08/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Room on the Broom App

Julia Donaldson has written some brilliant books, most of them our favourites. Today saw the release of the Room on the Broom app at the App Store, a fabulous choice of games which bring the characters from the book to life.

The Room on the Broom app keeps the spirit of the book, and with H learning phonics and how to spell at school now, this is a fun way to help expand her learning.

There are a few games on this app though I wish there was an option for the words to be read out – fortunately H worked most of them out anyway, but if she’d had some guidance from the game (yes, I understand I’m the one who is meant to guide her) I think that would be a great addition.

Within each game you can play with the Witch, Cat, Dog, Bird, Frog and Dragon.
Join the stars – A join the dots on a broom, you fly through the air and connect all the sparkly stars then once they’re joined work out which image it looks like.
Find the hat – The Witch has lost her hat! Is it behind the tree? Help Dog find the hat in the very familiar looking woods.

Windy day collecting game – It’s a windy day and Cat needs help collecting a few things – the wind makes it go faster and faster as the game progresses while you collect golden leaves at the same time. Collect a certain amount to increase your overall medal! (this game was great for children who can’t read – a very good visual one)
Find the bow – The Witch has lost her bow! This game is identical to the ‘find the hat’ game – if you liked that you’ll love this!
Find the wand – The Witch has lost her wand! Same as the previous two games, plenty of fun and challenges to find it in less than a certain number.

Drawing with stars – You have a set number of stars in the cauldron to make a picture. Tap the witch when you’re done and she’ll fly your pattern – like your own home-made dot to dot!
Dragon loves chips – The Dragon wants Witch and Chips for tea and you need to help him. Choose the wrong food and he’ll let you know – he’ll have to make do with dragon chips, but that’s okay.
Fly the magnificent broom – You’re on the broom, assembling the letters of the chosen word – direct the broom up or down to get the correct letters and get the empty letter space to touch the letter to add it. Once one word is complete you get to start a new one.

The Room on the Broom app requires iOS6 and upwards.

The game is lots of fun, there’s plenty to do and it’s keeping H’s attention which is key for me – and she’s learning (especially on the last game). The illustrations are true to the book which makes it even better!

The Room on the Broom App is recommended for ages 3-7 and is available now at the App Store.

The official Room on the Broom App page is here

We were provided with a code to review this app, all opinions are our own.

07/10/201326/03/2018 by jo

Back To School?

H has now completed two full weeks at school. We are no longer in back to school mode, so I thought it might be handy to make a note of things we’ve found out since she started.

• some children may find it harder than others to settle and it’s horrible for the parent. You don’t know how your child gets on once they’re through the doors, but a traumatic drop off can make a horrible day for you. If your child is friends with another, why not try to arrange to meet up with them at drop off time so they’re walking in together? It may be they’re getting to the playground and feel quite intimidated by it.
• you will be bombarded with letters. At BritMums I got a Personal Planner and ordered it to start from September so I can log everything school-wise in it to keep organised. It’s a different kind of calendar to our everyday one, as I can make notes about school dinners so I know how many weeks we’ve paid for, and make sure all important days are properly logged. I’m finding the Personal Planner a big help. I’ll write more about it soon and will have a giveaway so you can win one as well.
• If your school is anything like ours, your child’s PE kit will stay in school until half term. Oh the horror! I asked H if she folded her kit when she puts it away to be told “I just push it in the bag, that’s okay isn’t it?” – I’m making a mental note to teach her how to fold things a bit better! *dreads half term*
• Your child will probably tell you absolutely nothing about school. This is normal. We are only finding out about what she’s done via other parents (and vice versa). H is finally starting to tell me some things which is nice. Bear in mind they’re using a lot of brain power at the moment with learning – they’ll find it tiring, and probably won’t want to talk about their day (much as we do when we’ve had a hard day at work). It’ll happen.
• The only thing which gets H out of her uniform at the end of the day is to tell her she can watch Lazytown if she gets changed. This may be bad parenting but it works. I get to do some work while she watches too, so it’s win-win. Except Cartoonito have changed their schedules. Damn you.
• I now know why people give their uniforms a wash before wearing. H’s cardigans and sweatshirts are red – and we have the red fluff balls on all our clothes.
• Buttons. Bravo you lucky parents whose uniform is adorned with zips, take pity on us buttoned ones! Never before has a buttonhole felt so difficult to someone so small – and there’s the peer pressure of PE and doing it without asking for help. I’m considering sewing some buttonholes and buttons on fabric for her to sit playing with. I realise this may be the dullest toy ever though.

