Win a Nick Jr Goodie Bag with Nick Jr Carol-oke

There is a great opportunity for little ones to appear on TV this Christmas with Nick Jr's Carol-oke. Imagine seeing your pride and joy on the screen in the run up to the big day, as part of a festive Carol-oke version of the classic Christmas song Deck the Halls! How magical would it be, watching your child fa-la-la-la-la-ing on Nick Jr?

To enter, upload a video of your little one (aged between 2 and 7) singing Deck the Halls and fill out the entry form for a chance to see your video appear on TV.  Entries need to be received between 21/11/2016 and 09/12/16. Five lucky winners will be selected every week and the winning entries will then be shown throughout November and December on Nick Jr. The first Carol-oke, featuring the first five winners, will be broadcast on Monday 28th November on Nick Jr.

Competition entry rules state that videos must be more than 10 seconds and under 30 seconds long. They must feature just one child per video and must not show any branding (such as on toys or clothing).  There can also be no background music playing. Entries will be judged on how funny, imaginative or creative they are, so have fun with your entry! 

 Click the button below to take you through to the Nick Jr Carol-oke competition page.

As an extra special treat, Nick Jr are offering one of my readers the chance to win a Nick Jr goody bag,which includes a bag, umbrella, colouring book, crayons and a Ready Steady dough kit . It will make a lovely little gift for a child this Christmas. To win one, simply click through the Carol-oke link using the button above to check out the competition. 

Then answer this question using the Rafflecopter entry form below...

What is the missing word? 

DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF - - - - -.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



One winner picked at random from all correct entries will win the goody bag. Winner's details must be provided and will be sent to the PR company in order for the prize to be dispatched. UK entrants only. Winner will be drawn after closing date of 12am on Monday 28th November 2016.

Blaze and the Monster Machines Twitter Party on March 6th

This Friday at 4pm, a brand new series starts on Nick J,  Blaze and the Monster Machines.  

Blaze is Axle City's greatest hero and its number one racer! Fast and fearless he's unbeatable on the track thanks to his blazing turbo speed. But he not only drives fast, he can think fast too. Blaze knows everything about science, technology, engineering and maths. When things get really tough he can use his scientific know-how to transform himself into any machine such as a hang glider or a hydrofoil by adding new parts. Blaze's driver is his best pal AJ. AJ and the other monster trucks help Blaze on his adventures by exploring the physics of how things move, tackling problems and discovering the component parts needed to make everyday technologies work.

To celebrate, we will be hosting a Twitter party with UKMums.TV where we will be exploring science, technology, engineering and maths through taking part in some fun experiments and activities.  We will also be sitting down to watch the first episode of Blaze and the Monster Machines on Nick Jr and sharing our thoughts.

Join in from 3.45pm to 5.45pm on Friday 6th March over on Twitter.  Be sure to follow @UKMumsTV and the hashtag #NickJrBlaze to join in the fun and for the chance to win some great prizes.

Festive Fun and Prizes to be Won with #NickJrCraftmas

On Monday December 1st from 1pm to 3pm, I am taking part in a Nick Jr Craftmas party on Twitter with @UKMumsTV. There will be lots of fun to be had and we'll be sharing some cool Christmas craft and kid friendly food ideas. There will also be some lovely prizes to be won! 

I have received a fabulous box of exciting craft sets and games ready to be played with.  We'll be making Snowman Cupcakes and Chocolate Cornflake Christmas Puddings as part of the party tea. We'll also be playing games such as pin the nose on Rudolph and making our guests into toilet paper snowmen! Plus we'll be making Christmas cards, gifts and decorations.  You can find out what we get up to and hopefully get some inspiration for things to do with the kids over the festive season.

It promises to be an afternoon of festive fun and friendly chat and I hope you'll be able to join us over on Twitter!

Be sure to follow @wendymcd83  @ukmumstv @NickJrUK and #NickJrCraftmas.

Ben and Holly Magical Playground Playset - Swing with Holly Review

In the Little Kingdom, Holly is having fun swinging on her magical swing set.  The swings are attached to the stems of flowers making a colourful playground scene for the fairies and elves to enjoy! 

