Tag: in these stilettos

Blaze and The Monster Machines: how simple toys and TV shows can spark creativity and imagination

Blaze and The Monster Machines: how simple toys and TV shows can spark creativity and imagination

Posted on by Rebecca

We all know we should be limiting screen time for our kids…. right?

Well I will be the FIRST to admit there are certain times in the day where TV is my LIFESAVER, and I am not afraid to say it. Yes I try to “limit” their screen time, but I also need my sanity. First thing in the morning, when I am too tired to think and need them to just sit in one place long enough to eat a decent bowl of oats, Saturday afternoons when I just want to try to catch a 15 minute nap and of course sometimes at those unravelling dinner times, when the only way to get them to eat is to watch something on the I-pad (we have all been there right?).

YES, my kids watch TV ! In fact it’s often on in “the background” in my house, BUT, I do monitor what they are allowed to watch VERY carefully.

We are pretty spoilt for choice in today’s world with educational shows for our children, but one of our favourites by far, has to be Blaze and the Monster Machines. As a mum, it ticks all of my STEM obsessed check lists, teaching children about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (click here to see some of my STEM experiments). As a child it ticks off speed, cars, and crazy imaginative talking animals/vehicles.

Each of the show’s presents some sort of problem that is addressed and fixed by getting kids involved, asking the viewer’s questions directly, inviting responses. My 3-year-old has learnt about concepts such as force, acceleration and friction. He can tell you all about combustion and how an engine works. He knows about angles and trajectory. In fact, by allowing him to watch Blaze I feel like I am encouraging a future scientist in him, I certainly DO NOT worry about him watching TV.

Playing with toy trucks in a sense promotes STEM concepts as well. Toy cars roll, they crash, they race. They learn that “wheels turn” and that cars move faster when pushed downhill. It teaches them pressure, and strength, learning how hard to push a car to make it go further. By playing with the toys alongside the show, they aren’t just “learning”, they are “experiencing it”. The best way to learn is through doing.

Mattel South Africa has a great range of toys out from Blaze and the Monster Machines™. We have had great fun playing with our trucks, re-enacting scenes from Blaze with our Talking “Zeg”. Zeg “loves to race” and is a mighty dinosaur truck who loves to smash and bash. The “Talking Zeg Truck” brings to life for kids the STEM concept of sound waves. Get involved with the kids and create your own adventures.

There is a full range of Blaze Talking Vehicles available to help you and your littlies recreate Blaze’s high octane adventures at home. These monster-sized truck tires, authentic styling and lots of phrases make these talking Monster Machines a must for every Blaze fan! Perfect for recreating the amazing adventures of Blaze and the Monster Machines™, each of these freewheeling vehicles comes to life with phrases and awesome action sounds! Suitable for ages 3 plus.

Technology is here to stay, that’s a given, I won’t feel guilty about letting my children watch TV, but I can also actively get involved in their play time and be selective in the programs they watch. If I had shows that encouraged critical thinking like Blaze does when I was growing up, maybe I would have had a chance to pass physics 🙂

** We received a talking Zeg Truck to review**

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

Valentine’s sugar cookies

Valentine’s sugar cookies

Posted on by Rebecca

Incase you couldn’t tell my boys are a teeny bit obsessed with baking, what kid isn’t right ? They love mixing and rolling and cutting, and of course licking the bowl.

 

For the last few years we have made heart-shaped sugar cookies to give out to friends and teachers for valentine’s day.

There’s a lot of controversy around valentine’s and should we celebrate it, it’s just another excuse to suck in consumers, and yes, while that may be true, personally I adore the fact that there is actually a day to promote “love”. Not just love between a man and women, but love for all of those special people around us. There is so much anger and hate in the world; the fact that there is a day to bring awareness to love is just fantastic in my books. So I unashamedly celebrate valentine’s day, every single year.

Enough of the long story, here is my fail proof recipe for the perfect sugar cookie, thanks to my beautiful friend (and sugar cookie Goddess) Liezl.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks), approx. 227 grams unsalted butter

1 cup castor sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla

Sift the flour and salt

In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar, add in the egg and vanilla.

Slowly mix in flour until the dough comes together.

Pull together in a bowl and chill in fridge

Set oven to 180 Degrees Celsius, roll out cookies and bake for 12 minutes

Icing

2 cups icing sugar, 3 tbsp. egg white, about 1 tbsp. warm water dependent on consistency. Beat on high.

