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My daughter can very easily watch back to back episodes of My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic… so to hear that the new season would be hitting Tiny Pop soon was great – even better was our invitation to enrol at the My Little Pony School of Friendship! (The things we do for our kids eh?)

With the sun out and heading to Mudchute Park and Farm for the event, all three of us couldn’t help but have smiles on our faces. My one year old wasn’t so fussed about his first day at school (lol) and instead loved the opportunity to peer and point at the variety of animals on the vast city farm.

With the chance to do cake decorating and drawing led by the wonderful Rainbow Dash – one of the main characters from the cartoon for those of you not in the know! – the experience was topped off with some time to pet some of the smaller animals.

Watch the new season 8 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on Tiny Pop (Freeview 207, Sky 617, Virgin 737, Freesat 605) every day at 8am and 4pm from May 26.

It sounds like every parent’s nightmare but to mark the launch of the Cartoonito Club, children were given the chance to – yes, you heard right – draw on the walls and furniture!

And it was in fact a dream come true for the children attending as they showed off their artistic skills colouring in characters from the channel such as Masha and the Bear, Daisy and Ollie, and Fireman Sam. I’m also proud to admit that I also got in on the action!

My daughter couldn’t get enough of it, while my newly-turned one-year-old boy put pen to paper (or wall) for the first time! I will of course have to explain this is not an activity to be repeated at home…

Famous faces and their offspring were also lining up to get involved and we spotted the likes of Billie Faiers, Tamara Ecclestone, Russell Kane, Vanessa Feltz and Shappi Khorsandi showing off their skills with their little ones.

 

Dubbed the world’s first living colouring book, the event in London’s Soho marked the launch of the TV channel’s online creativity hub, where fans of the above mentioned shows (as well as many, many more including classics such as Thomas and Friends, and Bob the Builder!) can download colouring in sheets and activities to keep them occupied.

And to be honest, with the long school summer holiday fast approaching this has got to be a gift from heaven, right?

Check out the video below about the day (and look out for my cameo!).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiFB7RPPVJc?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

https://www.cartoonito.co.uk/cartoonito-club

https://www.facebook.com/CartoonitoParentsUK/

So how’s everyone holding up?

Lockdown life is certainly trying but it seems many of us are turning to the art of making food to get us through it.

I’m not much of a baker to be honest but I can proudly say I’ve officially become a member of the FAB Flour Easy Peasy Baking Campaign 😂

I used their simple recipe to make flatbread and a tzatziki dip with the toddler – yes I could have done it faster by myself and yes he made a mess, but it kept him occupied for like, um, 20 minutes or so 🤣🙈

Bonus points were achieved when both kids actually ate it and gave the dish the thumbs up 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Definitely worth following @fab_flour for more simple baking and cooking ideas, especially if you’re like me and are currently serving up the same few dishes on repeat.

Here are their recipes for the flatbread and of course, the infamous banana bread which seems to be most people’s go to at the moment!

Easy Peasy Flatbreads with Tzatziki Dip

Vegan Banana Bread

Good luck!

 

Recipes from the FAB Flour Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by nabim. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the FAB Flour website: https://fabflour.co.uk/easy-peasy-bakes/ or on social: @fab_flour on Instagram or @fabflour on Facebook and Twitter.

With no big names or celebrity performers, the real draw of Soul Sister at the Savoy Theatre is its telling of the Ike and Turner story against the backdrop of her legendary and extremely stageworthy songs.

Starring Emi Wokoma and Chris Tummings in the lead roles, the production which transferred from Hackney Empire, has a lot going for it.

A talented cast, the singing was top class, but with songs like Private Dancer, Simply the Best and River Deep, Mountain High hitting the audience hard and fast, a slight lack of development in the script meant the play was in danger of becoming a Tina Turner tribute concert.

Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but myself and my friend who joined me on the night, would have loved to have seen some further – and deeper – development in the script.

Wokoma who works hard to take on the characteristics of Tina, while still managing to make the songs her own, is undoubtedly the star of the show and ultimately keeps it from being the feared tribute concert. She’s definitely one to look out for in the future.

Soul Sister is at the Savoy Theatre until September 29, before touring the UK.

Media Mummy rating: 3 out of 5 stars.