#silentsunday

#Silent Sunday

Cubby Love

As we have clearly been in an extremely crafty mood these past few weeks, it’s no surprise that I wanted a piece of the Cubby Kit action.

A few parent bloggers have been chatting about these exciting boxes filled to the brim with crafty fun and as I consider myself to be a rather crafty mother, I found myself somewhat interested in what exactly the little brown box, known as a cubby box, entailed.

Not only did I discover more about the Cubby Kit appearing on the blogosphere, but id also received an email, which gave me a full introduction to the Cubby Kit from those behind the idea!

I didn’t need all that much convincing and within a blink of an eye, I’d already replied agreeing to give it a try.

So… What exactly is a Cubby Kit?

Cubby Kit is a subscription based service where every month a well presented box of crafty fun is delivered direct to your door, addressed to your child.

Within this box of crafts you will find a brightly coloured sheet highlighting the months theme along with three different activities to complete. The activities all contain their own bits and bobs alongside a brightly coloured instruction booklet, all placed in their very own paper bag. Once children have completed the activities, they will find lots of extra craft materials within the box, so the little crafter will have plenty to keep them going till next months box of surprises.

There are two subscriptions available for children aged 3-4 or those aged 5-6

For me, the idea behind Cubby Kit is a fabulous one! Children get everything needed for each activity within the box (even down to the scissors).

Harley is actually 2 years old but is showing a real interest for crafting, so we decided to have this addressed to Harley and Alice-Sara his 9-year-old sister.

The box arrived quickly and I really can’t fault them on presentation, the box was nicely packed within sheets of sky blue tissue paper, everything had a cute cubby sticker placed on it, and each item was labelled well.

First impressions were excellent and I couldn’t wait to get this out when Alice-Sara returned from her sleepover.

The months theme was “Space” and the three activities given, were, Mushy Martians, Constellation Chart, 3D Rocket Picture.

Each projects instructions were displayed really clearly, with the use of both words and pictures making this great for those visual learners like my little man who has Aspergers Syndrome.

This all kind of reminded me of my days at pre-school, what with the cute little tub of PVA glue supplied with little spatula. Our box was a sample box for the purpose of a review so I am not sure how much additional material a child is given to see them through the month as the supply box contain a small handful of these.

One thing I will note, is given the box is designed for smaller children, my daughter who is 9 enjoyed the 3D Rocket Picture, and the Constellation Chart, a great deal. I personally felt that both these activities were also great for her age group.

The first activity started was that of the 3D Rocket picture. All the materials were supplied with nothing missing. We did however get out our own felt tip pens to give Alice-Sara more variety of colours to use for the colouring in of the rocket. Harley (the toddler helped with the gluing, sticking and sprinkling of glitter, which he seemed to enjoy. The activity didn’t last more than half an hour to complete and both children seemed impressed with the end results.

Above the finished 3D Rocket Picture… Note, the ribbon was not added as Harley decided to run away and hide it, seriously, we’re still looking! 🙂

Next up the children decided to get going with the Constellation Chart. Little Man (aka A boy with Aspergers) who is 11 years old, at this point declared that he had learned about this topic at school and it would be in the interest of both his brother and sister, if he helped!

Admittedly, Little Man, does tend to like control, he can often take over and become quite bossy as he dishes out instructions. Thankfully, he wasn’t to bad and this was the nicest I’ve seen them play together for ages (especially Little Man and Alice Sara). Harley the toddler, again done lots of the sticking and sprinkling, where’s the older two joined the dots and did the cutting. It’s a lovely activity based on an educational subject, so it’s a good way to get them asking questions. Again all supplies were included, though we found that the gold get pen was not fully visible on the card which I think had something to do with the glossy texture the card was made from. Luckily I have one of those gold ink pens which was perfect and helped complete the task a treat.

