KidsChaos.com

theatre reviews

Alice at the Polka Theatre – review

We are so lucky to live within walking distance to one of the UK’s best children’s theatres so were delighted when the Polka Theatre announced their new production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

I went along with my 9yo son, and his best friend – and they were engaged from the minute they sat in their seats – the set is delightful! Well done to Ti Green – it’s a spectacle, from the nursery attic room, to the rose garden, she has brought a contemporary twist to this Victorian classic.

Our Alice (played by Ebony Feare) was the children’s favourite character, smiley, confident, brave and bright (and sometimes sitting in the seats beside us!) Ebony‘s physicality is incredible, she has a way of moving which actually has you believing that she is changing size….!
On further discussion, and a post-show browse through the (rather superb) programme, each of the players had praise heaped upon them!

The children agreed that the cast are indeed very talented. Each actor plays several characters in Wonderland (see, that programme is VERY useful!): Nia Davies (Mother, Mouse, Duchess, Dormouse and Card Five), Robert Saunders (Dodo, Cook, Mad Hatter and Cryphon), Dale Superville (White rabbit, Eagle, Caterpillar, Card Two and Mock Turtle), Gehane Strehler (Sister, Duck, Cheshire Cat, Queen of Hearts and Child) and Sam Worboys (Parrot, March Hare, Kings of Hearts and Dad).

Director Rosamunde Hutt’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is “true to the original; full of nonsense, startling characters and situations that can be rather frightening”.

We loved the costumes – Katie Lias, the costume designer, really helps us to believe in the characters, the simplicity of the Cheshire Cat through to the spectacle of the Queen of Heart’s BEAUTiful dress (pictured), the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle – (my favourite was the Duck… I want that dress!) – Such fabulous sing-a-long songs – we left with a spring in our step, and talked about the production ALL the way home.

I’m on twitter/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

Polka Theatre, Wimbledon presents Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
22 Nov 2013 – 15 Feb 2014

Adapted by Simon Reade
Based on the novel by Lewis Carroll
Music by Martin Ward
Director Rosamunde Hutt
Set Designer Ti Green
Costume Designer Katie Lias
Composer Martin Ward
Movement Director Lawrence Evans
Simon Reade Adapter
Arnim Friess Lighting and AV Designer
Illustration by Manuel Šumberac

crafts, create, google+ hangouts

Advent Calendar FREE printable

Even at aged 11 and 9 the boys are LOVING this homemade advent calendar – so easy to make, all you need is some clothes pegs, a colour printer, and some colourful paper bags and you’re away! For a FREE printable sheet of the peg numbers, see below….

ADVENT-TEMPLATE-KIDSCHAOS — CLICK HERE for your FREE downloadable

I’ve simply filled each bag with something different for each day: from chocolate coins, lego characters, gingerbread men, and paper airplane kits (saved the more interesting bits for the weekend dates). And bonus, it works as an incentive too… They can only open the calendar after school, and only if they’ve got to school on time that day too… four days in and all going well! click here to download FREE>

I recently met up with a party of British bloggers at ‘do’ organised by Susanna and Jen from Britmums, and was lucky enough to come away with a few chocolate goodies which found there way into the bags too… they LOVED the chocolate popping candy cracker chocs, such fun!

For more advent calendar ideas, check out the round up over on redtedart.com and for a bit of fun, watch us in a google+ hangout where we showcase LOADS of ideas on your screen here.
Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

Uncategorized

Always ready to get naughty – Smurfs 2 review by 9yo

So, this weekend 9yo and I had the night to ourselves… He invited a girlfriend over, and we had a #SmurfFest! The two of them built a lovely atmospheric fire in the hearth, and we snuggled down under blankets on the sofa and were in Smurf Heaven for the evening… I’ll be honest, it didn’t sound like my kind of dvd film, but I went with it, and we watched The Smurfs, and then The Smurfs2 – I actually loved them both, hilarious and for those of you, like myself, who’ve not seen the first film, I was surprised – it’s a hybrid live-action and animated family comedy. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the Smurfs out of their village, they’re forced through a swirling blue (of course) portal, out of the safety of their Smurf world and into the middle of New York’s Central Park. And so the adventure unfolds…

The Smurfs 2 continues seamlessly explaining Smurfette’s (Katy Perry) background, created in the lab by Gargamel who now plans to kidnap her to extract the formula for the magical Smurf essence which Papa Smurf used to make her blue. Once he has the secret, Gargamel plans to build a wee army of Naughties, to help him take over the world.
Christina Ricci voices Gargamel’s naughty daughter Vexy who is charged with manipulating Smurfette to gain her trust…. I won’t spoil it, however, we all three loved it, and I would recommend a night in for your own #SmurfFest – we even drank smoothies from wine glasses, and sliced up a Mars Bar for a posh chocolate treat 🙂 Sophisticated!

