Thinkrolls - recommended tablet game for toddlers

As a parent, I am always on the look out for new ways to stimulate my child's mind. Maybe because I have a boy who hates puzzles and crafts, I am desperate to find interesting activities other than train tracks and animal farms!

I came across this game on my kindle fire tablet because it was free! If I'm perfectly honest, I originally downloaded it for myself because it looked like a fun and pretty game, and - come on - FREE!!!

On a Eurostar trip back to London a couple of months ago, my son was a bit agitated so I gave him to tablet for the first time. I know at nursery they have iPad sessions so he knew how to handle ours.

Soon enough, he was hooked on the game. Most of you would say it's really bad to get them used to computer games and I would normally agree but hear me out.

Thinkrolls

Thinkrolls is a game of strategy for toddlers and children aged 3-8. My son was barely 2 and 1/2 when he started so they are definitely capable to achieve the first levels at that age.

The basics of the game are that each window screenshot is a maze through which you have to guide a funny character. Obstacles need to be moved or used to go through the right path. 

The first levels are easy, you just need to eat biscuits or move boxes but as chapters difficulty increases, it becomes more and more strategic.

At later levels, strategic actions include moving a cushion to jump from to get out of hole, or fill the hole with the box, move balloons to clear access or extinct fires with ice cubes using moving platforms.

At the age of 2 and 1/2, my son is able to achieve all chapters at the easy setting which is for children aged 3-5. He can also achieve the first levels of the hard setting where observation and choices are the skills developed even further.

What Amazon says about it:

• 207 challenging levels with mind-sharpening puzzles
• Easy mode for ages 3-5, hard mode for ages 5-8
• Experiment with gravity, heat, buoyancy, speed, friction, elasticity & more
• Enhance logic, observation, spatial cognition, memory
• Track progress for up to 6 player profiles
• 22 hilarious super smart characters to play with
• Original soundtrack and sound effects
• Supreme design, eye-catching artwork
• Language neutral game-play
• COPPA compliant

Highly recommended!!!!

The Fabulous Door Monkey

Hi everyone,

Today, I'm sharing with you an item that helped us sooo much in our cot-to-bed transition.
We were all dreading this moment: Is he going to sleep in a new bed, is he going to get out constantly and cry to stay with us, is he going to wake up during the night, creep up downstairs, open the door and run on the street, all on his own?
So many worries, apparently they are normal but that doesn't make them less perturbing!

The transition to toddler bed became quite a sudden need for us when our LO decided that his cot was too small and so easily climbable, why hadn't he thought of it before really.???. So in a hurry, I did a quick search on Amazon for a cheap but sturdy toddler bed he would like and enjoy.

The toddler bed

I think the choice was quite obvious for us as our son loves cars and trucks and the perfect cute one turned out to be the cheapest one too!!! yeahhhh So we purchased this:


Unfortunately because we had a cot and not a cot bed, we also had to purchase a mattress that fit this new bed!!! Eeeuurrgghhh

If you don't know what you have:

• A cot mattress is 120x60 
• A cotbed or toddler mattress is 140x70 

I'm very happy with the purchase I made, again on Amazon, the mattress is very soft and comfy but firm enough for a good night sleep:



So that was the bed sorted!! For about £140! I say: result!!!

That evening after we got all the bits and pieces, we tested it: I built the bed next to his cot and we asked our LO which bed he wanted to sleep in. He was so curious about the new pretty bed, he jumped on it straight away!! Relief!!!!

We read the story in his new toddler bed

He was soon fast asleep with his head firmly on the head board for orientation

 The day after, we got rid of his cot and he never complained!!

Now the next issue was how to keep him in!!!!!!

The fabulous Door Monkey

We tried the usual gate but unfortunately as our LO is a little monkey he easily climbs over these!!
We thought about installing a bolt on his door but I thought that was a bit mean and I would feel like I am keeping my son in prison!

After a long search on Amazon for the right solution for us, I found the Door Monkey!!
It serves two purposes really:

1. Keep your child in his room
2. The finger proof design makes it super safe

At first, I was a bit worried that we would have to keep his door ajar and that would distract him because we've never done it before. But it doesn't seem to bother him. Also, it's so convenient when I want to check up on him: I don't need to be super careful with opening the door, it's already open!!!!

When he wakes up and he wants out, he tries to open the door but can't, if he wants to close it, he can't either so his fingers are safe!!
My LO is quite strong and the house a new build (=not solid) but he hasn't broken anything yet. The Door Monkey is equipped with soft rubber grips so when your LO goes crazy on the door, it keeps it quiet :)

So comforting to know that your child is safe in his room at night and not wandering about!!!

If you are wondering how it works, you just have to clip it on the door, takes 1 second to place it or remove it!! It's that good!!!