The most exciting activity had to be the Mushy Martians which went down a treat. Here’s the thing, my eldest child who attends a special school for children with autism and aspergers, has difficulties with all areas of his sensory processing. This includes touch and smell, his very tactile defensive and has always expressed a dislike for play dough especially its smell. Since having OT (occupational therapy) his started to tolerate more textures and informs me that he now handles play dough at school. He was absolutely amazed that we had been given the recipe and even more amazed at how it contained no smell. Seriously, he became a little over obsessed with the whole thing and told everyone that his mum can make play dough. He was even impressed at how we could make it any colour we wanted, meaning I’ve stood making pots and pots of play dough in all colours of the rainbow with Little man as my sidekick.

The instructions for Mushy Martians were again very clear and easy to follow, all ingredients were fully supplied as expected.

The only disappointment with this one was, regardless of following the given instructions the added oil and green colouring failed to turn the dough even the slightest shade of green whatsoever. I have no idea why this was, though the supplied bottle contained a very small amount and the only explanation I can possible think of is that it just wasn’t enough! Maybe the bottle leaked prior to packaging as there was no trace of any spillage and I did wonder if the amount was included before starting.

This did mean we needed to store the dough in the container that originally housed the flour and buy some green colouring the following day. Adding it to the pre-made mixture was a messy job, but worked well.

I loved the googly eyes supplied but was puzzled to why only 3 had been included (then again this is an out of space martian) We had some more googly eyes and the two boys had lots of fun making different faces. Little man pulled and pinched the dough as to make different expressions. As he has trouble with reading certain facial expressions we made this into a really fun game of “Can you guess how the Martian is feeling today”

Check out the pictures, what do you think? Note: Little man is 11 which shows your never to old for play dough.

We loved the Cubby Kit, but purely because we do a lot of crafts which therefore means we already have lots and lots of materials. This means that I couldn’t justify the £19.99 subscription fee. This would be perfect for the busy parent or the one who isn’t big on crafts. The fee does seem a lot for what we received, however, ours was a sample box so I therefore cannot comment on how much additional materials are given.

Remember, it’s not only the box of crafts supplied, but also the inspiration given within the monthly theme and enclosed three crafts.

Big thanks to those at Cubby Kit for sending us a Cubby Kit to review as well as their delightful customer service. I’d also like to thank them for the play dough recipe (Little man and his brother have a rainbow selection of dough) plus myself and Little Man are currently making some dough for his play dough crazed cousin who is also on the autism spectrum.

Newsflash: Just discovered that Cubby Kit are running a promotion… First Month Free! Promo Code on their site HERE

Disclaimer

I wasn’t paid for this review, though we did receive both a Cubby kit and lots of inspiration for the purpose of the review. 

 

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Crafty Family Fun

I love spring, for some reason it brings out the creativeness within me, which is then passed on to the children for good measure.

Out of my two eldest children (these being Little man AKA a boy with aspergers and Alice-Sara his younger sister of 2 and a half years) its Alice-Sara who has always been the one most keen to embark on any creative projects, whether this be drawing and painting, or making something from odds and ends.

My youngest, Harley, a very energetic toddler of 2, has already displayed a fondness for crafting. He loves everything from finger painting to gluing and sticking (basically, anything messy).

Little man is extremely creative when it comes to ideas, poems and LEGO creations. He draws plans for designs, but doesn’t actually enjoy putting pencil to paper, he would much rather do everything on a computer if given the opportunity! The Use of Colour is something else his always struggled with! Given the choice, he will do everything in black and white! Little man does have many difficulties, not just with his gross but also his fine motor skills. His lack of control over his fine motor skills causes him difficulties when colouring or painting a picture as he struggles to remain within the lines, and being a bit of a perfectionist, he will normally just reframe from the activity all together!

Over the last few weeks, myself and the toddler have found ourselves elbow deep in paint, glue, goggly eyes, pipe cleaners and everything else you could possibly think of! Since discovering his enjoyment for such activities, I’ve found it a great way to interact and spend lots of mother and son time, enjoying each others company while the two older children are at school (before I know it, he’ll be in that place soon too, and I want to enjoy my toddler being a toddler for as long as possible).

Having been on a creative crafty high these past few weeks (trust me, we’ve made everything from Easter Baskets to sock puppets) I was delighted to hear from the lovely team at Baker Ross.