OR, if you are low on time, head on over to Woolworths to buy their Royal Icing Mix.

 

Once the cookies have cooled pipe onto your cookies.

If there is one thing I despise in this world its icing sugar cookies, I honestly do not have the patience, or finesse to neatly do them. I would actually love to go on a course one of these days, but until then I let the boys do most of it with me. That way, I can blame the messiness on them ! 🙂

HAPPY VALENTINES WEEK !! Do you have any valentines traditions in your home?

 

{WIN} Are Antenatal classes really worth it?

{WIN} Are Antenatal classes really worth it?

Posted on by Rebecca

Are antenatal classes really worth it?

Perhaps one of the most highly debated topics of pregnancy, should you spend the extra money attending antenatal classes? Most of us studied Biology and have googled enough information, surely a women’s body knows how to “Give birth”?

Here’s some of what I remember about my antenatal classes – I remember watching a video, filmed somewhere in the 80’s, showing a range of women breastfeeding. Seeing another woman’s enlarged nipple with milk coming out if it whilst you are 8 months pregnant really didn’t appeal to me. I remember watching birthing videos, seeing a baby entering the world through another women’s private paths did nothing to calm my already shattered nerves.

So would I recommend you attend them? Abso-freaking-lootley !

Here’s why:

Birth is the most natural process on earth and yet studies have shown that one in every four women describes giving birth as traumatic and up to 20% meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. It has also been shown that women who fear childbirth experience longer labours and were more likely to need an emergency caesarean.

That word, FEAR. FEAR of the unknown, FEAR of what your body can and can’t do. FEAR of horror stories from women around you.

Birth is completely unpredictable. It throws everything off course and everything you think you knew out of the window. Antenatal courses can never fully prepare you for the all-encompassing experience that is birth, nor will it ever prepare you for POST NATAL reality. Bringing your tiny baby home and experiencing the rollercoaster of emotions.

What attending a course WILL do however, is help eliminate that FEAR.

It gives you a chance to think about all your options. Taking you through all the possible scenarios and educating you on your possible choices.

I learnt that it is absolutely OK if your “birth plan” doesn’t go according to “plan”. I learnt about all of the possibilities I had when it came to drugs, as well as the side effects. I learnt that when baby feeds their lip should always form a C-shape, with the bottom lip visible and you should hear a gentle “csssshh” sound as they drink. I learnt that it’s not ok if you get cracked or broken nipples (despite the horrific video). It taught me about the different stages of the labour process and I knew that I didn’t necessarily have to “run” to the hospital the second my labour started.

More than that, It helped me realise that every mom to be in that room had different fears or worries. That all of the women there were in the same boat, uncertain of what might happen but confident in the love for their unborn child. I also learnt that it is invaluable for your partner to attend these classes. My husband did not read a single page of the books I had lovingly sourced for him, thanks to the antenatal classes he knew how to best support me (and when to shut up) during the labour processes.

Which leads me to the importance of Pregnancy Education Month.

A collaboration between The Childbirth Educators’ Professional Forum, Bio-Oil and various hospitals nationally, February’s Pregnancy Education Month, highlights how childbirth education empowers parents for a better birth experience. With the help of antenatal classes and the experience of one birth behind me, when my second child was born I was 1000 times more confident in what my body could handle.

Over 300 private hospitals and clinics around South Africa are running “Pregnancy Education Month” activities in February. For details, or to find a childbirth educator in your area, visit www.PregnancyEducation.co.za

Together with Bio-Oil I will be giving away 3 hampers, each worth over R300.

Here’s what’s included:

2 100% pure cotton dribble bibs

A soft grey Storage Pouch

A handy 25 ml Bio-oil, perfect for your hospital bag

Bio-Oil stretch mark guide, “Tips for Moms from Moms” and a baby scan album

To enter, simply complete your details in the Gleam Widget below

 

 

 

 

Win one of 3 Bio-Oil Hampers

Top 20 Child friendly Cafes and Restaurants in Johannesburg

Top 20 Child friendly Cafes and Restaurants in Johannesburg

Posted on by Rebecca

Its taken some time to compile this list, and many a weekend wanting to go for a lunch somewhere but wanting somewhere the boys can run and play. These are my favourite outdoor restaurants, with a play area for kids, if you are looking for more of a general list of things to do or places to go with kids in Joburg you can see my previous blog here .

Some obvious, a lot are hidden gems. Hopefully this list will make your weekends a little easier.

Top of the list we will get the most obvious out-of-the-way, the spurs and the pappachinos.

