McDonald's Football Mum of the Year Awards!

A few weeks ago we were invited to a football training session to launch the McDonald's Football Mum of the Year Awards. The kids were so excited but unfortunately Noah came down with Scarlet Fever and that was that we couldn't go! It was a real shame as Noah has recently started showing an interest in football (Isla likes a kick about too, but her focus is on gymnastics lately) and we've bought him a kit and he's been to a few training classes. I was disappointed as I really wanted to go and take away some training exercises to do in the garden and who could be a better teacher than Casey Stoney, England and Arsenal Ladies player.

The McDonald’s Football Mum of the Year Award will recognise mums who put in countless unpaid hours of hard work, so that their children and their friends can enjoy playing football. Coleen Rooney, mum to two football-mad sons and wife of one of England’s most prolific strikers, is calling for people across the UK to nominate a deserving ‘football mum’ in their lives who goes beyond the call of duty so that children can experience the joy of playing football, week-in week-out. 

I'm already beginning to experience 'child taxi syndrome' on a Saturday, when I take Noah to football training, then Isla on to gymnastics. They're only 3 and 5 years old at the moment, so I know that as they get older all their activities will take up a lot of man hours and energy, so the idea that parents can have their efforts recognised is really appealing! 

From time consuming tasks such as running kids to training and matches that can be hours away and managing their team kits, to helping run their child’s local team, or even starting a local team simply so their children and their friends can play; the awards are an opportunity to acknowledge their selflessness.

McDonald’s Football Mum of the Year ambassador, Coleen Rooney, said: “I’m so excited about this award. I live in a football-mad house and know how much goes into just getting the kids to training and making the time to watch them play every week, so I can only imagine the amazing nominations we’re going to receive for this. Dads tend to get the credit a lot of the time for coaching teams or teaching their kids how to play, so this award will give people a chance to shout about the hard work mums do on and off the pitch.”

England and Arsenal Ladies player and mum-of-twins, Casey Stoney, is also supporting the awards and will sit on the judging panel alongside representatives from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

McDonald’s Head of Women and Girls Football, Casey Stoney, said: “I started my career at the grassroots of football, and as a new mum I can already see how important this award is from both sides of the fence. There are so many mums who help to run their child’s club or volunteer at the clubhouse to help raise funds so the kids can play. It’s so important to recognise them when you consider that they’re also often juggling childcare and work on top. I cannot wait to have a kick about with the twins in a few years!”

Coleen Rooney will present the Football Mum of the Year Award to the winner at a special ceremony at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 2^nd August.

Nominations for the McDonald’s Football Mum of the Year Award are now open and will close on 19th June 2015. To nominate a mum you know go to: 

McDonalds Football Mum of the Year Awards

To follow on twitter: @BetterPlayUK

Octonauts and the Deep Sea Volcano Adventure - Review

Noah is a big Octonauts fan and it’s actually something that took me by surprise because with Isla being the older sister she really does dominate what channels are watched in our house and I thought we’d lost CBeebies forever! But somehow he managed to reclaim the channel and he is now permitted by her ladyship to watch Peter Rabbit and The Octonauts. He loves it, sings the theme tune and has already asked for an Octonauts birthday cake (birthday in 2 months time). When I told him that we were going to see the live show, he was so excited and actually Isla loves the theatre and the fact that it wasn’t one of her choice didn’t matter.

We went to see Octonauts and the Deep Sea Volcano Adventure at the New Wimbledon Theatre, which is fairly close to us, we’ve been there a few times, seeing Dora and Ben and Holly there previously. We took our seats, gave out the obligatory sweets and waited for the show to start and when it did it was clear that Noah was going to love it, having human sized versions of his favourite characters right in front him gave him such a thrill. He knows all the characters which was useful for me because there were some that I hadn’t noticed before in the TV show.

In Octonauts and the Deep Sea Volcano Adventure the entire crew of the Octonauts, led by intrepid explorer Captain Barnacles, Lieutenant Kwazii and Medic Peso, embark on an exciting new underwater quest and visit amazing underwater worlds full of adventure, with surprises around every corner. I won't go into anymore detail as I wouldn't want to spoil it but it has a real sense of drama in line with the age group it caters for.

Things we loved about it were all the audience participation – from being told to help steer the Octopod to being encouraged to call out to Captain Barnacle, it was great and it really helped to make the kids feel that they were part of the whole adventure. There were also some really lovely songs throughout (from BAFTA-award winning composer Mani Svavarsson no less!), songs aren’t usually a feature of the TV show but they were great and catchy too. I personally loved the bit when the stage was blacked out the UV underwater creatures came out – this was also something that happened in Peppa Pig's Treasure Hunt and it was really effective in that show too.

