How To Make A Bear Spoon Puppet

My little cubs and I were treated to a fabulous box of goodies from Bear, including their new Alphabites cereals designed especially for kids.  Included in our goodies was a fantastic craft idea for making bear puppets using wooden spoons, that I'm sharing here with you all.  It's perfect for the kids to do and they will love putting on a puppet show with them afterwards.

What You Need

wooden spoon

brown paint

glue

brown felt

googly eyes

black pen

ribbon

What To Do

Paint the head of the spoon and allow to dry.

Stick on the googly eyes.

Draw on a nose and mouth.

Cut out some ears from felt.

Stick on the ears on the side of the spoon.

Tie a ribbon around his neck.

Now put on a puppet show...maybe Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but instead of porridge maybe Baby Bear had a bowl of Alphabites!

Bear's Alphabite cereals come in two tasty flavours, Multigrain and Cocoa Multigrain. They have all the taste and fun that kids love but with none of the 'nonsense'!  They are made with natural ingredients and are sweetened using coconut nectar, which is packed with minerals and essential amino acids.  They contain no added sugar or salt, are high in fibre, have low GI and contain a portion of wholegrain to give kids a naturally better breakfast. 

The packaging is great with the back of the box dedicated to fun facts and activities based on a letter of the alphabet.  We had some fun looking at 'p' for pirates and 'b' for bears!  There are currently eight illustrated back of packs, with the remaining 18 letters being rolled out over the next year.

The letter shaped Alphabites were great fun for my little schoolboy Freddy who is just beginning to recognise the alphabet.  The cereals themselves are crunchy and taste sweet.  They provide the perfect solution to giving the kids a good breakfast : Mums know they are giving kids a healthy start, while kids happily tuck in to something that they want to eat.

Freddy is really enjoying the cereals.  He happily munches through a bowlful and likes them as an after school snack as well as in the morning.  I've never bought chocolate cereals before, so this was a real treat for Freddy, and I was happy knowing they are not laden with sugar. It's great to see a company making something that is healthy but also is fun and yummy!

Bear Alphabites are available in Waitrose, Ocado, Holland and Barrett and lots of health food shops and independents priced at £2.69.

Choco Puffs...a Breakfast Evolution!

The Honey Monster may soon be called the Chocolate Monster following the release of Sugar Puffs' latest breakfast evolution.  In a chocolatey twist on classic Sugar Puffs, natural wheat puffs are glazed with chocolate flavour syrup.  Fortified with vitamins and iron, Choco Puffs contain no artificial additives and are a good source of dietary fibre.

We were sent a box of Choco Puffs to try out Inside the Wendy House for the purpose of this review.  As we don't usually buy chocolate breakfast cereals, I was interested to find out more about them.  Freddy was quite curious too, he liked the brightly coloured packaging and the Honey Monster on the front! ( The Honey Monster is back on our TV screens after a two year break, this launch coincides with his return!)

The Facts: 30g of Choco Puffs contains 112 calories and contains B vitamins and Iron essential for a healthy diet.  A bowlful contains 14% of an adult's RDA of sugar.  It is low fat and high in fibre. They are suitable for vegetarians and contain nothing artificial.  That all sounded pretty good to me!

Testing:  My tiny testers enjoyed trying the Choco Puffs.  Freddy prefers his cereal dry and it makes a perfect snacktime treat for his Munchkin Snack Cup.  It's a much better option than a chocolate bar or a biscuit, as it has the extra benefit of the added vitamins and iron. It makes a good finger food for a hungry toddler with a high demand for energy.

Kizzy has hers for breakfast and again as an after school snack...she says "They are really nice.  I love the chocolate flavour and the puffy texture!"  Again they make a good alternative to high fat, low fibre snacking when she gets home from school hungry.  A real chocolatey hit!

Teenager Ella grabs handfuls from the box on her way past and calls them "Delicious chocolatey puffs!"  They got a thumbs up from all three of the children.  They also loved the quizzes on the back of the pack, which were a great fun addition!

As part of a balanced diet, Choco Puffs can provide a fun, friendly, fortified, delicious start to the day.  They are a perfect option for reluctant cereal eaters and would encourage breakfast consumption in even the fussiest eaters.  It has been proven that eating breakfast helps aid concentration, keeps you alert and keeps energy levels up. Vitamins and iron are essential for healthy growth and development. Choco Puffs taste like a sweet treat, and yet they can give your child a good wholesome, nutritious start to the day.  As my children discovered they also make a great anytime snack!  I was impressed with Choco Puffs...I even tried a bowlful myself and I have to say they were really tasty and very more-ish!

With a RRP of £1.99, Choco Puffs are available now from Sainsbury's and Morisson's.

A Fruity Start to your Day....Nestle Superfruity Shredded Wheat

It is a worrying statistic that 1 in 6 children go to school without having eaten breakfast.  Eating a healthy breakfast is vital, setting the tone for the rest of the day.  It helps aid concentration, avoids tiredness and keeps blood sugar levels from dropping.  Some people skip breakfast thinking it is a good way to cut down on calories, however it has been proven to be a vital part of successful weight loss to include a healthy breakfast to keep your metabolism from stalling.  So all in all breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Nestle have launced their new Superfruity Shredded Wheat.  Each hearty bite size wholegrain square has a hidden centre full to bursting with real fruit and berries.  They also contain the added benefit of antioxidants which are reputed to aid health.  Available in Rasberry, Strawberry and Cranberry and Blackcurrant, Blackberry and Blueberry flavours, they are low in fat, high in wholegrain fibre and contain 156 calories per 40 g serving.  Each bowlful provides 15% of an adult's RDA of Selenium.  They are sure to appeal to a whole new generation of Shredded Wheat eaters.  So how will they fair Inside the Wendy House?!

The mini Shredded Wheats are filled with a fruity puree.  Here is the raspberry, strawberry and cranberry cut in half.  You can see that it is well filled.  I personally don't like dried fruit and most cereals use the dried variety in their fruity varieties.  So, as these contained a smooth puree, I was very interested to give them a try.

This morning me and Kizzy gave them a go!  As it is half term we had the luxury of a rush free morning with breakfast in our pyjamas.  Bliss!  We love the bold design and the colourful packaging and the pictures of fruit make the cereal seem very enticing.

Like Shredded Wheat Bitesize, the cereal stayed quite firm in the milk and didn't go mushy.  They softened but the filling stayed inside giving an explosion of fruitiness when you eat them.  The flavour was quite like jam but slightly tarter (which I'm guessing was down to the cranberry.)  I think they make a really nice alternative to my usual cereals and I will definitely be buying these in the future.

Kizzy tucked into her bowlful with her So Good soya milk.  She said they were "everso fruity and the flavour went well with the taste of the cereal."  

The Superfruity Shredded Wheat does contain added sugar wherby their original counterpart does not.  So that is a consideration.  However, I'd much rather my child had a cereal with added fruit rather than a chocolate flavoured or sugar coated variety.  It adds an element of interest to breakfast and hopefully will encourage more people to eat a wholegrain cereal in the mornings.

Inside the Wendy House Thumbs Up!!!!

*Nestle provided the cereal for this review but the opinions voiced are my own!*