Colchester Zoo

Over the Easter holiday, I took my tribe to Colchester Zoo.

We've been a couple of times before, and have really loved it there.
They have a bit of everything, from Monkeys to Lions, and Meer Cats to Penguins, so it is always a real winner for our family, as no one misses out on their favourite animal!

We, thankfully managed to bag a sunny (but very cold and windy) day for our trip, and had great fun seeing all the animals and playing in the many playgrounds that they have dotted around the zoo.

So I thought that I'd share with you some of our favourite photos from our family day out.

If you would like to find out more about Colchester Zoo, and their animals, you can visit their website by clicking here.

Have you visited Colchester Zoo? What is your favourite animal?
Written by Kerry.

How to make a String Decoration

My children love making these. It can be very messy depending on their age but that’s part of the fun plus the finished result is a decoration for their bedrooms.

We used coloured string but you can also use plain string and leave white for a shabby chic look, or add some paint to your glue for colour.

What you will need:

·         String 

·         Bowl

·         PVA Glue  

·         Round balloons  

·         Scissors

·         Newspaper or something to protect your work surface

·         Paint – if required

1.      Cover your work surface with newspaper

2.      Blow the balloon up to your required size. We use between 5cm and 20cm. Remember the bigger the balloon the more string you will need!

3.      Pour the PVA glue into a bowl. If using plain string add paint if required and mix.  

4.      Cut the string into 50cm lengths. This prevents knots and is easier to handle

5.      Place a length of string into the bowl and coat with the glue. To prevent the string slipping around the balloon, remove the excess glue (glue & paint) with your fingers.

6.      Wrap the string around the balloon. Overlap the string to create a lattice effect. Keep going until you have the desired effect you wish. Remember not to leave big spaces.

7.      Hang the balloon to dry. Leave for at least 24 hours. Check that all the string is completely dry and feels hard. Pop the balloon and remove it carefully from your decoration.

      

     

If you pop the balloon too soon the string will collapse with the balloon. This happened to us! We use coloured string instead plain string and adding paint as my 4 year old gets a little carried away with paint! To re-use the string I simply soaked the string in warm water to remove the glue and separated the lengths again.

Remember if your string decoration gets wet it will also collapse.

You can add glitter to the glue or use some decorative ribbon to make these hanging ornaments or Christmas tree decorations. If you leave a small space when you are latticing your balloon you can fill with small chocolate eggs for Easter. The ideas are endless!

Enjoy crafting!     

Written by Victoria.

The Tooth Fairy comes to visit

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd share with you all a poem I wrote when we had a run on wobbly milk teeth in our madhouse!

I HAVE A WOBBLY TOOTH
AND I CAN MOVE IT WITH MY TONGUE
MUM SAYS THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE VERY YOUNG

SHE SAYS MY TOOTH WILL FALL OUT
AND A FAIRY WILL GIVE ME SOME MONEY
SHE'LL TAKE MY TOOTH WHILE I'M FAST ASLEEP
WELL, I THOUGH THAT WAS VERY FUNNY!

NOW I KNOW I SHOULD BELIEVE MY MUM
COS MUMS ARE SUPER CLEVER!
AND I DON'T THINK SHE'S EVER FIBBED TO ME
NO HONESTLY, NOT EVER!

I'VE BEEN THINKING LONG AND HARD
AND THIS TIME I DON'T THINK MUM IS RIGHT
COS I SAW SOMETHING REALLY ODD
WHEN I COULDN'T SLEEP LAST NIGHT

I'LL TELL YOU THE END OF MY STORY
IF I MAY BE SO BOLD
YOU SEE, GRANDAD IS STAYING WITH US
AND I KNOW HE'S VERY OLD

WHEN I CREPT INTO HIS BEDROOM
YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT I SAW...
YES REALLY... ALL OF GRANDAD'S TEETH
WERE IN A GLASS RIGHT THERE BY THE DOOR...!

Written by Bev.

Imagination Vs Technology

It seems that everywhere we look these days, we are surrounded by technology.
None more so than our children.

What with Apple i-gadgets, Microsoft X-Boxes, and Sony PlayStation's being commonplace in almost every home, it is no wonder that our children are somewhat lacking in imagination. A generation of "imagineers" in Japan and America have already done the work for them.

I try to provide an informative and creative environment for my children to grow up in. They're certainly not devoid of technology, in fact we are all very much on the i-gadget bandwagon, with an iPad, iPod's, a PlayStation, and a laptop floating around the house. But I'm very lucky because while all of my children are good at using all of these products, they don't rely on them (yet!).
Generally they don't need the TV, or the numerous variations of technology that they have access to, to keep them amused or happy. They enjoy going to the park, and having picnics, riding their bikes, jumping on a trampoline, climbing the trees in the local woods, and skating.

