It can be a little worrying for parents when their growing children express an interest in a career in a creative industry. Filmmaking in particular, with all the different aspects that go into movie production, is more accessible and appealing to teens than ever.
Modern technology, with its wide accessibility, encourages their film interest, along with the relative ease for just about everyone to find an audience through YouTube or TikTok.
I adore wooden toys. There’s just something so lovely and magical about them. They’re also durable, sturdy and have a wonderful texture compared to plastic toys.
I just can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. It’s almost Christmas already! Three lockdowns later and we can finally get the chance to have a proper Christmas dinner with the rest of our family. We’ve just ordered a new dining table so we’re definitely going all out this December.
Continue reading “Review: Jaques of London educational toys”
I remember when Little Man was a baby, I would read to him every night before bedtime. I am sure that from this, he had developed his love for books. Fast forward 7 years and he’s now a little more reluctant to just pick up a book and read. That is partly my own fault for letting him loose on electronics too soon! He’s just really into building his own Lego monster creations or spawning a new animal encounter on Minecraft, which isn’t bad but I do need to increase his screen-free time.
Continue reading “Top 5 ways on how to get your children excited about reading: Roald Dahl X Beanstalk”
This year seems to be flying by… I can’t believe how quickly the year has gone! Honestly, it’s all been a blur – most days seem to blend into each other and I can’t make out whether it’s the start of the week or the end of the week.
Black Pound Day has grown tremendously strength by strength each month and I’m so happy to see that more and more people are spending their money consciously and doing more to support small businesses, especially local black-owned businesses.
Unfortunately, I never made it to posting my 5 recommended businesses for October and I feel so bad for it, especially as it was also UK’s Black History Month. I’m posting last month’s round-up for this month PLUS an extra upcoming business that’s created by kids for you to feast on. Yes, children – you’re never too early to start a business!
If 2020 has got you stuck in a rut, feeling a little down or mentally and physically exhausted, uplift your spirits and mental wellbeing by spending a little more self-care time on yourself. This is something that Neriyas promote highly; Neriyas is a natural beauty and homecare brand centered on helping you improve your self-care. The candles look beautiful and would be the perfect addition to the home – think of it as an early Christmas treat! Neriyas facial oil cleanser is becoming a new favourite for many natural skincare junkies. You can also get 10% off your purchases when you sign up on the website.
Check out how beautiful the products are on IG: @neriyasldn
Sonjoria Sydnor is the founder of Sydnorville Books and creator of @BlackKidsDoYoga. She recently launched her first book, Our Family’s Doing Yoga. It’s available for international shipping (she’s US based) which means you can enjoy the book wherever you are. The book is a fantastic read and the perfect introduction to yoga for the whole family.
If you have been following me for a little while, you’ll know that I love yoga and trained to be a Kids & Family Yoga Teacher a couple years ago. Yoga is a fantastic health benefit, not only for the body, but for the mind also… and it works just as well on children.
Yoga has so many benefits for both adults and children. In children, it can help to calm their busy little bodies and minds, help improve concentration and focus, and encourage them to be more confident with their bodies and self-awareness. It can also be a great way to keep them active, engaged and creative.
Keep up with Sonjoria on instagram at @blackkidsdoyoga and @sydnorvillebooks.
Black Lives Matter was one of the pinnacle moments of 2020. The BLM movement is nothing new (it’s has been around since 2013), but once again, has shook the world again light of George Floyd’s murder. People all around the world are trying to unlearn any unconscious racial bias, learn how to properly form allyship and making the world a more inclusive place, not just for black people but for all people of colour. This fantastic book by fellow family lifestyle blogger, Uju Asika who blogs at Babes About Town (check her out!) has written a book on how to raise children in a kind and inclusive way. You can purchase the book here.
Follow Uju on Instagram: @babesabouttown
Jamaican black castor oil is one of the most popular ingredients in all good haircare and beauty products. The first time I discovered black castor oil was in Shea Moisture’s popular Jamaican Black Castor Oil haircare and Tropical Isle’s oil however pure black castor oil works even better. MelaninMade has harnessed the powerful properties of this oil and bottled it in the most natural way possible (she grows her own castor bush on her organic farm back home in Jamaica!) for us to receive all of its magical goodness. Pure and unrefined, MelaninMade’s Jamaican black castor oil is excellent for improving hair and scalp conditions, fading scars, stretch marks, and a range of skin conditions.