This swing playset is one of three interlocking sets, which connect together to create a bigger play area for the Ben and Holly figures.  The other two sets are a slide playset and a roundabout playset, each including a Holly figure. (It would have been nice to have each set come with a different character for variety, or you'll end up with three Hollies if you buy all three!  Freddy would have loved to see a Ben figure included.) 

The swing playset, is leaf shaped and features two flower swings and a toadstool.  Holly can sit in the swings and be pushed.  Holly also has a removable base, so when she is not being swung, she can stand up independently.

The quality is good and the playset is well made, colourful and perfect for fans of Ben and Holly, bringing the magic of the Little Kingdom to life.  I applaud the inclusion of a character so kids can play with the toy straight from the packaging.

It is priced at £9.95 and can be found alongside lots of other lovely Ben and Holly toys at Character Online.  

Freddy received the playset to review.

A Brand New Series of Poppy Cat Launches on Nick Jr

Joanna Page is set to return to our screens as the voice of the amazing orange Poppy Cat in the second series of the colourful, fun and adventure-filled show for pre-schoolers.  Every weekday from 8th September at 9 am on Nick Jr, Little ones will be able to join in with Zuzu, Mo, Alma, Egbert, Owl and of course Poppy Cat, as they embark on some more imaginative and exciting escapades.

This series introduces over fifty new characters such as Ozzy the octopus, Charles the blue whale and Ernie the platypus! In season 2, Poppy Cat and her friends travel in aeroplanes, pirate ships, hot air balloons and rockets while exploring some amazing new places such as Chocolate Falls, Gloppy Ponds and Wooly Woods.  Children are encouraged to use their imaginations to solve puzzles and discover the world around them, as Poppy Cat makes everyday adventures extraordinary.

           


To become a fan of Poppy Cat visit officialpoppycat on Facebook, @PoppyCat_ on Twitter or go to www.poppycat.com.  And don't forget to tune into Nick Jr on September 8th at 9 am.

Nickelodeon and Nick Jr available on NOW TV #NickelodeonNOWTV

Nick Jr and Nickelodeon are two of my children's favourite channels.  Home of shows such as Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, Spongebob Squarepants, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol, they provide hours of entertainment for little ones. Nick Jr and Nickelodeon are now available to watch at anytime without a contract via the NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass.

To celebrate this they are launching the NOW TV Nickelodeon Swap Shop on Twitter and Facebook. Kids are being asked to draw pictures of their favourite Nick characters and mums and dads can Tweet their artwork with the hashtag #NickelodeonNOWTV.  It's a lovely excuse to get out the crayons and let the kids get creative as they draw one of Nick's colourful characters.

Every submission will receive a digital activity pack and will be entered into a competition to win one of fifty Nickelodeon goodie bags and a NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass.  Winning pictures will be showcased on the NOW TV Facebook page.  The Nickelodeon Swap Shop ends on August 17th.

Freddy has had a go at drawing his favourite characters from Nick Jr, Ben Elf, Princess Holly and Oona and Nonny from the Bubble Guppies.

Ben Elf

Oona and Nonny

Princess Holly

Big sister Ella didn't want to be left out from the fun of drawing Nick Jr characters so she drew Peppa Pig and family!

The NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass already lets customers watch hit shows on 12 of the UK’s best TV channels including Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts 1, Discovery, MTV, Comedy Central, GOLD, Disney, FOX and now Nickelodeon & Nick Junior. It’s available on the NOW TV Box, PS3™, Roku, LG Smart TV, Xbox®360, Android™, PC and Mac, iPad® and iPhone®. 

For more information on NOW TV visit nowtv.com or follow on Twitter @NOWTV and facebook.com/NOWTV.

