Wizardly good half term fun

We've been to the National Railway Museum a couple of times recently, and the last time we were there, the children noticed a poster for Wizard Week, which is running from 11 - 19 February. Monkey, being a big Harry Potter fan, expressed an interest in going along to see it. So, when they invited us back to this particular event, I knew I would have no choice but to say yes. I thought the weather might get the better of us as York had loads of snow on Thursday, whereas we have had none of late, but the roads seemed clear enough so we set off on Saturday morning to check out the first day of the 9 day event.

Flying broomsticks

Missy Woo was concerned before we went that we'd have to dress up as wizards but I told her it wasn't necessary. There were, however, children there in wizardly fancy dress - I even saw one little boy with huge round specs, a black gown and wand, thoroughly putting us to shame. Missy wanted to buy a wizard's hat and a wand to compensate for this, but I disallowed it on the basis she has plenty of similar items at home that barely get touched. I am a cruel, cruel mother. There is actually a Best Dressed Wizard competition, where you upload a photo of yourself in wizardly costume at the museum to their Facebook page and the winner will win a wizard-themed experience, including magic lessons and an owl experience. Oops. They're too young for the owl experience anyway!

No mess messy crafts

I may have said before, many times, that I am not good at crafts. Whether it is a side effect of being left-handed (or cack-handed as it is so delightfully put sometimes) which has meant I've never been quite as able to use crafty things properly, or whether I just have no talent or imagination in that field, I'm not really sure. I'm not particularly interested. Missy Woo, however, does like making things. Which is a problem, when you have a mum like me.

Missy Woo with her kit

Another thing I dislike is mess. Well, yes, I have children, we live permanently in a mess but I can cope with untidiness even though, in an ideal world, the house would stay tidy and the children would clear up after themeselves, which we all know won't happen. But mess that I actually have to clean up? No way, I'm not a fan. I don't have time for housework as it is, why do I want to give myself any more cleaning to do?

This is again problematic when you have small children as you do really need to let them do messy things and anyway, it's fun. We have managed in the past with judicious use of messy mats etc although most activities with high mess factor have been relegated to the kitchen, which is wipe-clean friendly. The only things I allow to be done in other rooms is colouring with crayons and felt pens (thankfully, we have passed the draw-on-the-walls-when-Mummy-is-not-looking phase) and sticky mosaics that I discovered during the Toyologist programme. Even playdough and its inferior alternative, Moon Dough, cannot be trusted.

Then I was offered the chance to try some Sand Art kits from Kids Bee Happy and thought we'd give it a try. We got sent two kits, one a very girly set of pictures and one of a more boyish nature, complete with little tubes of sand. The picture boards are self-adhesive and you peel back the different shapes and pour the sand on, and it sticks to the self adhesive bit.

Making their pictures

I left the children doing the pictures with Daddy on Sunday morning and all he had to do was put them on tray and he was happy to let them make their pictures in the living room. When I came back, the pictures were virtually done and all the waste sand was on the trays apart from a little bit on the coffee table which was easily cleared away. The only thing was both Monkey and Missy Woo decided that you didn't peel off the background bit so they both have yellow backgrounds to their pictures! Oh, and Monkey pulled a bit too far when peeling one of the shapes off and managed to pull some of the picture away but he is clumsy and generally needs to take more care.

Both Monkey and Missy Woo loved doing the sand art. I thought that Monkey might get bored but both of them were completely absorbed in the activity. The pack also comes with laminating pouches so you can preserve your little darling's creation but our laminator has sadly laminated one sheet too many and expired some months ago so that is not an option for us.

And afterwards, it was pretty simple to clear up! Bonus!

These kits cost £8.99 so they make a great present for any child really. It doesn't require any drawing ability so even a 3 year old can produce a nice looking picture. The children loved it so much that they want to do more, which speaks for itself. The children were happy and I was happy too. No mess messy crafts. That's what I like!

(We were sent two sand art kits to review and I have received no other compensation. I was not told what to write and all opinions, words and pictures are my own). 

Toyologist (Guest) Review: Keter Artisto

This Toyologist review is a bit different. I'm pleased to welcome Simone, from SFR Product Reviews, as a guest poster. Simone was sent the Keter Artisto to review with her daughter Liv. Here is what they thought of it...

The Artisto double sided easel table from Keter is one of the latest additions to a fantastic range of larger childrens' toys. A double artist table - perfect if you have two children, the main feature is the perspex sheet held firmly in the middle of the table which allows children to be as creative as they want to be. On either side of the perspex sheet are "lips" which allow paper to be held into place, absolutely ideal for painting!

