My First Justin’s Jokes – Justin Fletcher

It is no secret that here at Jellybeans HQ we just love Justin Fletcher so big smiles greeted the arrival of his new Joke Book when it arrived through the letterbox.   It is a bright, good sized, not too big for small hands to hold little paperback, and crucially beautifully illustrated in a simple eye catching way with lots of photos of Justin, perfect for I Spy games!

I like the way that the publishers have grouped the jokes together around ‘themes’.  Looking for a joke about the seaside, find the page with a seagull on it.  What about a joke about dinosaurs? Hunt for the dinosaurs.  Add in jokes about farm yard animals, aliens, and zoos and you begin to realise that this is a jampacked joke book. 

So what were our favourite jokes?  We all had a nosey and all of us found one we liked – yes all of us found one which made us really laugh, no mean achievement.

Tall  Why do giraffes have long necks?  Because their feet smell

Curly What type of dog do you find in a toilet?  A Poo-dle

Small  What music are balloons scared off?  Pop music

Dad  Knock, Knock.  Who’s there? Bed who?  Better go to sleep

Chief bean What was the bull doing in the field with his eyes shut ?  Bull dozing

We are very pleased that we have been kindly given a copy by FaberKids to give away as a competition prize.  All you have to do is pop over to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/jellybeansmusichq and say ‘yes please’ by friday 11th May.  The winner will then be chosen at random.  Good luck.

Where’s the year going?

I’ve just realised with horror that it is already May – not that you’d know it as I sit here watching the hailstones come down, again.  Where have I been, I hear you all cry?!  Well, I’ve been working, supervising Tall’s GCSE revision and trying to cope with my anaemia which is way out of control at the moment.  So please excuse me everyone, I’m going to carry on ‘being missing in blogging action’ until the exam period is over and the iron tablets begin to work their magic.

 

 

A day to remember

You know those days when everything goes right?  Those days when you thank your lucky stars that you are you?  Today has been one of those days for me. 

I absolutely loved my day at work.  I had huge amounts of fun in every session!  We danced, we jumped, we tickled, we sang loudly and proudly and every single Jellybeans and baby beans session was like being at a party, crammed full of small, giggly, smiling babies and toddlers.  I managed to persuade all three boys to have a hair cut – no mean achievement that – and I think the hairdresser will let us go back again!

Tall received his first GCSE results and they were amazing (proud mummy me) then just as I was busy trying not to burn supper, I opened up an email which congratulated me on being nominated in not one but three categories in this year’s What’s On 4 Little Ones’ Awards.

• Best Local Activity for the Under 5s
• Most Outstanding Activity Leader for the Under 5s (East)
• Best Childrens’ Party Entertainment

Last year, I was overwhelmed to reach the Finals of these Awards and hubby, the four jellybeans (of course I took the cuddlies with us!) and myself had an amazing day out meeting some inspirational people from the Early Years Industry and we’d all love to go again, so, here it comes everyone!

Please, please, please, I’d love your vote in the 4th, 9th and 17th categories on the form!  Please just click on the link below and then choose Jellybeans Music, Elizabeth James, Jellybeans Music

http://www.whatson4littleones.co.uk/awards-voting-2012.asp

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for making Sam, Poppy, Tilly and Bertie Jellybean and Chief bean, Elizabeth, very, very happy

Ooh, don’t forget to tell everyone you know – it’s good to share remember!!!

 

 

 

 

Justin Fletcher Hands Up – The Album

Excitment isn’t the word in Jellybeans land – classes have all been buzzing all week because we’re on the countdown for March 5th when Justin Fletcher (aka Mr Tumble) releases his first ever CD – Hands Up – The Album and we can’t wait to wriggle and giggle along with him.  We’ve been given permission by the lovely people at Demon Music to play the album in class, so get ready Jellybeans, we’ll be hokey cokeying, marching and bopping along with Justin!Could anything be better?  YES!   They’ve also sent us 3 copies of this fabulous album packed full of all our favourite party songs to give away as competition prizes and you’ve got three different ways to win a copy, so are you ready to enter?

Option 1 – We’ll be giving a copy away to someone who leaves a comment on this blog - you just have to say hello and tell us who you are!

Option 2 - We’ll be giving a copy away on Facebook.  To enter, pop over to the Jellybeans Music Facebook page, ’like’ the page if you haven’t already and tell us you’d like to enter!

Option 3 – We’ll be giving a copy away to one lucky jellybean in class!  Just leave your name with either Nikky or Elizabeth in class this week

The competitions all end at 10pm on Friday 10th March 2012 when winners will be chosen at random. The competition is open to UK entries only.

Good luck everyone but if you are not lucky enough to win a copy (or can’t wait!) you can buy the album here. for £8.99.

PlayWrap Review

Here at Jellybeans HQ we are always on the look out for interesting, innovative, sensory ’toys’ for babies so we were both interested and intrigued when PlayWrap landed on the doorstep.