See before and after photos on Instagram: @melaninmade.co.uk
Owned by two friends from France, the duo have brought to us a whole new level of lifestyle luxury. Ever wanted to have your own hot tub but didn’t want to commit to buying one? Well, now you can! Bubble of London are a hot tub hiring company; completely mess-free, the guys come and set up/dismantle everything for you so you can just sit back and enjoy the bubbles. Bubble of London also offer hiring packages including balloons, shisha pipes, screen projectors and disco lights for all of your home entertainment needs.
Full info, prices and packages on Instagram: @bubbleoflondon
TINIE TREATS is a new and upcoming postal dessert box business, created by three little bakers. The business is L2 Food Hygiene certified and is currently in its testing stage so keep an eye out for their debut launch on instagram. The concept is that you select your freshly baked treats, which will be packed and sent out to you via UK post. Follow their progress on Instagram and if you’re looking to invest in this small ventures, they are open to proposals.
More info on IG: @tinietreats
–
2020 Calendar Dates
Here’s a list of all the upcoming Black Pound Day dates until the end of the year. No more guessing of when it is, just save the image to your phone or desktop and you’re good to go.
For a full list of black businesses, visit: https://blackpoundday.uk/
That’s another month gone already! Last Black Pound Day: August I listed five wonderful businesses where you could put your money to good use. This month, I’ve got another five lined up for you. Same again, each of the businesses are from a different category but check out Black Pound Day’s official website for a comprehensive list of black-owned businesses local to you.
Need a birthday cake? Dinah’s Desserts is my go-to baker and cake designer. Her culinary background and skills stem from working in Michelin star restaurants and it really shows in her attention to detail. I always splash out on a cake for the kids’ birthdays because they always look the best and are made to perfection. Here are two of my favourite designs – the dinosaur and the unicorn…
Finding a vegan food spot a few years ago would’ve been a difficult task but with the rise of free-from foods, vegan eateries are now popping up all over London which is fantastic news. Eat of Eden offers deliciously tasty vegan platters (small, medium and large), vegan patties, burgers, natural juices and sea moss juices. Healthy. Hearty. Wholesome. Just pure delicious. There’s a few of them dotted around London so you’re bound to find one near to you. I went to the Brixton one but there’s one coming soon to Lewisham, South London.
Eat of Eden also taking part in the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme from Mon-Wed.
Finding resources that support important black figures has always been hard for me because I never really knew where to look. But since the rise of the BLM movement, I am finding it a little easier now to find culturally diverse reading and learning resources. These Black History Activity Books are amazing. They offer a wide range of fun activities for children from colouring in to spot the difference, and there’s also lots of interesting facts to learn too. We chose Malcom X, Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey. There’s so many to choose from (I think up to 50!) so do check them out. They’d also make great birthday or Christmas gifts.
the kids with their new activity books
When I first saw these candles, I knew they had to be amazing. They’re made from 100% soy wax, are non-toxic and because it’s completely made of soy, you won’t experience that horrible soot and smell after putting the candle out. Soy candles are also known to burn at least 25% longer than their paraffin counterparts. The white glass jar is so pretty and would look amazing in any room. Savour Candles also don’t stop at candles either – they also offer wax melts, melt posts, reed diffusers. If you’re not sure which fragrance to go for, you can order free scent sticks to help you choose one (or a few!) more easily.
I Am? Me! is a new female-owned BME social-enterprise that has been set up to provide inclusive black and minority ethnic resources for parents, teachers, educators and child carers. The company is completely new and is relying on fundraising to help them grow and expand their outreach. Their Go Fund Me page has so far raised a good amount but still need a lot more help. If you are in a position to donate please do, but if not then you can still help by sharing their page with others or on social media.
–
Here’s a list of all the upcoming Black Pound Day dates until the end of the year. No more guessing of when it is, just save the image to your phone or desktop and you’re good to go.
