On the third day of advent my kiddiewinks sent to me…
Three spectacled reindeer
Two Santa decorations
And a tantrum about the Christmas tree…
These lovely reindeer were sent to us by the lovely lady at tomato glasses; the children were really excited to get one each. If anyone’s children need glasses, I cannot recommend the frames highly enough! The kids took to them like ducks to water, comfy, practical and very very cute
For more information visit tomato glasses website
On the second day of advent my kiddiewinks brought to me
2 Santa decorations
And a tantrum about the Christmas tree.
‘Jack Cherry’ is a company offering resources and workshops all about a character called Jack. It aims to boost self-esteem, confidence and resilience in children, by helping put them in control of their thoughts. The idea of a juicer is used to help children reframe thinking.
As a family, we were thrilled to see that the main character in the comic wears glasses- my middle kiddiewink was horrified to see him being ridiculed about them and he felt very angry for Jack. Both myself and the children could see the impact on Jack of several negative things happening, and we talked about when they had had a bad day and how it made them feel.
The comic itself is well illustrated and clear, with the message being about how bad thoughts and feelings, making you feel bad. In essence you have to keep out the bad things, just like you would keep the bad fruits out of a smoothie. We had great fun thinking up alliteration for happy fruits; fitting in perfectly with what my eldest has been doing in literacy this week. Personally, it thought that Jack coming up with the fruit and juicer analogy was powerful, as oppose to an adult sharing it with children. It was also great that he triumphed in the end!
The comic book is currently available free to download.
We were also sent a link to an audio book; I struggle with audiobooks, as I am an excellent storyteller (blowing my own trumpet here, but I really am). Although, I am sure it is very good, but the voice instantly annoyed me, as I know I could have made it sound just as good (if not better).
The activity book that went with it looks fun, and the kids are keen to complete different aspects; a maze, making posters, games and word searches. Just got to get some ink for my printer first…
The resource as a whole, would be great to use at home and in the classroom as part of PHSCE or as part of an anti-bullying week (although a bit late for this years National anti-bullying week 16th -20th November). I can imagine many school councils would enjoy sharing this resource with their peers and some great activities (music, drama, paper activities and discussion) could be generated from reading the comic as a stimulus.
For more information on using the resource at home or in the classroom click here. There are videos and more information on the excellent resources on offer to boost children’s self-esteem and confidence, including resources to help with the stress of sats.
The creator (Simon Benn) also does workshops to schools which amazingly, are either free or funded and I certainly intend to book him in for next years Anti-Bullying Week.
Being huge Roald Dahl fans, we were excited to be invited to try the new app, all based on ‘The Twits’ (Hubby’s all time favourite). We jumped at the chance, and over the last twenty four hours, we have all had a go at playing tricks on Mrs Twit.
The illustrations are awesome, and the sound effects and background music add to the whole feel of the app.
How it works
Work your way around the different rooms playing tricks on Mrs Twit, to generate points and eventually unlock more rooms and Mr Twit. We haven’t got that far yet, but the kids have loved feeding Mrs Twit maggots and mouldy cornflakes, hiding buckets of water and wasps nests in cupboards, and spotting upside down monkeys.
It took my 7 year old a little while and little help from me to figure out what to do, but her eleven year old cousin mastered it easily (he felt it was a bit young for him).
The recommended age 6-11 but any app savvy fun loving primary school child could have a good go.
We can’t wait to work our way through more of the app and it is a perfect addition for any Roald Dahl lover. Excellent value at £2.99 too!
In case I haven’t convinced you, you can watch the trailer below.
It can be purchased fm the App Store http://m.onelink.me/d7038c19
Enjoy!
Although as a rule I prefer photographs of the children playing and just being themselves. I do admit, I like to get a ‘posed photograph’ of our brood together every so often and it is always a challenge to get them looking the same way, never mind all looking beautiful and pristine.
One gets distracted; one has their eyes closed, one get distracted; one is grimacing; one can’t be seen; one runs away; one moves and is blurry,
At the start of the summer holidays we were sent a digital extract from this book to review, and my daughter and I both loved it. The only disappointment being , the complete book is not available to buy until November. What surprised me the most, is how you do not need to have read the other Wimpy Kid books in order to enjoy it! Despite my class of Year three children loving The Wimpy Kid series, it is something I have not yet tried with my seven year old. We were hooked… They style it is written in is highly entertaining and you can really relate to the characters and what they are doing. We both could really hear the character speaking, as the casual style works so effectively. This book will bring back fond memories for many adults, as a child I remember setting up a lemonade and perfume stall on my road, and I know my eldest has always fancied doing it too. The illustrations are simple and effective and break up the amount of text perfectly, meaning it suits my seven year old as too much text in one hit, overwhelms her a little still. The book is the type of book, both daddy and I will enjoy reading with her, as it had me chuckling out loud. Give it a year,and Kiddiewink 1 will happily read it independently, she is not quite fluent enough to at the minute, so reading it with an adult, ensures then our is not lost.
