The Logo Board Game review and competition - great family fun!

Logo is a great and really popular game from Drumond Park. We were sent a copy of this family game to review and so here we are... we loved it! The game is suitable for ages 12 and up; both of my children are younger than this but being from a family who love board games, we played with my children being on the 'team' of their choice! Needless to say, I lost out on an extra team member and Nanny and Grandad both gained a bit of extra help!

So, the principle of the game is simple - answer brand-related questions with either pictoral clues, themed clues or just pot luck whilst racing your way to the Winning Zone at centre of the board. The first player (or team, in our case!) to answer their question correctly whilst in the Winning Zone wins! The no die aspect of the game confused my children at first as they LOVE to roll the die(!) but they loved it just as much when they were able to jump their counter a huge way to the next appropriate coloured space!

Overall, we loved the game. To be honest, we're not huge TV watchers and the last time we saw an advertising bill board was probably before Christmas when we took a trip to a large city for some shopping and family-visiting so I had a slight worry that I wouldn't know any of the answers! But, we were fine.... many of the subjects are classic brands and the trivia questions great! Often the answer is on the tip of your tongue and you just can't remember what it is!

The King of Board Games (my Dad) won... of course! Along with his side kick of my daughter... who strategically seemed to swap teams throughout the game, depending on who was winning at the time! It didn't take too long to play and as the questions are varied, the game is fun right to the end!

Logo is available at all major toy retailers (online and instore) and retails at £32.99 but if you can't wait to have a go, why not download the official Logo board game app from the App Store (iPhone and iPad only)? It's free and is published with approval from all the contributing companies. You could even brush up our knowledge ahead of the family challenge... then everyone will be begging to be on YOUR team!

You can keep up with new game releases from Drumond Park on their Facebook page here and join in with the board game conversation at Twitter here.

So, for your chance to win a copy of this game to play yourselves, just complete the Rafflecopter entry below! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Twinkl Education Resources Review - Filling a half term with fun!

For many of you, you have had your half term, but ours is still to come! My children finish school tomorrow for our week of recuperation after a hectic start to 2014. After a long school term, it's nice to take time out and have some fun... but how to keep the brain cells working?

We're spending the weekend visiting family, then back home for the remainder of the week, hopefully with some sunshine to boot!

Just in time for wet weather planning and indoor time, I was introduced to the website Twinkl. Twinkl is a comprehensive website with a wealth of information for anyone involved in primary education, worldwide! As you may (or may not!) know, my children are educated bi-lingually as we live in Wales, with the emphasis at school on the Welsh language. Supplementing their education at home is therefore important to us as a family, as well as having fun at the same time of course!

There are lots of free resources available but to get the full experience, it's easy to subscribe on either an individual basis or as a school.

Navigating the website is simple - resources are categorised by educational level and subject area, so you can either browse by age or subject.

I especially love the Resource Calendar; this is a really helpful tool in planning anything from full days, to shorter activities as time-fillers.

I've chosen some activities to try over the half term holiday and will update you as the week goes by. Here's what we have chosen to do!

Decision Maker Mat - where to go today?

Exploring our own home - what CAN you see?

Send ourselves to space! Making an astronaut friend.

Get science-y with some home experiments!

These are just a small selection of the resources available; have a browse yourself and take your pick!

You can stay in touch with the lovely people over at Twinkl via their social media channels; Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to name just three! With individual subscriptions started at just £24.95, it's a great way to boost your child's education by having thousands of resources literally at your fingertips! Not to mention progress and rewards charts, craft templates and display ideas and backgrounds. Enjoy exploring!

I have received a Platinum subscription to Twinkl for the purpose of review. Views my own.

Advent Post #21: 50 Festive Facts!

Following on from our little quiz, here are 50 festive facts to get you even more in the mood for Christmas!