Sometimes it can be difficult to find educational activities for children that are both fun and engaging. Sometimes your child will just want to play, not learn and play at the same time.
However an online website called Education.com offers a wide range of learning resources for children from preschool to primary school age. They offer fun and educational games, worksheets, stories, songs and activities like the one they’ve given me below.
I am more than happy to present to you “Clothespin Drop” – an educational game that will help preschool-aged children to learn about colours, sorting, pattern matching and counting. I have also added a couple of alternative suggestions, just look for the pink text below to see what they are. I haven’t changed much because it’s pretty good the way it is; a why-fix-it-if-it’s-not-broken kind of thing.
I’ve been wanting to give this game a try as it looks so cool but I haven’t gotten round to doing so with LO as work’s been busy (will be more so in the lead-up to summer!). I hope you like the activity below – if you decide to give it a try, let me know! Education.com may be providing me with more games and activities to offer you guys so keep an eye out for them as they’ll be exclusive to this blog. 🙂
If you fancy checking out there other games, visit their site: www.education.com/resources/geometry/
Age: Preschool children (2-4 years)
Encourage your preschooler to practice color recognition, counting and pattern matching with this fun and colorful clothespin drop game. This is a great way to get your child excited about learning the basics of math.
What You Need:
What You Do:
Contribution post by a guest writer at Education.com
I don’t usually write posts like this and usually leave the serious stuff to the better writes but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and opinions on gender labelling.
Last week LO and his cousin Lils were playing with the Paw Patrol puzzle my friend Coco got LO for Chirstmas.
The next thing I heard come out of Lils’ mouth was:
I stopped my instagram surfing to look up and say in defense, “Purple is not just for girls. Purple is for everyone“.
Yes. I made sure I placed heavy emphasis on everyone. This is because it’s not the first time it’s happened.
There’s been other times when they’re playing together – happy as Larry – before my little nephew decides to tell LO that something he likes is “for girls” which really pisses me off. It’s something that I’m a little hypocritical about because I don’t have a problem with buying Baby Girl pink clothes and LO blue clothes when he was a baby BUT (and that’s a big but) I would not avoid ‘boyish’ colours for her and I certainly didn’t avoid ‘girly’ colours for LO. In fact, LO had a few pink, pastel and purple baby grows and shirts. Maybe not a whole pink outfit but he had touches of pinks etc in his little wardrobe. Continue reading “Gender Labelling: “Purple is for girls”… why hearing this really rattles my cages”
LO is now 2 years old and competent at using the potty when his nappy is off and we’re at home but it’s a completely different story if he’s clothed or if we’re outside. Poor thing, I don’t expect him to know how to use the thing properly until next year or so but I know that many parents from our previous nursery have started getting their little ones to use it.
The thing is, LO has been using the potty on-and-off since he was about 18 months. The nursery staff had advised us to stop as LO was getting the hang of it some days but then other days wasn’t – I guess they thought it was too stressful for him and told me that “many children in toddler room (we were in baby room at the time) weren’t even potty-trained so we shouldn’t have to worry about it”. I took that advice and only encouraged LO to use it when he wanted to which seemed to have worked out well for us. LO is now more dry during his naps and at night which makes me think he may soon be getting used to using the potty properly. However he’s just moved to another nursery nearby so we’re holding off any major changes at the moment to make the transition to a new nursery less stressful but I am telling you, I CANNOT WAIT until he can be nappy-free! 🙂
We currently have a cute little potty that looks more like a chair (see above – from Ebay approx. £7) which seems to have suit LO very well. Recently, when we were over at my sisters he took a real interest in my nephew’s potty, just the standard one, so I’m thinking to “upgrade” him to a new one as this one’s becoming a bit of a snug-fit for him. Although, the other idea I had was to get LO a little step and small toilet-seat fitting to go over the main toilet and get him to use that but it might be a challenge so I will probably see how he goes with a new potty then later get him to use the big-boy’s one.