Getting Creative with a Zack & Quack Craft Party

Zack & Quack is the new hit TV show on Nick Jr featuring Zack and his duck friend Quack who, together with the help of their friend Kira, enjoy adventures and solve problems in their pop-up paper world.  To celebrate the premiere we were invited by UKMums.tv to host a crafts party to coincide with the showing of the first episodes.  Armed with mountains of cardboard boxes, glue, stickers, paper plates, cardboard tubes and lots of imagination, the party guests made their own creations inspired by Zack & Quack!

There were cardboard cameras, paper plate faces, decorated treasure boxes, iced biscuits, origami Belly Up frogs and a brilliant box racing car!  Crafting is always so much fun and kids love to get creative. 

The Zack & Quack show itself kept a roomful of boys and girls totally engrossed!  They all really liked the animation and the humour had them giggling.  The stories were fun and the children loved how Zack solved his problems by making things out of paper in his pop up world.  It was definitely a big hit.

Look out for Zack & Quack on Nick Jr at 4.30pm on Fridays.  You can also check out the Nick Jr website on www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/zack-and-quack where you'll find lots of craft ideas and activities.  You can also watch clips from the show and meet the characters.

We're Zack & Quack Party Hosts

This Friday, join me for a Zack & Quack Twitter Party from 3.45pm to 5.45pm.

The party is timed to coincide with the Nick Jr UK premiere of their brand new show Zack & Quack at 4.30pm.  We'll be sitting down to enjoy the show and Tweeting about what we think.

Zack and his friend Quack love to make things out of bits and pieces in their pop up paper world, so the theme for this party is arts and crafts.

As well as washing the show, we'll be getting crafty and making models using boxes, glue, glitter, paper plates and pompoms.  It might get messy!

Throughout the party, you can join the party hosts, @NickJrUK and @UKMumsTV on Twitter and if you join in the fun using the hashtag #zackandquack you could win some great prizes.

Twitter parties can be lots of fun so I hope you will join us to celebrate the premiere of Nick Jr's new show Zack & Quack!

Tickety Toc Christmas Special and a Twitter Party!

Get ready for Chime Time as Tommy and Tallulah star in their own festive special! The half hour long Christmas episode of Tickety Toc: "Christmas Present Time" premiers on Nick Jr at 12.30pm tomorrow, on Saturday the 30th November!

It’s Christmas Eve, and as Tickety Town prepares for Christmas, a shock crash landing by Santa throws everything into turmoil!  The reindeers have caught colds, Santa’s sleigh is broken and all the presents are spread across Tickety Town!   It's up to Tommy and Tallulah to save Christmas with the help of their friends, Pufferty, McCoggins, Hopperoo and Madame Au Lait, plus a sprinkle of Magic Christmas Sparkle Dust!

Pre-schoolers will love joining the twins as they embark on this Christmas adventure.  The tree is all decorated and Tickety town is waiting for Santa to bring the presents.  But after the sleigh crashes Tommy and Tallulah need to become Santa's Little Helpers to make sure the presents are delivered before chime time. Everyone works together and Madame Au Lait is on hand with her Christmas Chilli Cheese Bites to help save the day and make sure the presents get delivered on time!

There's a nice message that is all about giving and helping that runs through the show.  Tommy and Tallulah want to make sure everyone gets a present this year and do their best to make it happen.

After 'Christmas Present Time' has been shown, you can join in a Twitter Party from 1-2 pm with @TicketyTocUK so come along and join in the festive fun!

How Important are Routines for Children

Trying to crack routines, is one of the biggest challenges of parenting.  Getting little ones into a good bedtime routine is the parenting holy grail that the majority of parents strive for, to ensure everyone gets a good night's sleep!  I'm not a stickler for rigid routine and have always kept a degree of flexibility within our family life. We have let Freddy's own natural rhythm dictate the way we parent him to some extent, but it was a great relief when he started sleeping through the night, adopting his own happy bedtime routine.

Routines become much more important as your child gets older and has to become a part of the world outside of their own home, with the routine of being at nursery and school to contend with.  Routines can help children deal with change as they get used to the comfort, familiarity and security of repetitive behaviors.