• Books. You will be bombarded with books, lots of phonics. Lots of stories. If you’re really lucky your books won’t have words in them so you’re describing the pictures. They exhausted me! Fortunately we’re on words now, but as a parent I can see we didn’t talk about pictures in books as much as we could have. Reading words and not looking at what else is going on in the book is easy to do when you’re busy. Take five or ten minutes to stop and read and talk about the book – even if it’s only six pages. We’d read five or six books and get through them in that time – we’ve slowed right down. Everything is slowing right down.
• There will be songs your child sings that you don’t know. YouTube is usually your friend.
• You can never have too much uniform. Already one pair of tights has a hole.
• If your child is starting reception, you’ll be like most of us and grumble about the long settling in and short hours. Actually having come out of it, it made sense why they do it – everyone does it (it’s not like some kids stay longer and others are sent home – everyone goes home at the same time). Now the first full week is over she’s less tired than she was (but still tired). After school clubs won’t be offered for the first term as they like children to settle in first – I’m hoping for a couple after Christmas when I’m sure she’ll be ready.

• Bumps in the playground. Yesterday H came home with a big graze on her knee after a boy pushed her over. We have some wipes and plasters ready in a first aid kit so patched it up and it’s healing now. In fact you may need all sorts – check you’ve got the basics in anyway, as in, antiseptic wipes, plasters and bandages – it’s better to be safe than sorry. Fortunately we have a super new First Aid Kit so we’ll be fine!
• Don’t forget vitamins. For ALL the family!

Boots have put together a Back to School chart with loads of handy hints from other bloggers – you may want to have a read and get prepared now, especially if your child is set to start next September. Nursery has taught us some of these things, but it doesn’t hurt to have another read and there are many things I’d never thought about before now.

We were sent a first aid kit from Boots for this post, but all content is mine.

02/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Party Bags

The party season never goes away, fun times. As a parent I had no idea about party bags when we did H’s 1st birthday party – everyone got a piece of cake (I think – I hope!) and a balloon (ditto) and that was it – luckily it was her first so it wasn’t like they’d expect much anyway, but as other first birthday party invites came we entered the murky world of party bags.

I’m no expert, so thought I’d add my top tips that I’ve picked up so far. I managed to get H’s party bag contents from ebay this year and I think I did pretty well – though could do better.

• Crayons. Everyone gives crayons, and you may find you end up with a tub full of the things. Never fear, as you can always melt them down and make jumbo crayons. See also : pencils. I try to avoid both as I know lots of people do them.
• Bubbles. You can’t go wrong with bubbles, although if you get a lot of parties that can also be a lot of bubbles – we currently have ten tubs in the cupboard from various bags. Keep to smaller tubs and they’ll run out faster! We need some activities for old bubble tubs… We got Magic Bubbles once – they never pop (or are difficult to, anyway) – one bubble lived for over three months in a cobweb in our house (oh the shame)
• Jigsaw puzzles. Almost every one we’ve had has been flimsy and difficult to put together and has been thrown away. If possible try to see the quality of them before you buy. There’s a reason they’re cheap…
• Noisy things. A winner! There’s a lot of choice and we found getting H to practice blowing into a party streamer or duck quacker helped her learn to whistle quicker. We’re still working on the whistling, but it’s definitely a skill they’ll pick up.
• Bouncy balls. You can never have too many of these, mainly as they’ll bounce over the fence so there’s a good losing potential here. This is an added bonus for parents who would like some of the party toys to ‘disappear’…
• Balloons. We had four balloons from parties in our front room. Sadly they met their end (two possibly via a pair of scissors, me bad), which were replaced by more balloons. They grow like weeds, and we’ve had some interesting party bag ones – the rocket balloon is currently a favourite and lasts for ages too. The rocket balloons are at the pricier end for party bags, but do seem popular – with the parents AND kids!
• Mini games. We love mini games! H got a mini connect 4 which she’s had a good play with, and one of those puzzles where you move the tiles around to make a picture which she’s had a lot of enjoyment from.
• PlayDough. Home made is good, as is shop bought. Home made is easier but shop bought takes less time. There are loads of deals for the stuff out there – I saw a buy one get one free for three tubs locally (but if you’ve got 24 kids at the party then it could work out pricey).
• Puzzle/colouring in books. These are always a winner, and I also found some magic paint ones (where you use a brush and water and the colours appear) – they usually work out about 25p each too.
• Random things. Olympics fever last year meant H had several medals in her party bags which are still played with. If the party is near a big event, why not think of something that links in with that?

