Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Stage Show Review

Given Little Man and his sister are much older than the toddler (there is a 10 & 7 year age gap) I know how fast it goes and I’m trying to make the Pre-school years as magical as possible for the toddler (and myself).

I know Harley is my last and there will be no more babies! Before I know it he will be off to school like his siblings and to be honest, I’ll be a tad sad.

We have created lots of magical memories of toddlerhood and just a few weeks back we added another of those memories to the list when myself, sister, niece and Harley went to see one of his favourite shows! Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom.

Yep, the live tour has kicked off and we got to see it during its first pit stop, when the stage of the Orchard Theatre Dartford Kent was transformed into a magical fairy kingdom.

The all too familiar theme tune played out as we took our seats and both toddlers ( Harley and niece Amy) could be heard excitedly cheering as they waved and jumped up and down in their seats as Princess Holly took to the stage.

I love these moments, the sheer happiness something so simple can bring to a toddlers life. Harley loves getting to see all of his favourite characters from the TV, only now, his forever requesting “Mum can we see them, please…please?”

The show was made up of a few of the episodes, only with extra scenes added on, in-order to make it that bit more lengthy and entertaining ( let’s not forget the TV episodes only last around 5 minutes each).

The set looked really magical and the show included full size costumes and for one scene beautiful puppets. All of the characters can be found in the show. There is of course Princess Holly and her best friend Ben Elf, plus… Nanny plum, the king, and not forgetting the wise old elf.

What we really loved about this particular show was how interactive it was. There were many fantastic songs that required the children to join in and mimic the actions. Both toddlers loved all this and didn’t need any encouragement from myself or my sister, to get up on their feet and join in.

We had an excellent Sunday morning watching the show and came home with some fabulous Ben and holly light up spinning wands and reading books . We found the merchandise really reasonably priced considering we were at a kids production and I’ve seen much more expensive items in the post.

Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom is brought to life in a truly magical performance. We highly recommend the show to families with little Ben and holly fans (even those who are not, are bound to be by the time the curtain goes down).

The Live stage show is running till July next year. Click Here for your dates and venues.

Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom coming to the live stage

My toddler Harley really loves the experience of meeting his favourite pre-school characters in the flesh.

His been pretty lucky to meet many, Bob the Builder, Firemen Sam, Peppa Pig, Scooby Doo, just to name a few.

We have been to live stage productions such as “In the Night Garden” and “Peppa Pig” to a number of meet and Greets while attending children’s events.

So, you can imagine the excitement that will be caused when he discovers that Princess Holly and Ben Elf from “Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom” has a live production scheduled to hit the big stage later this year.

If you little ones are fans of the Little Kingdom then check out the details below. (Oh and be sure to check out My updates on the event as there will also be the opportunity to try and win yourselves some tickets).

BEN & HOLLY’S LITTLE KINGDOM

LIVE ON STAGE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

FROM THE MAKERS OF PEPPA PIG
NEW UK TOUR FOR 2012/2013

TOUR DATES FOR 2012 ANNOUNCED:
OPENS 26 OCTOBER at THE ORCHARD THEATRE, DARTFORD

www.benandhollylive.com

From the makers of Peppa Pig and the producers of the two hugely successful Peppa Pig theatre tours comes the first ever stage version of the BAFTA award-winning TV animation, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom. This brand new UK tour opens at The Orchard Theatre, Dartford on 26 October at the start of an extensive UK tour, booking through till summer 2013.

Currently a top favourite show for pre-schoolers, this charmingly magical animation airs on Nick Jr (since April 2009) and on 5’s Milkshake (since April 2010). Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom is co-owned by animation studio Astley Baker Davies and has been a hit with audiences and critics alike. The series won a BAFTA award for Best Pre-School Animation in 2009 and a British Animation Award for Best Pre-School Series in 2012.

