Tag: TV

Children, Families, Family Life, Giveaways, Kids Days Out, London

Andy And The Band Premiere GIVEAWAY

by thejoyoffive14 Comments on Andy And The Band Premiere GIVEAWAY

CBeebies and CBBC have been a part of our life for as long as I can remember now and I have loved watching how much they have both evolved through the years as my little ones have grown.

The shows are always fun, interactive and educational which makes for a happy parents as well as children.

A new show is set to hit our screens on 29th February with Andy and The Band. The familiar and much loved character Andy is taking his band onboard the Rock and Roller tour bus and we can’t wait to see what adventures Andy, Moxy, Rio, Blue and Cousin Mac are going to get up to!

We are lucky enough to be attending the exclusive premiere of Andy And The Band and I am giving away a ticket for a family of four to come and join us too!

The premiere is taking place at 9.15am – 12 noon on 29th February at the Royal Institution, London and you will get the chance to see an array of familiar faces, a performance from the band and an exclusive screening find the show that will be broadcast live on CBebbies and CBBC.

In the comments tell me the name of the tour bus and click on the link below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Children, Families, Family Life, Parents, Toys

PJ Masks New Series 2 Viewing Party

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PJ Masks has been a favourite TV show in our house for a good while now and the boys have been lucky enough to go along to a PJ Masks themed trampoline session and attend a super cool Halloween party with them all in ‘real life’ over the past year.

Series 2 is now set to hit our screens on Wednesday 28th March on Disney Junior at 4.30 and to celebrate this we were sent a fabulous pack of goodies to celebrate with along with two episodes of the new series to have a sneak peak at home.

They wrote party invitations to each other, donned the masks of their favourite characters and settled down to enjoy the show after arguing over who was going to get the PJ Masks inflatable chair!

Their eyes didn’t leave the screen and we ended up with having a bit of a PJ Masks marathon as it would be shame to let all the party wear go to waste.

After the food had all been eaten and they had had enough of watching the shows they then got creative with the carry along art case and the stamp and sticker play set. I love the fact that they can use their love for their favourite characters in a creative way by making up and writing stories and trying to recreate their favourite character on paper.

If you have any PJ Masks fans in your house then make sure you tune in next week to catch the all new and exciting episodes that I assure they won’t be disappointed with!

Children, Christmas, Cinema, Costumes, Families, Family Life, Gifts, Kid Bloggers, London, Uncategorized

PJ Masks Halloween Party

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on PJ Masks Halloween Party

Could there be a more perfect start to half term then a combination of super heroes and halloween all rolled into one big party.

This is exactly what we were lucky enough to experience when we went along to the Picturehouse Central last week for the PJ Masks halloween party.

Balloons, banners and just about everything you could think of related to PJ Masks filled the room and hoards of excited children dressed as their favourite characters played with the super new PJ Masks products, crafted and danced along to a fantastic session put on by Diddi Dance.

Diddi Dance are in-fact hosting a week long ‘PJ Masks Super Dance Party’ from 30th October-5th November throughout all their branches in aid of the Youth Sports Trust.

As if this wasn’t enough excitement we were then surprised by the arrival of all the ‘real’ PJ Masks’ Oscar was absolutely over the moon!

They then all joined us for for a yummy lunch before we headed off to the screening of the brand new episodes that are set to hit our screens in the spring.

The action packed episodes will still see the same familiar characters with the addition of some new and exciting characters to bring even more fun to the hugely popular shows!

The boys exclaimed the they had had the best day ever and came away with the goody bag of dreams that they are still working their way through now.

PJ Masks really are going from strength to strength and with some great products that have just been launched in time for christmas and some brilliant new episodes coming in the new year their is so much for fans to look forward too.

Uncategorized

In The Night Garden Live:Review

by thejoyoffive1 Comment on In The Night Garden Live:Review

Last year we had our first visit to In The Night Garden Live at Richmond Park and I have to say it was an absolutely magical experience.

With this in mind I did wonder if we attended again we would still get that wow factor. 

This year we were lucky enough to have two trips to the huge snow dome as we had been asked along to experience the Meet A Character and try out the goody bag which is something we hadn’t tried the year before.

I went along with Oscar the day before opening and had the pleasure of meeting Upsy Daisy and our favourite Iggle Piggle.

The rooms are set up so that you have your own individual experience and the surprise is so much greater then the usual ‘meet and greets’ as it is all done in a separate room for your own personal experience.

The minute the curtain went back Oscar’s eyes filled with delight and he ran straight in for a big hug!

Over the moon at the chance to meet his favourite characters we then went and collected our goodie bag to try out.

For those of you that read my blog you will know that I am not a fan of merchandise at events such as this as it is usually massively over priced and broken before we even get though the show.

In The Night Garden Live however offers a huge goodie bag full of treats from the usual light up toys to cuddly toys and cutlery sets.

It come at a hugely discounted price compared to buying the gifts separately and there is a whole host of keepsakes that will keep those memories of your trip alive for a long time to come.

The next day we headed back to the snow dome with my husband and Frankie and although the boys were a year older the magic of the snow dome captivated them as soon as we entered the theatre.

Their favourite characters took to the stage in the form of puppets and costumes actors and the whole dome was filled with laughter from the pre school audience.

I’m always a sucker when it comes to sights such as this as there is nothing better than seeing the delight on little ones faces  from the sheer delight of what they are experiencing.

If you are looking for a show to introduce your children to the wonders of the theatre then this is the perfect place to start.

The whole area is geared up for little ones with a huge buggy park, food warming facilities, plenty of toilets and changing facilities and of course their favourite characters coming to life in front of their very eyes.

