09/05/201328/01/2014 by jo

App Time – Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper

Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper is a new app from Gazoob to complement early learning at school.

I jumped at the chance to review the Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper app – H is starting in reception this September and I know they’ll be reading their books, I’d been looking at buying the books or picking some up at Car Boot Sales. Shaun regularly points out we have too many books (I know, that sounds bad but once she’s reading we can box away a lot – I bought lots of ‘That’s Not My…’ books when she was a baby and they take up space) so having all of them within an iPad app is possibly the perfect solution. Plus H enjoys reading books on there – we’ve had the Mog app for a while now and she often reads it without me, doing it in her own time.

I was keen to see the books as things have changed since I was little, I learnt using ITA – these days it’s far more sensible and uses phonics. Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper comes in six levels –

Level 1: Getting ready to read. Age 4-5 years
Level 2: Starting to read. Age 4-5 years
Level 3: Becoming a reader. Age 4-5 years
Level 4: Developing as a reader. Age 5-6 years
Level 5: Building confidence as a reader. Age 5-6 years
Level 6: Reading with confidence. Age 5-6 years

There are 48 books in total. I spotted on the Gazoob website that the books go to a higher level – their response to the question is as follows : There are two parallel Biff, Chip & Kipper series from Oxford University Press.
Ours is a home reading series and is designed to complement the 9 level Classic series which is used in schools.
The classic series is not currently available as apps.

Each book has some Tips for Reading Together – which has helpful hints of things to do when reading. I know I rush when I read books and it’s teaching me to slow down a bit, and spend more time talking about the pictures as well as pointing out each word. Most of this is about repetition and encouraging your child to join in – as well as having an activity to do on each picture – the first book you need to find a shell in each picture, and so on.

The phonics option is brilliant – so far we’ve barely gone into any depth, but having an I-spy game so the child has to work out which object starts (or ends!) with a letter is genius – and one H puzzled over for a good twenty minutes today – and tracing over the letters is always fun and good practice – I’m looking forward to more on the phonics side of things and how we’ll progress as you can almost feel it clicking somewhere with it being done properly.

Within the story side you have three options – Read by myself, Read to me and Auto play. Right now we’re doing the second stage quite a lot, though H does read it herself – you can press each word and it tells you what it is. At the end of each book are questions about the story and a puzzle.

Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper comes from a new company called Gazoob who aim to develop, publish and recommend educational materials, be it Apps, Games, Videos or Teaching materials. They already have a few titles under their belt, and will be adding a lot more as the year goes on.

How have we found it? I’ve been impressed. H’s word recognition has definitely improved and she’s much more confident – they don’t use these books at her nursery preschool but will in her school from September. Phonics-wise I think this is where she’s made the biggest jump and can now spell words and work them out much easier than two or three months ago.

I think Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper is an excellent app – it’s free to download with the 48 books being an additional purchase at £149.99 – which is a lot of money, although you can buy individual books at £3.99 each (so it works out cheaper overall to buy the books in one lot – a lot would depend on the stage your child is at). I love how H asks to play apps on the iPad and sees these books as fun, to me that’s half the battle with learning. It’s also something we’ll get a lot of use from, and isn’t going to be something that’s ignored in six months time – potentially taking H up to her sixth birthday which is still two and a half years away. The design of Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper is nice and clean, the fonts are good (and yes, comic sans is present, grrrrr!) and instructions are clear.

It is Mac and Windows compatible – for more information head to their website.
There’s a giveaway on their site to win the full app – you need to head to their Facebook page, and quick – the giveaway ends on the 31st May 2013!

We were sent a code to review the full app with all books – all opinions are our own.

06/05/201329/01/2014 by jo

Walkers Hoops and Crosses – a review

Today we had a trip to Nymans – it’s only 45 minutes from our house so one of the places I’d class as local to us – plus it was a gloriously sunny day (though I had my doubts when I saw black clouds and no blue sky until we arrived in the Gatwick area) – and it proved to be popular with us waiting to park for at least fifteen minutes!

Armed with a picnic we headed out to the largest grassy area to find space to play and more importantly, eat. It was hot so you don’t want things which are heavy on the stomach, you want light things such as tasty pittas stuffed with salad and for crisps we tried a pack of Walkers new Hoops and Crosses which I’ve been sent to review.

Actually, we were sent just the one packet, along with a toy monkey called Monty who H has formally adopted and allowed to enter the hallowed turf of her toy collection which is always a good sign! Yesterday we were buying picnic supplies so bought a multipack in salt and vinegar flavour so we could all try.

