Nana's knickers - Children's book review

It's time for bed and time for the bedtime story, we find it very difficult to find a story that appeals to both of our youngest girls who are 5 and 8 years old. The 8yr old will often complain that the book her sister has chosen is too childish while the 5yr old gets bored without pictures to look at.

 

This amusing story is all about Nana and her family trying to find her missing knickers!

 

 

 

When the new book Nana's knickers arrived both girls were keen to listen and were giggling as I read the title. I think most children find words considered 'naughty' amusing, and the title engaged them instantly.

 

The book is a good size and large enough for several children to look at together and the pictures are large and colourful. The children enjoyed having just a small amount of text on each page and were keen to see what happened next. Both girls laughed when Nana shouted "I can't find my knickers" and really enjoyed the ending where they were found.

We think this book would appeal to primary children of all ages and one I would choose over others to read to a group of children due to it's large engaging pictures and amusing story.

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written by Nico Russell and illustrated by Charlie Meyer

You can find out more about the book here



 

 



Annie Get Your Gun review

Annie get your gun brings the wild west to Bournemouth. This Irvin Berlin's classical musical comedy has bundles of energy and a sweet story.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West show comes to town and country girl Annie Oakley falls for Frank Butler.  Both competitive characters, they fight to win the best shot and each other's hearts.

Emma Williams brings an outstanding voice to the part of Annie Oakley and Jonathon Wilkes is charming as Frank Butler.  Lovely to see Norman Pace as Buffalo bill and Ed Currie amusing the audience with his comic timing as chief sitting bull.

Great show tunes 'There's no business like show business' and 'Anything you can do i can do better' bring Broadway to Bournemouth and the performances of the cast make this musical the heartwarming show that it is.

Bournemouth Pavilion  19 – 23 August 2014

Ticket Prices

£25.80 – £37.63

The Clay Studio

 

 

 

 

Last week we were invited to visit The Clay Studio and ceramic café in Christchurch.  The Clay Studio is situated on the corner of the Fountain roundabout and has it's own dedicated parking bays.

We were surprised by how much space they have, downstairs is a dedicated room used for children's parties where they are able to supply their own food. They also hold  mother and baby days and are very accommodating of parents with pushchairs. There is a baby change area and they are happy for mums to breastfeed their baby.

The girls painted a mug each and were able to choose their own colours and make a design of their choice and it was a welcome change in pace from the busy theme parks and endless car journeys. There are lots of items to choose from and we were impressed to watch a family paint in silence, mum dad and little girl were all quietly painting their own pieces and engrossed in their own work.

The Clay Studio offers much more then you realise, popular as a venue for a hen party yet somewhere relaxing to sit with a coffee and watch the world go by. You don't have to paint, it's a café in it's own right offering a range of food and drinks and seating both inside and out.

Something I wish I had done with my own babies is the first impressions clay imprints, the child's hand and footprints placed onto clay for a keepsake. This is a also a great place to make your own unique gift or holiday souvenir. Take a look at the website to see what else they do.

 

 

 

Here are the finished mugs after being glazed.

 

See what else you can paint at The Clay Studio

 

The Clay Studio

The Fountain

1 High Street

Christchurch

Dorset BH23 1AE

 

Tel: 01202 475000

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Review - Cats the musical

 Cats at the Bournemouth Pavilion

So, as a cat lover myself and also a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber's other musicals, this show was much anticipated. 

The story tells of one special night when the Jellicle cats meet at the Jellicle Ball, where their leader Old Deuteronomy decides which of the cats will be reborn into a new Jellicle life. The storyline feels like it lacks something and I felt it difficult to remain engaged with it.

Brilliant staging and highly impressive performances from the cast are what this show is all about, the musical numbers - with Memory getting a special mention - really showcase Andrew Lloyd Webber and the talent of the performers.

The cats danced in the aisles involving the audience and Old Deuteronomy stayed on stage in the interval to sign autographs.

A great high energy show with spectacular set designs, stunning costumes and breathtaking choreography, CATS is a magical musical like no other.


Cats is at Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre from Monday 11 – Saturday 16 August 2014.

Book Review: 101 things for kids to do outside

It's the summer holidays and like many other parents we are trying to come up with interesting activities to keep the children entertained. My children would spend all day staring at a computer screen if i didn't come up with other ideas, so this book couldn't have come through the post at a better time.

The five year old got her hands on the book first and was instantly excited by the ideas in the large photos and pointed out a few straight away that she would like to try. There are activities in the book to suit any time of the year or weather, so once i had convinced her that that a Halloween feast could wait a few months, she chose to make flower fairies.

We decided to make the fairies in our garden, meanwhile my other daughter who was engrossed in Club Penguin at the time, got off the computer to investigate what was going on. Result! She is almost eight and when i told her what we had planned she looked a bit bemused but soon got stuck in.

The girls spent ages gathering bits and pieces they could use and kept going back and looking at the ideas in the photos. We did have strawberries growing a few weeks ago but sadly they have all been used up so we picked a small apple from the tree and used a fir cone that one of the girls had found previously. Once we had the main body it was easy to find the other little bits to add on. They kept it simple and were very pleased with the results.

What really surprised me, was how this activity led to another and the girls wanted to continue the game and make a house and garden for the fairies. We ended up in the garden for almost two hours and i am not sure which one of us had the most fun!

Here are the results from the 'Make flower fairies activity'

Dawn Isaac, award-winning garden designer, blogger and mum to three young children, comes 101 Things for Kids To Do Outside, packed with games, projects, crafts, experiments and gardening inspiration to get your children to put down their game console controllers and race outside to try something new.

As a grown up looking back, it’s the long school summer holidays spent outside all day playing games, running through the crunchy - cold woods looking for conkers in autumn, picking the first buttercups of spring and building snowmen in icy winter that we remember much more fondly than the time spent in front of the TV or PC. With children aged 8 – 18 spending on average 7.5 hours in front of a screen each day (Kaiser Family Foundation), and childhood obesity on the rise, it is more important than ever to get children outside to explore, climb, run and laugh, whilst they are still children.

Dawn has put together a brilliant compendium of ideas for kids (and adults!), covering all four seasons and ranging from quick 10-minute activities to a full day of fun. From party games and treasure hunts to simple gardening projects, each project is simple to follow and illustrated with colour photography. Encourage your kids to sweep for bugs, plant an alpine colander, fly a home-made kite, make a mud pie kitchen, build a snow lantern, hold a mini Olympics or take the matchbox challenge alongside loads of other great ideas.

The best thing is, you don’t even have to have a garden to use this book to its full potential - a local park or small grassy area will work just as well. This hands-on guide will help children make the most of being outdoors, stimulate their imaginations and provide hours of entertainment for the entire family.

Dawn Isaac spends much of her time coming up with new ways to persuade her kids to go outside, a mission which is chronicled in her popular blog www.littlegreenfingers.com. It is also the featured blog on the RHS family website. Dawn writes on garden design for the Guardian, The Telegraph and The Garden, and is currently running Family Garden Design courses in association with Mumsnet Academy. She is also the horticultural advisor for the award-winning CBeebies show Mr Bloom’s Nursery.

101 things for kids to do outside

Dawn Isaac

Published by Kyle Books on 27^th March 2014, priced £14.99
http://www.dawn-isaac.com/buy-the-book/