Monday 29 October 2012

George Spooky Scribes Short Story Challenge The Scary Spider Blake

I've, or rather Blake has accepted the George Spooky Scribes Short Story Challenge!
Asda's George team have challenged Blake to come up with a spooky Halloween story, to help Blake, they've sent him a scary spider costume, face paint and a crayola pen and pad set!
This is a competition, the blogger with the most comments taking part in the challenge will win a £50 asda voucher! If you like Blake's story, please leave a comment! Thank you x


The Scary Spider Blake
Blake Preston Clement as the Scary Spider Blake

There's a scary spider called Blake, he has bright green and orange blood. He doesn't like beef burgers but loves to eat fingers, toes and chocolate eggs.

His cobwebs are as big as a house and catch rocketships on their way to the Moon, Jupiter or Mars.

Blake Preston Clement as the Scary Spider Blake
He's so scary that on Halloween, he laughs in the face of creepy pumpkins, bats and witches and sings spider-man jingle bells.

Blake Preston Clement as the Scary Spider Blake
He's a strong as a dinosaur, his favourite is the Stegosaurus and can climb the stairs in a blurry split second.
Blake Preston Clement as the Scary Spider Blake

He isn't afraid of anything not even the plug hole which washed away his beastie of a friend - Incy Wincy.

Blake Preston Clement as the Scary Spider Blake
And when it's sevenish o'clock he listens to a story about a bear hunt before hiding in your bed to give you a great big fright in the middle of the night!

Oh crumbling cucumbers!

The end.


Blake Preston Clement by the Thames October 2012
About the author: Blake was born in June 2009 and lives in Bromley with his little sister Maegan, Daddy and Mummy. This is the first published story by Blake Preston Clement and when he grows up, he'd quite like to be Spiderman or a Stegosaurus.







Emma in Bromley x

Saturday 27 October 2012

Halloween Sweets from Swizzels Matlow

Swizzle Matlow Spooky Trick or Treat mix bucket of sweetsWe were sent a huge bucket full of spooky sweets and lollipops from Swizzle Matlow from their special Halloween Collection. I was really surprised that the trick or treat mix tub was only £4 - it boasts over 80 sweeties so perfect for parties or trick or treaters and its full of classics such drumsticks and love hearts along with spooky specials such as pumpkin lollipops!

We also got to sample some spooky dip which was a strip of 4 frightening flavours of sherbert dip for £1 with tongue colour changing dippers!

Scooby doo gruesome gums gummy sweets are awesome and we really enjoyed the Scooby doo fiendish fizzies which are like love hearts but in Halloween colours and Scooby doo images - yikes!

Spooky Halloween sweets
British confectionery giant and king of the trick or treat season, Swizzels Matlow Ltd, is gearing up for the Halloween season with a range of ghoulish party delights.
This year’s terrifying treats include special treat bags and tubs of Swizzels Matlow’s perennial favourites, including Love Hearts, Drumsticks, Fizzers, New Refreshers and Fruity Pops. There are also big bags and tubs of treats for party goers or families to share, including Trick or Treat Lolly Mix, Monster Treats and Spooky Treat or Trick Mix.
Mega Drumsticks now have a black and orange wrapper, while Double Dip becomes Spooky Dip, with a blackcurrant flavour leaving tongues black!

Products are available in a host of national supermarkets. Sarah-Louise Heslop, marketing manager at Swizzels Matlow, said:
“This year’s Halloween range is perfect for any hellish Halloween parties. Our lollies, dips, sweets, tubs and packs are all adorned with creepy packaging – ideal presents for hungry trick or treaters. Don’t forget to stock up for fright night!”
Swizzels Matlow is the UK’s largest family-owned independent sugar confectionery business and one of the few confectionery companies to still manufacture sweets in the UK. The company makes a range of well known products including Love Hearts, New Refreshers, Drumstick Lollies, Rainbow Drops, Double Lollies and Fruity Pops.
www.swizzels-matlow.com

Emma in Bromley xx

Friday 26 October 2012

Help Dora Help 2012 finalists - vote now!

You might remember I blogged about the "Help Dora Help" competition when the call for entries was open, well now there are 5 finalists and it's voting time!

The closest one to Bromley is the Parkfield Children’s Centre, West Hendon, London - the London borough of Bromley has been my home for 12 years but I'm a born and bred Lancashire lass and there are TWO Lancashire finalists!

Please take a moment to vote - this is a fantastic award for the wining nursery and a fantastic opportunity for the education of those children.

