Tag: activities for kids

Sliding Into Fun With Ster-Kinekor’s New Kiddies Cinema

Sliding Into Fun With Ster-Kinekor’s New Kiddies Cinema

Posted on by Rebecca

Sandton City has launched its new family fun level and its made such a huge difference. My issue with Sandton was that it was never really “kid friendly”, Joburg still has a lot to learn in comparison to Cape Town with our Malls here. The shopping centre has launched a new area of the mall being dedicated to family fun, entertainment and food. With it comes a freshly revamped cinema complex, which boasts the second kids’ cinema in the country (the first being in East Rand Mall) additional luxurious Cine Prestige 3D cinemas with their own VIP Lounge area and exclusive catering offers.

We were invited to a movie at the newly revamped Ster-Kinekor Cinema in Sandton this past weekend. The new layout has an express counter as well as 15 self service terminals where you can not only book your ticket, but order your catering combo as well! This reduces queuing time hugely, perfect for parents not wanting to stand in long lines.

This was the boys very first movie and we were all excited to be a part of the experience. Aadam kept asking me today if we could “pulllleeeeease go to the movies again”. If you’re planning on watching a Kids Movie, there’s an entire “waiting area” to keep little ones busy, with tables filled with colouring pages,  PS4 gaming stations and its very own  snack kiosk section. We watched Sherlock Gnomes which releases in South African on May 11th – Sherlock Gnomes comes together with Garden gnomes, Gnomeo & Juliet, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments across London.

While the movie  catered to mum and dads sense of humor a little more, the movie house itself is a kids playground, literally. With a slide going down one side of the mall ending with a ball pit, the kids got to slide down the length of the movie house before the show started. There were squeals of delight as they ran up the stairs and slid down the slide again and again, and again! I was a little shocked that they actually sat through the whole movie. The Cinema has Bean bag chairs up in the front for kids, and thankfully, normal comfy leather seats for mum and dad at the back.

We started off the day by sliding into Hamley’s World and then Slid into the movies as well. It was such fun! Almost makes up for the lack of play area that Sandton has always had. After the movies we headed to Hamley’s World (the first ever in Southern Africa), where the boys raced some remote bumper cars and took a trip in a Hot Wheels 3D experience.

The new “family friendly” level in Sandton comes complete with a Halaal Spur, finally one in Joburg with a decent sized play area for the kids. As much as I love Rosebank, the play area in the Spur is just far too small.

Thank you Ster Kinekor for a fun filled morning! I have a feeling this has started something and we will be back many many more times. The good news is, if your are on Discovery Vitality, your child can watch movies for free before 7pm at Ster-Kinekor Cinemas (under the age of 18). Find out more by visiting  www.sterkinekor.com or download the SK App on your smartphone.

 

Disclaimer – We received free movie tickets for this event, but all opinions are my own.

Homemade Bath Bombs

Homemade Bath Bombs

Posted on by Rebecca

I’m jumping on the latest internet craze once again. Its safe to say bath bombs are pretty much everywhere. I was surprised to see how much these balls of scented goodness can retail for. Everyone loves baths, with my boys we often use little fizzies in the bath to colour up the water, and I just use them for their glorious scent and healing properties.

With mothers day coming up they are the perfect gift to give to someone special. You can customize color, scent, and shape to perfectly suit the person, and its a heck of a lot cheaper to make them at home. It was such a fun activity to do and the boys loved watching their balls form.

Ingredients:

1 Cup baking soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)

1/2 cup Epsom salts

1/2 cup Citric acid

2 tsp Essential Oil (I used Lavender)

1 tsp water

3 tsp Coconut Oil

Plastic moulds/ egg shells (I used those little plastic ornament shells for Christmas as well as egg shells). Silicon moulds work really well as well.

All these ingredients are natural so the bath bombs are safe for kids and toddlers. I chose to omit glitter, as pretty as it is, on purpose. Most glitter is made out of plastic and I have become quite conscious of what goes down our drains and into our water system. You can choose to add dried petals, or even those little magic grow beans to hide inside.

