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Saturday 27th August 2011 – 'Fishy-wishy' (239/365)
Review: Snoozeshade
A few months ago, I was invited to review the Snoozeshade. It arrived and I was thoroughly impressed with it. The design was modern and funky, simple and elegant. The idea behind it: genius! Unfortunately, I didn't get much of a chance to test it before The Boy outgrew his iCandy, and is incapable of falling asleep in the Maclaren. When I heard that the lovely Lauren from Real Housewife of Suffolk County had just had baby Harry, I asked her if she could review it for me. This is her adventure with the Snoozeshade.
Nap times have always been a bit touch and go with Charles, especially naps when out and about. He’d fall asleep in the car seat, and would remain asleep as we transferred him to his pushchair but then the brightness of the sun or harsh lights in shops would then wake him. He’s always been difficult to get to nap in a pushchair due to distractions and again due to it being too light. So, I was eager to review the Snoozeshade to see if it helped our problematic naptimes.
The Snoozeshade comes in a handy little mesh reusable bag, great for storage and for fitting in the basket of a pushchair or hanging from the handles.
We used this whilst on a day out. Charles had been walking around a lot and we noticed he was getting tired and could do with a nap. We placed him in his pushchair, walked around a little and then decided to attach the Snoozeshade.
The fabric is light and airy so there’s no fear that a child napping inside will overheat or become dehydrated. The Snoozeshade fit perfectly onto our pushchair [a Petite Star Zia], I always find it tricky to fit rain covers and thought this would be the same when in fact it was straightforward and quick to fit which impressed me immensely. At first Charles was unsure and did moan a little but within no time at all he was asleep. It worked! I couldn’t quite believe it at first and did keep checking on him to make sure he wasn’t just pretending.
There is a handy zip at the front which makes it easy to check on your child, there’s also another zip at the front which opens incase your child needs a little more air or light, Charles is afraid of the dark so we kept this zip open so he had a little bit of light available when he woke up.
He slept for approx 45 minutes which is great for a child who never tends to nap in a pushchair! A couple of days later Charles had fallen asleep in his car seat, we planned to use the double buggy to transport him, but remembering we had the Snoozeshade in the basket we decided to use the single pushchair to see if it kept him asleep. One whole hour later he eventually woke up! Amazing!
For that reason, I recommend this 100%, and it will be living in the basket of our pushchair and hopefully will be getting a lot of use.
I was sent the Snoozeshade in order to review. When my monkey of a son refused to sleep in the pushchair, I asked Lauren to review it and sent it over to her. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.
Friday 26th August 2011 – 'Seven Hours' (238/365)
Today we were due to be attending the filming of Justin Fletcher's new CBeebies show: Justin's House. We set off at 12.40 to get to Manchester. Google Maps said it should take three and a half hours. It took us seven. To travel 190 miles. The picture above was taken in the fast lane of the M6.
Treasure Box
I posted here about how I am a fan of The Imagination Tree, and the freedom in play that Anna gives her children which allows them to explore their world and environment. Exploration is the key to learning, providing them this opportunity in a focused and safe way is so important.
When I saw this post from her the other day, 'Flowers and Fairies Sensory Tub', I was immediately interested and thought how I could adapt it for use with a boy.
Basically dye some dried rice using food colouring, allow it to dry for a day, pour it into a shallow and wide tub, and then add some extra items in for variety of texture, size and colour.
I dyed two lots of rice; one blue and one yellow. However, I am an impatient Annie and didn't have the inclination to wait a whole day for it to dry. So I put it in the oven on a very low heat for two hours. Anna and I had a discussion over twitter as to whether this would work, she was pleased to hear that it did. I then added a handful of primary coloured sequins, feathers, beads, some old house keys, and last but not least, googly eyes!
We had great fun with this treasure box. He was very reluctant at first to get his hands in amongst the rice, but once I'd got him convinced that it wasn't going to hurt him, he was captivated. We got a couple of pots out and he started to use these for sorting the sequins into, and then pouring the rice from one pot to another.
I had bought a tub from Ikea for this, and made sure I got one with a lid, which has meant that we've been able to store it on top of the cupboard and come back to it. When I need a little more space, this will pour into a screw-top jar and can be used again. Not sure how long it will last but I'm giving it a go.
Anna has identified these learning links from this activity:
Learning Links:
- sensory: exploring a range of textures and materials with hands (and feet!)
- fine motor: scooping, pouring, pincer grip to pick up individual pieces of rice, mixing
- creative: make up stories and role play scenarios using toys and imagination
- literacy: develop language, vocabulary and storytelling skills
- maths: count out scoops/petals/rice/sequins, explore capacity through filling and emptying
- PSHE: work collaboratively and share resources
Thursday 25th August 2011 – 'Treasure' (237/365)
Sizzling Sausages Struck by Lightning!
I am discombobulated.
It has just been thundering and there have been flashes of lightning. Today's date is 25th August and we've just had a thunderstorm. I haven't had my summer yet where I have lounged on my sun-lounger with my toddler playing alongside me in the sweet smelling summer grass. I haven't got a cushion for my sun-lounger and the grass is far from sweet-smelling.
But that's not the point!
I haven't had warm, soft, balmy evenings with the jasmine and honeysuckle sweetly scenting the air, the condensation from my glass of Pimms trickling over my fingers and friends laughing while the barbecue sizzles in the background.