The Smurfs 2 out on Blu-ray and DVD December 2nd.

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

cooking with kids

Cooking with Kids – Salmon, Mushrooms and Pak Choi

The boys cooked this themselves tonight…
With my shoulder still out of action, and my arm in a sling for the second month… (long story, fell of my bike) – the boys have been doing a LOT of cooking themselves. This one is easy, quick and very delicious, so I’m quickly writing it up to share with you… (and so that they can find it again for the next time they make it!)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Mix the olive oil, soy sauce, chopped ginger and garlic in a small bowl and mix together. Season with salt and black pepper.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
5 cm fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 salmon fillets
2 pak choi, quartered lengthways
200g mushrooms, (we used Oyster Mushrooms – grown from our own espressomushroom.co.uk box!
pinch salt
pinch ground black pepper

Place salmon fillets, the pak choi, and mushrooms on a roasting tin, then ‘dribble’ (their words, not mine) over the garlic and ginger mixture. Pop into the oven to roast for 20–25 minutes. Serve with brown rice.

nice.

To read more about our mushroom growing, click here

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

key stage 2, kids, life

Board Game review – Bridget

As a family, we like to play games together… we like the classics (of my youth)… Monopoly, Connect 4, and anyone remember ‘Sorry’?

My parents always bought a new ‘family game’ every year, and I’ve carried on this tradition with my own children.

This time last year, we bought Pucket – an amazingly fun game, you pull back the elastic to fire your wooden pucks through a gap in the middle of the board (the ‘gate’), and when all of your pucks have got through… before your opponents’, you’ve won! It’s manic, and massively funny to play. We can highly recommend this game 🙂

Now the makers of Pucket, ETGames, have a new game… it’s called ‘Bridget’ and the boys LOVE it… 11yo opened it on his birthday, they figured out the rules – taking it in turns to add the bricks to get across the board with their ‘bridges’…they insisted we took it with us to the restaurant for Birthday Supper with Daddy… and excitedly explained the Bridge Building Strategy Game to him. “A three dimensional noughts and crosses” which I seem to lose to a 9yo and an 11yo…grrr.

(When not playing the official game, they use the bricks to create characters and funny faces!!)

It’s produced following the same Fair Trade principles as the production of the Pucket game, and packaged in a small organic cotton bag, perfect for taking with you on your travels, and Bridget is carefully hand-crafted in the UK – in fact, it’s quite a thing of beauty!

I’ve recommended this to several friends who have already purchased the Bridget for Christmas pressies, and my Brother in Law will certainly be getting one from us too this year!

If you can recommend any other classic games you think my family, and the boys age 9 and 11 may like – please comment below, thank you 🙂

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

google+ hangouts

Themed Hampers and Gift Ideas

Themed hampers are a great idea for a gift… My lovely Mum has, over the last few years, built me a ‘foodie’ hamper from her trips to the local Hare Hatch garden centre (amusingly she makes us give her back the empty wicker hamper so she can re-use it).

So inspired by this, now that she’s sadly staying in a rest home, the boys and I have put together a themed-hamper for her birthday… a Stationery Hamper.

Stationery Themed Hamper – We used a box-file filled with:

Pencil case
Smart new pens
Diary for next year
Pack of post Christmas cards for her to send out
Pack of home made notelets
Book of stamps
Return self adhesive address labels
Some posh hand cream

The boys decorated the exterior of the box file to make it look like an envelope – very clever!

Not to be out-done… the other Grandma is book-crazy, so we decided to use ANOTHER box file (this time decorated as a book…)

And filled it full of book-themed gifts:

Book Themed Hamper – We used a box-file filled with:

A selection of new books
Some Christmassy ginger cordial
Some Posh Booja Booja chocolates
A home made bookmark
Some fancy post-it notes

What would you put in your hamper?