I love that the kids are so low maintenance when it comes to days out. It seems an increasingly rare thing to have children who take great pleasure in the little things, like having a ladybird crawl across the palm of their hand or reading a good book at the library instead of being plugged in to the latest video game or sat sprawled out on the sofa in front of the TV.

It was lovely today to see them reject the insistent bleeping of incoming messages. Since my eldest daughters have discovered 'FaceTime' with their friends, there has been a constant stream of calls. Today however, these calls have been ignored by my children. Not because I have asked them to do so, but because they were happily playing board games together and did not want to be disturbed! Bill Gates and Steve Jobbs haven't taken them just yet!

My husband suggests this may be because our eldest children are girls, and computer games in particular are more likely to be adopted to addictive levels by boys, and that when our three year old son gets older, he will be kidnapped for days at a time by Football Manager and Call of Duty.
My husband has said that this is how much of his childhood was spent, but growing up in my house we didn't have access to computers until we were much older, so it feels alien to me to get sucked into a game or device to the point that you ignore everyone and everything around you.
I think subconsciously I work hard to keep the children's interest in things that are based "in the real world" as a result.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to remain 'screen free' because so much of everyday life is based around online information, virtual "communities", and social media. I'm not naive and I know that as they get older they will spend more and more time with technology because that's the world we all live, work and learn in these days. But I'm also hoping that if I can set the tone for them in their formative years and show them a world that doesn't exist through a screen, they'll look to return to that world themselves when they're old enough to make their own choices, and eventually, with their own children.

Are you for or against a technological family lifestyle?

I'd love to hear how you spent time with your family over Easter, especially as the summer holidays are fast approaching!

What will you be doing with your children?

Written by Kerry.

Choices...

We've been on a bit of a rainy Easter holiday the past week, down on the South coast. Not to let the weather dampen our spirits, it was decided that each of us would have a day in which we could choose what we'd prefer to do. This meant no grumbling or whining on the days when it was time to walk up a really steep hill (which magically had an ancient maze cut into the ground at the top!) or visit a small town museum (who could have predicted it would have a Lego Roman trail around the exhibits?). 

There were a few times when the promise of a cream tea (or that chilled bottle of wine waiting for us adults in the caravan fridge) saved the day. It also meant no turning back for the adults in the group - if a child wanted us to go on a ride at a well known theme park that spun us around backwards, upside down and round and round at what seemed like 500 miles an hour, that's what we did...

It's not a bad thing for children to have to use their inner resources when the cry of "I'm bored" came up - one such time was during a trip to a Cathedral during the last few days of the holiday. The kids sat in the middle of the pews (so I could keep one eye on them as I wandered around the edges) and by the time I returned, they were both immersed in a very intricate game of I-Spy - with many unusual objects to choose from within a few metres!

Children love to feel they have an equal say in the family - and for little moments like a day out on holiday, it can make them feel empowered and special. For now, though, it's back to the old routine of school and homework - and the only choice they will get tonight is whether to brush their teeth before or after washing their faces!

Written by Andrea

Who ya gonna call...? YouTube?!

The majority of people I know, use YouTube as a source of entertainment. 

Funny videos of people falling over or animals peeing over spectators are common, as are music videos, interviews and  movie trailers from all of our favourite artists, and upcoming newbies on the scene.

I, however, mostly use YouTube to watch blogs, and how-to videos.

This really came into it's own last week, when my car broke down, on the school run!

Having 5 children with me at the time, and being due to start my new job that very night, I was somewhat stressed about the whole situation, when one of my Mummy Friends suggested that we could jump start my car. This seemed simple enough, however, having never, ever previously jump started a car, we were at a bit of a loss as what to do!

We found the jump leads, but then came the questions about which coloured end of them to put on what side of my cars dead battery.. YouTube to the rescue! 

Out came my trusty i-Phone, and up popped my YouTube app! After a quick search of how to 'jump start a car', my friend and I quickly found out that the red cable should be placed on the positive side of the battery and the black on the negative. Connecting the cables to my battery was easy, with both + and - signs labeled  however, my friends car had no such indicators *sigh*

I kept watching my selected video, and as luck would have it, the positive side of the battery

"Should always have something red attached to it" 

Sure enough, my friends car had a small red rubber tie around one of the cables coming from her battery, so we went for it, connecting both cars to each other.

Collectively, we had 11 children with us that day, and two complete novices managed to keep track of all of them while learning something new and jump starting a car, all without the help of an AA man! 

My friend had laughed at me before, when I had told her how much I had learnt from watching YouTube. She text me this morning to tell me that she and her husband had just finished laying their new laminate flooring all with the help of YouTube videos! 

So next time you are watching a 20 stone man dance the Harlem Shake in his underpants, or a girl crazily smearing peanut butter over her face, or even a new born panda sneezing and scaring the living daylights out of  Mumma Panda, just remember, YouTube is as informative as it is bizarre!

Written by Kerry.