The Little Kingdom – where everyone is very, very small – is home to Princess Holly and her best friend Ben Elf. Holly is a young fairy princess who is still learning how to do magic properly and sometimes her spells don’t work out quite right. Ben is an Elf. Elves don’t do magic but they are very good at making things. Ben doesn’t have wings like Holly but he flies on the back of Gaston the Ladybird.

In this exciting new musical adventure, Ben and Holly have fun and games helping Gaston clean up his messy cave; they go on a trip to The Big World with tooth-fairy Nanny Plum; and still have time to plan a surprise for King Elf’s birthday party, complete with an unplanned jelly flood.

Packed full of games, songs and laughter, this is an enchanting and magical visit to the Little Kingdom, live on stage for the very first time. This beautiful story of elves, princesses and childhood innocence will delight all the family.

Richard Lewis has adapted the TV animation for the stage and also directs. He also adapted and directed the two highly popular Peppa Pig theatre tours (2009 – 2011 and the current tour 2011 – 2012, both of which had sell-out West End Christmas runs at the Criterion Theatre) and the two LazyTown Live! tours (2007 – 2009).
The composer is the highly talented Mani Svavarsson. He was also part of the creative team on the two Peppa Pig stage tours.

Cast and other creative team members to be announced in due course.

Check out www.benandhollylive.com for the Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom
UK 2012 – 2013 tour dates.

Win stocking fillers for the toddlers in the countdown till Christmas

17

Days till Christmas

Wow can you believe it people, just 17 days till Christmas! With that in mind, who fancies winning some stocking fillers?

I have two awesome DVDs up for grabs and one lucky reader can win them both. 

These have already proven exteremly popular here on the blog, with both having been featured in previous competitions, both appearing on the Santa’s Little helpers wish list and both undergoing reviews form the little helpers.

Now remember, It’s one winner gets both!

Today’s prize is donated by the awesome Entertainment One, and is …

Image via Wikipedia

A Copy of Peppa Pig international day & a copy of Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom the tooth fairy.

HOW TO WIN THESE TWO FANTASTIC CHILDREN’S FAVOURITES

 

NOTE: THOSE THAT DON’T FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS WILL NOT BE ENTERED! (Sorry, but this happens to be a  reoccurring event)!

COMPULSORY ACTIONS

(THIS MUST BE COMPLETED)

Comment on any other post then come back and tell me which post you commented on, PLUS… Tell me who you want to win these for! (both in one comment, those who do it in two will only have the one counted)! Please leave a contact twitter/email.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES

TWEET: “I want to win  Peppa pig and ben & holly dvds 4 xmas with @clairelouise82” ADDING THE URL TO THIS POST. Comment and let me know you have done it with your twitter ID.

Stumble this post using the share buttons (comment to let me know you have done it)

Subscribe via email (comment to let me know you have done it)

Comment on a second post (not competition related) comment to let me know which post.

TO MAKE YOUR ENTRIES COUNT A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ACTION (EXCLUDING THE FIRST) PLEASE.

Competition will close on the 16th of December 2011

T&C

UK only, entries that haven’t abided by the rules will not be entered in to the final draw. All entries are checked before random draw. Due to the fact this is a Christmas Competition please be aware that you only have 24hrs to confirm your postal address once notified.

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Fun with Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom

Another one for the Christmas List, We are really not far from the big “C” there is truly no getting away from it!

This time I’m sharing mine and the helpers views on the Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Lotto Game.

Oh yes, Like many other Pre-schoolers across the land, my Little Harley who is 2 next month is a “Massive” Ben and Holly fan, he loves it!

The other two? well… not really, at almost 9 Alice-Sara loves her Monsters high, Barbie and everything else girlie and the Little man spends his days investigating new Bus routes, building with Lego and discovering his other interests, however since doing the Little helpers both are more inclined to join me and the youngest member of the family in playing a game or two.