FINALISTS SELECTED FOR HELP DORA HELP
Public to Decide Which Entry will Receive £20,000 Award
Five nurseries selected from submissions from across The UK have been chosen as the finalists for Nick Jr.’s Help Dora Help Campaign. The initiative is supported by The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts and is designed to support nurseries, preschools and children’s centres in their educational curriculum. Almost 300 nurseries and preschools submitted an entry to this year’s campaign with applicants from Cumbria, Derbyshire, London and Lancashire elected as finalists. The winner will be decided by members of the public that vote at nickjr.co.uk/helpdorahelp.
“The quality of entries for Help Dora Help was extraordinary and gave a great picture of the areas of educational interest across UK preschools,” said Helena Dowling, Nick Jr., presenter and Help Dora Help judge. “With funding required for things such buying a minibus to creating a mini beast learning zone, the finalists each demonstrate a desire to offer more educational opportunities for their pupils. I am looking forward to seeing which entry the public chooses to receive the award.”
Voting is now open to decide which of the finalist will receive the award. Voting is open to anyone within the UK and voters can take a look at all five finalists and learn more about their submission at nickjr.co.uk/helpdorahelp. Voting is open until 2nd November with the winner of the award announced on 19th November.
Inspired by the adventurous spirit of Dora, Help Dora Help seeks to encourage support education, development and exploration in the pre-school environment. The five finalists for this year’s campaign are:
Greystoke Under 5’s, Greystoke, Cumbria - The rural volunteer playgroup would use the award to revamp their outdoor play area as well as their kitchen.
Oakmount Day Nursery, Preston, Lancashire - The nursery would use the award to purchase a minibus, ideally equipped with exploratory items such as a metal detector and telescope.
The Old Forge Day Nursery, Findern, Derbyshire – The nursery would use the award to build a log cabin with sensory room, a library and dance studio.
Parkfield Children’s Centre, West Hendon, London – The Children’s Centre would develop their Early Years playground to reflect various countries, cultures, seasons and festivals.
Walton Lane Nursery School & Children’s Centre, Nelson, Lancashire - The Centre would create a bug hotel so that children could increase their knowledge of mini beasts.
An expert panel led by Nick Jr.’s Wake Up World Helena Dowling, alongside Nick Jr. representatives and partners including The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts, Dora Magazine and Chad Valley chose the five finalists with each finalist awarded discovery and learning equipment from Chad Valley as well as a classroom visit from Dora the Explorer.
Nick Jr., with its sister channel Nick Jr. 2, it is the most popular commercial pre-school entertainment brand in cable and satellite homes. Launched in 1999 as the world's first channel dedicated to pre- school children, Nick Jr. broadcasts hit shows including Dora the Explorer, Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, Bubble Guppies and Olive the Ostrich. In 2009 Nick Jr. won BAFTA Children’s Channel of the Year. More information on programming as well as clips, games and exclusive downloadable content is available at nickjr.co.uk. Nick Jr. is available on Sky 615, Virgin 715, through BT Vision and TalkTalk channel 318.
Launched in 1993, Nickelodeon UK comprises seven dedicated award-winning entertainment channels for kids aged 2-12 and is a joint venture between MTV and BSkyB Networks. The Nickelodeon Network is a top performing commercial kids TV network in the UK and the Nickelodeon channels are available in over 14 million cable and satellite homes.
About The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts:
The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts is an educational charity which champions the power of the arts to transform and enrich the lives of disadvantaged children across the UK. The charity’s projects have helped to create long-term partnerships between arts organisations and their local schools. Two core programmes, Start and Quests both highlight the potential of learning outside the classroom, enabling children to visit their local cultural venue to work with professional artists, and then developing this experience through class-based projects and activities. Since 2006 the charity has worked with over 100,000 children and hopes to substantially increase this figure in the next few years. For more info please visit www.childrenandarts.org.

Emma in Bromley x

Wednesday 24 October 2012

The hunt for spiderman for preschoolers!

Blake is 3 and has recently developed a love for spiderman - he has a few toys, a toddler tooth brush, umbrella and tees all covered in spiderman! He also has Hat, Jumper and Jeans all from Baby Gap Covent Garden store all adorning spiderman - Thanks to Daddy's credit card! All this love has materialised without actually watching an episode of spiderman and has stemmed from all the advertising and merchandise everywhere!

Quite a few of his little friends are also big spiderman fans and Blake has hinted at a number of new spiderman toys for Christmas (and we will be doing spiderman theme for him!- shhh!)  - there's a really cute soft toy with light up (night light) eyes especially for little people that's adorable!
I've noticed lots of spiderman tees and pj's for age 1 up and costumes with padded muscles in them in the Disney shop - a spiderman mr potato head for age 2+ and a wonderful looking playskool kit, junior roller skates, toyboxes and trikes, action figures and vehicles, again all for toddlers and preschoolers but what I am really struggling to find are spiderman cartoon episodes or comic books suitable for this age group!
Blake Preston Clement wearing Spiderman jumper, hat and jeans from Baby Gap
I've tried Netflix, you tube, marvel kids website and the actual TV and so far all the episodes I've tried have been violent - some even have bad language and sexual suggestions in the first few mins of the cartoon!

I've come across a parody of the spiderman theme tune by forrestfire on you tube (we are fans of their duck song too) which is mostly ok for Blake but there is a bit of a bloody chopped off arm scene!