We tried out the lemonade recipe too, and two of my three kiddiewinks loved it. My eldest has a things for lemons so she drank it extremely quickly, although she said it wasn’t ‘real lemonade’, my littlest loved it too, but my middle child spat it out, declaring it was ‘too spicy’. My hubby and I enjoyed it and it was easy peasy too make.
My daughter and I, wholeheartedly recommend the book, and will most definitely be trying out the rest of the series, while waiting for this book to be released.
You can pre order it here, we will certainly be pre ordering it.
Just now, while on holiday in Portugal, I asked my hubby to apply my sun cream. My eldest then announced “we’re the chunky family mummy”. When I asked her what she meant, she replied that myself, her and daddy all had chunky legs, all said while slapping her thighs. Now, I can get over what she said about me, but I am mortified she thinks it of herself, she is only seven! She tells me her two closest friends at school told her she had chunky legs, she doesn’t seem particularly bothered, but it does make me worry about body image and how whether these comments will affect her in the future. I have always worried about my weight, stupid I know, as I am only a size 12, but being short I do carry my weight on my thighs! Her smiling positive outlook on ‘chunky thighs’ is refreshing but I do worry whether it will last and she has a real complex about her fat fingers (which aren’t fat, but definitely not pianist hands). Why do people have to comment about size at all, especially when seven! But for now, I will settle for being the ‘chunky family’, and try and accept it as a positive?
The first time he wore them
“Mummy I can see” these were the words shouted by my four year old .after swimming underwater with his prescription goggles on! Those four words made ‘prescription goggles’ for us, totally worth it.
Ordering prescription goggles
This was all a bit of a ball ache to be honest, but mainly because of mixed messages due to a change in legislation . Online retailers can no longer prescribe for children, and the cost at opticians seemed extortionate! If Kiddiewink 2 had been a mild prescription, we probably wouldn’t have bothered, but at +7, +8 and a crazy water baby we felt he needed them. Our local opticians ‘Wendy Diddams were amazing, as they always are, and ordered some in that would work for his prescription. One pair looked more ‘prescription’ than the other, and luckily the other pair fitted better, so he preferred them too.
They took a few weeks to arrive and obviously he didn’t see the benefit until we actually went swimming. They were also somewhat more expensive than normal goggles too, which is frustrating but means he/we have really looked after them!
“Mummy I can see” priceless…
Here is a video about why little man loves his goggles… Struggling to load the ones of him in the water but will update soon.
Little lady always wants to get in on the action too …
Over the last three years, kiddiewink 2 has seen a different optometrist and ophthalmologist each time. On Tuesday, little man had his three monthly check up and finally he saw the same person as last time. We have been moved to a Child Development centre linked to the hospital and it is so much better. Waiting area is brilliant for children, parking is vast and free. We always have a bag of snacks as the wait can be quite long.
Yesterday at his check, as usual, Little man wouldn’t speak at first (well for all of 30seconds). He was bothered he was due to have the drops that help check his prescription, this is not an experience he relishes so was a little down in the dumps. Instantly She cheered him up, explaining the eye drops were just like ice, as he likes ice, they were put in with no fuss or tears whatsoever. It helped that for the first time ever, it was the lady he saw last time, so she was straight away brilliant with him. All is good, he managed to do a little better than last time and his prescription we changed ever so slightly for the better. I was just relieved that he didn’t need patching again, those are words I really don’t want to hear again!
Littlest lady has her next check in a week, fingers crossed she co-operates as she is a feisty monkey at the minute. She is still pretty good at keeping them on, but she flings them off in the car and sometimes the pram, if she is tired. Although the I believe they come off a little more for the childminder and my mum! If you ask her for them, she takes them off and hands them you, equally, she asks for them in the morning and after naps. Other kiddiewinks of her age are pretty interested in them at the moment, trying to talk them off. Surprisingly, she gets quite protective over them. Her script went from +11 to +9.5, hoping her results are positive this time too. She is somewhat more wilful than the others, so I sense if she ever needs patching we are buggered!
All things kiddiewink 