So, that’s what we did when we received the Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom Lotto game by Entertainment one ! The game is recommended for children aged 3+ Harley at almost two is a tad young, however as my partner in crime and with lots of prompts he was able to really get involved and had loads of fun doing so. The way I see it is, his engaging learning and taking it in bit by bit, he will get many years to play this on a more independent level.

Product Description

A fun Lotto memory game featuring Ben and Holly plus other favourite characters from the TV show. Holly has mixed up all the things in the little kingdom whilst practising her magic spells. Can you help her put them all back where they belong?

Our thoughts

The concept of the game is rather simple, yet extremely fun for the little ones. It’s a great way to help aid the development of your child’s memory skills as-well as that of their concentration and thinking style.

Memory games are also really great for children with autism or those with additional needs as I’ve demonstrated in past post when reviewing a range of games with Little man.

This isn’t your typical memory game! Basically each player selects a card and looks to see if it features any of the featured images on their lotto card, whoever fills their six game slots on their lotto card first is the winner.

Harley would select the card and pass it to me. If we had the featured item I would cheer and clap, this got him very excited causing him to cheer even when our opponents found one of their cards, bless him, he’ll soon get out of that, I’m sure 🙂

The older two found it quite easy but really enjoyable especially my eldest with Aspergers. His been found head first in the toy box digging out the game a number of times! I even discovered him playing it alone last week, um… not to sure how that worked but I left him happily to it!

Have to give this one a five star*****

If not for the fantastic valule for money but the endless family fun it’s provided!

Would make an excellent gift for any little Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom fan

Plus it’s a Great addition to the toy box

Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom Lotto Game is aimed at Children 3 years plus, it’s for 2-4 players and is priced at an amazing £7.99 RRP (in my opinion a little price for a great game) It’s very well made and if looked after will last for many games over many years.

Fancy a game of Lotto? Ben and Holly’s Little kingdom Game is available form all good retailers so… make sure you get yours this Christmas.

I’ve uncovered it for you at Debenhams in the Sale for the awesome price of £5.60

PLUS THEY HAVE FREE P&P FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!

It’s too much of a deal to ignore isn’t it? Click HERE for the Debenhams website to get yours.

Ben and Holly fans can now head over to the official Facebook page, why not check it out by clicking HERE

Thanks to Entertainment one for sending me a copy of the game for the purpose of this review.

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Bumpeez and Chewigem winners

The Winner of the Bumpeez Give away is… Emma Treadwell

Congratulations Emma please contact me for your prize.

Prize ID	Winner ID	Public Info	Private Info	Random Sorting ID	Weight
1: Bumpeez album pack	18	Emma Treadwell		1b7bbef7-305c-4c82-9bcf-176fd2040c96

Also in a little twisted of event’s, I have done a redraw for the Chewigem competition due to the winner being completely unresponsive despite a large number messages trying to make contact. 

So without further delay the winner to the Chewigem give away is…. Kylie Hodges

Congratulations Kylie please contact me with your address and choice of Chewigem.

Prize ID	Winner ID	Public Info	Private Info	Random Sorting ID	Weight
1: chewigem of winners choice	14	Kylie Hodges		9b7b4866-f5c2-4bbb-85bc-0b8105ff3755

Both draws were carried out with the use of Random picker and those that wish to check their participation or the draw results can do so by clicking either of the links below!

Bumpeez protocol click HERE

Chewigem protocol click HERE 

IF YOU LOVE GIVEAWAYS WHY NOT ENTER OUR ‘MATALAN GIFT VOUCHER COMPETITION’ WITH THE WINNER RECEIVING A £25 GIFT CARD.  JUST CLICK HERE

OR

THERE’S STILL TIME TO WIN A BEN & HOLLY’S LITTLE KINGDOM THE TOOTH FAIRY DVD FOR YOUR LITTLE ONE’S. JUST CLICK HERE

Look out for competitions from Peppa pig & The Wooden toyshop coming very soon

Ben and Holly’s little kingdom giveaway

 Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom 

The Tooth Fairy

We got an email a few weeks back alerting us of a new DVD release for pre-schoolers. We were asked to do a review and run a competition of Ben & Holly’s Little kingdom The tooth fairy which is brought to us from the same creators of “Peppa Pig” which Little Harley adores.