Ultimately, you don’t have to spend a lot of money. This year with H’s monster theme I’ve managed to spend well under a pound per bag and still put around six things in there – I’m quite pleased with myself, and only one of them is of an unpredictable quality…

01/10/201326/01/2014 by jo

Know Your Egg Codes

A funny thing happened the other night. I was cooking tea and got some eggs we had left over that we’d bought from a local farm shop, and saw this :

I had no idea eggs were graded, it isn’t the kind of thing I’d notice or talk about, so out of curiosity as I’m a geek for a barcode (I can bore people senseless talking about how a barcode is generated), so I checked my egg codes. To be greeted with this :

Whoa. Let me repeat that. I bought some eggs from a farm shop who say on their website the eggs are freshly laid by their hens, yet they’re classed as caged? I wasn’t sure if the inside of the box could be relied upon and whether it was one being reused (I’ll check when I next go there) but I’m confused. The hens you see on the farm surely can’t generate that many eggs, are they all on show for us customers who aren’t thinking about what we’re buying? Surely not?

This needs further investigation. I contacted them via Facebook but so far no reply.

Do you know how to check your eggs? It’s a universal code, and you can trace how far your eggs have travelled with this link here. The ones I bought were laid in Horsham which isn’t that close to the farm shop I bought them from, so I suspect they’re buying the eggs in. I won’t be buying eggs from them any more, especially with their site claiming they’re freshly laid on the farm. Hmm.

After further reading, caged hens are no longer allowed in this country, but that doesn’t explain why these eggs are graded as a 3. The mystery deepens… does anyone have an eggsplanation?

This all unravelled one night on Facebook, and I’m glad I know about egg codes now and how to identify them – hopefully you will now too!

30/09/201327/08/2017 by jo

A Beano Christmas

The Beano is 75 this year and over at the South Bank in London is Beanotown – a fan’s must-visit, with loads of things to do there. We were invited to view their Beano Christmas range of gifts back in July so headed down on our day off.

The Beano needs very little introduction – a comic that has lasted over 75 years it has been constantly reinvented but kept in the true spirit it started with. The gifts for this year reflect this.

The standout gift was a Beano chopper bike from Raleigh – which doesn’t come cheap at £300 but oh my, it’s great! I’d love one of those, although I’ve no idea where I’d keep it.. and it’s probably not practical for taking on cycle rides with H.

Some of the gifts for this year included things you could personalise – from mugs to books to calendars. H really liked it too and we’ve already ordered (and received quickly) a ‘Daddy the Menace’ mug from Gone Digging for Shaun’s birthday which cost us around the £10 mark. H was VERY excited about creating something so personal too. This is also why I’ve had to delay putting this post up, I didn’t want him to see!

There’s some games – and a set where you can Prank Your Pals available now at The Entertainer, and as we know Dennis the Menace does love his pranks. I spotted a comic maker kit – billed for older kids it looks pretty excellent, you stick your characters and speech bubbles and make a comic book with the various elements on offer – I’d quite fancy one of those for myself.

If you’re feeling a little more grown up, there’s always the Beano duvet set, available now in Single and Double size (alas no kingsize, sigh).

Accompanying the Chopper Bike are some cycling shirts, including one featuring Minnie the Minx. There’s a cute little Dennis Babygro as well! They are priced up from £27.95 via Foska (you can get the Babygro from here)

My favourites were the Dr Marten Boots – in kids sizes too. If H’s feet didn’t grow so quickly when I buy her full price shoes she’d have a pair of red and black stripy Minnie the Minx ones which I’d have loved when I was younger.

The Beano Christmas event was great too – there was a free comic drawing masterclass from Kev P who draws for the Beano – and who drew the most amazing comic version of H – it’s on the wall!

There’s so much choice out there if you’re looking for Beano Christmas ideas – if you’re someone who remembers those comics from your younger days, you’ll probably find something you love too!

29/09/201326/03/2018 by jo

Educational Books That Are Fun

I’m always on the look out for books which will help H with her reading, educational books that will work with her learning at school. Recently I’ve come across two which I’m sharing with you today.

We were sent a copy of Bud and Roo’s Spectacular Adventures – The Beach by Jessica Valentine and Suzy Jones Biggar. This is a new book about two dogs, Bud and Roo and what they discover. It’s designed as an early reading book, with words that aren’t difficult to work out so you’re building your child’s confidence in reading on their own.

