THE top 50 (for Ready Steady Go Kids)

Have you ever wondered what Misses and Masters really want to be doing all day...?

I have wondered. Then I found a related article. And now I have blogged about it for my friends at Ready Steady Go Kids. Follow the link below for my very first guest blog about the top 50 things outdoorsy things our Misses and Masters really want to be doing!

http://blog.rsgk.co.uk/the-top-50/

Book review: Rabbit's Nap

Rabbit's feeling sleeping and would really like a nap, but her friends in Acorn Wood seem intent on keeping her awake. Will weary Rabbit ever get a snooze?

This story follows poor tired Rabbit on her quest to rest. Rabbit tries nodding off in all the usual snuggly sleep spots, but her commotion causing friends are never far away. I warn you now, this is a tough read at the end of a long day after a sleepless night! Nonetheless, Rabbit's Nap had been affectionately read and enjoyed literally hundreds of times with my Miss and Master.

The lift-the-flap board book is durable, although after a great deal of 'love' our copy has many tenderly taped up flaps, chewed corners, and scratches and bends where little fingers have eagerly helped to tell Rabbit's story.  Miss and Master engage in the short, repetitive rhyme of Rabbit's Nap and enjoy calling out all the sound nouns. Simple, colourful illustrations reveal non-sleep related details of Rabbit's home, providing even more opportunities for dialogue and 'can you point to the...' games.

Bottom line: Rabbit's Nap receives a resounding recommendation from this family!

Rabbit's Nap Macmillan Publishers Limited/Campbell Books

Is it summer yet?

In the hope that it is here to stay, these are a few things I have learnt about Miss/Master friendly activities during sunny summer spells...

Yoghurt drops - Miss/Master can make these with your help. Spoon yoghurt onto a baking paper-lined plate or dish to make discs of about 2cm in diameter. Place these in the freezer in the morning for a frosty afternoon treat.

Home made smoothies - depending upon the age of your Miss/Master, offer them fruit to chop or bowls of chopped fruit from which they select their smoothie ingredients. If you keep blueberries or other small or chopped fruit in the freezer this will help chill your smoothie without having to add ice.

Messy play (bath) - cooked and dyed (food dye) spaghetti is usually a winner with my Miss, Master likes playing with jelly. But watercolour painting with fingers, toy vehicle wheels, toy animal footprints (your imagination is the only limitation) onto paper or tiled walls can be contained and quickly cleaned up and Miss/Master bathed if it all happens in the one place - the bathroom.

Messy play (outside) - a wading pool can be a great source of fun on hot days when combined with messy play. Think water colour painting, mud pies and tea parties, chalk drawing, bubble blowing... Clever parent friends of mine put bath wash in the pool at the end of the day making a modern day Roman Bath (well, you get the idea). Result.

Spray bottles - some folks may object to using a spray bottle as a 'gun', however, I grew up with a healthy respect for guns. We played cowboys & Indians/cops & robbers with spray bottles on hot days. We also tried to write/spray our names on the footpath or any other paved space. For the gun wary, the spray bottle could be set to 'spray'.

Sprinkler running - one of my favourite hot day activities as a child. I spent hours running in and out of the sprinkler's arc, and when that became boring we would run to the middle, pull a silly pose and then run out again - competing against each other for the best silly pose. This was also a great way to water the garden (hose pipe ban permitting).

At this point, it would remiss of me not to repeat the simple, sun-smart advice I heard throughout the sunny days of my childhood, "Slip, Slop, Slap!", that is, slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat.

Happy summer, folks!