Less Stepford Wife, more Slummy Mummy

I've realised looking through my blog posts, that if all you knew of me was from reading them, you might think I was a bit of a Stepford Wife. Well, apart from my really rubbish photography; I fear there may be no hope for me on that front. I remembered a post from my lovely blogger friend Rachael on her blog about this very subject - although she aspires to a Martha Stewart existence, even if the reality doesn't live up to the picture in her head.

On the face of it, my Stepford credentials seem impeccable. In recent years, I have started to make stuff that most people of sound mind prefer to buy in a supermarket - like bread, jam (not always that successfully), and chutney from time to time. I bake cakes or make puddings. I plan weekly menus in advance, cook from scratch and try new recipes every week. All I need is twinset and pearls, kitten heels, and shampoo and set and my transformation would be complete, like this lovely lady. So you would think.

The reality is somewhat different. This may come as a shock, but my Slummy Mummy credentials are far, far more impressive. If there was an interview for the position, I would surely ace it. Here's the supporting statement I wrote for my application.

• I frequently do the school run wearing my gym gear. I fall out of bed, throw on some trackies and a t-shirt, put a fleece or coat over the top and off I go. And that's the afternoon. Classy and stylish, it is not.
• I am rubbish at stacking the dishwasher. At least that's what my husband says. This normally means he does it wherever possible. I like this.
• I don't iron. Well, sometimes I do, but they put the flags out to mark the occasion.
• I don't paint my nails. Painting nails is something I class as a "craft activity" which means it is Something I Am Rubbish At, so I don't do it.
• On a similar front, I rarely wear make up. I forget to do it quite a lot. I wear it for special occasions. 
• And don't talk to me about eye-liner or mascara, we're back to craft activities.  The effect is more panda bear than sexy siren. 
• And hair? I have straighteners. I have hairdryer. I'm lucky if I use either. 
• The only designer clothing item I own is my wedding dress. As that is not really suitable for everyday use, I own no designer clothes at all, unless you count George as a designer.
• I don't wear matching underwear. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I am deeply suspicious of anyone whose bra and pants always match. What's that about?
• Put me in high heels and I waddle like a duck, before adopting a fetching hobble after walking approximately 0.125 miles. Killer heels? Yes, if you count my feet and ankles. 
• I don't think I could pipe swirls onto cupcakes to save my life. Making any cake look pretty is a tough call for me; yet another craft activity. Piping is likely to be a step too far. I may give it a whirl at some point, then take pictures so you can all laugh.
• And whilst I'm on craft activities, I can't sew, paint, knit or crochet. Let's not go there. The only hand-crafted gifts you are likely to get from me are food-related, and then they'll be misshapen.
• I am a messy cook. By the time I've finished, all the cupboard doors are open and there's barely a worktop unmolested by the detritus of my cooking. Thankfully, if I set my mind to it, the kitchen is usually found underneath the mess after some not inconsiderable effort.
• I have children so I am adept at turning into Shouty Mum when stressed.

So, don't let me fool you. I am far more Slummy Mummy than I am Stepford Wife. Read my posts with that in mind. Imagine the mess that went to create the culinary disasters delights, imagine the children that go unwashed whilst I blog or tweet, and you won't go far wrong. 

Review: Sprayza Studio

The latest episode in the Toyologist series!

Do you ever have one of those moments when you think "Why didn't I think of that?" Well, I had one of those moments whilst we were playing with this. When I first saw it, I just thought it would make a mess but gave into pester power last Sunday afternoon to allow the children to play with it, and realised how wrong I was. Mind you, I still used the messy mat to cover the kitchen table.

The set is unbelievably simple. The "airbrush" is actually a small plastic tube. You attach one of the felt pens to the end so that the tip sits across the bottom opening of the tube and you blow through the tube to airbrush. I was dubious that this would work at first. You also get various cardboard stencils and some paper. The stencils need pressing out on first use but were easy to do although a bit fiddly for little hands. If you're that way inclined, you could create your own, but I'm not.

Once you're ready to go, you point the tube at the stencil and paper, blow and hey presto! It works. It took a little while for the children to work out the right amount of puff to do it well and I did have to help a bit. They blew a bit hard sometimes, leading to a few splodges and you do need to take regular breaks from blowing but they loved it. So did I!

It took about 5-10 minutes to make a picture and that was with a lot of colour changes! That's perfect for Monkey and Missy Woo - what I found was they would draw with the pens on the design whilst the other was using the airbrush. We played for about an hour with it and they have asked to play with it again. For its price (£9.99),  I'd say it's good entertainment value for that price and I'd definitely recommend it for children of a similar age (5 and 4) or older.

Have a look at our slideshow below to see pictures of some of our creations and the children creating them.



(I was provided with this toy to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)