Get Your Skills on with Fruit Shoot

We had a fantastic time taking part in the Fruit Shoot #GetYourSkillsOn challenge this summer.  The children learned some new skills and polished up on some old ones. Mostly though, they had masses of fun together, getting exercise and fresh air.  It doesn't have to cost a lot of money and it doesn't necessarily need specialist equipment for your kids to get their skills on.  Simple things like balls, skipping ropes, frisbees and bats are great props to get the kids trying out new skills.  Dancing, cycling or trampolining can challenge little ones to try something new. 

This summer Freddy has mastered the art of frisbee throwing and catching, kite flying and hula hooping.  These achievements have made him so proud and have boosted his confidence in his ability.  He has also decided that he wants to go to street dance lessons. Challenging children to try new things and watching their delight in learning new skills is a wonderful experience.  It helps with their physical development, balance and co-ordination, and increases levels of fitness.  It helps them grow and develop in so many ways.

Check out what the children got up to with their #GetYourSkillsOn challenge this summer.  They really did well and little Freddy kept his thirst quenched with Fruit Shoot Hydro!

            

You can find out more about getting your skills on with Fruit Shoot on their website fruitshoot.co.uk.  You can discover tutorials for learning new skills, vote for your favourite skillster and  play games.

Milkshake! Stars DVD Review

Freddy loves watching some of his favourite TV shows to relax after a day at school , so the new Milkshake! Stars DVD is perfect for him.  With episodes from favourite shows such as Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly, Thomas and Friends, Tickety Toc, Jelly Jamm and Chloe's Closet, there is 149 minutes of fantastic fun for kids to watch and enjoy. They can dip in and pick favourite episodes to watch or can watch the DVD in its entirety, especially useful on long car journeys or when away on holiday to keep little ones entertained.

The DVD is out on September 8th.

Freddy is a big fan of the show Igam Ogam about a little cavegirl and her adventures.  The episode "I'm Bouncing" sees her on a veggie hopper that won't stop bouncing about.  It really makes Fred giggle!  Other favourites of his from the DVD are the Peppa Pig episode where George loses Mr Dinosaur and "Fun and Games" with Ben and Holly.  Altogether there are 15 full episodes from 15 different Milkshake! shows on the disc.  Freddy discovered some brand new things like Bert and Ernie and Pip Ahoy! as well as enjoying some old favourites.  It's a great value DVD, perfect for keeping little ones entertained.  At the moment you can pre-order it at Amazon for just £7.00.

If your kids are big Milkshake! fans, why not look out for the Milkshake! Live Party Party tour.   The theatre show features a number of the characters that feature on the DVD such as Bananas in Pyjamas, Tickety Toc, Chloe's Closet, Pip Ahoy!, Little Princess, Toby's Travelling Circus and Jelly Jamm.

You can find more information on the tour here.

http://milkshake.channel5.com/pages/milkshake-live

Design and Make Festival Jewellery

Summer's festival season is still fresh in our thoughts, so when Kizzy received the Festival Jewellery craft kit from Interplay, she was happy to get creative with it!  The kit contains everything needed to make nine festival themed pieces of jewellery and teaches basic skills that can be used to make bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

The kit contains faux leather cords, coloured cords, feathers, beads, clam shell clasps, charms, jump rings, clasps, ear hooks and a bracelet maker wheel.  It also includes a 16 page instruction booklet.

Thr bracelet maker wheel makes the plaiting and braiding of the cord to make the bracelets really easy.  The instructions are very clear and the materials create a professional looking piece of jewellery.

Kizzy was very pleased with her pink faux leather plaited bracelet.

The necklaces are made my attaching clasps onto a length of cord and then attaching feathers and beads using the jump rings.  Kizzy did encounter a problem in that no matter how hard she tried, she could not thread the little plastic beads onto the cord threads, but other than that, she found it easy to follow the instructions and attach the clasps and feathers to make a pretty necklace.

The contents of the kit allow a child to make a selection of pieces and also gives scope for them to get creative and add their own twist to the techniques that they have learned.  The recommended age is 8 + although some of the fiddlier bits may require a grown-up's help.

Festival Jewellery costs £9.99

You can find out more at www.interplayuk.com/mystyle/festival-jewellery

Disney Planes 2 Safe n Sound Lumiglow Vinyl Wall Light Review

Ready Room Wall Stickers from World's Apart, are the perfect way to transform a child's bedroom, with a range of exciting and innovative vinyl stickers featuring some of the most popular kids' TV and film characters such as Thomas, Disney Planes, Cars and Minnie Mouse.