For me personally, the best two spurs in terms of play area’s for the kids are: Spur Morning Glen mall (Corner of Bowling and Rivonia) – The outside kiddie area here is lovely, with ships and aeroplanes. Grey Wolf Spur – Broadacres – Sadly both of these are not halaal, so we tend to take out kids there when we have waffles and Ice cream.

Pappachinos – Again my two personal favourites are Broadacres and Clearwater – I love the outdoor play areas for the kids and Broadacres even has a putt putt course and soccer nets.

Now for the hidden gems…

Northern Suburbs

Munch – Bryanston. There are 4 in the northern suburbs but the Bryanston branch is situated inside the Garden Shop it has a beautiful play area for kids and children can also take delight in the curious animals at the Reptile shop.

Buitengeluk – Broadacres. Set in a beautiful Cape Dutch landscape this remains one of my firm favourites in Johannesburg, with the most exquisite gardens with ponds and ducks it can also host weddings and various celebrations. Just around the back they have the most glorious play area for kids, complete with jumping castles and trampolines. You wont find a prettier place to sit admiring the gardens while your children happily play.

Ristretto – Morningside. Offers two play areas, one perfect for toddlers and a bigger kids area as well. The child minders are terrifically friendly and the pizza makes it all worth while.

The Green Garden café -The Purple Tulip . Broadacres – A haven for kids, this café is set inside a nursery and has attentive staff and a donkey cart for kids to ride on. A fun morning out whenever you choose to go.

River Café -Sandton. Closed on Mondays. One of my favourites set next to the Sandton Field and Study Centre. Endless amounts of grass for the kids to ride one of their many plastic motorbikes and the perfect patch of sand for a sand pit. It’s the perfect place to stop for a healthy breakfast after a walk in the park.

Gia’s on Montrose – Morningside. There is a jungle gym on site to keep the little ones occupied, beautiful gardens suited for any member of the family. Gia’s has been around for a while and is a firm favourite with residents in the area.

State 5 – Witkoppen road. The centre offers a wide variety for kids, with a great kids play area and lots of arts and crafts shops around it, I am never disappointed. The kids play area is better suited for younger children though.

The secret tea garden – Norscot Manor – The Secret Garden offers a quiet escape from the malls and roadside coffee shops. Beautiful manicured lawns and an impressive play park for the kids. Perfect for a Saturday or Sunday morning brunch.

The Oak Leaf Restaurant – Sandton. Set amongst large leafy trees the Oak Leaf offers a homely environment with a wonderful kiddies play area. Right in the middle of sSndton it’s a lovely escape with caring and attentive child minders.

Olive and Twist – Northriding. A great little Italian restaurant with a fantastic kids space. Children are looked after by child minders, they have a variety of educational things for the kids to do.

Johannesburg Central

Rustic café – Blairgowrie. Set in a sports ground, rustic café is not your typical sports club restaurant. It makes a mean coffee and has a perfect little jungle gym outside. If your kids are sports fans like mine it’s also the perfect place to sit back and watch a local game.

The Noisy Rooster – Rosebank. Bringing free range food right to our door step. The Noisy Rooster is set in an unassuming suburb in Rosebank. Kids can choose from a number of different jungle gyms and trampolines or choose to pet the rabbits or partake in one of their creative crafts, dress up days, or story time.

Bambanani – Melville. A bit like a pappachinos setting – Bambanani has more of a homely feel. With a fantastic ratio of child minders to child, they have a fantasy play corner, arts and crafts as well as the traditional soft play equipment.

Delta Café –Craighall Park. Closed on Mondays. A hidden gem inside Delta Park it’s a perfect spot to grab a light bit to eat while taking in the beauty of the park around you. Their friendly staff and cute little play area for the kids always bring people back in.

Johannesburg West

Tres Jolie – Ruimsig. The perfect place for some relaxation and fresh air. Sprawling gardens and pretty water features, this is definitely the place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Not only do they have a fantastic play area they also have the most perfect little farmyard where Kids can feed the animals or take a Camel ride.

256 on Smit – Fairlands. Friendly staff with a super little hairdresser and masseuse right next door this is also set in an unassuming suburb in Fairlands. The play area is cleverly designed in the middle so you can watch your little ones from pretty much anywhere. They also have an aviary and some bunnies.

iPlay – Randpark Ridge. iPlay Party Venue, Coffee shop, Toy Shop and Kiddies play area. Great child friendly restaurant with kids playground and sandpit.