Playwrap is the first activity toy designed to keep your baby entertained on your lap. It’s a versatile on-the-go toy that can be used in more than 6 different ways to interact with your child and encourage your baby’s sensory development.   It is a beautiful looking product, with gorgeous packaging but would it impress the baby beans ‘testers’?

I took it with me to baby beans classes for a week, so a lot of mums and grannies got to have a play with it and give their opinions.  It created quite a buzz each time during MusicJam as I took it out of the travel bag.  It quickly became apparent that the babies were attracted to the black and red patterns and that the favourite bits were the peek a boo mirror,crinkly butterfly and cow.   The mums and grannies liked the quality of the Playwrap and attention to detail.   I liked the different textured ribbons best.  But did we manage to use it in 6 different ways as the information leaflet claimed?

Wear it around your shoulders 

Yes, it is very possible and lots of baby beans mums tried it.  But it wasn’t until the last test session that I realised just how useful this was!  I was  leading a busy session of 14 babies and was lucky enough to have a ‘real’ baby (love twins!) to hold who didn’t know me as well.  Usually when I get a baby to hold and work with, my hair gets pulled, my collar is chewed, but with the Playwrap on, baby was happy chewing and exploring away, so I could concentrate much more on the other baby beans as well.  I did feel a bit silly though to start with though, like I was wearing a giant bib – not sure I’d want to sit in a smart restaurant wearing one!

2.  Peek A boo Play

This is one of the baby beans favourite games and a doddle with the Playwrap on.  No more scrabbling around for a scarf or holding a wobbly baby with one hand while you hide behind the other.  Mums were able to either hide behind it or encourage the baby to look into one of the two mirrors.

3.  Encouraging Tummy Time 

Our brilliant baby beans mums are very used to lying down balancing their babies on their tummies, so it made a nice change to do it with a Playwrap around their neck so the baby could reach up and explore the toys. We also draped it over a music box so the babies were reaching up as well as out.

4.  Place on baby’s lap

Yep, easy one.  All our sitting up baby beans enjoyed having the Playwrap around them and it is light enough for them to be able to manipulate it easily

5.  Attach to a high chair

Again, nice and easy to attach to a high chair tray thanks to suction pads on the back. All the mums and grannies remarked ‘good job, it’s machine washable!’

6.  Attach it to a window

This is possible using the suction pads, but it fell off every time we tried this

7.  Use it a car or aeroplane

We obviously didn’t test this one, but the mums thought this would be the time most would buy it for – bunch of jet setters!

8.  Hang it in the cot

Thanks to a set of red loops on the back, I imagine it would be brilliant attached to a cot and I’m sure would be really enjoyed by an early waking baby, making it much loved by their tired parents!

9.  Customise the Playwrap

We had a go at this and thanks to the extra clips, it was very easy to add-on books, musical instruments and anything else we fancied.  This was a very popular option as we all thought it would extend the life of the toy.

Final Verdict, did we like it?

All our baby beans and the majority of their grown ups gave it a thumbs up!  I like it and think the fact that it was designed by a mum for mums really shows.  It is an innovative toy which would make a great long-lasting present for a baby.  The RRP is £28 and it is available from a wide range of stockists.  Would I stock it in the Jellybeans shop?  Very probably.

 

We were lucky enough to be sent a free Playwrap to play with and review.  All views expressed are entirely our own and no reward, financial or otherwise was received in exchange for this post.

 

 

I’ve got the World Book Day Blues!

It’s that time of year again, the date is looming ever nearer for World Book Day and I can feel parents at the school gates getting jittery.  I know I am!   Why, I hear all of you cry?  Because, I know from experience that World Book Day actually only means one thing.  A letter home from school informing you that it will be ‘oh so fun’ for your child to dress up as your favourite book character!

Don’t get me wrong, I love dressing up, I love books.  My boys like dressing up (as I write this Small is running around the garden dressed as a bat!) and they love books, but this is my twelfth year and I’ve lost the dressing up vibe, big time.  I’ve asked Small what he wants to be and he is adamant he wants to be Robin Hood, even though I can’t remember the last time he read a book with Robin Hood in it – think he just wants to carry the bow.  I’ve tried suggesting the hero from Diary of a Wimpy Kid (t shirt and jeans) or Harry Potter (we can SO do that one) or Alex Rider, Super Spy but in his world it is got to be green felt or nothing.

So, I’ve bought the felt, I’ve made the tabard, I’ve made the hat, so please, please, please keep your fingers crossed for me that on thursday he hasn’t changed his mind!

To mitigate my grumpiness can I point out I’ve already made him into an egyptian soldier, viking and evacuee this academic year!

Wizard Week – National Railway Museum

It’s the first day of the February half term holidays, its freezing cold  so do you

1. Turn the alarm clock off, snuggle back under the duvet muttering wake me up when it’s June?
2. Leap out of bed, yelling ‘get up boys, we’ll miss the Hogwarts Express?