Not only are the stickers colourful and fun, they are also functional, doubling up as wall hooks, a door bell, a clock or a soothing night light.  The range also includes a light switch sticker and a story telling scene. They provide an excellent way to give a child's room a quick and easy themed makeover, personalising a bedroom based on a much loved character.  The functional items add an extra element of fun, encouraging independence and creating a space that kids will love.

Freddy received a Disney Planes 2 Safe 'n' Sound Lumiglow Vinyl which is a sound activated wall mounted night light.  The size of the light up section is 9" diameter.

The set includes 50 stickers including a background upon which the night light is mounted.  The other stickers can be positioned around to create an exciting skyscape scene featuring Dusty and his friends.

The pack includes a suggested lay out, but you can be as creative as you like.  The vinyl stickers stick well to clean, flat surfaces and you can create an expansive piece of wall art if you use them all.  You can use the individual stickers to jazz up furniture or dot around the room, in addition to creating the surround for the night light. The vinyl stickers are also straightforward to remove.

The light takes 3 AAA batteries and you'll need a small screwdriver.  It attaches using velcro sticky tabs for easy removal when the batteries need changing.  It is an excellent design and we were impressed with its functionality.

Freddy was absolutely thrilled by the fact he could activate the light by clapping twice.  He thought it was brilliant!  Once on, the light glows for two minutes before turning itself off.  This makes it a perfect night light to give a child the security and comfort needed to fall asleep independently.

The World's Apart Ready Room wall stickers are priced between £3.99 and £19.99. The Safe n Sound Lumiglow Vinyl wall sticker pack costs £19.99.  I think this represents a great value way of transforming a kids' bedroom, quickly and easily, into a place that they will love.

Find out more at: www.worldsapart.com/products/category/wall-vinyls

                            

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.

Some Beautiful Books on Review - from Buster Books and Michael O' Mara Books

I have received some stunning books to review from Buster Books and Michael O'Mara Books Ltd. 

Colouring in is not just an activity for little kids, adults can enjoy this pastime too.  Colouring in can be a very therapeutic, stress relieving and relaxing thing to do and these first two titles offer hours of enjoyment to grown-ups.

Creative Colouring for Grown-Ups 

Beautiful Patterns

Packed with beautiful illustrations and intricate patterns, this A4 size books allows adults to indulge and explore their creativity and unleash their inner artist.  The pictures are so detailed and cry out for colour to transform them into a beautiful masterpiece.  You don't need to be a talented artist to create something quite  wonderful.

Unwinding with a colouring book and some pencils really can help improve your general wellbeing, and is a lovely way to spend some quality 'me' time.

Publication date:  11/09/2014

Price £9.99

The Neon Colouring Book

This book is filled with funky designs and crazy patterns using black, white and neon colours.  Featuring pages of animals, plants, landscapes, food, accessories or vehicles alongside detailed patterns, the pages can be coloured in using highlighters or coloured pens to create some dazzling designs.  It's fun and jazzy, perfect for teenagers looking for a relaxing way to unwind.

Publication date:  11/09/2014

Price £9.99

For the younger kids, there are lot of colouring books, activity books, doodling books and ticker books available from Buster Books.  Whatever a child is into, there is a title that will appeal to them!  The next two books are perfct for my little boy Freddy who is 5.

The Diggers and Trucks Colouring Book

From bulldozers to lorries to cranes to tractors, this colouring book is packed with fun pictures for kids to colour in.  Each page invites truck mad kids to get moving and colour in the scenes that include snowmen driving snowploughs, pirates on a forklift laden with treasure and gorillas in the back of a truck. The pictures are detailed without being too complicated.

Price: £5.00

The Halloween Activity Book

Filled with hair raising games and activities, this seasonally themed activity book will give kids hours of gruesome fun.  With dot to dots, a graveyard maze, 'orrible origami and ideas for things to do, this book is filled with creepy but cool stuff!  The colour illustrations feature brains, gore, eyeballs and severed limbs...all the things that your little monsters will love!  It is the perfect activity book for Halloween.

