The Launch of YouTube Kids - a safer place for kids to watch online videos #YouTubeKids

Yesterday, we spent the day at London Zoo to celebrate the recent UK and Ireland launch of the new YouTube Kids app. We had been trying out the YouTube Kids app for a few days beforehand with 6 year old Freddy, and were excited to spend the day with the YouTube team along with some favourite TV characters and some real life animals from the zoo.

The YouTube Kids app is a bright and colourful, kid-friendly version of YouTube for tablets and smart phones, available for free from Google Play or the App Store. With access to videos featuring nursery rhymes and songs, educational videos on topics such as maths, science and space as well as TV favourites such as Peppa Pig, Morph, Talking Tom, Postman Pat, Thomas and the Octonauts, there are countless hours of quality videos available. With large images and bold icons it is easy for little ones to navigate, allowing them to safely search and explore exciting content to entertain and educate them. An impressive voice search feature allows children to search for their favourite characters and shows, allowing independence and giving them access to a world of possibilities.

Content is listed in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore, bringing a host of family-friendly entertainment into an easy to browse format. Children can browse channels and playlists or search for something of particular interest to them.

Freddy loves being able to access his favourite videos and search for things that interest him such as Minecraft, Annoying Orange and Battle for Dream Island! He even did a search on London Zoo, the night before we attended the event, so he knew what to expect. As a parent, I am confident that he won't accidentally stumble across anything inappropriate (such as the 18 rated, expletive ridden, dubbed episode of Dora the Explorer we found him watching at age 3!) The platform is safe, age appropriate and, as it doesn't need the child to have an account, allows them to have a logged out experience free from the dangers of interacting with strangers online.

The YouTube Kids app has built in parental controls allowing the grown-ups to take charge of their child's experience by controlling broader search settings or using a built in timer to limit a child's screen time. As no platform can be guaranteed 100% perfect, there is an option to flag up anything that may concern you, making YouTube Kids safer for everyone. YouTube Kids can also be viewed on the TV using a Chromecast, Apple TV, games console or a smart TV, so the whole family can watch together.

The event at London Zoo was every bit as bright, bold, colourful, interactive and entertaining as the app itself!  Ian and I, along with Freddy, Megan and Kezia arrived at the zoo early and spent a lovely hour wandering around the Bug House and the Penguins before checking in to the event itself. The venue had been transformed into a child-friendly wonderland with a wild animal theme, which was so inviting and exciting for the little ones. We were spoiled with some delicious food, given marvelous animal make-up and kept well and truly entertained.

Freddy absolutely loved taking part in all the activities. He met reindeer, a llama, meerkats, an armadillo and an owl in up close animal encounters. He met and hugged Postman Pat, Talking Tom & Ginger and Captain Barnacles. He had his face painted with an incredible tiger design and dressed up in a tiger costume. He played in an Octanauts themed ball pond, challenged his dad to a game of Hungry Hippos, played with some great cuddly toy animals, sat in the musical singing bus, enjoyed some really fabulous food and of course played on the YouTube Kids app on the special iPads. It was a brilliant family friendly event!

The YouTube Kids app is designed for children between 3 and 8 years old, providing a safe online experience with rich content especially for younger viewers. It is fun to use and easy to navigate. I am really impressed with the app and love that Freddy can explore video content independently online, discovering new shows, learning new things and accessing videos on topics that interest him safely. It is great for when we are out and about, visiting grandparents or away for the night, guaranteeing that he has something fun to watch to keep him entertained whenever needed. I applaud YouTube for creating such an exciting and interactive app that kids will not only love using, but will also help keep them safer online, protecting them from viewing inappropriate content.

April in Pictures

Going Wild With Next

With Next's Summer range of children's wear featuring so many animal prints and designs, where would be the perfect location to showcase it?  At the zoo of course!  So, yesterday I attended the Go Wild With Next Blogger Event at London Zoo along with Ella, Kizzy and Freddy and a host of other bloggers.

We were treated to some nice food, entertained with a Meerkat encounter and able to view rails of the gorgeous new Next kidswear offerings.  With clothes for 0 - 16 years old, my family love Next clothing, so getting a sneak peek at the new lines is always a privilege. 

The summer season promises a nod to nostalgia with key pieces inspired by fashions of the 50s through to the 90s alongside some funky tribal prints, denims and fluros.  

For the girls, the Cuba Story is this season's hottest trend with its vibrant colour palette and punchy prints.  Featuring retro capri pants and cute shift dresses, it's a fun and bold look.  For girls preferring a touch of whimsy, the Paradise Lost range is very pretty and girly.  Distressed denims and tie-dye fabrics add a modern twist.  Style Tribe brings an urban feel with tribal influences, and features monochrome and ochre tones.  Animal motifs and clashing animal prints give an exciting safari adventure feel to this range (which is my favourite of all the new lines!)  The playsuit is gorgeous with its ethnic feel and contrasting fabrics.