  1. In a bowl whisk together the baking soda, citric acid, Epsom Salts.
  2. In a separate small bowl combine the melted coconut oil, water and essential oil
  3. While whisking, very SLOWLY drizzle the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined. You can choose to do this with a spray bottle. DO NOT be tempted to add more liquid. If the liquid gets too wet it will activate the fizzy part of the bath bomb too soon!
  4. TIGHTLY pack the mixture into each side of the mold then press the two sides together. Ideally let it stay in the mold overnight, then lightly tap around the mold with a spoon to very carefully open and remove bath bomb.

What I learnt:

It is so important to add in the liquid as slowly as possible. I have seen some people using a spray bottle for this step, just to ensure a thin mist. You do not want the Citric Acid to start reacting.

Some recipes contain Corn Starch, I chose to omit that on purpose as I wanted the bombs to be as natural as possible. My little guys suffer from Eczema and I didn’t want the corn flour blocking up their pores in any way. I would like to try that recipe in future though.

This is a messy activity so do it somewhere that’s easy to clean up. Citric Acid is easier to find then i thought, i searched Dischem and Clicks and ended up finding it at good old Pick n Pay, right next to the Bicarb.

 

This is one fun activity and now that I have all the ingredients on hand its time to play! I want to try mixing up essential oils and colours. Its a little addictive, and the boys loved it!

Make your own Squishy Balls

Make your own Squishy Balls

Posted on by Rebecca

“Squishy Balls” aka good old stress balls, have had their fair share of You Tube fame recently, the latest trend in the toy world. I’ve been seeing the most amazing tension relieving creations filled with different concoctions and decided I HAD to try this with my boys.

Firstly, Stress balls are hugely beneficial for children and help relieve worry, tension and aid in concentration. They are also advocated by many OT’s as squeezing a stress ball can help to rehabilitate and strengthen your hand. Typically, a child’s hands are weaker, learning to hold a pen or pencil can be tricky. The repetitive action of squeezing the stress ball makes the muscles stronger and aids in writing skills.

I wanted to do a little more than the traditional “flour” or “rice” filled stress balls, and i thought it would be a great experiment for the kids if we compared the different types of fillings and then chose their favourite.

The fillings I chose were:

Water beads (soaked in water overnight)

Floam

Floam mixed with Slime

Plain Slime (You can find my slime recipe here)

Corn Flour and Water

Together with your choice of filling you will need:

Clear, latex Balloons (I got mine from PartySpot)

A few plain coloured balloons (If you choose cornflour and water)

A funnel (I took a 2L Coca-Cola bottle and cut of the neck section, it was the perfect size)

A spoon/long stick for poking the filling through.

Floam filled Squishy Ball

Attach your balloon to the bottom of the funnel, add in your choice of filling, as much as you can. You want a nice rounded shape for your ball. Keep enough space to securely tie the neck of your balloon. Cut off the extra end to make a nice round shape.

If you chose to do the Cornflour and Water (Gloop) mixture, double up two plain coloured balloons. As this mixture is heavier the balloon is more likely to pop so you need to make sure the gloop doesn’t get everywhere. You can also cut the neck off a deflated balloon to “cover” your ball to ensure extra coverage.

Floam mixed with Slime

Have fun with your kids! Our favorites by far were the water beads, purely because it was just so pretty and pretty satisfying, as well as the slime mixed with Floam. They were so successful I decided to create a Clubhouse Adventure with Adventure Clubs with it, showing other kids how to make their own squishy balls.

Waterbeads (Orbeez) filled               Squishy Ball

Have you made your own stress balls before? Do you find them beneficial?

 

Lets get creative {Win a Hot Wheels Hamper worth over R1500}

Lets get creative {Win a Hot Wheels Hamper worth over R1500}

Posted on by Rebecca

Hip Hip Hooraaah ! For most of our kids it’s the first day of the Easter Break, mums’ are worried about what to do with their kids and how to keep them “entertained” for the holidays, I’m here to get your creative juices flowing.

With most children, toys are typically obsessed over for the first week and then thrown into a toy container and “forgotten about”. As parents we should try and re-ignite the imagination, show them different things to do with the toy, different ways to play. Imaginative play allows their minds to develop and think “out of the box” (excuse the pun).

