5 Reasons Why Animals Are Important To Your Child

Why are children so fond of animals? From teddy bears to favourite TV and cartoon characters, animals are a key part of a young child’s development. Children’s educational specialist Stephanie Cooper has identified 5 key areas where animals play an important role:

Continue reading....

Nim's Island

The family film, Nim's Island (based on the book of the same name by Wendy Orr) is currently showing in cinemas across the land. I recently saw this along with my children and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The main star of the film is Nim, a young girl who lives with her father, a marine biologist, on a remote island. She is home schooled and spends her time surrounded by exotic animals or escaping with her favourite books. However disaster strikes when her father fails to return from a sailing expedition. Nim then turns to the hero of her favourite book, Alex Rover, for help via e-mail. But it turns out that the author with whom she is communicating is nothing like her hero. I don't want to spoil the story by giving away too many details, but both characters have to learn to overcome difficulties, and there is a happy ending :-)



Whilst adults may find large parts of the plot rather inplausible, the scenery is stunning and my children thought the film was great fun. They especially liked the fact that main character was an all-action girl. All in all a big thumbs up from us.

Free Charlie and Lola puppet show (London)

I was sent a press release today about a free Charlie and Lola puppet show event in London in August. Being a huge fan of the Charlie and Lola books, I thought I'd post it up here so that any Londoners can make a note in their diaries! NB: Although the puppet show is free, you will need to phone to book places (details below)...

CHARLIE AND LOLA
MAKE AN EVERSO EXCITING TRIP TO HARRODS
Sibling duo star in their absolutely completely brilliant puppet show this August

The award-winning Charlie and Lola will perform for Harrods customers this August in an exciting puppet show based on the hit television episode ‘I will not ever, never eat a tomato’.

A dedicated area in the Toy Kingdom of iconic British department store Harrods will see a series of performances of the enchanting and delightful sibling duo in a live puppet show. Taking place on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st August this is a one-off weekend of sibling fun from the beloved Charlie and Lola and highly recommended for an afternoon of amusement for parents and their little ones.

The shows – happening 11 times throughout the weekend – will take place in a specially created Charlie and Lola area where kids and their parents will get a chance to see the brand new toys available plus catch up on some of the classic TV episodes being screened on DVD.

CHARLIE AND LOLA PUPPET SHOW
‘I will not ever, never eat a tomato’ based on the books by Lauren Child and inspired by the award-winning TV show created by Tiger Aspect, is a puppet show performed in the Japanese style of puppetry called Ban Raku and has previously toured shopping centres across the US and Southern England.

Lola will not eat peas. In fact, she won't eat carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, eggs, sausages, cauliflower, cabbage or baked beans. And she will absolutely not EVER NEVER eat a tomato.

Then Charlie has a great idea. He tells Lola that peas are green drops from Greenland, and that carrots are orange twigs from Jupiter, then Lola decides she might just try one or two.

The story offers a fun and ingenious solution to a problem that can turn into a daily battle between a parent and child and is one which both can enjoy together.

PERFORMANCE TIMES
Each puppet show session will last 15 minutes and take place at the following times:

Saturday 30th August - 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm
Sunday 31st August - 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm

Tickets are free, must be reserved in advance and based on a first-come, first-served basis. To book a space at one of the extremely exciting shows please call 02072256781.

CHARLIE AND LOLA TOYS
Toy manufacturers Golden Bear will be showcasing their brand new Charlie and Lola toy range at this much-anticipated event. This year sees the launch of a beautiful new wooden collection which will delight fans of the loveable characters. Soft toys and create and play activity items are also available. Watch out for the brand new Colour-In Lola, Chattering Charlie and Lola, Charlie and Lola Make and Play Card Playsets, Wooden Playhouse with accessory sets and much more.

For more information visit http://www.goldenbeartoys.com/

Finger Knitting Fun

We have been having fun playing with wool recently. While my 10 year old can now knit quite well (thanks Grandma!), my other children still found it frustrating. However this frustration was solved when we discovered finger knitting. We started with single finger knitting which is very simple, all you need is yarn (thick yarn gives best results) and fingers! There is an excellent demonstration here:



From this we progressed on to four finger knitting - this is slightly more demanding but gives you a more versatile end product (think toy scarves instead of belts!). These two videos show different techniques for finger knitting - personally I prefer the second method but just love the presentation in both...





I now make sure that we have some yarn with us for long car journeys and have a simple way to keep children occupied. Why not give it a try?

NB: Please do not allow your children to browse video sharing sites unsupervised!

Poem for Father's Day

I've been trying to help my own children think of what to do for dad on Father's Day this weekend. When looking for a verse for a card we came across this:

"Walk a little slower, Daddy!" said a little child so small.
"I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower Daddy, for you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up, you're what I want to be.
Then I will have a little child who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you."

It would be ideal for a gift, perhaps with some painted footprints along side (always a nice momento of children's growth). Or maybe it could be written on one of the printables here.

I'm sure dad will love his gift in whatever form it finally takes and enjoy spending Father's Day with his family.

Use Coloring Pages for Craft Patterns

Coloring pages are fun to decorate with crayons, pencils, markers and paint, but did you know you can also use them for other creative projects?

Try using a coloring page design with these craft techniques:

• Embroidery
• Stained Glass
• Quilting
• Paper Piecing
• Applique
• Card Making
• Stenciling
• Die Cuts
• Scrapbooking

LINK Craft Ideas for Coloring Page Pictures
LINK Ideas for Adult Coloring Page Fun

Fun website

We've been having fun exploring this website: activitytv.com
(NB. no link with Activity Village!). There are lots of great videos to check out all aimed at children, and each activity also has printable instructions available. The activities range from crafts to science experiments, juggling to cartooning, with lots more besides.

With Father's Day fast approaching, this card craft might be ideal:

Pop-up Card

The one possible drawback, as with all sites with videos, is that you do need a fairly fast internet connection or playback is very slow or disjointed.