 

Johannesburg East/ South

A Churrasqueira Alberton. Fantastic Portuguese restaurant in the south. They can get a little busy which can leave you calling for your waiter but the fantastic kids play area and the fact that kids can make their own pizza, make up for it.

Two Trees Bakery – Klipriversberg. Ive yet to come across a place with as much Jungle Gym equipment for kids as Two trees do. They have zip lines catering to both older and younger kids and brilliant big seat swings for the whole family to swing in. Kids can decorate gingerbread cookies as well.

Kiddilicious – Bedfordview. So much more than just a café. Kiddilicious offers a great little café, country-style play areas, a party venue as well as a mother and baby wellness clinic.

 

Do you have any other places you would recommend? Id love to hear from you and your suggestions or feedback. For a full list of places to go with activities for kids you can see my previous post here.

Cadbury’s chocolate popping candy cookies

Cadbury’s chocolate popping candy cookies

Posted on by Rebecca

I have a little obsession with the Marvellous Creations popping candy chocolate that Cadbury’s released a few years ago … so when I came across a cookie recipe that had the chocolate in I knew I had to give it a go. Choc chip cookies are another one of my downfalls, this recipe is really moving to the top of my ultimate soft cookie list.

It’s actually quite surprising that any of the actual chocolate made it into the cookie dough!

Ingredients

50g softened butter

100g muscovado sugar

1 egg

25g cocoa powder

125g all purpose flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

70g of chopped up Cadbury’s popping candy chocolate.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius .

Beat the butter and sugar together until soft and creamy, add in the egg and beat again until combined.

Add in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa, at this point mix in by hand so you don’t overbeat it.

Finally fold in the chocolate bits. Scoop up a heaped teaspoon of the cookie dough and roll it into a ball between you two hands (my kids did this).

Place the balls on a lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes .

Try not to eat all of them at once, personally I like them a little warm still so the chocolate is gooey.

Enjoy!

Picky eaters – 6 hidden vegetable meals to put your mind at ease

Picky eaters – 6 hidden vegetable meals to put your mind at ease

Posted on by Rebecca

Lets talk about picky eaters, because I know, at some point it is something every single mum will experience.

Up until a couple of months ago I would have said my boys were pretty good eaters, in fact, I was confident that they were eating a good, balanced diet. Aadam loves his “mealies”, broccoli, raw carrots and peas, (He will not however, touch raw tomatoes, potatoes, butternut) and Yusuf eats pretty much EVERYTHING. Fast forward a few months and I find myself getting stuck in a rut and I feel like he’s surviving on bread, pasta, carrot sticks and cucumber. (partly due to my own laziness).

Lessons learnt

When Aadam started solids I pretty much pureed and mashed everything up for him for FAR FAR too long. I think it’s the first time mum syndrome, you are paranoid your child is not eating enough so you mash it up and make it easy for yourself to quickly feed them. Funnily enough, he used to eat a TON of mashed potato and butternut then (explains a lot now). With Yusuf however, at about 4 months old he grabbed a piece of wors (sausage) from my hand one day, and literally stuffed it in his mouth, our sign he was ready. With him I took more of a “baby led weaning” approach, pretty much letting him eat whatever he wanted as long as it was easy enough to hold and soft enough to dissolve. I do think that has made a huge difference in their eating habits, and if we were to have a third child I would definitely do that again.

I’ve noticed a definite difference as well with 2 things. By my kids picking the veggies themselves, they are more likely to eat them! I’ve learnt through this that Yusuf loves Celery and Aadam adores Aubergine ! Secondly, getting them involved in the cooking peaks their interest and they have more desire to taste the food they have created, so wherever you can, get them involved in the prep work. One of my boys favourite things to do is to peel corn and top and tail beans!

That being said, here are 6 of my favourite “hidden veggie” recipes, for all of those days/times I feel like my kids have not have a balanced diets and I need to be a bit sneakier :