For more themed hamper ideas try these:

Redtedart.com’s Craft Hamper and her gift hamper round up

Lifeatthezoo.com’s Breakfast Hamper

Bluebearwood.co.uk Pamper Hamper

Missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk’s Movie-night Hamper

and some fab ideas from Kelly at domesticgoddesque.com too.

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

baking, cooking, cooking with kids, halloween, kids

Toffee Apples

I used to LOVE Toffee Apples as a kid, well, I SAY that, I do seem to remember just eating the toffee, and discarding the bit with the vitamins… My boys on the other hand, food-swots that they are, love getting through the toffee to the yummy healthy apple centre! So I thought I’d share the recipe we use with you, just in time for Halloween and a few fireworks for Bonfire Night here in the UK!

you will need:

6 medium sized apples
200g golden caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
half tsp vinegar
50ml water
Sprinkles (optional)

1) Pop the apples into a bowl of boiling water to remove the waxy finish, rub them dry with a tea towel, this allows the toffee to adhere to the apples. Push a wooden lolly stick into each apple.

2) Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper onto a plate beside the stove, and space the apples on this so they do not touch each other. I sprinkled some ‘hundreds and thousands’ onto the paper first, you don’t NEED to do this… looks pretty though 🙂

3) Pour the sugar into a pan along with 50ml water and set over a medium heat for five mins until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the vinegar and syrup. If you have a sugar thermometer (I don’t), pop it in the pan and boil to 140C or ‘hard crack’ stage. I find after about ten mins, you can test the toffee by pouring a little into a bowl of cold water. It should harden instantly and, when removed, be brittle and easy to break. If you can still squash the toffee, boil it for a tiny bit longer…

4) Next bit – act fast! Dunk the first apple into the pan, swill the toffee around so it’s fully coated, allow excess to drip back into the pan, and then place the apple back into its spot on the greaseproof paper, careful not to bump it into the other apples…

Obviously let them cool down well before eating, as the toffee is SUPER hot, and if you have any toffee left over, poor onto another sheet of greaseproof paper (with a lip so it doesn’t run) and the kids can have fun cracking it with a rolling pin when it’s cooled and set!

To keep the theme of apples going, and inspiration for a slightly healthier option, try Domesticgoddesque’s baked apples – Or try Lifeatthezoo‘s baked apple version and then, to go with your bonfire night treats…how about the Red Ted Art’s edible sparklers!

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

crafts, create, gardening

Create a leaf wreath with old books

Ever the recycle queen of green, I LOVED working with the kids on this one… and a great way to use up old unloved books.

This is very easy to make, the boys’ now have quite a short attention-span for crafting, yet really rose to the challenge – creating templates using REAL Autumn leaves of different shapes which we cut up, several pages at a time for speed, from the pages of this aged book – folding a crease down the centre of the “leaves” to create a more realistic 3Dimensional effect.

We had in preparation, wrapped some lovely string around a shop-bought wreath, however, we have previously used a cereal box to good effect.

9yo thought to add the pine cones – a bit of mixed medium eh?!

We glued the leaves on with our trusty glue gun, overlapping and building as we went along….

Our front door is quite sheltered, so it should be OK for Christmas – looks nice eh?

Equally, the ‘leaf wreath’ would look lovely on an interior door during the holiday period, and we’ll be taking this one down to Granny’s care home for the door to her room this year.

Want to see me talking about this project and other leaf crafts (including our hammered leaf printing and a bubble wrap leaf lamination inspired by Lizzie’s fabulous post)… Click the link and photo left, to watch via youtube…. Maggy Woodley from Red Ted Art hosted a fabulous “Leaf Craft Ideas’ on Google+.

Maggy talked us through some lovely ideas, including leaf bowls whilst wearing a rather attractive leaf crown! More links to follow from Anthea at zingzingtree, thefairyandthefrog, some cute leaf fairies from peaklepie, missielizzie’s decorating pumpkins with leaves and herecomethegirlsblog with their reward chart.

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x LIKE IT? Pin it!

kids

WIN Exclusive merchanise with TURBO!

