I love Marks and Spencer/M&S/Marks and Sparks (call them what you will) for kid's clothes - school uniform and not-for-school clothes alike.  If you do too, then get yourself over to Marks pronto and snaffle up some school uniform with a lovely 20% discount.

• Click HERE to take a look at all the M&S school uniform

I know there's still another few weeks to go until the end of the school year for some of you (my daughter is currently writing her RE GCSE exam and leaves at the end of the week - WHERE did those last 11 years go?!) but there's no law which states you have to wait until the summer holidays before you buy school uniform for the new academic year!

Kids have a nasty habit of growing like weeds during the holidays, if your child is nicely in one size perhaps err on the side of caution and buy the next size up and if it turns out to be slightly too big, you can be sure they'll have grown into it by the first autumn half term.

With the 20% school uniform discount the price is good and, as it's Marks and Sparks, you know the quality is going to be good; if you spend over £25 then standard delivery is free too, but if you only need a few bits and pieces you can collect for free in-store.

Thanks to wilmund at HUKD 

The Works has reduced the price of this ten book set from £46.90 to £9.99. There are a bunch of books that offer adventure, fun and plenty of excitement for a very, very low price. Only a few remain in stock so grab it while you can.

• Click here to get reading with The Works

I object hugely to gender typing books. I don’t think books should be allocated a gender and that girls should think that this set of books is not for them. Titles such as Sir Gadabout Goes to School or Not Yeti, The Boy with Lightning Feet are as easily enjoyed by the feminine persuasion as by the masculine.

You will also find Horrid Henry’s Jolly Joke Book, The Empty Suit of Armour, The Bogey Men and the Trolls Next Door, and The Boy with the Magic Numbers as well as other fun titles to read and enjoy. You will also have to pay £2.99 for delivery I’m afraid.

Thanks to Syzable at HUKD!

Over here at PlayPennies HQ our sole purpose is to find deals, get great financial advice, and do everything we can to help parents save money. Recently our big topic of conversation has been the recent budget announcement and the impact on family finances. How can we cut costs to cope with all the financial issues that face us over the next few years?

The Smurfette Vanity Bath set has been reduced from £19.99 to only £6.99 which is well below half the original price at Argos. While you can’t get it delivered, you can arrange to collect it instore and plenty of stores have it in stock.

• Click here to get your Smurfs at Argos

The Smurfette vanity bath set comes with 150ml shower gel with a strawberry smell, 150ml bath soak with a vanilla fragrance, 150g bath crystals with a strawberry scent, a shower cap, exfoliating gloves and a shower puff.

The tin that all these products come in can be converted into an ace lunchbox as well, which I think is rather spiffing. I am not sure why kids would need exfoliating gloves or bath crystals if I am honest, but as an ace little gift set to stock up on for Christmas or upcoming birthday parties, this can’t be beat. I also rather love the lunchbox, it is very, very cute.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD!

This is a really cool website for free kid stuff actually. It was a rather brilliant find by the HUKD writer as the site has become something that my daughter absolutely loves. You get tons of freebies that can entertain for hours.

• Click here to get your freebies at HelloKids.com

The range of colouring pages on offer is fantastic. They have themes like Greek Legends or Famous Americans to choose from or you can go with particular dates – Easter, Christmas, Halloween – or famous characters like Mickey Mouse.

The Drawing section has drawing lessons for kids, the activities pages are packed with cool ideas for fun things to do, and there is also reading, games, and video music. They also have a thing called Yodicity which, at first, had me wondering if it was a Yoda-type zen spot for kids. But no, it is like a dress-up, interactive spot where you can also encourage your kids to write their own blog – which is an educational tool for developing writing and creativity.

Thanks to myHedgehog at HUKD!

Parents always want their kids to perform well at school and to be the best that they possibly can. It can be quite a daunting thing trying to get them inspired by school and helping them to get their heads around difficult ideas. So this freebie from TheSchoolRun should be quite a help…

• Click here to get your free worksheets from TheSchoolRun

You can download free maths and English worksheets from the site with over 100 printable sheets covering every aspect of KS1 and KS2 maths and English – years 1-6. These worksheets include top tips for spelling difficult words, numerical prefixes, learning to read by blending sounds, and writing and recognising numbers and shapes.

You also get worksheets for addition, subtraction, division and multiplication, and for measuring and weighing, using money, telling the time and plenty more. These can be done over weekends and holidays to keep young minds sharp, to spend bonding time with your kids, and to help boost their education. Brilliant!

Thanks to jammiev at HUKD!

Thanks to the loveliness that is World Book Day, you can get £5 off your first month’s subscription to the Reading Chest by using the discount code below. We have reviewed these guys before and found the product to be exceptional so this is a great opportunity to try it out at a reduced rate.

• Click here to get reading with The Reading Chest

The Reading Chest is a very clever idea. You select the reading band that suits your child and then choose the books from that band that you would like your child to read. Then you get the books delivered free to your door. When you are done reading your books, simply pop them into the prepaid envelope and they will send you some more.

It’s like the educational version of LoveFilm!

The prices are decent and with the voucher code BOOKDAY you can get £5 off your first month’s subscription today, as part of World Book Day. Bravo!