Ok, slight exaggeration, we didn’t exactly leap out of bed, but we did get to yell ‘wake up, we’re going on the Hogwarts Express” which got even Tall blonde out of bed and into the car, all shivering and bleary eyed but all excited as we were going to the opening day of the National Railway Museum Wizard Week.  Small, Curly, Mr J and I had thoroughly enjoyed a trip there in November to visit Father Christmas and we’d gone about it so much Tall had decided to join us.   

It is impossible to describe the assault on the senses when you first get into the Great Hall.  These trains are so beautiful, suddenly I always understand why the lady who volunteers to polishes the brass on the Flying Scotsman does it.  It smells just right.  Not smoky or grubby, just ‘industrial’.  Within seconds the cameras were out, Curly blonde headed straight back to the Bullet Train, Small blonde photographed everything he saw, and Tall blonde forgot he was supposed to be tolerating his parents by coming and was quickly snapping away until he spotted broomstick flying!  Using the magic of the green screen, we were able to clamber onto broomsticks, smile before being amazed at the very clever people from www.fullframevents.co.uk who turned this family of muggles into wizards with a click of the mouse. 

Curly then decided it was time to ride the simulator which hadn’t been working last time we came.  I was very impressed that there is a choice of four very different rides.  After a quick debate, they chose ‘Time Traveller’ and clambered aboard for a very rocky, bumpy ride though time. 

I took the chance to pop all our coats into a locker  (love the fact that you can store all your ‘stuff’ for £1) while they enjoyed themselves before emerging chatting about the dinosaurs, pyramids and much more.  The museum was beginning to get busy so we decided to head straight outside to see Olton Hall, the steam train from all the Harry Potter films.  Just as we stepped outside the train arrived back on the platform, the distinctive engine number emerging from the smoke, boys were dumbfounded and silent for once!  

We boarded our carriage, shut the doors in case of attack by dementors and thoroughly enjoyed a short journey down the track, looking for Chocolate Frogs and hoping the Tea Trolley Witch might arrive with hot chocolate (if only!).  On arrival back, there was more than enough time for those special photos next to the train – pure magic.

Small blonde then requested a ride on the miniature railway which he’d seen from the train.  It was  freezing cold but fun as it wound its way through the very snowy gardens, at one stage ‘racing’ the Hogwarts Express!

We had lunch in the Brief Encounter Restaurant which warmed us up a treat.   Mr J and I had ‘posh’ sausage and mash, Curly loved his sausage and potato wedges, while Tall enjoyed his pasta salad.  As everywhere it was harder finding gluten free food for Small  but the restaurant staff couldn’t have been more helpful , even asking the chef which foods were safe for him and reassuring me it was alright for him to eat his gluten free bread sandwiches which we had bought with us in the restaurant. 

Refreshed, Tall disappeared to the Art Gallery and Workshops while the rest of us went to the interactive science show ‘Bubbles’.  This was full of audience participation and even though the bubble mixture was playing up, it was enjoyable for all of us.  Boys enjoyed seeing huge bubbles while Mr J and I enjoyed the patter of the presenter who is just like a young, blonde Peter Kay!

By now, we were beginning to flag but Small and Curly spotted on the daily diary ‘Wizard Duelling’ was next!   We joined the crowds and watched Merlin battle the evil Gerard amidst much ‘he’s behind you’ and magic tricks – great theatre and a fantastic end to our trip.

What else did we do?  We saw Birds of Prey, including a very sweet ‘Hedwig’.  We watched ‘real’ trains going in and out of York Station.  We made a wizard ID badge.  We photographed lots and lots of trains. We saw small children loving Derek the Dragon – how does that work?    We sat underneath an engine.  We ‘rode’ the Japanese bullet train.  We searched the Warehouse for lavatories decorated with flowers and ran through onto Platform 9 ¾.

On the drive home we all agreed that we had all thoroughly enjoyed our day out, no mean achievement for a museum given the very different ages in our family and it was a great start to the Half Term holidays.

Here are our favourite bits

Mr J                       Riding the Hogwarts Express

Me                         Standing underneath an engine

Tall Blonde          Seeing Hogwarts Express

Curly Blonde      Seeing Hogwarts Express

Small Blonde      Playing the games in the Warehouse

Grown Up Facts & Figures

Admission to the National Railway Museum is free and the following events are all free to watch : Wizard Duels, Owl Displays, Derek the Dragon, Magic Hatter and Science Shows

Making a Wizard ID Badge £1.50 per child

Simulator Ride £3.00 per passenger

Minature Railway – Donation of 50p per person suggested

Ride on the Hogwarts Express £2.00 per person but you can see it come in and out of the station for free

Lockers – £1.00

Broomstick Riding Picture.  £5 for a 7×5, £7 for a 9×6 

We were lucky enough to invited to visit the National Railway Musuem and our invite included a ride for us all on the Hogwarts Express, a photograph by www.fullframeevents.co.uk , lunch, Wizard ID badge activity, Simulator Ride and a ride on the Minature Railway.  All opinions expressed in this blog are our own however.