SOoo My boys age 9 and 10, were lucky enough to see an exclusive preview of the new Turbo film which hits cinemas TODAY! We went to see the film as a family, and we ALL loved it…The makers of MADAGASCAR and KUNG FU PANDA, brought us an all-star voice cast including Michelle Rodriguez, (a woman after my own heart – as the female garage proprietor Paz!) Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Giamatti and Snoop Dogg (the rather COOL Smoove Move, who’s partial to a lovely Fluffy pink dice necklace).

To celebrate today’s launch, KidsChaos and Female-Friendly garage Woodley Auto Centre are giving three lucky winners the chance to win a batch of Turbo merchandise packs. The packs include the following goodies: Spoke Charms, Fridge Magnet, Light-up Yo-Yo, Digital Watch, Retractable Earphones, Memo Board, T-Shirt and Turbo Pinball!

#TURBO is a high-velocity 3D comedy about an ordinary snail who dares to dream big – and fast. After a freak accident miraculously gives him the power of super-speed, Turbo kicks his dreaming into overdrive and embarks on an extraordinary journey to achieve the seemingly impossible: racing against famed driver Guy Gagne. With the help of Turbo’s tricked-out streetwise snail crew, this ultimate underdog puts his heart and shell on the line to prove that no dream is too big, and no dreamer too small.

To be in with a chance of winning, just watch the following clip and answer the question below:

What car accessory does Smoove Move have around his neck?
a) Pine air freshener
b) Fluffy pink dice
c) A steering wheel

To add to your chances…. you could like a couple of facebook pages via rafflecopter too…
a Rafflecopter giveaway

good luck! Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Click here for other KidsChaos Competitions, and Pop over to say hello x we were invited along to a family film viewing with the Twentieth Century Fox team.

Terms & Conditions
• Open to UK residents only.
• The prize for three (3) winners is one (1) spoke charms, fridge magnet, light-up Yo-Yo, digital watch, retractable earphones, memo board, T-Shirt and Turbo Pinball
• There is no cash or other alternative to the prize stated and the prize is not transferable and no part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Winner will be selected from all valid and correct entries and notified by email. Winner’s details will be passed to a third party for prize fulfilment.
• The prize will be delivered to the winner within 28 days of confirmation of delivery address.
• The Editor’s decision is final and binding on the entrants. No correspondence will be entered into. Ends Midnight 29th October 2013.

kids

Skylanders Swap Force Review

SOoo My boys age 9 and 10, LOVE Skylanders, what’s new…..? They have an “Intendowee” (yep, that’s what they thought it was called… bless their innocence.) And sadly, this is the thing (the Nintendo Wii) that gets ‘banned’ when behaviour is not QUITE as good as it should be in the KidsChaos household…

So imagine my delight when the new Skylanders Swap Force arrived on our doorstep – great! And yes, the behaviour this last week has been impeccable in anticipation of trying it out for size. We even had the camera handy when they were pulling the packaging off – oh their faces!!

I asked them to ‘review’ it for me, and so they did.

So, to explain their review-methodology….At school, when they are reviewing/critiquing their young colleagues’ work, they use the method of “Two Stars and A Wish” – 10yo asked if that would be OK, and hoped that nobody would mind the “Wish” (which essentially, is the one “positive” thing they’d wish for to improve the product in question… )

There were lots of “Stars” compliments – which included the much-improved graphics compared to the original Skylanders (he hoped that Skylanders wouldn’t mind him saying that)… the fact you can now JUMP, measured very highly, and both boys agreed that it’s brilliant that you can create LOADS of their OWN characters by swapping heads and bodies. There have been certainly a LOT more playdates at our house this week, and all of the kids have been massively enamoured (once the homework has been finished clearly…).

Which leads us to the “Wish” – They would like to be able to play with more than two players, and hope that the “Portal of Power” will soon be available with enough room for four figures please… that said, they’ve all played beautifully, encouraging their friends, and have shared so nicely, that the Wii may not be banned for some time chez nous!

Want to see the boys talking about their new favourite toy? Worth watching just for their excitement on opening the packaging! click here to watch. nmsf2013

Oh, by the way, I’m also on twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos too… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Click here for the latest KidsChaos Competition, and Pop over to say hello x This has been a commissioned post.