Even before The Boy, I don't think we had a barbecue like that. Let's face it; the barbecue always manages to smoke everyone out, Mr. TheBoyandMe is usually worried about the chicken cooking all the way through, I forget the tray of jacket potatoes in the oven (true story! The oven had been turned off post cooking, but the next day I opened it to find 25 beautifully crispy jacket potatoes on a baking tray. We had potato salad for days afterwards), we run out of lagers but have too much rum left over (why do I buy it? No-one drinks it), and half way through the evening we have to come inside because it's too cold or raining!
However, did you know that the British are spending more on summer barbecues than they do (per person) on a summer holiday? The average amount per summer season of barbecues is £724.02, with an average spend of £141.67 per barbecue! Now bearing in mind, I haven't had one this summer, that means someone has had some marvellous barbecues and not invited me!
Apparently though, it's not just the hosts who spend money; it's the guests too! Gracious guests spend over £22 on goodies to supplement the already groaning feast-laden table. When I read that factoid, I'll admit to thinking: if each guest spends £22 on goodies, all I need to do is co-ordinate what they're bringing and I needn't spend a penny!
It's the last bank holiday weekend before Christmas (!) this weekend, it should be the time to have one last almighty bash at a fabulous barbecue. I won't be able to partake as we binned the underused and rusted barbecue last year (I'm vegetarian, he's a meat-eater, it never worked out easily), but here are some top tips to help it go well:
These factoids have been taken from The Pimm’s Summer Time Report, conducted in June 2011 by One Poll, which surveyed of 3,000 UK men and women, 25-45 years old. I wasn't asked to write about it, I've not been given anything, I just wanted to moan about the weather and show off my photo of one of my favourite drinks!
Please drink responsibly.
Review: Hiku the Penguin
Hiku is the tale of a penguin who wakes up feeling grumpy one morning. Everything about the day was wrong (I know how he feels today) made worse by the news of an impending visit from his extended family (yep, I can sympathise with that one too!).
Taking himself off to be a grumpy-guts on his own, he soon realises that he's lonely and bored. Hiku's mind wanders off to memories of past visits from his family and he soon realises that actually, they always have fun together! Rushing back to his family, he hopes he gets there in time to enjoy some more fun and make more memories… whether he does or not, well you'll have to read the book!
I liked the clever illustrations with every double-page featuring dozens of penguins. This isn't just because I like penguins, but because Hiku is distinct with his heart-shaped tummy, so every new picture was like a 'Where's Wally' fest which The Boy adored pouring over.
This is a lovely story focusing on the fun that can be had with family, beautiful illustrations, and a great spring-board for a variety of other activities and discussion points with your little one.
Hiku is availabale as a paper back (£5.39), as an app on the AppStore (£1.99) or as a PDF electronic book (£1.79) which would be perfect for little ones to interact with, or in the classroom as a big book.
We were sent this book for review purposes by TopThat Publishing. MY opinions are, as always, honest & without bias.
First House
A few months ago I discovered the wonders of RedTedArt and The Imagination Tree. Both are blogs that I admire hugely because they promote the marvels and benefits of Learning Through Play and the importance of Art in a child's life.
Before I was a primary school teacher, I trained as a Nursery Nurse and was intent upon becoming a Nursery teacher. And then I had a teaching practise in Year Five and I've never looked back, turning away from the littlies proclaiming them "too small and easy to accidentally step on!" in a jovial and, quite possibly, dismissive manner. However since having The Boy, I've rediscovered the joy of craft and role-playing with the 'littlies'. To the point where I asked my boss (in my annual review) if I could work with them again. She almost fell off her chair in shock, but at that time was unable to grant my wish.
So I channel my ideas at the moment into the most important 'littlie' of them all, The Boy. Last week, we took delivery of a Little Tikes house to review as a part of the Toyologist programme. The box was massive (well it had to hold a house!):
What do you do with a box that big?
Turn it into a play-house for The Boy to decorate!
The box was huge, big enough for daddy, The Boy and Me (see what I did there?) to get in easily. I cut a door on one side and windows with shutters on the other side, and he absolutely adored it. Daddy? Not so much, it kept getting in the way of the recycling which he needed to empty, or the toilet, or anything really. Admittedly for a time, The Boy was the only one who could get through to the utility room (through the open end and out of his door) so once or twice I had to send him on a little job!
The Boy has had great fun this week; painting, decorating, hiding and playing house in his, um, house. Which is great because it's rained a fair amount so he hasn't managed to get out to the main toy; the Little Tikes house. He's played in it with his friends and cousins, and I have discovered that there is nothing more likely to make children giggle than crawling through a cardboard box.
Well I managed to hold onto it for a week, but it's cardboard recycling on Friday and I've got a toddler group coffee session tomorrow, so we've had to move the house. I'm hoping that The Boy doesn't ask where it is in the morning!
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Click this widget to see the marvellous Imagination Tree
And this one will take you to the fabulous RedTedArt
Wednesday 24th August 2011 – 'Self-Portrait' (236/365)
A rare photo of me, even if you can't see anything but my hands, hair and forehead (and chloasma, thanks sunlight and hormones!). I took this earlier for the Photobox 24 competition, didn't win but quite liked the photo.
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