Personally I like to strike a balance of routine and flexibility in our home, that reflects the day to day changes of family life.  I provide the structure and safety of routine, but also have the freedom to throw it all out of the window to be spontaneous if necessary.  Freddy likes to know what was going on in his life and enjoys the order of his day, but much of his routine is child led.  It works well for us and he is a happy, confident child.

To help parents with achieving routines and to help children cope with change, Nick Jr have launched their Step by Step campaign, headed by TV favourite Dora the Explorer.  We were sent some print outs and some Dora goodies. There are a range of downloadable charts that you can print out and share with your little ones to help establish good routines.  I like that the child is involved with planning the steps and is a part of the process.  For slightly older children, taking ownership of the structure of the day makes everyday routines a far happier affair.  Children will enjoy ticking off all the steps on their bedtime routine chart as they take each step along with Dora!

You can find the printables along with a whole host of ideas to help children enjoy all of life's adventures  at http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/dora/stepbystep/ 

To watch a recording of a live WebTV show on children's routines go to http://www.studiotalk.tv/show/how-important-are-routines-for-children

When Messy Play Meets Baking

As this Easter holiday is so very chilly, our activities are tending to take place more indoors that out.  There is  always a danger that this can end up in nothing more than TV viewing and video game playing, so I am determined to give Freddy some more structured activities to avoid an over-dependence on technology!

Today, Freddy had a fabulous time when he was set loose in the kitchen with 16 plain homemade sponge cakes (that we made together), three tubs of icing, sprinkles and some broken-up leftover Easter chocolate.  He had a totally multi-sensory experience as he sniffed, licked, tasted, touched, mixed and spread icing liberally!  He thought about the smells of the strawberry, chocolate and vanilla; the feel of the icing and the sprinkles between his fingers; the texture of the icing as he spread it and touched it; the shapes of the different sprinkles but mostly the flavours as he chomped on the chocolate and the Hundreds and Thousands!  He made a complete mess but loved every moment of his time.  He even enjoyed washing-up afterwards splashing in the warm, bubbly water and using different shaped vessels to pour water from one bowl to another.  There is so much for him to learn through playing and exploring his environment independently.

If you plan on embarking on some similarly messy play, I recommend using a tray to catch all the dropped sprinkles and smears of icing.  It was much easier tidying up afterwards with the mess contained.  The apron kept Freddy clean (ish!)  I often find it hard not to intervene and take control of activities that I do with Freddy and so it was really nice to take a back seat and simply let him do his thing.  I watched, listened and took photos of his antics and let him explore, completely unhindered by any grown-ups with our pre-conceived ideas on what constitutes fun!

What a lovely way to spend a day!

Thanks to Nick Jr for the chef's hat and silicon cupcake cases that they sent us so Freddy could be one of Dora's Little Cooks! Take a look at this recipe from Dora to bake up some delicious treats that are easy for little ones to help with.  You can find lots of other activities to keep the kids entertained this Easter holiday with Nick Jr online.

Peppa's Theme Park Party

On March 26th, between 3 and 5pm, we are hosting a Peppa Pig party to showcase the new range of Peppa Pig's Theme Park toys.  We received an amazing bundle of goodies this morning in readiness for the party, which will be taking place at the same time as fourteen other parties hosted by UK bloggers across the country.  We will all be live tweeting from the event and everyone is invited to join us on Twitter using the hashtag #peppasthemeparkparty, and in doing so, you may be able to win some great Peppa Pig prizes.

On the day, I will post some photos of the Peppa Pig merchandise and give my opinions on the toys and if anyone wants to ask about them I'll be happy to oblige. My first impression of the range is very positive.  Freddy loves Peppa Pig and the toys lend themselves perfectly to the brand.  I'll be interested to see what the children make of them.

The Nick Jr Card-o-Matic - Free Festive Fun!

Little ones can make their own e-cards for the special people in their lives with the new free Nick Jr Card-o-Matic.  The  wonderfully animated Card-o-Matic machine is so easy to use and features all the Nick Jr favourites including  Ben & Holly, Dora and Peppa.  Kids will love watching as their designed card goes through the virtual online machine before being delivered onto the festive mantelpiece.  From there, they can be emailed or printed out and given in person.