I’m reminded of crisps I’ve tasted of H when she was little – you know those corn rings that Organix do? Sort of crumbly? Now imagine those for older people – you know, when you don’t want to look silly eating kids crisps – and let’s face it, since I’ve done WeightWatchers I’ve found there’s plenty of crisps out there which are lower calories – and this one qualifies coming in at two points. There’s 30% less fat in them (compared to everyday crisps), they’re made from 56% wholegrain and have no artificial colours or preservatives.

My main criticisms are the flavours on offer – I’d love a cheesy one (the ones on offer are prawn cocktail, roast beef and salt & vinegar) plus actually knowing if they’re vegetarian or not, I couldn’t tell (edited to add – it has since been confirmed they are suitable for vegetarians), Walkers didn’t put it on either variety we tried and checking the ingredients nothing jumped out so it looks like they are (there was plenty of dietary information telling you what it does contain which is good), but it would be nice to know for sure. The flavours we tried were nice – just not necessarily ones I’d buy for my lunch.

Walkers Hoops and Crosses sharing

Having a healthy range of snacks and them being Walkers ones is going to help with supermarket and meal deal choices as well – so many times there’s only one healthy option available, so with this being a big brand hopefully they’ll be everywhere…

Would we buy again? We already have… they’re handy to keep in the cupboard, and hopefully more flavours will come soon.

We were sent a pack of crisps for the purpose of this sponsored review, all opinions are that of us and H.

05/05/201329/01/2014 by jo

My Naughty Little Sister Audiobooks from AudioGO

We’ve reviewed a Magic Roundabout audiobook from AudioGO a few months ago, one which Shaun and I loved, but H fell asleep. Since then we haven’t done any long journeys in the car until yesterday when we introduced the ‘My Naughty Little Sister’ books into her world. I’d completely forgotten about these books – and it was only from chatting to the manager of the band Stornoway (who reads them to his four-year old) I realised these audiobooks existed – and even better AudioGO have them!

They’re of an era, these books – and utterly brilliant! These days the word ‘naughty’ is starting to get edited out of H’s life, with words like ‘pickle’ and so on being used (mainly due to nursery and their rules), so introducing ‘Naughty’ this way felt quite nice. Let’s face it, had these books been written recently, My Naughty Little Sister’s misdemeanours wouldn’t have the kind of innocence they do, I’m sure.

Each book is around ten minutes long, read by Jan Francis who does some great voices. H was asking for more – it was the first time in the car she demanded another story, and from my passenger seat I could see her giggling away at My Naughty Little Sister and Bad Harry’s adventures. While I know these won’t replace physical books, she’s enjoying new, longer stories coming into her life (and I’m enjoying someone else reading them so I can drift off in the car).

At £1.99 for the audiobooks you get a lot of stories; we switched to the Camberwick Green album (the story about the postman having an adventure) and H fell asleep (whereas I sung along to the songs, memories flooding back, words returning to me possibly helped by Half Man Half Biscuit). Now I have a cunning plan – when we want her to stay awake Dorothy Edwards’ wonderful stories will be played, and when we think she needs a nap Brian Cant will soothe her! Next stop, Pingu!

We were provided with free downloads for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own.

03/05/201326/03/2018 by Karen

My 1st Years – 100% Suede Sheepskin Booties

Review
Boots, clothing, Footwear, gifts, My 1st Years, Sheepskin, shoes
1 Comment

My 1st years is a company that, having seen a gap in the market, specialises in personalised baby gifts. They offer high quality items that would make the perfect gift or keepsake.

My 1st years

I was very excited at the prospect of reviewing this item. I had never thought about getting anything personalised for Jacob previously, making these booties very special. When I’d realised I had received a recorded delivery, I raced to open the packaging and was not disappointed. Inside was a beautiful blue box, which I thought was a really nice touch. All items ordered from this company will be packaged in such a way. It might be a bit sad to say but I fully intend to keep this box for Jacobs special things.

The boots themselves are gorgeous. The materials that My 1st Years uses are top notch, the insides soft and incredibly comfortable. It is lovely to have something that is just for Jacob.

My 1st years 2 My 1st years 3

The fit you ask? Well unfortunately that was the problem. The boots come in 2 sizes, 3-12 months and 12-24 months… and that’s it. At 18 months Jacob is a size 5 which, from what I gather from nosing at other children’s shoe sizes, is a little above average. When it came to putting the boot onto to Jacobs foot the boot came up small, not much but obviously I wasn’t willing to force it on. I would guess the boot is a size 4. It’s annoying as it’s such a nice product and I was very excited about Jacob wearing them. I refuse to give them away as they are so beautiful so I’ve decided to keep them in case we have another child (though I won’t be taking my husbands suggestion of also calling our next one Jacob!).