How do you do to keep your LO inside his room and in bed? 

See you Soon,

Toddler fine motor skills popsicle activities

Hi and thanks for visiting my blog.

Today, I would like to share with you an activity for >2yo toddlers. You may have seen my previous post on cartoons popsicles.
So naturally, having purchased a big bag of wooden sticks, I'm looking for more amazing activities to do with my son that are using those.
For this activity however, I purchased the Jumbo sized wooden sticks because I thought that it would be easier to handle for my son.

Note: that the previous article could also be based on these Jumbos.

Toddler fine motor skills popsicle activity


I'm happy to report this is also made from only 2 things: wooden sticks and velcros!!

If you purchased the Jumbos sticks from the previous post, then you only need to buy one thing, the velcros - if you don't already have at home!
That's how good this activity is!
If you purchased the thin wooden sticks, then I would recommend buying the Jumbos ones simply because the smallest velcros I could find are the perfect size for the Jumbos and would be too big for the Thins (I tried cutting the velcros in 2 and sticking them to the Thins but the velcro grip is a bit flimsy and does not work as well).

Material



What your toddler can learn

1. He can learn the colours of the wooden sticks
2. He can explore the two different textures of a velcro
3. He can observe and work out how to use a velcro
4. He can learn to build shapes
5. He can learn to name shapes
6. He can associate shapes to single-coloured wooden sticks
7. He can learn to be quiet at a restaurant while playing with this unconventional and educational home-made toy ;)

Method

The only thing there's to do is stick the velcro on the sticks! :)

Now, because you can do pretty much anything, you can actually stick the velcros anywhere you want.
I did mine the simplest way you can:

• A soft velcro on one end and a grip velcro on the opposite end but same facing side. 
• A soft velcro on one end and a grip velcro on the opposite en but reverse side.

My original plan was to stick them all on one facing side but it turned out I couldn't close the triangle, ah ah!

But if you have older kids, you can try sticking velcro on the half-length to make more complicated shapes.

I tested these yesterday afternoon when we went to a pizzeria:

I took a box of his favourite toys, including the godforsaken Woody and BuzzLight, and our Velcroed Popsicles!
To my delight, he played with them more than any other toy that I had brought for him. Result!

I showed him how the velcro textures were different on each side of the sticks and how they stick together, and how - of course - they make weird noise when you try to separate them.

He was mesmerized by the magic glue, but then his 2 and 1/2 yo spirit took over and the shapes became weapons to dismantle while making big gestures and funny faces.

I loved watching him play with this oh-so-simple toy and it gave me the confidence that I can find, and easily make, educational and fun activities for him.

What do you do to keep your LO busy when out at a restaurant?

Toddler calendar

My BFF's daughter is of the same age as my son. They are so cute together! They really enjoy each other's company which is quite amazing since my son is usually very competitive with all his friends. However, her daddy has gone to Afghanistan for 4 months. This little toddler is particularly smart for her age so her parents were very open with her and prepared her for 3 weeks ahead of the big goodbye. When it was time for the last hugs, she bravely waved daddy goodbye.
For her 2nd birthday, her mum - my BFF - asked me to create a calendar for her to understand when her daddy would be back.
My BFF has always had a lot of confidence into my creative and crafty skills when I personally wouldn't have considered myself out of the ordinary. It's partly thanks to her that I took the decision to step into the creative world of healthcare advertising!
Here is what I came up with: an interactive and educational toddler calendar whereby each day's task is to decorate daddy's pix with today's sticker and each day's learning lesson is to practice 1 colour and 1 shape. The top line is L M M J V S D which are the initials of the weekdays' names in French. Each line is therefore 1 week. There are no numbers so Mum can start anytime 12 weeks ahead of as yet unplanned daddy's return. Within the calendar is a hidden message to stick on the photo. The overall aim is for her to visualize how time works and understand how long she has to wait until daddy's return

A 'French' interactive and educational toddler calendar

Daddy didn't go by himself, his daughter gave him her Maya soft toy

To do this, I used all crafty material from my Tesco: A pack of shiny coloured soft cardboards, stickers, letters, felt decoration, craft glue.

I'm quite happy with my work although you can never be 100% satisfied, a project remains a project forever!!. I could have gone simpler with a simple calendar and golden stars stickers but there was nothing exciting in that project and I was thinking that just sticking a sticker might not be enough activity for a toddler and she might want to stick them all in one go hoping it would bring daddy home sooner. With this calendar, there are 3 actions: unstick a sticker from the right place, decorate daddy with it and learn 1 colour and 1 shape.
I think it will also be useful for Mummy, I'm pretty sure she knows colours and shapes but it will help her visualising when her hubby is coming home!!