With Bud and Roo’s Spectacular Adventures – The Beach you have a short story with lovely illustrations in simple colours and plenty of things to spot and talk about on each picture. The books are targeted at the 0-5 age range, and I’m hoping fairly soon H may be able to read most of it without too much help.

Bud and Roo’s Spectacular Adventures – The Beach is available now at Amazon (affiliate link) with a rrp of £5.99.

Curious Cat’s Way Out Bunch – Which Endangered Animal Lives in Northern Canada? by Jenny Tulip and Dawn Smith is a new series for us – I discovered these books at the recent Carshalton Environmental Fair and bought a book (and was given this one for free) when we got chatting.

The Curious Cat series are educational, they base the series on animals which are rare, exotic and endangered. The books have facts about the creature’s appearance, habits and environment and it’s left to the child to guess which animal it’s about. H really enjoys identifying the animals, and with her limited reading abilities can work out which is which when faced with a page of them.

Add to that you’ve facts at the end, plus a world map – and with H having dual nationality I need her to understand how big the world is, these books help her learn about other countries and animals. There are no Australian books available yet, but that could happen in the not-too-distant future! The books are self-published at Green Art Creations and I can see a selection of the books are available at Amazon too.

I like that the book is written in rhyme which makes identifying the animal fun, and there’s plenty to talk about on each page.

Right now these educational books are fitting perfectly into H’s learning to read and discovering more about the world. I’d recommend both, as they have to be fun for the parents to read too – and these definitely are!

27/09/201327/01/2014 by jo

Polesden Lacey Food Festival

The words Polesden Lacey and food are ones that make me want to drop everything and head over there sharpish, especially when they’re put together to form the words Polesden Lacey Food Festival. Fortunately this isn’t happening for a couple of weeks, so you too can join in. We love it there – there’s so many things to do.

Here’s the press release –

Treat your taste-buds and stimulate your senses at the first Polesden Lacey Food Festival ! From Friday 4 – Sunday 6 October, the National Trust property will provide a glorious backdrop for local suppliers including Chalk Hill Bakery, Hogs Back Brewery and High Weald Dairy. Come along from 10am to sample delicious Caribbean chutneys, homemade brownies, fine wines and lots more. Entry to the event will be free.

Experts will also be on-hand to offer cookery demonstrations, including special hands-on children’s sessions, beer and wine tastings. Plus, for only £10 per adult (£5 per child) Wild Food UK will take intrepid foragers on a walk around the Polesden Lacey grounds to see what wild delicacies they can find.

For more information about the Polesden Lacey Food Festival visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesdenlacey or call 01372 452048.

Polesden Lacey is open daily from 10am (house from 11am), closing at 5pm (4pm from 4 Nov). The cafe and coffee shop & deli serve a variety of fresh, homemade hot and cold food as well as cakes, teas and coffees. The shop, one of the largest in the National Trust, sells a wide range of gifts, home accessories and more.

See you there!

26/09/201327/01/2014 by jo

Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats

As your child gets older, you’ll find yourself in the murky world of toilet training. That part may be a breeze, but there’s still night time to think about. There are so many options out there it can be difficult to work out where to start, but one thing which is often forgotten are bed mats – the pads which protect your mattress. We were sent some Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats to try.

Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats are different to other brands we’ve tried – they have a stick and stay put edge so can be placed onto the mattress where it is unlikely to slip. We’ve found that often moving around in the night the bed mat can become dislodged which in turn could lead to accidents leaking onto the mattress – nobody wants that!

With Huggies Dry Nites you peel off the backing paper near each corner and press onto the bed. It has a good size to it, so you’re covering around half of the mattress, thus giving plenty of cover. The only downside of this I could think of would be if there was an accident and there was a lot, as potentially there are the sides of the mattress to consider – but you’ll have some idea of what your child is capable of doing and where to put the mat. The stick and stay means you’ll know where to place it.

We also put a Bed Mat in our bed – just to see how well it stuck (honest!), and found it stayed put well, whereas other brands do slip about a bit.

I would definitely recommend the Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats, mainly as it’s something you don’t need to think about until the accident happens, you’re not having to check underneath the mattress to make sure it is in the same place and hasn’t slipped away. It lies flat underneath the top bedsheet, you wouldn’t know it was there.

Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats come in packs of 7, and currently retail at Ocado for £3 – so look around that price. I’d say it seems expensive, but the stick and stay sections make it worthwhile.

You can read more about Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats here.

We were sent the Huggies Dry Nites Bed Mats for the purpose of review, all opinions are our own and honest.

26/09/201326/03/2018 by jo

A Quick Lunch with Some Slim Pasta

Slim Pasta is something I’ve read about in a few places – essentially a pasta which ‘helps you lose weight’. Now I’m sceptical – it’s a low-calorie pasta, but is it actually helping you lose weight? So I bought some to see what the fuss was all about.

Slim Pasta was on offer at Ocado, so I thought I’d give it a go. It doesn’t come cheap though – you get 200g for around £2.50 – the pasta itself is ready to eat (with a tiny bit of preparation), and is low calorie, fat free, sugar free and gluten free.

It’s also ready in two minutes. Today is H’s first full day at school and I’ve taken it as holiday, so I am officially the School Run Mum for just one day. This has already led to me eating broken biscuits as my mid-morning snack (as our cupboards are bare), so I thought it was the ideal time to try the Slim Pasta.

I got the Penne version and cooked it with some courgette, carrot and red pepper cut into cubes. All you do is drain the pasta, rinse it to remove the ‘starch odor’ (I couldn’t smell anything) and heat up, then serve.

Pretty simple, and I had the entire sachet, I was pretty hungry. Each pack serves 1-2 people, so it is pretty expensive, but right now I feel full. It has a ‘jelly’ feel like some noodles I’ve eaten in the past, without feeling yucky.

Slim Pasta is made from a vegetable fibre called Moyu which has been consumed in Asia for many centuries for its health benefits. This is what I find interesting – especially the claim it helps you to lose weight. It suggests 66g of pasta a day (one of the packets is 200g), three times a day. So in other words just under one packet a day. Four hours later I still feel full – so much so that my portion of food for tea is smaller than H’s – and I almost give up on it. I can see why you’d need a smaller portion, but I’m not sure I could make one last for the whole day. On the other hand, it may stop me snacking as I know I’m one of those snackers who eats when I have nothing else to think about.

I’d say as a weightloss food it’s probably not for me, but as a non-stodgy pasta option it’s a good one. Would I buy again? If it was on a deal at the supermarket then yes. As the pasta comes sealed it would travel well, which would make it a good option for going away somewhere – and one pouch would definitely feed all three of us and keep us feeling full.

I can see Slim Pasta also offer noodles, and I could see us eating with those in the future as they’d go well alongside a stir fry. It’s been an interesting purchase, anyway!

Slim Pasta’s Website is over here

25/09/201327/01/2014 by jo

Daddy Pig’s Puddle Jump – An App Review

Daddy Pig’s Puddle Jump is a new app from P2 games, and the latest in the Peppa Pig series.

Daddy Pig’s Puddle Jump is a little bit different to previous games, and in a good way. There are fifteen levels of play, and it is set out in a similar way to games such as Angry Birds, where there are different levels, and depending on how well you clear each level, you get a number of muddy splats – from 1 to 3.

There is an option to play as a one player or two player game, and you get to choose between Peppa Pig, George Pig or Daddy Pig to play. The aim of the game is to get as muddy as possible by the end – and the best jumps are the ones which clear the obstacles in the way.

The biggest bonuses of the game for us :
-It works well with a first generation iPad (all the P2 games do, to be fair!)
-There are no in-app purchases, so you’re not likely to find your child is buying random extras like some games we’ve tried.
-It’s fun – it’s all about fine motor skills, to control your character you tap them to make them jump, so having good reflexes and knowing when to do it is all good learning for H.
-Each level is a little more difficult than the previous one – but not so they’re impossible. It’s very repetitive, but H likes repetition at the moment so that isn’t a problem with us. Bear this in mind with your child if they aren’t into this.

The downsides?
-I think the repetition could put people off, but as H tends to like that kind of thing it isn’t an issue for us.
-If you choose a different character you still play the same game where you’re up to – it isn’t like other Peppa games which have three different games saved in your name.

Daddy Pig’s Puddle Jump is available now at the App Store for £1.49. It is compatible for iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone.

For more fun Peppa Pig activities visit www.peppapig.com or join the Facebook page for all the latest Peppa Pig news and competitions at www.facebook.com/OfficialPeppaPig.

We were sent a code to try out Daddy Pig’s Puddle Jump, all opinions are our own.

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