In essence this is a lovely company, with well thought out products and is well worth a look, especially as the range is so good. My only advice, to avoid disappointment, is to call to check sizes, if in any doubt.

Orders over £30 qualify for free standard delivery in the UK, for those under £30 delivery is £3 for 1st class and £5 for recorded. The boots tested cost £30, though other colours come in at £25. Personalisation on all products is free.

I was sent this item for the purpose of review, all opinions are my own

20/04/201326/03/2018 by Karen

Tommee Tippee

I have been a massive Tommee Tippee fan, ever since my son Jacob was born. So, as I’m sure you can imagine, I was very excited to get the chance to review a selection of products for the company.

Tommee Tippee set

I was asked to test the Active Sipper, Active Sporty and Active Straw cups, the First Cutlery Set and Snack N Go pot. Tommee Tippee recommend these products for children 12 months onwards.

I’ve been thinking about getting Jacob a ‘big boy’ cup for a little while now and was very pleased when I saw these products. Firstly what struck me is how attractive the cups are, they are brightly coloured with really pretty designs on them. All cups are available in ‘boy’, ‘girl’ or ‘neutral’ design. The Active Sipper is designed to help children practice open cup drinking, the Active Sporty, for the want of better words, is a child’s version of a sports bottle and the Active Straw has a nifty little flip-up straw. The Active Sipper and the Active Straw are insulated, which is great for on the go.

TT L Blue Cup

On the first day of receiving the Tommee Tippee products one was held hostage! My friends little boy came over and fell in love with one of the cups, this ended up with said cup being taken home and my friend desperately trying various methods of distraction to get the cup back to me… which, I believe, says great things about product desirability! The lids are interchangeable and the cups are very sturdy, which is great as a certain little person loves to throw his cups on the table once he has finished. As a result, this means we are always on the look out for items that can take a certain degree of throwing around and punishment. Jacob took to the cups quite easily, I expected him to have issues with the cups having no handles and the cup with the straw (as he’s used to tipping his cup up to drink) but he quickly realised how it all worked, which I was really impressed by.

TT Cutlery

Jacob has only very recently started taking an interest in cutlery. Before then he has developed a very efficient way of eating… namely by grabbing big handfuls of food and shoveling it into his mouth!

The Tommee Tippee cutlery is brightly designed and easy to hold. I have only just discovered that Jacob actually prefers metal cutlery so this is a very nice go between. This was his first time holding a knife, it seems very effective as a knife but also safe (which is great as he seemed to enjoy putting it in his mouth!). I found it really encouraging that he found the cutlery interesting, willingly picking it up of his own accord and trying to feed himself.

Now, the one product I felt a little unsure of was the Tommee Tippee Snack N Go pot. I’ve seen these before and have always been a bit confused by them!! Namely, how do they work and are you really supposed to put your hands through the little pointy looking bits? So I was very interested to try this product out and see if it was for me (and Jacob!). I duly cut up some apples and popped them in the pot. Jacob looked as confused as I was, however this was apparently all a ruse as I disappeared briefly to the kitchen (we’re open plan) and when I came back the apples were gone! I looked on the floor then at his mouth, which was full, and sure enough it seems fair to say that Jacob found it a very easy concept to grasp, even if I didn’t! Jacob is very good at throwing his food all over the floor so I have to say I love the idea of anything that will leave me with less mess!

All items, except the Snack N Go pot, are dishwasher safe. The RRP for these items is around the £5 mark, which I think is very good value.

We were sent the items for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own

15/04/201307/10/2014 by jo

Operation Dolls House – Part One

We’re big fans in this house of making toys using cardboard boxes. For ages H had a car, which was essentially a box with four glued on wheels and the Mario Kart Wii wheel for steering – the rest was H’s imagination – and she loved it! The car had to be written off, the box converted instead into a pirate ship which has lasted just as long and is just as loved. Recently we’ve come to the decision it’s time to recycle it – it lives upstairs and isn’t played with as much (if only you could do that to all toys), so my next idea was hatched – we love The Mouse Mansion by Karina Schaapman which is about a house where mice live made from recycled material (it is amazing) – and while we’re not at home for long enough to do anything which comes close to that, a simple dolls house would work.

The right kind of box was procured, then it was finding the time to put it together. Any good dolls house needs some preparation time – so H and I spent one Wednesday morning doing potato prints to be used as wallpaper and carpets. I fully intend to go through my scrap fabric collection and make H some curtains for the house too.