*we were given tickets to the show and souvenirs of the trip for the purpose of this review.

 

Children, Families, Family Life

Fun, Adventure And Camaraderie With Bottersnikes & Gumbles

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With a family of children spanning a wide age range finding something on TV to engage them all is always somewhat of a challenge.

As with all children they have their own minds, likes and dislikes which can be an issue when we are all trying to sit down as a family.

We were lucky enough to have a sneak peak of the new series of Bottersnikes & Gumbles taken from the book The Adventures Of Bottersnikes & Gumbles  by S.A Wakefield that will hit on screens twice a day from the 5th Dec on the ever popular CBBC channel. You can tune in Monday-Friday at 7.10 and 3.35.

The show is aimed at the six to nine year old audience but the loveable characters, catchy tunes and easy to follow storylines had a two, four and even ten year old glued to the screen.

The stories are set in a wasteland filled with rubbish that is home to the Bottersnikes & Gumbles – two very different groups of friends that share the same qualities of loyalty and camaraderie to each other as friends whilst batting against each group.

The Gumbles are the cute and cuddly characters that have bundles of fun and get up to all kinds of wonderful adventures. 

They can even stretch and squash themselves into any shape to get themselves out of trouble.

The Bottersnikes on the other hand are not so pleasing on the eye! They are still full of fun and adventure and can cleverly morph into one creature to make them a bigger, stronger being.

I loved how this show was different to anything that I have seen for a while and spanned a big age range.

It teaches them the value of friendship and working together as a team and puts this message across in a fun and lighthearted way.

If you’ve not had a chance to catch an episode yet then tune in and let me know what you think.

Children, Families, Family Life, London, Theatre

Kate And Mim-Mim World Premiere:Kate In Oz

by thejoyoffive2 Comments on Kate And Mim-Mim World Premiere:Kate In Oz
Kate And Mim-Mim World Premiere:Kate In Oz

Attending a world premiere of one of the boys favourite CBebbies shows in the heart of Soho was not a bad way to start half term.

We were lucky enough to be invited along to the one off episode of ‘Kate In Oz’ at The Curzon in Soho where we were treated to face painting, magic acts, crafts and balloon animals in a wonderfully glitzy venue.

This was a little wasted on my two hyperactive boys and all I was thinking was that number three would be kicking herself for not coming along.

All settled in our seats Cat Sandion a very familiar face from Cebeebies took to the stage to introduce the new episode we were all egar to watch.

In this episode Kate and her cute purple bunny Mim-Mim have left the comfort of Mimiloo and after a terrible dream found themselves in Oz, very reminiscent of the original film.

Cat Deely the voice of the evil witch Violet has stolen the twirl magic and is trying to capture all the purple in Oz.

It is Kate and Mim-Mim’s challenge to stop her evil mission but I will let you watch it for yourselves to see if they manage to!

This fab episode aired on the 29th October and can still be seen on IPlayer.

We had a fantastic day and can’t wait for the whole new series to hit our screens in the New Year.

Children, East London, Education, Families, Family Life, Fashion, Friendships, Imagination Play, Learning

Project Mc2 Preview Afternoon

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During the summer holidays we were invited along to a super secret spy premiere party to celebrate the new series of Project Mc2 that has been released on Netflix.

‘Smart is the new cool’ is the tag line for the four super cool best friends that are trying to get across that learning is fun and doesn’t always have to be boring and uncool.

They combine their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, art and maths to solve their undercover missions.


With this as a theme for the day the children were set on a super spy mission with the great actors from Sharky and George events and set to trying out all sorts of sorted and wonderful science experiments with Mad Science East London who really opened up number three’s eyes to a completely new and fun way of learning.

A great series such as this wouldn’t be complete with some supercool merchandise to go alongside it and we were all really impressed with what they had to offer.

The girls themselves are dressed is trendy outfits and each ones interest is shown though the addition of the little extras such as making your own glitter globe and making your own light up bracelet.


There is also a secret spy kit to try and solve your own missions and and by far the favourite with number four was the H2O RC car with working lights and the addition of water that makes steam from the exhaust.

All the children were really taken with the first episode and loved all the merchandise, but what really won it over for me was the whole ethos behind the show and how they have turned the stereotypical superheroes and girl gangs on their heads and have come up with something completely different.

It was a hit for boys and girls alike and has definitely bought a new thirst for knowledge to my little ones.

Children, Education, Families, Family Life, Memories, Parents

WHAT No More Cebeebies

by thejoyoffive15 Comments on WHAT No More Cebeebies

  
 

During my usually social media scroll yesterday morning whilst the children were tucked up on the sofa watching TV I came across a petition to stop Cebebbies being taken of air!!

What on earth are they thinking this channel has been my saviour for over eighteen years.

There is always the big debate as to how much TV children should watch and what is appropriate, and for me Cebebbies has been the perfect channel of choice for mine.  They have have learnt about healthy eating with I Can Cook, explored the fun of gardening with Mr Bloom, had a peak at history with Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures to name but a few.

The bedtime hour has always been part of our bedtime routine with the kids making me join in and sing the song at the end and wave goodnight to Iggle Piggle.

It even caused me to have an altercation in Woolworths many years ago as I nosed dived into the store to grab my eldest the much wanted Teletubbies toy.

Don’t get me wrong not seeing Mr Tumbles face pop in in his hundreds of different guises would be a welcome break, but for many parents out there you are taking away a lifeline!

It gives them five minutes to have a coffee in peace, put some washing out, keeps an older sibling occupied in those early days of bringing a new born home.

Please reconsider this ludicrous decision for the sanity of parents all over the UK.