The boys will enjoy showing off their street style with the 90s Bright range.  TV and musical influences of the era bring bold colours with retro tees and high tops giving a cool vibe.  Accessories such as snap back caps and sunglasses add a playful touch.  50s Smart gives a preppy mix and match trend.  Chinos, floral or striped shirts, blazers and cricket style jumpers give a smart-casual feel.  Flat caps and bow ties add to the old school effect of the look.  Monochrome makes a statement, especially when teamed with bold, clashing animal prints and geometric patterns.  Flashes of fluro add to the story.  The Shipwrecked trend brings sun faded colours, Hawaiian and photographic prints.  Tropical beach wear, straw hats and printed vests will be big hits this summer. Perfect for hitting the surf.

Overall, this summer season promises a lot of fun pieces that kids will love to wear and adults will enjoy buying.  There is a real sense of humour that keeps cropping up throughout the ranges, particularly evident in the graphic tees and with the bespectacled giraffe who appears on a lot of the individual items. 

 I have earmarked lots of clothes that I loved.  The key denims and the graphic tees will be perfect for both Kizzy and Freddy's summer wardrobes.  I love the animal inspired babygros and dungarees which will look gorgeous on my baby grandson Ted.  Let's just hope the sun shines for us!

After enjoying chatting to the buyers about the key influences of the season, we were free to enjoy the zoo.  We received a selection of summer accessories which I would have loved to try out there and then but it was absolutely freezing.  Sunglasses and sunhats were usurped in favour of wooly hats and coats! 

We visited the monkeys and the tigers, wandered through the Aquarium and the Reptile Houses and saw the penguins before returning to the car for our 3 hour homeward bound road trip.  We had a lovely, but tiring, day and are grateful to Next for inviting us along to preview the new ranges.

My mini-fashionista  and Next fan Kizzy was so enamoured by the day and the goodie bag she received she has decided to make a series of fashion vlogs starting with this one based on the summer accessories from Next.  She blogged about it too on her site A Calm Zoned Kid.

Check out next.co.uk

HexBugs BedBugs Sleepover

Sometimes you are invited to attend an event which is just too good to turn down.  Being asked to attend a BedBUGS Sleepover in the BUGS Exhibition at London Zoo with Hexbugs was such an amazing opportunity, I was fully prepared to head the 120 miles into London to be involved!

So along with Helen from The Crazy Kitchen and our two girls, we headed to Regent's Park, and armed with torch, sleeping bag and PJs made our way to the BUGS enclosure.

BUGS is home to a collection of species...locusts, dung beetles, leafcutter ants, spiders, rats and cockroaches...and it was our home for the night!

Getting to know our new neighbours!

We got to meet a Tarantula named Polly in a meet and greet encounter!

Kizzy wasn't too impressed by the Tarantula.

The children were given a Hexbug and had the opportunity to play together with the impressive Hexbug habitats.  These bugs were far safer than some of those behind glass, although the scurrying was very similar.  They are great fun and kept the kids entertained.

Hexbug....a safer kind of bug!

We went for a great torchlight tour of the zoo in the dark.  The lions were rather curious as a group of journalists, photographers and bloggers peered at them through the darkness.  The aardvarks got very excited by their unexpected visitors and acted like over zealous puppy dogs, trying to sniff us and lick us with their huge snouts and ridiculously long tongues!  Monkeys viewed us with suspicion...it was a very different experience than exploring the zoo by daylight.

The girls ready for action!

After getting ready for bed (using the public toilet block...not glamorous!) and listening to a story, we made our beds ready for sleeping on the floor.  Thankfully Kizzy had a fabulous Hello Kitty Sleeping Bag from HGL that she had been sent to try out so she was sorted for the night.

Hello Kitty Sleeping Bag by HGL 

I was pretty jealous of her fleecy, snug and cosy sleeping bag and we loved the girlie design and the good size. It squishes up really small into its carry bag making it really convenient to pack and carry.  We were glad to have it with us on our indoor camping experience!

She slept well, meanwhile I was shivering under my pathetically thin sleeping bag with my legs hanging out, battling insomnia!  I heard the lions roaring in the distance...that felt really exotic at 3am. However the buzz from the locusts was not as appealing a sound, nor was the humming of the air con!

My sleeping buddies!

As the sun rose at 6.30am we were woken up for breakfast followed by a early morning tour of a few more exhibits including Penguin Beach and Rainforest Life.  It was a beautiful autumnal morning and it was lovely to have a walk around before the crowds descended!

The Rainforest Life exhibit was amazing.  The animals were all very active and curious to see us there so early.  The anteater came for a close look.  He was so adorable!

We also loved the bats, the naked mole rats and the Emperor Tamarinds with their handlebar moustaches!  The free roaming animals made it a really exciting experience.  Tamarinds hopped over your head and birds flew freely around the enclosure.

The Penguin Beach Exhibit was a fabulous habitat for the zoo's collection of  penguins.  The girls particularly loved the glass viewing area which made them feel like they were floating in the penguin pool.

We had a fantastic experience at London Zoo with Hexbugs.  Not many of the million visitors that visit the zoo annually, can boast that they have spent the night lying on the floor of the bug house...I feel most honoured!!

Morning Hair

Bed Head