Operation Dollshouse

So today Shaun and H assembled the box to make what will be her new toy. A roof was made (with a chimney), as well as a floor so the box was broken up into two rooms.

We were sent a Le Toy Van starter pack of dolls house toys which are a perfect size – and also fit all her Playmobil toys nicely too. The furniture is all wooden and gorgeous – another incentive to make sure the house looks fabulous when it’s finished.

Right now H’s imagination is off, and she was playing with it immediately. The house still needs some work (the aforementioned windows and decorations), but it does seem like H may miss nursery tomorrow, so Operation Dollshouse may be finished sooner than we think… I love anything which gets her imagination going, you don’t need to buy the best toys to have the best imagination.

We’ll be back with more updates on how the house is going… this is only the start (I give it a week before we’re ‘building an extension’…)

We were sent the Le Toy Van set for the purpose of review from Dollshouses.co.uk – all opinions are our own. All Operation Dollshouse progress can be followed on Instagram with the #operationdollshouse hashtag (by myself or Shaun)

13/04/201329/01/2014 by jo

We Love Books – Jack’s Amazing Shadow by Tom Percival

I love this book; we’re heading into the territory where H and her friends have funny, silly arguments which mean the world to them and trouble their little heads for days afterwards. Recently she had an argument with her best friend (over a Ninky Nonk) and he declared she would Never Ever be his Best Friend Ever Again. She was heartbroken for days, until he told me that of course H was his best friend (which I relayed back to her and it cheered her up again). So yes, this book covers this sort of event.

Jack and his amazing magical shadow are the best of friends, but he starts to get annoyed at his shadow when it misbehaves and they fall out. Jack tries to escape his shadow but the two just cannot be parted until Jack shouts at him and his shadow fades away.

At first Jack is happy, but then realises just how much he misses it, more than he ever thought he would – and the story I’m pleased to say has a happy ending. Targeted at 3-6 year olds, we found it funny – it’s a good book for reading and talking about everything else that’s happening on each page – and there’s plenty going on. It’s also a fabulous book about friendship.

I’d highly recommend – a lovely book – and there’s one other utterly brilliant bit – the inside covers have all the various silhouettes you can make with your hands – how good is that?

Jack’s Amazing Shadow by Tom Percival is released on the 18th April 2013, and is published by Pavilion Children’s Books, with a RRP of £5.99.

Tom Percival has an excellent website here

We received a copy of this book for the purpose of review – all opinions are our own.

12/04/201301/01/2019 by jo

We Love Books – Especially Clever Ones…

We were really lucky to be chosen as one of two parent bloggers (check Sarah’s review over here) to review a new kind of book coming from the very lovely people at Autumn Publishing.

A Clever Book has been described as a 3D manipulative story adventure, and the first of its kind.

With my child-of-the-eighties head on, it reminds me a lot of some of the offshoot Rubik’s puzzles that came after the cube – there was one really great one, a pyramid which would kind of fold in on itself, and you could keep repeating the same fold, and eventually after a few turns you’d be back at the start. Back then I could spend hours just twisting it around and I really enjoyed it. Bring it forward to now, and what you have is a house shaped puzzle-book which does exactly as the Rubik’s puzzle – you fold each section and keep doing it, until eventually you’re back at the start.

BUT! There’s more to it than that.

Each section of the house features a Hello Kitty character and a simple piece of text about what they’re doing. Right now this is perfect for H – she’s three and a half and starting to identify some words and be able to work them out (as well as developing a Hello Kitty obsession). We’re still reading to her but I know once school starts in September that it will change and she’ll be much more proficient – and this kind of book is ideal – simple text but plenty going on. The puzzle element really appeals to me, and didn’t take H too long to work out – see this video, taken when the book first arrived. (bear in mind, our video isn’t the most engaging, but is a look into the first time a child sees the book, so will give you an idea!)

All Clever Books are published with the educational tagline ‘Clever Play, Simple Learning’ – and I can’t think of a more apt description. It’s targeted at children aged 3-6 years and as well as the Hello Kitty book, there’s a Fisher-Price title. They have a RRP of £4.99 and are published by Autumn Books and are available from July 2013. Highly recommended!

Check out Autumn Books on Facebook and Twitter and see their fabulous range of books!

08/04/201302/02/2014 by jo

A Trip to London Zoo

We’ve never been to London Zoo – I’m not sure why, as we’ve lived here for ages so as luck would have it, we were offered a chance to go with Superbreak – and I’m glad we did!

