Planning for the school holidays with 5 Minute Fun
I’m going to try and to be a bit more prepared for the next school holiday and think about things to do with the kids in advance, and not just leave it to the night before!
I’m lucky to have discovered 5 Minute Fun who come up with simple – and enjoyable! – ideas to keep little fingers busy and most importantly allowing you to grab five minutes to yourself.
It was great to see both my toddler and nine year working together to make a fabulous owl from the goody bag they kindly gifted us!
I’ve spoken before about how difficult it is to get them to enjoy the same activity, so this was a Godsend.
And the activity cards (only £1.99 atm!) could keep the whole family occupied for ages doing little fun tasks, in the house or outside, which don’t involve any extra cash being spent.
Check them out ahead of the forthcoming Easter holidays!
IT was interesting to read details of a new survey which discovered only 10% of children are getting their five-a-day and that 1 in 10 parents think chips count as one of their children’s five-a-day.
Look, I’m the last to sit here to shame anyone on their parenting skills – particularly as my response to reading that was ‘aren’t potatoes vegetables?!?’ (FYI, they are classed as a starchy food, LOL.)
The research helpfully carried out by children’s fruit snack supermarket brand Fruit Bowl, also noted that 1/3 of parents think fruit yogurts count, while 1/5 parents mistakenly believe a strawberry milkshake contributes – I mean #desperatetimes, right?
I personally battle to get my kids to eat most vegetables, so its interesting that less than half of parents know that tinned veg, frozen fruit and sweet potatoes count towards the recommended daily amount.
Additionally 4 in 10 parents think their child gets only 2-3 portions each day.
FIVE unexpected foods that DO count towards our five-a-day:
Baked Beans
Guacamole
Onions
Hummus
Spaghetti Hoops
FIVE foods that DON’T count towards our five-a-day:
Onion rings
Ketchup
Potatoes
Vegetable Crisps
Pickled Gherkins
Nutritional Therapist, Filomena Komodromou has shared her tips to get children eating fruits and vegetables;
Think colour – chop up some crunchy crudités such as carrots, pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radish, celery and serve with hummus or cream cheese for a healthy filling snack
Get them to help in the kitchen – even toddlers can help too. Peeling, chopping or grating can be done quite safely by children supervised by an adult.
Blend it up! Homemade smoothies are a great way of getting their five-a-day and sneaking in some veg too.
Add mashed banana or grated apple/pear to porridge
Make frozen fruit lollies or banana pancakes
Susanne Fraser, Marketing Manager of Fruit Bowl, added: “Here at Fruit Bowl we are a team of parents and know firsthand how difficult it can be to make sure our children get their five-a-day, every day, and we know it’s a struggle that lots of other parents have. By conducting this survey, we aim to highlight this and also show busy parents that there are easy solutions, tips and tricks they can use to give their children five-a-day.”
Fruit Bowl create everyday fruit snacks and treats – many of which contribute towards your 5 a day. #bonus
Available at Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Co-Op, Asda, Waitrose and on Ocado.
WHO doesn’t remember playing with LEGO DUPLO as a child?
Well this year the brand is celebrating half a century after being invented to help creative toddlers play safely.
As mum to a toddler I’m constantly shouting phrases like ‘Take that out of your mouth!’, ‘What’s that in your mouth?’, or ‘Why is that in your mouth?’
So it’s no surprise I’m a fan of the chunky bricks which my little boy can play safely with. Because let’s face it, no matter how much we shout, for some reason plastic bricks must be chewed and dribbled on!
They’re twice the size of usual LEGO pieces but they can still be used together, which is useful as kids get older.
I love watching little ones playing with LEGO DUPLO – you can almost see their brains ticking as they attempt to build their little – or big – creations.
It’s useful to know that LEGO DUPLO products are actually designed with this in mind – to inspire and encourage playful learning.
FUN FACT ALERT! DUPLO comes from the Latin word ‘duplex’ meaning double. (You’re welcome.)
Share your pictures on social media celebrating 50 years with the hashtag #LEGODUPLO50th
Note: My boy is playing with the LEGO DUPLO Police Bike set #gifted
How do you deal with getting your kids to eat vegetables?
An easy life or forever a struggle?
Mine is the latter, so I was intrigued when we got an invitation to the Bird’s Eye First Plates Restaurant.
Here little ones were encouraged to #eatinfullcolour with a range of veg based dishes which included pea cake (yep, and it was actually quite nice!).
It was interesting to see the dynamic as all the kids sat together happily – mostly – trying out lots of different vegetables.
Us parents were lucky enough to get tips on how to get more veg in their tummies from TV child psychologist, Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, as seen on Channel 4’s The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds.
She told me: ‘Don’t be deterred by them saying ‘I don’t like that’.
‘If they like particular colours try pairing them up, association helps.’
And even, gasp, making eating veggies fun!
For example, Dr Kilbey added: ‘Can we have a snack of every single colour today? Can we build a rainbow of the food we eat today?’
Research by Bird’s Eye to mark their Eat in Full Colour campaign shows that children are actually becoming more adventurous with their food, with 4-9 year olds naming sprouts and spinach as their favourite vegetables.
Almost a third (32 per cent) of parents say their children would eat just about ANY type of vegetable served – and only 29 per cent struggle to get their kids to eat their greens. Unfortunately I’m in that 29 percent!
But I was given some hope to keep trying after the event, adding more colour to ALL of our plates and trying new vegetables.
Click to see footage from the event (my daughter even has a speaking part!).
ANYONE having to deal with World Book Day prep right now? I’m literally printing off (fake) money as I write this for my daughter’s outfit tomorrow..!
Well, to celebrate World Book Day on March 7, Uber has joined forces with Puffin and the National Literacy Trust to launch a free mobile book service.
The idea is aimed at parents rushing home to read their child a bedtime story after new research has shown ‘that 43% of British parents admit that working schedules prevent them from reading a bedtime story with their children’.
The mobile libraries, curated by Puffin and the National Literacy Trust, will see a range of books available in select cars for parents to take home.
They include Charlotte’s Web, Mrs Pepperpot, Goodnight Peter Rabbit, Little Leaders and Wonder.
It’s being trialled in London and Manchester, with 1,000 books available until they run out.
Anything to get parents and children reading together sounds great to me, so it’s definitely a thumbs up from The Media Mummy.
Tom Elvidge, Uber’s UK General Manager said: “We know modern life is busy and getting home for bedtime can be a challenge for many parents. To mark World Book Day, we want to make life just a little bit less stressful and make it easier for families to enjoy some special time together.”
While Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, added: “By encouraging a love of reading at home, parents can help their child develop the language and literacy skills they need to flourish at school and in all areas of their life.
“Amid increasingly busy family lives, research shows that finding just 10 minutes a day to read with your child can make all the difference – whether that’s sharing a story at bedtime, over breakfast or even on the school run.
“We are delighted to support Uber’s campaign; we hope it will succeed in bringing families together and stories to life.”
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