Update October 2014 - And here is job done, daddy is now back with baby!:)

For him and for her

We finally got our furniture from Belgium and this bed is kind of a King size one! I don't have any fitted sheet that fits so decided to take advantage of the fact that the mattress is 2 single ones attached to one another!
It didn't even crossed my mind to do this purposefully, it just happened and thought Waaahh, what a coincidence!!!

Teething is a B!tch!!!

I can't believe poor babies are not born with their teeth out yet! When you think about the pain it must be to cut those gums, no wonder poor child is screaming his head off!
Actually we have all these teeth ready but they just come down when they are ready! Have a look at this weird pix:

Although, my son is also going through the anxiety phase whereby he screams if he can't see his mummy! At 3 am, oh Joy! And it takes him 1 hour to calm down! Superb! The problem is that it takes me 2 hours to calm down and stop hearing his piercing screams in my ears!!!
Oh Well, all this is short-lived, isn't it! Soon he will be a toddler, in fact in a few months, he's officially not  a baby anymore! Then he will be an infant, then a teen! Ah ah, I can't wait for him to start sleeping 12 hours a day and complain about getting up! I shall take my revenge then...

Nuno Vincent Nicolas

My son was born on the 24th September 2012 at 9.17am at Whipps Cross Hospital in London!!! Here is a pix of him at 17days old!! He's so cuuute; like his daddy!!!

Things are getting ready...

Well, 9 months is NOT a long time at all!!
Of course if you consider that by the time you realise you're pregnant, you're already at week 4 to 5!
At this point of writing I have 5+ weeks left to go!! So of course I'm in full speed to prepare everything!
How to dress, feed, clean, make your baby sleep are all steps being underway!! Classes are booked, next check up scan booked, midwifes appointments taking place for the "administration" bit but also, nursery corner being prepared...

To have time to prepare mentally and physically, I was lucky enough to have my contract ending last Friday 3rd August (well, actually 17th but for HR purposes, my last day was 3rd). That was weird enough! Every day, I would do one single experiment and think OMG this might be my last of that kind EVER! Indeed, as I don't know what kind of job I will be doing once I've nursed my baby for 9 months, and as I don't think science research would be a good next move, I need to find my new career path!
For that future plan, I'm hoping to be able to work on my blog Science is So Sexy a maximum of time and  use it as a basis for my future beautiful CV!!
When I was younger, my mum used to take picture of my brother and myself on each first day of school, so it was only fitting that for my last day of work before a very long break, I should take a pix of myself.

Although I don't know what the future holds, I will never ever in my life be so long without either studying or working. Technically I can stay out of job for 10 months, I'm sure I could do more but I will see how I feel of course, maybe I will miss work, maybe work somewhere will look for me...

My biggest creation so far...

But I doubt anything would top that!!

17th March 2012

As my friends would tell you I am soooo not a baby person and do not care a bit about other people's babies!! I did have a bit of bonding with my brother's daughter of whom I am the Godmother but apart from that, that's it!

I do like my close friends babies but that is about it really!!!

And then, now me!!!

I do see this as my own scientific experiment and so far it's working!!

If only all my lab exp. could work as easily as this one!! lol

1st of May we will know if my HF (Happy Fiance) and I will have a son or a daughter - pretty scary...

Although the closer we approach that date, the less I want to know...

Maybe it would be extra special to not know? It's not like I'm gonna dress my girl in pink and my son in blue, anyway it will be all colours. The only problem is that in shops, clothes are usually adorned with trucks or fairies...

Either way, I won't be disappointed, there are only pros for each sex!

It is true what they say, you only worry about her/him being healthy! 

Mad Men to Who's the Boss?

One released in 2007 and set in the 60's,

To the other, released in 1984 and set in their present time.

Memories

One thing I cannot conceive in life is losing one's mum!!! I don't know why, I've always had a problem with abandonment!! My mum always tells me how at 3 years old, I screamed in the cinema watching the Fox and the Hound!!!
At my age, unfortunately, more and more of my friends are dealing with this incredible difficult hurdle. First my Poor Fiance, a few friends in Belgium, and recently two of my close pals - One of them the night of her wedding!!!! I mean, there are no words!!!!!! Unless you're a musician!
And this song was written by one of my friends who lost her mum last month!!
I love it!!!!

My Goddaughter

Victoria Esmeralda Jeanne

I haven't met her yet as she was born, by C-section, in Belgium on the 10th October and I'm stuck here in UK. But not long to go now... I'm going tomorrow.

In the meantime, my brother - her daddy - sent me pixies:

New Mummy and Daddy



The New and Happy Grand parents! (ours on the left)





So I went on to check if she looked like my brother, but realised looking at my own baby pix, that she looks like me! At the moment of course, since babies change so much so fast!!!






More pix probably when I get back from Belgium!!!