It’s expensive – but there’s a LOT to do there. If you can get to London Zoo (in Regent’s Park) and Whipsnade Zoo (near Luton) more than a couple of times a year then it may be worth taking out membership – which you can do against the price of your ticket for that day. Also, if you’re planning to go then I’ve some advice – go before your child turns 3! That way your child gets in free (rather than paying £17).

When we got there (around lunchtime) the queues were long – fortunately our ticket was pre-booked which meant we could get them converted into tickets for the day super-fast – jumping the queues and getting straight in there (seriously, we’d have been waiting over 30 minutes to get in otherwise and a hungry three year old is a force not to be fought with). Be prepared to spend lots of money once you’re in there – the gift shops are reasonably priced, though I found food expensive. We got seats in the Pavilion Cafe quickly which was good as we arrived at lunchtime – it’s a temporary cafe while a newer one is built, and serves okay-ish coffee (we found the ones near the Aquarium much better) and food.

Also, make sure you plan where you want to go – we did lots of extra walking as we hadn’t planned our route. This wasn’t the end of the world, we just found ourselves walking around the same areas to see things we’d missed.

The most important thing was how tired H would get – we did a lot of walking and she did spend some time on Shaun’s shoulders, but she did a lot. There were plenty of play areas, though easily her favourite bit were the tunnels near the meerkats – we couldn’t get her to come out (there’s three entrances with a dome in the middle so you’re covered in the middle of the meerkat enclosure), as well as areas to sit down and take a break.

London Zoo is a very buggy-friendly place to go – just be prepared to do a lot of walking. The animals are great – penguins, tigers, lions, gorillas, monkeys you can walk right by (they bite though, so don’t get too close), zebras, giraffes, the aquarium, an outback with some emu’s and wallabies and so much more. The easy thing to do is show a few photos – we found nemo (and dory, and marlin) and H spotted many animals she wouldn’t have had a chance to see anywhere else near us (and amazed us with her knowledge!). We’ve since been told the elephants were moved to Whipsnade – fair enough as we’re not sure where they’d have lived!

There were a few rides, though paying up to an additional £2.50 felt a bit steep had we paid for our entry tickets. It would have been nice if things like this were included in the overall price.

The last zoo we went to was the one in Perth, Western Australia when H was fifteen months so she doesn’t remember a thing. I’m glad we’ve had a chance to do this again when she’ll have better memories. Thank you Superbreak!

We received free tickets for our trip. All opinions are our own and honest.

04/04/201327/05/2018 by jo

We Love Books – How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm

‘How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm’ by Mei-Ling Hopgood is a really interesting book. It reads a bit like a textbook, almost – and is quite the eye opener.

In essence, the book covers various cultures and countries and what is perceived as ‘normal’ when bringing up their children. I’m guilty as charged of judging other mums decisions as they’re different to mine and something I wouldn’t necessarily agree with – and this book has made me think a bit. Well, more than a bit.

Actually, there are some really good bits in there which I’m already implementing – trying not to tell H she’s a ‘clever girl’ too often and more a ‘well done’ type of praise, and if she gets frustrated trying to work something out and asks for her, getting her to try one more time and then I’ll help, and already I’m finding she does more for herself. I know I like to think of H as quite an independent child but actually I do help her out with things when I should take a step back.

The great thing about this book is how non-judgemental it is – the author has the way she’s brought up her children – they seem very well-travelled too! There’s also a section on academia and how some countries put education over having fun – as in, find a balance – do fun things with your child to spend time with them rather than more education related activities. I’ve probably put it badly, but I get what she’s saying.

The book starts with them in Buenos Aires where nobody bats an eyelid to see a child out until the early hours, and how accommodating the country is towards babies – and towards the end brings up the case of the Danish actress who left her child outside a restaurant while she dined (which is usual there, I remember vaguely a news article about it) and how people watching were disgusted – this book just brings up many examples of bringing your child up, but from the perspective of someone saying “this is how it’s done here” or “this is what they do” – it’s quite refreshing to read.

I’ve always been a stickler for routine and maybe I need to be a little bit more relaxed about it, and let it sort itself out – especially with a holiday on the horizon too. If H falls asleep at the early evening entertainment, it doesn’t matter (whereas before it might have, and I’d panic).

There are sections on how the French deal with eating, how Kenyans live without pushchairs, how the Chinese potty train early, how Tibetans cherish pregnancy and so much more. I really enjoyed the book, and am glad I had the opportunity to read it – I’d recommend it if you’re interested in seeing how others bring up their children and quite fancy trying out some of the ideas.

I received the book free of charge from PanMacmillan who were offering free copies with Mum Panel. All opinions are my own.

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