 Well, as you can see we agreed, so here we are!

 Here’s what the creators say..

 Budding fairies and mischievous elves are invited into an enchanting little world that’s big on magic in Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom: The Tooth Fairy, the new DVD release from the BAFTA award winning animation.

 Brought to you from the creators of Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom: The Tooth Fairy is available to buy from Monday 3rd October 2011 (£12.99 RRP Cert. U, Entertainment One).  The DVD contains 10 exciting episodes that perfectly blend magic, adventure and humour that will delight and engage young fans.

 Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom is a firm favourite on Nick Jr and Channel 5’s Milkshake where boys and girls tune in every day to follow the adventures of Princess Holly and her best friend Ben Elf. Holly is a young fairy who is still learning how to do magic properly. Ben is an elf and elves don’t do magic, but they are very good at making things.  Along with their friends, Ben and Holly have lots of fun and exciting adventures playing together in the Little Kingdom.

 Small in scale but big on magic Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom: The Tooth Fairy is set to sprinkle a magical blend of fairy dust on homes across the land when it is released this autumn.

What we thought…

Despite Harley’s Love for Gorge pig we had never seen any episodes of Ben and Holly (Maybe because we don’t have Sky or Cable TV).

 So, I popped this into the DVD player in the bedroom, snuggled up with my youngest and watched this shortly before his bedtime.

 Harley was interested and kept saying “Look mum” In my opinion his pretty advanced for his 22 months and tends to point out and name lots of things.

Each episode is nice and short which keeps the little ones interested. You get quite a few episodes on the one DVD, ten in-fact which is just enough, though we watched around four before Harley drifted off to the land of happiness, so we watched the remaining six the following day. He must have enjoyed them as he went over to the TV as soon as he woke and asked, “Mummy, where gone?” 

Here’s the episodes you get.

 EPISODE LISTING – The Elf Factory – Ben’s Birthday Card – Books – Betty Caterpillar – Queen Holly – The Woodpecker – The Elf Band – The Ant Hill – Redbeard the Elf Pirate – The Tooth Fairy

 We both enjoyed Ben and Holly (Mummy didn’t have a choice given I’ve watched it a further three times).

Ben and Holly’s  Little kingdom The tooth fairy, is fun bold and colourful. It will keep little ones entertained allowing parents to take a breather (unless like Harley yours wants you to join them).

 You can now buy Ben and Holly’s Kingdom The tooth fairy on DVD as it was released this past Monday the 3rd October from Entertainment One priced at £12.99

 Fancy winning a copy?

Here’s how

 Just leave a comment here telling me why you’d like to win a copy

NOTE YOU MUST LEAVE A TWITTER, EMAIL ADD OR ANOTHER FORM OF CONTACT WITH YOUR ENTRY. This allows me to contact you if you win.

 For an additional entry Tweet, “I want to Win a copy of Ben & Holly’s Magical Kingdom with @clairelouise82 (WITH THE URL TO THIS POST). Please leave me an additional comment from that above informing me you have done so.

 For one last entry subscribe to the blog either by clicking the subscribe button at the top of the sidebar or via Networkblogs (Link in sidebar). Again Please leave me a comment additional from those above informing me you have done so.

That’s a maximum of three entries per person (totalling three comments, any others will not be published)

THAT’S IT GUYS, GOOD LUCK

Competition closes on the 22nd October at mid-night, entries after this date will not be accepted. You must be a UK resident to enter. Winner will be drawn at Random with the use of Random Picker and will be notified soon after. You must respond to claim your prize within 5 days of the official announcement post or risk a redraw. 

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