  1. Chicken fried rice – This is my non brainer for a Sunday evening, especially if you have left over rice or chicken in the fridge. Sautee some diced onion in olive oil with some garlic until soft. Add in chicken, if its uncooked fry until lightly browned (I flavour mine with chicken spice, garlic and rustic herb and a pinch of paprika). Next, I add finely diced peppers (red and yellow) together with a cup of the good old McCain mixed veggies (peas, carrots and mealies) and soften down. Add in your rice and mix well. I push everything to the side and add in a beaten egg and scramble it in the same pan at this point and then incorporate into the rest of the pan. Finally I add in a bit of Soy Sauce and Tomato Sauce for the kids.
  2. Lasagna – Always a sure way to get Veggies into my kids. I finally dice up peppers, carrots and sometimes mushroom to add in mine
  3. Stews are a no brainer – I have to be careful here though, Aadam refuses to eat cooked carrots (beats me as he will eat a whole pack raw), so when I dish for him I have to mash the carrot up a little so it’s not as obvious
  4. Hidden Veggie Chicken + Rice – This is a one pot wonder and another one of my favourites. You can view the full recipe here , I have tried it out with diced up cauliflower and broccoli added in as well and it’s been fabulous
  5. Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce – I’ve always used Annabel Karmels’ recipe for this one and the whole family loves it! It includes peppers, carrots and courgettes.
  6. Ratatouille – Funnily enough – with all my kids quirks, they both LOVE ratatouille! I add pretty much whatever I have in the fridge but typically its aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes, onions and peppers. I serve it with Bulgur wheat, which we call “special rice”.

A lot of this I only have myself to blame, for example, I never thought to give them soup (though I love it), I left it too late and now they won’t touch it! Smoked Salmon/ Trout is another example, I sat in awe the other day watching a friend’s 1 year old happily munch away on smoked trout, if I tried to give it to my boys I’m sure they would throw it in my face! Again, my own fault, I never thought to give it to them.

Studies do show that if you put vegetables on your child’s plate every night, within a few months they will eat those vegetables, so it’s all about exposure and leading by example I guess. We will keep persisting.

What tips/ tricks do you have with your kids? I’d love to hear about your experiences with fussy eaters.

Dear New Mummy – you are not alone

Dear New Mummy – you are not alone

Posted on by Rebecca

Dear New Mommy,

You are not alone… These first few weeks can seem so daunting. You thought you had read every book to prepare you for the arrival of your bundle of joy, you had attended every workshop. Yet you feel so unprepared and helpless at the thought of looking after this little human. Every single gurgle or grunt you question yourself, is she too hot/ is she too cold? Is he breathing? Why is he making that grunting sound? He’s not feeding enough, he’s feeding too long. He’s not sleeping long enough, or he’s sleeping too much. She is lethargic today… You know the feeling. You feel inadequate, this is not what you expected. You feel alone.

All of these thoughts and feelings you experience are helping you develop your intuition as a mother. No, it’s not something you are born with. It’s something you develop over time, by connecting with your baby. By getting to know them and their bodies, their reactions and movements. You may cry every time you hold him, unable to soothe his cramps or crying due to sheer exhaustion. IT’S OK Mama, hold your baby, all he needs is your love.

Days turn to nights, the world outside slips further and further away. You feel “stuck”, feeding, changing, sleeping, and burping. You finally get your sleeping bundle down and place her in her crib like she is a package of dynamite, carefully loosening your fingers when BOOM. The crying starts again. Lie down, sleep with her on your chest. Sleep together. The world can wait for now. All she needs if your love.

Dear mommy, it’s exhausting I know. The broken sleep, the crying, the fear of harming your child. You can’t quite see the end and you don’t know how other mothers have done it. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. The best advice I could ever give you is take each day as it comes, each day you make it through is another day of raising a strong, healthy child. One more tick through the calendar of life. Each day that breaks your baby is another day stronger, because of you.

You will grow and develop a relationship in your OWN way, you will discover your perfect style of parenting in your OWN time. You will become a heroine, nursing night fevers and numerous amount of sick up, you will survive the days on 3 hours of broken sleep. You will become the PERFECT mother to YOUR CHILD. Your child is like no other in the world. You will develop a network of “mummy’ friends, all walking the same exhausting routine together, you will connect and grow stronger.

So listen to others if you would like, compare with friends if you wish but always know that you are in charge of your own journey through motherhood.

When you are feeling alone, staring out the window as your feed your baby for the 9th time that day, know that you are not. We are walking beside you every step of the way. Reach out to other moms, there is a whole new beautiful world of connections to help you through.

There is no other mother like you, and YOU are PERFECT to them.

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” →

Lunch Box inspiration #1

Lunch Box inspiration #1

Posted on by Rebecca

I think every single mum in the universe is constantly looking for new or different idea’s for their child’s lunch at school, I certainly know I do. This will be the first in a few series I’ll be doing on lunch box ideas for your kids. I am certainly not reinventing the wheel in any Continue reading “Lunch Box inspiration #1” →