My boys love to play with toy cars, trucks, buses, trains, diggers…. you get the idea. Toy cars can be played with independently, but children also love to race each other! It lets them learn about friendly competition and teaches them negotiation. They learn about cause and effect, what happens if the push or drop the cars from different heights. I love encouraging my boys them to test boundaries and to discover “what if”.

Its no secret I love creating things for the boys, we do this together and they often step in to give me “grand designs” or help with the painting. We love creating things to play with our cars in different ways.

Here’s a few things we have made recently:

A Mini “city” out of an old takealot box, complete with tunnels to drive through.

A parking garage made with crates and PVC piping.

An Outdoor/offroad track driving through “mud” and “rainforests”. This was possibly the biggest hit. Boys and Dirt? Always a winner.

A race track “ramp”, made with cardboard boxes.

A race car slide/ramp made with pool noodles cut in half

So heres the exciting part:

This Easter break I challenge all parents to get creative with their kids and their Hot Wheels®. By sharing your creation you stand a chance of winning a Hot Wheels Hamper worth over R1500

Heres the challenge:

  1. Create a unique way to play with your Hot Wheels Cars. I’m giving you free reign, you can use whatever you want, however you want. Cardboard, metal, real toy tracks, pretend toy tracks, mud, water…whatever your imagination allows.
  2. Post a pic of your creativity and Tag me (across Facebook or Instagram) as well as the Hot Wheels South Africa facebook page using the following : #hotwheels #hotwheelsSA #challengeaccepted
  3. Make sure you like the Hot Wheels SA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hotwheels/
  4. Share your creation and tag and challenge a friend to try and top your masterpiece!

By sharing your creations you are not only spending time with your children but are encouraging others to get creative. So start your engines and lets get creative !!

T’s+C’s:

Winners must reside in South Africa.

Competition closes on April 8th at midnight.

Hot Wheels® hamper includes:

Various Hot Wheels® Car packs

Hot Wheels® Track Set

Hot Wheels® Track Builder™ Accessory Pack Assortment

Valentine Themed Sensory Bin

Valentine Themed Sensory Bin

Posted on by Rebecca

There are so many wonderful ways to fill and to play with sensory trays and I love any excuse to find a theme to create one. If you follow my instagram and facebook pages you will see a lot more of my other ideas for sensory bins, we do slime, animal environments, snow, rainbow rice, anything I can really!

Sensory play has a lot to do with the nervous system and your child will react to how it feels, good or bad! They can be both calming and stimulating for a child as well as engaging and educational. Each item used in this valentine themed sensory bin is reusable and bought from our local china mall for under R100.

Items used include artificial rose petals, pink rainbow rice (homemade), pink polystyrene balls, plastic hearts, cardboard hearts, a variety of heart-shaped tins and containers for them to scoop and play.

I used a variety of different textures and shapes here and I knew I wanted to do a “dry” sensory bin this time. As I was creating it I knew that my boys would probably be too “old” for just a touch and explore one and realised that it was the perfect treasure hunt bin!


The challenge was on.

The boys had to dig in the bin, through all the petals and rice to find all 14 of the little plastic hearts, next came the foil ones and so on. My little Yusuf loved the feeling of the Polystyrene balls and watching how the static made them jump (Tip: have a hoover close by, second tip: the rice seemed to diffuse the static slightly so I would definitely do both).

Once we had finished the treasure hunt we moved onto a game of eye spy before Aadam decided he wanted to do arts and crafts with all of the hearts.

So a simple activity that took less than 15 minutes to set up created an afternoon of play!

What else would you add to your bin?

For more fun activities to do with your kids subscribe to the blog with your email address on the right hand side.

HAPPY VALENTINES xoxo

5 toddler friendly Science experiements

5 toddler friendly Science experiements

Posted on by Rebecca

So I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a “Pintrest” mum, I could spend hours trawling the internet looking for the next fun thing to do with the boys. With it being “holiday season” with various mid year breaks coming up its perfect timing to get some new ideas on how to spend time with your kids. Continue reading “5 toddler friendly Science experiements” →