We are still on our potty journey but here are some things I found along the way that were pretty useful (and still are!) to me:
Children’s Books
There’s a whole range of children’s books available at the local library on using the potty, I found one just the other day! If there is no library near you head down to any shop that sells children’s books such as The Works, WHSmiths or go online. I found this cute book for LO at The Works on potty training for about £3. It even has a little ‘cheer’ button you can press to celebrate potty-success. 🙂
Songs & Rhymes
I (well, LO actually stumbled across them) found this potty-training songs on Youtube which I think are fantastic. They teach the children about using the potty and praising them, but also it teaches them not to be scared if they make mistakes which is a great lesson. There’s quite a few you can watch but this one with the cute panda is my favourite!
–
BabyCentre
The BabyCentre website is a great little site for me. They have a page dedicated to potty training and there’s an extensive list on everything about potty training including tips.
What I personally love the most about BabyCentre is the fantastic online community. You’ll need to register before you can post on the forums however there’s literally a forum for every birth month as well as other hot topics such as potty training so you can easily find what you’re looking for advice-wise from other mums using tried-and-tested methods. If you have a burning question, simply post it up and someone will be sure to comment to help you out or refer you to a current post if there’s something similar with loads of advice on.
My Beanstalk children are now officially on their summer holidays (they broke up last Friday) and I just can’t believe how quick it has gone! The children have all done so well, I can’t be more proud of them. I think even though we’ve only been reading for about 2 months, I feel that some of them have really developed their confidence. You can read my first post on volunteering with Beanstalk here. One of the children told me a couple of weeks ago that they enjoyed reading so much that they actually read a book by themselves in class and even occasionally wanting to read with the teacher. I was so happy to hear this.
We always divide up our time with reading and playing games to make things fun but these last few sessions we focused mainly on games and read a smaller book which the kids found quite fun. We played everything from Scrabble and Uno to “Houses” and Naughts & Crosses. One of the children quite liked my improv word-search games which was pretty cool. I remember there was a day that the children had to cancel their sessions as they were having their room transitions so I’d left the word-search on the hand-held whiteboard for the next day. Upon my return I could see that someone has been playing it which I think was really sweet. 🙂
Charities like Beanstalk are always in need of volunteers to help out, you can find out more about the role and how to become a volunteer Beanstalk reading helper
I love my volunteering days and am so glad that I decided to take it up. I’ve always felt drawn to teaching, training, and mentoring so I felt like this role was not only beneficial for the children but also for me which is extremely rewarding. If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer why not go and do it?!I can’t wait until I see the children again in September and see how they have been getting up to. I hope they are continuing to read at home during the holidays too. I’ve got a few more games I’ve thought up to try with them when they come back to the school term. In our last week of reading, we all read a role-play book that had let us act out the characters. The children really loved this so I want to find some activities like this or maybe even try to get the children to create their own stories for us to act out in September. Woop woop – exciting times ahead! 🙂
If you want to find out more about Beanstalk or want to volunteer, you can click the link at the end of this post. Ciao!
http://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/
Twitter: @BeanstalkReads
Facebook: @BeanstalkReads
Flash cards. They’re a great learning tool, especially for children. Most flash cards will have a picture of the word on one side of the card and the word in text-form on the other. This is my third pack – first and second got stolen from me by my cheeky little nephew, Lils.
These Grafix ABC flash cards are from Tesco’s for a measley £1! Seriously, learning doesn’t get any cheaper than that. It’s aimed at children from 3+ but to be honest, I never really look at these age ranges. Your child shouldn’t be limited by the standardised age labels as every child is different and learn things at different ages. Some are faster than others and some take a little longer. From the first and second time I bought this pack, I knew what it contained and knew that LO can recognise around 40% of the photos. There’s 52 cards in total from A to Z (two cards for each letter).
The cards have the word and picture on one side, and the other side has the word only. Children that are slightly older would be able to use these cards as a game. Simply show the card to your child(ren) with the picture side up and cover the word (this encourages the children to guess what the picture is). With LO, all I do at the moment is show him the picture side and he tells me what they are. As he can’t read yet (although he can distinguish some letters) he just shouts out what the picture is. A game I was thinking of playing with him when he’s a bit older is to group the cards by their food groups i.e. group all the vegetables together, group all of the living room objects together, etc.