Argos has marked this Hello Kitty Cupcakes set which includes both a lunch bag and a bottle, down from £11.99 to only £4.99. This is a great reduction of less than half the original price and it is available to reserve and collect instore.

• Click here to get cupcakes with Argos

The Hello Kitty set is made from pink polyester and is dead cute. The bag has an enormous Hello Kitty design on the front with her enjoying a bunch of scrummy cupcakes and the bottle has a similar motif. The bottle has a capacity of 414ml and the lunch bag is a decent size too.

Finding the perfect lunch box can be a real pain, especially if they are fabric as they can be very hard to clean. The fact that this is made from polyester means that you can either wipe it clean or give it a good wash when the need arises. And the price is very good too.

Thanks to camiba123 at HUKD!

Argos has reduced this cute Fireman Sam scooter down from £34.99 to only £14.99 which is less than half the original price. It comes with all sorts of Fireman Sam related accessories and is a bright red streak of scooting fun.

• Click here to scoot on over to Argos

The Fireman Sam scooter features a water filled pump action firehose that can be removed and used as a backpack. Although I don’t think anyone is going to be using water as a fun activity outdoors at the moment, it is sooo cold.

The Fireman Sam scooter is made from steel and plastic and has three wheels – one at the front and two at the back – for extra balance and support. The tyres have been designed to withstand puncturing and the base of the scooter has an anti-slip feature.

The handles are designed to be easy grip and the handlebar is height adjustable so it can grow with your child. The Fireman Sam scooter is for children aged three years and over and will need some assembly.

Thanks to adslis at HUKD!

This is a very handy back to school deal that gets you a Pukka Pads ring binder bundle for only £1.69 instead of the original £4, a price that is well below half the original one. You can reserve and collect the ring binder set instore to save on the heavy delivery charges.

• Click here to get writing with Argos

The Pukka Pads ring binder bundle includes a notebook, a pencil case and a ring binder in one simple set. The pad and the ring binder are covered in white and pink dots on a black background while the pencil case is see through with dots running along the side.

I think you also get a spotty pen actually, certainly the picture includes one, so this may have even more goodies in it for this low price than it says on the site. These sets are ace for storing all those school pictures and drawings your kids make, keeping them safe for posterity.

Thanks to bully79 at HUKD!

I am frankly astonished by this deal. What a lovely bargain. This Usborne Children’s World Atlas is down from £8.99 to only £1.99 which is not only a whopping saving on the original price but also a really awesome book to have.

• Click here to get an atlas at Argos

The Usborne Children’s World Atlas has internet links littered throughout the book. We bought the encyclopaedia version just after Christmas this year and it is really, really good. Each section comes with a bunch of internet links that show you even more videos, information, pictures and stories about the stuff on the page.

My daughter loves hers, she takes it with her when we go out and tells us all about the things inside it. We’re even learning things here! The book has 60 pages of maps along with introductions to the continents, satellite photography, and lots of facts about the various countries.

The Usborne Children’s World Atlas at this price is a complete and utter steal.

Thanks to wishihadadonkey at HUKD!

Last week I wrote a feature on funky things to do for free for Valentine’s Day and I got a lot of emails from people who loved the hairstyle idea in the piece. In fact, so many people responded to it that I thought I’d deviate from the Valentine’s Day drama and head for a feature that looks at some of the best hairdo sites on the web,

Of course, I didn’t just choose these sites because they had cool hairstyles for girls, I chose them based on their level of practicality and the expense involved in getting the equipment needed together. For almost every single hairstyle I have found here you can do it with a rat-tail comb, hairbands, a hairbrush, bobby pins and a spray bottle. Nothing more. Although hairspray never goes amiss… and this excludes accessories like ribbons etc. All easily achieved on a budget of under £10.

If you fancy getting your kids some scooters to zoom their way to playgroup or school without spending an absolute fortune, then these are the ones for you. Available in either pink or blue, the Ozbozz Nebulus TX scooters are good quality and do what they should and only cost £7.99 at Play.com right now.

• Click here to scoot on over to Play.com

The Ozbozz Nebulus TX scooters usually cost around £10.99 but this discount, plus the free delivery, means you can get two for only a little over the price of one. Great for those of you who have lovely big families!

I have reviewed some of the Ozbozz scooters in the past and I found them very sturdy and reliable. While they are solid metal and as tough as old boots they don’t offer the same soft and elegant lines as the MicroScooters do, but they are almost 100% cheaper.

A great buy, especially with the folding down mechanism for easy storage, that can be adjusted to cope with kids over the age of five.

Thanks to Syzable at HUKD!

This is a brilliant freebie and one that keeps on giving. You register with the site Grow Your Own Potatoes and you can get an entire kit sent to your child’s primary school that will teach them everything they need to know about these scrummy veg.

• Click here to get your school a free potato kit with Grow Your Own Potatoes

The website is a project that teachers primary aged children all about potatoes. They learn how potatoes grow and how they fit into a balanced diet. All you need to do is register your school to receive a free potato growing kit.