Baker Ross have an online Aladdin’s Cave, filled to the brim with everything you’ll ever need to get crafting, plus loads of undiscovered treasures. I love it over there, so, I’m obviously delighted to be part of their network of bloggers.

Yes, this makes complete sense, as not only do I love their stuff (I could quite honestly spend hours browsing their online store) but I love to craft, bead, draw and paint with or without the help of the children. I also believe that by encouraging little man to express more of his inner creativity, he will benefit greatly! This could also help improve his fine motor skills and he may well benefit in a therapeutic type of way too.

A few weeks back, a smiley delivery man brought me a box that put me in a crafty mood. Inside there were Daffodil windmill kits, a pot of pre-cut foam to create 3D flower pots, a very funky key ring making kit and the toddlers favourite, a kit to make an array of Pom-Pom bugs.

Although, I love to use the magic of imagination when thinking of, or working on a project, it was quite pleasing  how these were all kits with an intended purposes. So, instead of being sent craft supplies which I’d spit up and use within varying projects, I actually had some pre-planed tasks to embark on with the children.

Now, I’ll start with the Miniature 3d flowerpot kits, which sadly was mine and that of the children’s least favourite! Basically, you get a pot of foam pieces all pre-cut into the required shapes…. Flower heads, steams, leafs, flower-pot etc. The instructions are Ok, though some sections needed to be read twice. The only additional material that was required to create these foam flower pots, was some silicone glue (clear in colour). My daughter found this most fidley and it was frustrating to glue the bits on and then have to wait around for each bit to dry, it really wasn’t productive. Little Man attempted it for all of 2 minutes and this really wasn’t appropriate for the toddler. The leafs wouldn’t stick correctly to the stems as these were to thin, gluing each part, pressing firmly than waiting to dry before attempting another section, was the only way forward. What would have been perfect is, if the foam was self adhesive, otherwise this just ended up a bit of a gluey mess. I did however have some double-sided tape tabs which I cut and gave the children to use. This worked out a little better, though it was still not perfect. Once these had been assembled, they looked quite groovy. In the end we just made a selection without leafs, though they were all pretty much leafless by the end ! The fact these are made of foam meant they would be easy to customise and decorate if desired (I’d highly recommend some little gem studs applied to the petals for a pretty finish).

 Next up were the Brilliant Bug Pom-Pom kits: These were the toddlers favourite, and if I’m honest, mine too. Harley, the toddler, was able to help me with these and did so for over an hour, which passed the time nicely. The best thing about these, is the fact each kit (bug) comes in its own bag which is absolutely brilliant, means they could be used for party bags etc. The Pom-Pom bugs are dead simple to make, with easy to follow instruction, these look really effective. Each bag contains instructions, goggly eyes, the required amount of Pom-Poms for the Bug you’re making and pre-cut foam pieces for body, wings, etc

All you do is glue the pieces together as shown on the instructions. We did cheat and on certain sections we used double-sided tape! This was purely because Harley wanted to play with them right away, he isn’t the most patient child, but then again, what 2-year-old is?

I particularly loved the Lady Bird we made, what with its massive goggly eyes and big smile. My toddler Harley, loved the completed Bugs, he honestly sat playing with them for hours (a cheap Christmas 2012 for me then, I hope)!

Check out the picture I took of the Lady Bird with a completed caterpillar alongside the foam flowerpots I told you about first.

Daffodil Windmill Kits (10 kits per pack) were next on the list. These were made by my daughter and my good friend Donna. This crafting activity also came in their own packaging so great for gifts, especially Easter ones. These, I wouldn’t recommend for younger children, the instructions were not the easiest I’d ever seen, so, was in agreement when my friend blamed the instructions rather than herself, when she got the first windmill very wrong. 🙂 What’s more, there is no clear description of what way the pieces should be fitted and quite obviously my daughter did become a tad frustrated. However, on a more positive note, the overall quality of the windmills is absolutely brilliant. They do start of a bit stiff, but after a while loosen up allowing them to spin as they should. These are made from good quality card and they would look fabulous stood in some flower pots next to the daffs.