1. US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.
2. Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.
3. Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
4. The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.
5. Despite the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number. Matthew's Gospel refers to merely "wise men".
6. Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
7. Carols weren't sung in churches until they were introduced by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.
8. Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas's donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.
9. There is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.
10. Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
11. The word Noel derives from the French expression "les bonnes nouvelles" or "the good news".
12. Jesus was probably born in a cave and not a wooden stable, say Biblical scholars.
13. The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
14. The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
15. The chances of a white Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
16. Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
17. James Pierpont's 1857 song Jingle Bells was first called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written for Thanksgiving.
18. Before turkey, the traditional Christmas meal in England was a pig's head and mustard.
19. In 1647, after the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell banned festivities. The law wasn't lifted until 1660.
20. In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
21. The Greeks celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the old Julian calendar, while Xmas presents are opened on New Year's Day.
22. Many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.
23. The holly in a wreath symbolises Christ's crown of thorns while the red berries are drops of his blood.
24. The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. Featuring a family drinking wine, one sold for  £8,469 last year.
25. Hanging presents on trees may come from the Druids who believed the tree was the giver of all good things.
26. The largest Christmas cracker - 45.72m long and 3.04m in diameter - was pulled in Australia in 1991.
27. The long shopping spree before Christmas began in America when relatives of soldiers posted overseas in the Second World War were encouraged to mail gifts early.
28. Jingle Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.
29. Astronomers believe the Star Of Bethlehem, which guided the wisemen to Jesus, may have been a comet or the planet Uranus.
30. Santa has different names around the world - Kriss Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France and Deushka Moroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia.
31. The word Christmas comes from the Old English "Cristes maesse" meaning "Christ's Mass".
32. The bestselling Xmas single ever is Bing Crosby's White Christmas, shifting over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.
33. In Britain, the best-selling festive single is Band Aid's 1984 track, Do They Know It's Christmas?, which sold 3.5million copies. Wham! is next in the same year with Last Christmas, selling 1.4million.
34. Upside-down artificial Xmas trees are sold to allow more gifts to be piled under.
35. Since 1947 Oslo has sent an Xmas tree to London to thank us for our help in the Second World War.
36. Christmas pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.
37. London sweetmaker Tom Smith created the first Christmas crackers in 1847, based on the sweet wrapper design.
38. Santa Claus comes from a Dutch folk tale based on Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, who gave gifts on December 6.
39. Boxing Day gets its name from all the money collected in church alms-boxes for the poor.
40. Kissing under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.
41. The Beatles hold the record for most Xmas number 1 singles, topping the charts in 1963, 65 and 67.
42. Electric tree lights were invented by Edward Johnson in the US in 1882.
43. They may date back to pagan traditions, but the earliest known reference to a Christmas tree is in a German pamphlet from 1570.
44. The highest-grossing festive movie is 2000's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which has raked in #175m so far.
45. There are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children. They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December 12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.
46. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
47. Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
48. The first Christmas celebrated in Britain is thought to have been in York in 521AD.
49. In Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany, workers get a Christmas bonus of one month's salary by law.
50. In the Czech Republic they enjoy dinners of fish soup, eggs and carp. The number of people at the table must be even, or the one without a partner will die next year.

So there you are, lots of facts to strike up a conversation with at family gatherings where you've forgotten exactly who is who... or is that just me!?

Facts sourced from the Daily Mirror online.

Advent Post #14: Bean & Brush Family Art Cafe Review

 

Whilst visiting family over the weekend, we paid a visit to a great café near to my brother's house in Sale, Cheshire. Bean & Brush Family Art Café is a great place to meet, eat and make! Downstairs, there's a fantastic café offering a superb range of delights; from hot and cold drinks to tasty dishes with many items and ingredients locally sourced. (Their cupcakes and scones are fantastic!)

 

And then the beauty lies upstairs where there's a huge selection of pots and decopatch items ready for you to transform with your artistic talents (great AND small!). After much deliberation and decision-making, we decided upon our items to be painted. We settled on a cute gingerbread man plate, super-fast sports car and a little Welsh dragon - although I'm pretty sure the dragon may have been English, but it's Welsh now because it's home will be with me!

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

The space is well used and there are plenty of staff on hand to offer help if needed, but they do let you just get on with it if you want to. There's a great selection of paints to choose from with lots and LOTS of brushes; from really really fine to sponge and foam stamps in many different shapes.

 

Items start at just £5 so it's not too expensive to return to on a regular basis as a monthly treat, for example. They also hold children's parties - in fact, there was a party being held whilst we were there and it looked like all the children were having a great time and were well-supervised.

 

As a side note, even though there were definitely more children than adults in the craft area (and probably the whole place) it wasn't overly noisy. The overall ambiance of Bean & Brush is very family-friendly, so because the parents are relaxed about  the children walking around and making happy 'children-noise', the atmosphere was definitely stress-free!

 

My only (very slightly!) negative point with the whole experience is something which is completely out of Bean & Brush's control - my indecisive mind! There's that many items to choose from, it took me ages to decide what to paint! But once I had finally decided, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole morning and so did the other 10 people who were in my family group painting as well!

 

We have to wait a week or so for the pots to be fired and so once they are ready, I'll update this review with the finished items.

 

I think on our next visit we will try decopatch - described as painting with paper, we can't wait!