Publication date: 04/09/2014

Price: £5.99

The Owl and the Pussycat

The final book is a beautiful anthology that introduces children to poetry.  From much loved classics including Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Lear and Tennyson to modern works by Carol Ann Duffy and Benjamin Zephaniah, this book is divided into sections featuring poems about themes such as Humour and Nonsense, Monsters, Beasts and Fairies, War and Death and Animals. 

Children can explore a world of rhyme and rhythm, fostering a love and appreciation of poetry.  I love my children having access to the sonnets of Shakespeare, the works of war poets and the nonsensical humour of Edward Lear is such an easy to digest anthology.  It's a lovely book that can be dipped into and enjoyed at any time, and adults will enjoy revisiting and sharing favourite poems with their children.

Publication Date: 04/09/2014

Price £9.99 HB

Making Packed Lunches Fun with Capri-Sun Fruit Crush Juice Drink

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. This post is for the #CapriSunSchool campaign with #CollectiveBias.

We have had a wonderful summer this year, enjoying a brilliant holiday, lots of fun days out and some quality family time spent together. I can't believe that the summer holidays have come to an end and my children will be returning to school tomorrow for the new academic year.  The new school year also means a return to packed lunch making and trying to make the children's mid day meals as appetising and exciting as possible. Coming up with lunchbox ideas that the kids want to eat can be a challenge, but is also an opportunity to give the children healthy lunchboxes that they will love, scoring lots of mummy points in the process!

We went to our local Tesco Extra at the weekend, to stock up on the things needed for the new term. We picked up some last minute school uniform bits as well as some stationery items.  Packed lunch groceries were also on the shopping list.  We went to the drink aisle to get some long life juice drink multipacks and were pleased to find Capri-Sun Fruit Crush on special offer as part of a back to school promotion, at just £1.32 for a five pack.  We bought both Tropical and Blackcurrant and Apple varieties (they also do an Apple and Pear flavour) so the children can have a choice of which flavour they want each day.

Freddy is quite a fussy eater so I try extra hard to provide him with food and drink that he will really enjoy, which is balanced and (mostly) healthy.  Capri-Sun Fruit Crush is definitely a great choice.  He loves the fun pouches with the straws and the fruity flavours really appeal to him!  Best of all from my perspective, is the fact that they are made from 75% fruit juice and 25% spring water and count as one of their five a day. They are also 100% compliant with the new school's Food Standards.

Another fabulous thing with Capri-Sun pouches is that you can pop them in the freezer and put them in a lunchbox frozen.  This keeps the food cool and fresh.  Plus as they defrost, with a few squeezes of the pouch, they turn into yummy chilled slushies.  Definitely a treat for Freddy who absolutely LOVES this!

Ever since my eldest son Joe started school in 1993, I have been making kid friendly packed lunches.  I used to make little sandwiches using shaped cookie cutters and cut cheese and fruit into bite sized pieces.  In hindsight I think I was making Bento lunches long before it became the trendy thing for mums to do!  We called them "bits and bobs" lunches though. Making food visually appealing and preparing it in small portions makes it so much easier for little ones to tackle. Over twenty years later, and my lunchbox skills are still in demand!

I thought it was a good idea to have a trial run, making a midday meal for Freddy to get him back into the idea of having a packed lunch. Making a packed lunch around the Capri-Sun Fruit Crush, I thought that a summery theme would be fun and seasonal. So, I used small cutters shaped like a leaf, a butterfly, an apple, a flower and a berry, to make bitesize sandwiches (and cookie bites which were cut from a large white chocolate cookie - everyone deserves a little treat).  The sandwiches were filled with cheese spread and sliced grapes. I cut a flower shape from the red wax on a Babybel and made the stem and leaves from a green grape. Not only does this look cute, it also makes it easier for little hands to open the cheese.  A fruit salad comprising of red grapes, melon and mango accompanied the lunch.  Freddy loved it and the little mouth size shapes went down a treat, as did the Capri-Sun Fruit Crush juice drink!

Hopefully, the children will enjoy their packed lunches at school this year and will eat everything up, and I won't have to worry about my little babies going hungry or thirsty during the school day!

It's particularly reassuring to know that fussy little Freddy loves his "bits and bobs" lunches and his Capri-Sun Fruit Crush pouches. I'm going to miss my children when they are back at school, but at least I know they will be well fed.

Capri-Sun is the perfect way to get a genuine "Thanks mum" from the kids this school year!

You can buy Capri-Sun at Tesco and enter a competition to win £100 of Back to School prizes!