These are kinda like constructing a gift from a Kinda egg, only bigger. Children are not really required to use their imagination on any kind of level, as it’s basically a step by step construction process that I guess some children will feel proud to have completed. As nice as these look, I do personally like my windmills with some personal touches, so I think I’ll be getting the kids to decorate these with some sparkle.

Now up in-till this point, its fair to say that I was unsuccessful at getting Little man (my eldest who has Aspergers Syndrome) engaged in any of the above. He just wasn’t interested! Then came the wonderful Super Shrink keyring kit and that was it, he found something he wanted to have a bash at!

Little man must have seen the potential as I was a little confused at how the kit we had been provided with, could possible make keyrings.

The kit contains lots of keyring attachments, 5 mini packets of colouring pencils and lots of plastic sheeting (size of a standard photo).

Seems like a strange selection of supplies, wouldn’t you agree? It was only once I had taken a look at the instructions, that I realised how these worked and was both impressed and intrigued by the idea! Basically what you need to do is, take one of the plastic sheets and draw your design (any design) on the rough side. You need to ensure you leave enough room to hole punch the design and cut around it. Once cut and complete, heat up the oven and then place your design inside (with the help of a grownup helper) Leave in the oven for 2-4 minutes, remove and leave to cool! What actually happens is the plastic shrinks and becomes thicker, the colours (if used) become somewhat darker, though, I still found the supplied pencils to appear way to light, so Little man used markers instead, which worked really well. Once cool, you simply add the keyring attachment through the hole that was punched before the design was cut and baked.

As previously mentioned, Little man isn’t big on colour, his actually not keen on drawing (unless it’s a simple bus design or that of a hotel plan)! With this he instead opted for a simple design, a quote as opposed to a drawing. He enjoyed this activity so much that he started making keyrings for all his teachers and staff at his school, he even made one for the cab driver and escort, each with its own personalised message.

This was a great idea, it’s a fantastic idea to get children on the autism spectrum to display their feelings for others (which many find hard to express).

Above a selection of Little Man’s message keyrings to teachers and staff at his school. 

Little man loved the kit so much that he has told me that once these are all used up, I’m to order him some more, bless him.

If you love crafting with your kids, check out these creative kits and loads of other fabulous arts and crafts materials, over on the Baker Ross website.

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It’s a pyjama day

I don’t know about you guys but I love it when my little ones and not so little ones have had their bath and are ready for bed in a pair of cosy pyjamas.

We will huggle (Yes, that is a made up word) and watch a DVD together.

When Indulging in a little twitter recently I replied to a tweet about testing a range of toddler PJ’s. The lovely Tracey, owner of Stitch, baby + kids an online Australian store, shipped me a total of six pyjamas, two girls and four boys in a range of different cute designs.

I decided that little Amy-Leigh, my cutie-pie of a niece who is just 10 weeks younger than my little Harley, would test the girls pyjamas while Harley of course would put the further four boys pairs to the test.

Harley, like little man (aka a boy with aspergers) is a tad fussy when it comes to clothing. He will get pretty stressed out if his clothing is baggy, flopping over his ankles or worse still his feet. Another of his pet hates is wet clothing, anything gets the slightest bit wet there coming off.

Tracey let me chose the six pyjamas myself via her online store which states…
“We’re always on sale”
She also offer’s free shipping for orders over $15 which is great for us in the UK and so easy done.
The site offers a range of baby and toddler pyjamas, all in ones, rompers and a range of tees.

Tracey a mother of two states that she has opened the store to offer her buyers the chance to buy brands which are quite hard to find online to order in Australia (Through she ships to a number of countries including the UK)
She doesn’t stock a massive range but is steadily adding to the store all the time.

All Pyjamas are currently on sale, priced at $12.00 each, a reduction from the $16.00 price they started at.

We had our delivery in under a week which is quite impressive given they travelled from the other side of the world.
Note: It was clear to see the items were brand new however non are tagged and even-though they are sold individually all come packaged together. This is fine, I guess its like buying a pack of six here in the UK

Here’s what we got.