We also found these Spiderman colouring in printables of which the majority are preschooler friendly
http://www.educationalcoloringpages.com/spiderman.html

Given the extremely large amount of merchandise and the 0-5's seemingly making up spiderman's largest fan base - why can't I find an episode or comic book suitable for young viewers? Anyone know where I can find one?

Emma in Bromley x

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Mike the Knight Galahad the Great DVD review

We were lucky enough to be sent a review copy of the latest Mike the Knight DVD - Galahad the Great!

My three year old boy absolutely loves Mike and often role plays - we have an inflatable horse which he nicknames Galahad and repeats phrases such as "huzzah!"

This latest DVD doesnt disappoint - loaded with 5 full episodes of adventure!

"As Mike's best friend and trusty steed, Galahad is always there for Mike. In Galahad the Great Mike is determined to be the best horse trainer in Glendragon. He wants Galahad to look perfect – really knightly! Galahad faithfully wears whatever Mike suggests but the bells on his hooves stop him from “Silent Sneaking” and the new heavy saddle stops him “Tricky Trotting”.

When it all goes wrong, Mike learns that Galahad looks better and, of course, very handsome, just the way he is!"

In one of the episodes, they all have a game of hide and seek - Blake, aged 3 absolutely loves this episode - he gets the giggles watching this one!

Mike the Knight - Galahad the Great is available from amazon or the bbc shop - perfect for the up-coming Half Term or a great Christmas gift or stocking filler!

Emma in Bromley x

Tree Fu Tom Tree Fu Go DVD Review

Tree fu Tom is something Blake had recently taken to - and me too!

Broadcast on cbeebies and with a new DVD out this week - tree fu Tom is full of magic and wisdom and each episode is interactive. The show encourages viewers to think, help solve the problems and get up on their feet! Tom carries out a series of moves which have been developed from therapeutic movements designed to help children with movement disorders such as Dyspraxia - Blake loves copying the moves which remind me of tai chi, yoga and Pilates - so I do them too!

The DVD has 7 enchanted episodes and there are two copies available to buy - one with a collectible Tom figurine (and one without!)

Makes a great treat for the upcoming half term or Christmas - which is seeking up on us fast!


MAGICAL FUN WITH TREE FU TOM: TREE FU GO!

DVD on sale 22 October 2012

Travel with Tom to Treetopolis for Seven Magical Adventures

Tree Fu tom join the fun, come along now everyone

Move with Tom, he needs you to save the day and do Tree Fu!

Join Tom and his faithful sidekick Twigs on their amazing adventures in the enchanted world of Treetopolis.Tom must harness the spectacular power of Tree Fu and with YOUR help use Big World Magic to avert disasters, save his friends and overcome the epic challenges of the magical and natural world. It’s time for Tree Fu!

Pre-schoolers can take a trip to an enchanted world full of sprites, bugs and naughty fungi where movement creates magic as the very first Tree Fu Tom DVD Tree Fu Tom:Tree Fu Go is released on 22nd October RRP £9.99. Featuring the voices of David Tennant (Doctor Who) and Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who) the first DVD features seven magic-filled adventures from the hugely popular CBeebies series. A special limited edition version of the DVD featuring a special Tree Fu Tom figurine with an RRP of £12.99 will be available for a short time only.

Tom appears to be a normal eight-year-old boy but when he puts on his magic belt and performs a special sequence of movements (known as Tree Fu) he transforms into a tiny but mighty, magical super-hero. Children are all encouraged to join in the Tree Fu magic moves, which are developed from therapeutic techniques that are used to help children with movement disorders like Dyspraxia, but are also designed to assist and enhance the development of all participating children at a crucial time in their growth.

Young viewers will delight as they join Tom and his best friend Twigs the Acorn Sprite in the enchanted land of Treetopolis for seven sensational adventures. Things get chaotic at the Biggest Chuckleberry in Treetopolis Contest; Tom needs the audiences help as he bravely leads his friends into the garden of a spider called Rickety McGlum who everyone says is scary; Zigzoo quits inventing just before disaster strikes and Tom must convince him to change his mind whilst battling to save Treetopolis; swapping roles with Ariela shows Tom and Twigs that the grass isn't always greener, and a game of hide and seek looks set to end in a cavernous calamity.

13 thrilling episodes of Tree Fu Tom are available for download via itunes priced £1.19 for HD and £0.99 for SD per episode and HD£10.99/SD 8.99 for the whole series.



Title: Tree Fu Tom: Tree Fu Go

Release date: Monday 22nd October 2012

Running time: 154 mins

Format: DVD

Certificate: U

RRP: £12.99 with figurine/ £9.99 without

Emma in Bromley x

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Free kids activity and cook e-book from Tilda

Tilda Kids, along with Tilli the elephant, have released an e-book to accompany their rice range. The e-book can be downloaded from http://www.tilda.com/kids/kids-ebook and is full of fun things to do, including recipe ideas, sing-a-longs and ideas for how to keep active. Perfect to download and keep the kids busy during the October half-term! We can't wait to try out the recipe for rice cakes - they look yummy!
Emma in Bromley xx