LO loves to learn so I am very glad that he responded well to these flash cards. I also think that by encouraging him to learn new words at home gives him the opportunity to develop his knowledge of objects and things as well as improve his memory as he may be able to remember the new things he’s learnt when he sees them in real life. I’m hoping to get him a few more educational games such as puzzles and memory games to give him the best start in academia.
Okay, so I’m Vietnamese and Daddy’s Congolese (French-speaking) means that LO is a little multi-lingual machine. He’s mastered baby-English and fully understands Vietnamese but can’t speak it yet, and can grasp a few phrases in French and when I ask him “ça va, Kaleb?”, to which he replies “oui, maman” – so adorable! 🙂
That’s when I had my light-bulb moment – I need to get LO learning French now while it’s still easy for him. Mastering three languages can become difficult as he gets older so the saying “the sooner the better” really is actually true in the case of learning languages. I headed down to my local library and picked up two bi-lingual books (French/English) that I really liked the look of. I chose these two specific books as they’re not too bulky, have lots of pictures that accurately tell the story of the book, and (of course) were super-easy to read as I am a little rusty with my French.
The book on the left, “Lucie Chat a la ferme” is all about a cat named Lucy who went to visit her local farm one Sunday. She saw ducks, chickens, and lots of other animals. I really loved this book as the back of the book had a little picture dictionary of keywords in French and English, and it also showed me how to phonetically pronounce the words. This came in really handy as I don’t want LO’s French pronunciation to be terrible like mine haha 🙂
The book on the right titled “Miam-miam! Allons manger!” is all about different families and their country’s popular dish. I loved it as it’s great for teaching LO about diversity, different countries and their cuisines. For example, there’s a Spanish family eating paella, a Japanese family eating sushi, and a Moroccan family eating cous cous and tagine. At the end of the book, the author recaps the different families and their country’s flag. This helps me to teach LO about countries as well as food and culture.
I highly recommend these books but there are loads of bi-lingual books available from local libraries that there’s simply no need to purchase your own… unless you feel like you need to own the books or really don’t fancy picking up the occasional tattered book then go ahead, buy your own. To be honest, most of the bi-lingual books are kept in really good condition and many popular children’s books including “The Giant Turnip” are available in a wide range of languages from Punjabi to Chinese to Polish. So even if you don’t speak another language but still remember a few Italian/Spanish/French words from school, get one of these books out and brush up on your story-telling in another language. 🙂
Have fun reading!
LO loves playing and there is nothing that he loves more than pretend/imaginative play.
He’s been learning about cooking at nursery and I had a light-bulb moment and thought “why not buy him a tea set?” – I knew he would love it and when we had our first teddy bear picnic at Toddler Sensory (read about it here) he loved it so much I wanted to give him that experience again but at home.
So when I was shopping, I came across this cute little tea set from Tesco (£3) in red and blue and thought it would be great for him. I know there shouldn’t be any gender discrimination when buying children’s toys however I just didn’t want him to be teased for having a ‘girly’ tea set.
As soon as I showed him the tea set his eyes lit up. I asked him if he wanted to have a teddy bear picnic with mummy and he happily said “yes” so I got out his bedroom bears (mr. monkey, bear, and moose) and we had a lovely teddy bear picnic and I showed LO how to make the tea and how to use the kettle properly. He even made all of the sound effects from the water pouring and the tea slurping. Super cute! 🙂
Pretend play is very important for any child’s social development and it has also been said to improve their cognitive development. This journal I found online takes a deeper look at high-quality pretend play and children’s cognitive development and shows that there is a positive link between the two. Problem-solving, negotiating, and social/linguistic skills can all be improved through pretend play.
So what does that mean for us mummies (or daddies)? It means it’s time we start purchasing tea sets, play food sets, dressing up costumes, and toy cash registers for our kids to play with whether they are a little boy or little girl because it’s good for them. Plus, grab a friend to bring their child along and the kids will be so immersed in playing with each other you’ll have a chance to relax and have a cup of tea (that’s actually hot for once!). 🙂
Wandering.Mother 