Loin Pyjama’s

Rock Star Panda

Rocket Pyjamas

Porcupine Love Pyjamas

Dinosaur kids pyjamas

Love Bird

Both Harley & Amy-Leigh were pretty impressed with the designs. Harley loves pandas so the, ‘Rock-Star Panda’ went down a storm. Harley also roared an awful lot while wearing his loin set.

All pyjamas were two piece sets. Five long sleeves tops and full length bottoms and one short sleeve tee and shorts.
I ordered three pairs at a size 2 years, two pairs at an age 3 years and the remaining pair in a size 18-24ms. I figured Harley would be fine with the 2 years as at 22 months his tall and I could put the age 3 years away for a later date. However the trousers are a little tight on the leg of both Amy-Leigh’s and Harley’s pyjamas (the waist was fine) this is either the design (the long-john effect) or the sizing slightly differs here in the UK. So I guess Harley will be in his age three PJs sooner than I first thought.

What I found awesome about the PJs were the bottoms of the trousers are elasticised meaning they don’t go baggy around the ankles or flop over the child’s feet. This was perfect for little Harley just as he liked them.

Also I should mention that the pyjamas are branded as baby gap which was a pleasant surprise as I wasn’t expecting a well-known brand label to arrive.

I’ve only washed them once and they washed up fine on the first wash.

Visit the store and check them out
Stitch baby + kids
Don’t forget that these are priced at $12.00 Australian dollars which is currently around £7.79 at the moment.

Silent Sunday

Win a Mommy I’m here teddy bear child locator

A round a month back I published a post sharing a review of a fantastic product, “The Mommy I’m here, Child Locator” I tested this awesome product that came in the design of a teddy bear that could be attached to a child’s belt or shoe, and was blown away by it! 

 The post was titled:

 ‘Revolutionary device designed to keep children from wandering could benefit families of children with autism’ 

 I had quite a few parents discuss the product review with me via twitter and Facebook, showing a real interest in how it works and some asked, “Was it as good as I made out?” The review was completely honest, I love the Locator and continue to use it on my 20 month old toddler.

 I’ve heard to many devastating stories of children getting lost, injured and some even losing their young lives, due to them wandering out off sight. These stories seem to involve very young children (pre-school age) and those with special needs (a lot of the time autism)

The wonderful creators of Mummy I’m here child locators are letting me run a competition to give one of these locators away… I’m frilled as this is a product that can potentially prevent a tragedy.

 Too read the review click HERE

To win a Mommy I’m here child locator all you have to do is

Follow Safegirl on Twitter

Visit the Safe girl site and check out the other alarms and locators in the fantastic kids range

 then come back and tell me what other product and design(s) you like also letting me know that you now follow Safegirl on twitter 

(Important, Please only send One comment informing me off all the above! Others will be deleted).

Optional extra entries  

Subscribe to this blog

or 

Follow me on Networkblogs (Link in sidebar)

A comment can be left for each one of the two optional extras meaning no more than three comments in total

The alarm is availably in two colours. The winner will be able to make a preference for which colour they want prior to the prize being dispatched.  

T&C

Please Make sure you leave appropriate contact details preferable twitter id or email. All those entering must be from the UK for delivery purposes. The competition will close on the 25th August 2011 Mid-night. The winner will be drawn randomly the following day. Please note that those who do not respond to claim their prize within 5 days of the drawing may lose their right to claim and the prize will be re-drawn.The prize will be sent to the winner directly from the retailer so addresses will need to be passed on for delivery purposes. 

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Silent Sunday

Harley and the giraffe

Our fantastic feature, ‘Santa’s Little helpers is going awesomely well! We have some great reviews lined up from some brilliant brands. This evening I write the last of my three reviews for the Wooden Toy Shop who me and the children have loved working with this past month! So, far my daughter has reviewed the lovely Melissa and Doug Stamp set and Little Man has proved that Cricket can be a great game for Children on the autism spectrum, even when played alone 🙂 

 So, now it’s the turn of the littlest Elf, “20m old little bro” his had great fun reviewing one of, ‘John Cranes Tidlo Chunky puzzles’ 

 Description 

 This Chunky wooden puzzle has seven pieces, Its brightly coloured safari theme was a hit with our little monster! One of the reasons we chose this puzzle was because of it’s funky theme. Harley, aka Little Bro loves Giraffes right now, he loves the CBeebies programme, ’64 Zoo Lane’ with Georgina the Giraffe. The Giraffe along with six other animals, a Hippopotamus, Lion, Zebra, Camel, Elephant and a Crocodile make up all the pieces of this fun puzzle. 