It's as simple as this to make your own personalised e-card with the Nick Jr Card-o-Matic!

1:  Go to www.nickjr.co.uk/create/cardomatic.

2:  Choose between creating your own card, picking a ready made design or a picking colour in card.

3:  Select the character you want in your card.. Peppa Pig, Dora, Ben & Holly, Team Umizoomi or Bubble Guppies.

4:   Enter the 'to' and 'from' details and pick a font and colour scheme.

5:  Upload a photo and pick a frame.

6:  Personalise the card using the character kit.  Choose characters and scenes to personalise the front of your card.

7:  Watch as it wings its way onto the mantlepiece ready to be printed or emailed.

Here is one that Freddy made with me including a photograph on the front cover!

Have some free festive fun with your little ones with the Nick Jr Card-O-Matic....they will love it!

Fun With Poppy Cat

Poppy Cat continues to be a much loved character in our house with the gorgeous books and the Nick Jr TV show, so when Freddy was sent a Talking Poppy Cat Soft Toy he was most pleased.  Voiced by Joanne Page, the orange cat with the lilting Welsh tones is a favourite among pre-schoolers who love sharing in her fantastical adventures, so it is lovely that they can now have their very own Poppy Cat to play with and interact with.

The talking Soft Toy says five fun phrases when her tummy is pressed.  One of the phrases is Poppy Cat counting down "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" which generally results in her being blasted off into space by the power of Fred's best throwing arm!  Her chirpy chatter encourages children into imaginative role play as Poppy urges them to "Come On!" and says "That was a great idea!"

Being quite a small toy, Poppy Cat is perfect for a pre-schooler to carry around as a new best friend and give big hugs to.  Poppy is really soft and cuddly and looks so cute with her patchwork scarf around her neck.

This is just one in the range of fabulous Poppy Cat toys that will give young fans lots of extraordinary adventures and will make perfect Christmas gifts for any child.

RRP: £9.99 - available at john Lewis, Amazon, Play, The Entertainer, Boots and more.

Poppy Cat Comes to Nick Jr

Nick Jr has just launched its newest animated show for pre-schoolers, featuring the extraordinary adventures of  Poppy Cat!  Showing every weekday at 10am, there are 26 ten minute episodes to delight our little ones!  The show revolves around Lara, a little girl who invents stories for her beloved cat Poppy.  Poppy Cat and her friends, an eclectic mix of animal pals, travel to magical destinations including the Trumpet Tree Forest and encounter other animals like the giant space squids!

Joanna Page, who won the nation's hearts in Gavin and Stacey voices the show's leading character, Poppy the lovable orange cat with a patchwork bandana.  Joanna says:

"... everybody loves Poppy Cat; the books have been such a success. So to actually play Poppy Cat is such an honour – I’m over the moon."  

The show is based on the beautiful picture books by Lara Jones, which have sold over 2.5 million worldwide.  Having their favourite book character brought to life will enthral Poppy Cat fans!

The show celebrates the fun and power of inventing and sharing stories.  Children are encouraged to use their imagination to solve problems and  friendship is a strong theme.  Poppy Cat is about Making Adventures Extraordinary!

We are enjoying watching Poppy Cat together. Lara's narration tells the story, which then springs to life.   2 year old Freddy is totally engaged by the colourful characters and the gentle animation.  The adventures are very imaginative and I love the way Poppy and her friends work together to sort things out.  The attention to detail makes it visually appealing and Freddy giggled at the funny antics of Poppy, Alma and the gang. The episodes are just the right length of time to hold a toddler's attention.  Kizzy is 8, but Poppy Cat was one of her favourites when she was younger when she had the Poppy Cat's Happy Day board book.  She is enjoying sharing her love of Poppy with her little brother.

Remember 10am weekdays for Poppy Cat!  Perfect to watch with your pre-schooler.

You can watch clips and download activity sheets at Nick Jr's website!