a badge too.

From one club to another, has Tufty Club been mentioned on the thread yet? My goodness I loved that. We had a little roll-out zebra crossing and two imitation Belisha beacons.