 The John Crane Tidlo chunky safari puzzle is designed for children aged 12 months plus and can be purchased from the Wooden toy shop for a very respectable £10.79

 Playtime

 Little Bros face lit up when we got the puzzle out of its box ready to play. “Look, Giraffe” was something he continually said for the first five minutes before finally turning his attention to some of the other animal pieces. We had fun together naming each animal piece and it really encourages social interaction and gets your toddler attempting words such as Hippopotamus,”Which proved quite a mouth full” Hippo was the better alternative for this little monster. 

 The puzzle pieces are really chunky making it look almost 3D. This also makes it easier for the child to pick the pieces up so great for little fingers like Little Bros.

Every now and then I lost the little guys attention and he would climb down from his chair and dart around the room shouting, “Giraffe” waving it in the air like he was flying the thing like a plane. Eventually he would come back and after a while he seemed to be getting to grips with what he was doing. Sat at the table I removed all the pieces, Little Bro Lined them up and I then placed them all back in place. He looked at what I was doing seemingly taking it all in before trying it for himself. The puzzle has the picture of each of the animals where each piece is designed to fit,  making it easier for the child, as they can identify where each piece should fit by looking at the pictures. Little Bro did this bit with ease, however he did have some trouble getting the pieces to fit and become frustrated as he tried to place the giraffe in upside down. When Mummy attempted to show him, ‘Little Mr Independent’ almost throw a fit. 

 Once Little Bro had finally placed an animal correctly in its position, I clapped offering lots of prise. He happily gave himself a clap too and felt encouraged to try another. After one or two more I noticed that he was finding the task much easier. 

 Conclusions 

 This is a lovely toy, the wooden puzzle is very well made and is beautifully designed. It can be a fun educational toy for a toddler helping them to develop good hand eye co-ordination, fine motor skills  and imagination (as Little Bro demonstrated during the review, when he used the pieces as toy like figures). I found it hard to give this toy a rating on my toddlers behalf! Though he clearly liked the puzzle he did have a tendency to lose his attention quicker then some of the toys his played with. Saying this, it should be mentioned that whenever Little Bro ran off the giraffe went too. He really likes the giraffe piece and since the review he has taken the giraffe from the box and took it for a ride in his wooden trailer. 

Its a hard one but I give Harley’s rating as an 8/10

 Parental approval 

 I think the toy is great Value for money and plan to purchase the John Crane Tidlo Animal farm for his birthday. It comes in a sturdy thick cardboard box which is a must when storing puzzles, due to us having to take them in and out over the course of the early years. The puzzles brightly coloured design is great visual stimulation, the overall design is very inviting. The pieces are really nice and chunky and the picture matching along with shape shorting makes this lots of  fun while helping improve and develop a child’s hand, eye co-ordination.

The John Crane Tidlo gets a fat 9/10 from me

 The Retailer

 Over the past month I loved watching the children review just a small handful of the beautifully designed toys the Wooden toy shop has to offer. This is an online family run business that offers its customers a friendly service, speedy delivery and importantly, “Good value for money.” All three products have proven a success with all three  Little helpers. This with the fact they have offered our readers the chance to bag themselves a, ‘John Crane children’s wooden Guitar’ in our blog giveaway (which can be found here) makes them a firm favourite of mine. 

This is a retailer who offer support to schools and nurseries not only by offering them 10% off the advertised price but also entering them into a draw to win unwanted products that have been returned and cannot be resold due to the removal of packaging. Schools are automatically entered into the monthly draw every time they make a purchase. 

 10/10  for the Wooden Toy Shop a  fantastic online retailer! 

Silent Sunday