The free kit includes supporting lesson plans and worksheets and kids get a chance to win ace prizes for the school. You need to register for the free potato growing kit before 03 February so get started now if you haven’t already raced on over to the site.

This seems like a really cool freebie and one that I am definitely taking part in but I do have one question, why potatoes?

Thanks to chesso at HUKD!

Down from the usual price of £9.99 to only £1.50, you are saving a whopping £8.49 on this Gruffalo 2012 family planning calendar at The Book People. You can also get the item delivered for free using the code below.

• Click here to get planning with the Book People

The Gruffalo 2012 family planner is not for working out when you are having your next baby, although I am sure you can do that too if you like. No, this calendar is structured for the school year, running from September to September so you can stay on top of all school activities and events.

The planner covers a 17 month period until December 2012 and comes with bright stickers that can be used to flag up school fairs, sports days, parents evenings and other similar events. The calendar also comes with the adorable Gruffalo images and extras that we all love from the ace book. There is even a drop-down pocket for popping important paperwork into. The code you need for free delivery is DEC11FREE.

Thanks to Speculator at HUKD!

This is pretty good value for a backpack, especially one smothered in Peppa Pig branding and filled with all sorts of ace goodies. It would make someone a lovely Christmas gift if you quickly hastened over to Matalan to nab it over the next few days.

• Click here to get backpacking with Peppa Pig and Matalan

The Peppa Pig filled backpack used to cost £10 but is now down to only £2.50. You can also get this in the Disney Princess flavour if your little one prefers them to the popular piglet. The backpack itself doesn’t come with any info on the site but looks pretty sturdy and the design covers the entire front.

Inside the Peppa Pig backpack you will find some crayons and colouring in pages as well as an unidentifiable something that I can’t figure out from the picture. I mean, the site doesn’t tell you what is inside the filled Peppa Pig backpack so I am guessing from the images.

Overall, £2.50 is an excellent price for what could be a lovely Christmas stocking filler or in-car entertainment for long Christmas journeys.

Thanks to mmm07 at HUKD!

The Argos portable kids laptop tray in pink is a good sized device that’s rather handy and clever, especially for this lovely new low price. Here it is down from £9.99 to only £4.99, which is half the original price. Free collection from instore but heavy delivery charges apply.

• Click here to get some laptop balancing lessons from Argos

To avoid the usual burning legs and painful postures that the lack if a laptop tray will bring, here is the portable pink kids laptop tray to save the day. It has an integrated handle and a knee cushion built in (you can’t see that on the image), and is about 59x40cm in size.

The portable laptop tray is also 5.5cm high so storage shouldn’t be too much of a problem when you’re not using this beauty and the colour makes it a great gift for a technically minded girl. The price is pretty good but it is also only valid until 24 December so if you want it, get it now.

Thanks to AnnetteCurtain at HUKD!

Tutors Direct is a brand, shiny, new website that gives you access to a library of videos that have been designed to show parents how kids are taught at school along with expert answers to homework problems, access to accredited teachers and more. You can now get a 15 month subscription for only £50 as part of their launch offer.

• Click here to get some tutoring with Tute.com

I love, love, love this site. I’ve had some real problems trying to get more information from our school as to how they are teaching my kids. They are vague and a bit difficult to get answers out of, making it very hard for me to help my child get the most out of her education.

What I love about this site, other than the fact that the price is very low for such a great resource, is that you have instant videos that explain everything to parents. You also get help with homework, a tutor who can either teach your child face to face or online, and plenty more. I am going to dive into this site for sure, especially with this fab special offer.

I am honestly not sure about these laptops that go on sale for kids as many of them turn out to be pretty awful. However, for some these may well be an excellent choice as a Christmas gift for a niece or nephew and this particular kids laptop at £8.74 is a pretty good deal.

• Click here to get scientific with Argos

The Oregon Little Learning kids laptop provides your kids with lots of learning fun. Pre-schoolers can take part in 32 different interactive activities that have been designed to boost skills in maths, logic and vocabulary.

This kids laptop provides interactive learning fun and teaches things like the alphabet, numbers and colour recognition and comes with a simple A-Z keyboard so they can learn to navigate it as well. There are five double-sided interactive cards with rear storage supplied and six coloured pens. It comes with the three AA batteries required to run it and it is suitable for kids over the age of three.

Thanks to Gadgetfr34k at HUKD!

Still looking for sweet and stupendous Christmas presents? Well, Play has marked the Toy Story 3 backpack down from £9.99 to £2.99 including free delivery. Not a bad price for an ace backpack that can do well for school, life and sleepovers.

• Click here to get a deal from Play.com

The Toy Story 3 kid’s backpack is just what it says on the tin – a backpack with the Toy Story 3 characters on it. The main image is of Buzz Lightyear with Woody, Jessie and Rex running along the base. The writing says Heroes in Training.

It’s a very sweet little gift that won’t cost much and will make some kids very happy indeed. I have definitely nabbed two for the birthday party circuit and will be wrapping up another two as Christmas gifts for friends and family kids. I know my daughter will love it!

There isn’t much info on the site about straps or compartments or wotnot but it seems like a stonking good deal to me.

Thanks to shadow1 at HUKD!