All in all it had a good plot and was easy for the kids to follow. Both of them loved it, Noah in particular felt like this was a big treat for him and seemed to believe that these were the real Octonauts. The show is around 90 minutes in length and there is a short interval in the middle, which allows for the inevitable kids need for the toilet!

If you would like to see Octonauts Live, go to and check out www.octonautslive.co.uk  and see if they are near you.

We were given tickets free of charge to see the show. All opinions are our own.

An Afternoon at Big Fish Little Fish Family Rave

We’ve been meaning to go along to Big Fish Little Fish for a while and finally this weekend we went! We’d had a little taste of how fabulous it was going to be when we went along to the free Big Fish Little Fish event they held at The Southbank Centre as part of the Imagine Festival. We loved it and I knew that I wanted to go to one of the monthly events at The Bedford in Balham and I did a little dance around the room when Natasha invited us to come along as a family and see what it’s all about!

The event runs from 2 – 4.30pm on a Sunday afternoon and is only a 5 minute walk from the train station, and the journey from our house is half an hour – perfect – no driving required. We went along with our best friends and their kids, who had also come to the Southbank before and loved it. We already knew that the event was a sell out but rather wonderfully that didn’t mean that it was filled up to capacity – there was still plenty of space to move around, on the dance floor and in the upstairs craft room and chill out rooms.

On arrival the kids were given a glow stick each and then they hit the craft room, the theme was Mad Hatter's Party and Captain Cookie, the resident craft person had all the materials a kid would need to make a Mad hatter hat. It was genius! And it was all laid out so that the kids could adorn their hats with any extras, like playing cards and streamers. Isla got stuck in and I couldn’t resist being involved too.  There was also a fabulous Alice in Wonderland mural for the kids to all colour in and add to, you could even buy a copy of it to take away to use at a party of your own – such a great idea! Also in the room was face painting and temporary tattoos, all included in the ticket price, which is something I really appreciate as so many places you go, you have to pay for a ticket then everything else is extra. There were some great little biscuits and cake you could buy that were in keeping with the Alice theme.

Once the kids had finished getting their craft on, we went downstairs for a dance and it was so nice hearing music that I used to love and dance to when I was clubbing in the 90’s! I love new music as well but there is nothing like a trip down memory lane and a bit of nostalgia. It’s a nice reminder that there was life before kids and gave me the feeling that it’s possible to go and dance with your kids. Hearing Raze - 'Break for Love' and Groove Armada brought me so much happiness. The venue felt really safe for the kids, although I'm  not yet comfortable with the older ones (aged 6) going off on their own quite yet, even though it was a small enough place. Every now and then there would be bubbles and confetti bombs going off and towards the end of the event the parachute came out and everyone piled underneath it.

My favourite memories of Sunday afternoon were dancing with Isla to Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance. Such a classic song and a reminder that before kids I LOVED music and I need to start sharing the music I love with them more. And also lifting Noah up to pop the bubbles as they came down from above. 

At the end the kids were given a box of Bear Nibbles and a Happy Monkey Smoothie which was such a lovely touch and we went on our way, slightly sweaty and after being in a dimly lit pub for the past two hours, marvelling that it was daylight outside (something that if you went clubbing back in the day you would also marvel about at 6am outside Leisure Lounge or Ministry of Sound!).

Details of the next Big Fish Little Fish's event can be found here http://www.bigfishlittlefishevents.co.uk/events/

I'm personally getting very excited about getting my Big Fish Little Fish fix at Camp Bestival in the summer and I'm considering a CB warm up at one of the three events BFLF are holding in the run up to the festival.

We were given free family entry to Big Fish Little Fish. 

#MySundayPhoto - Springtime

This photo was taken at the end of a really brilliant day with my sister and our kids at Bocketts Farm. Who can resist the lure of holding a baby lamb? A symbol of springtime and new beginnings. It's not the best photo but I was so thrilled to be allowed to hold this beautiful baby. There were many lambs born on the farm that day and the pen full of expectant sheep in one of the barns gave me such an exciting feeling. New life happening right there. 

I love this time of year, it feels like there is real possibility in the air, fresh starts and my post about 'Change' at the beginning of the year is starting to come in to effect. A new job is only a month away, I've blogged a bit more than I did for the whole of last year, I've started some exercise, I've been working on photography, thanks to doing an online course and my eating and diet have seen some improvements. 2015 feels like a fresh start for me.

We ♥ H+M

I buy a lot of the kids clothes from H&M. I usually go in and do a big splurge getting all their essentials in one go, and most recently I've done a few shops online and I've found it an easy process. I find that their clothes are inexpensive, durable and also on trend. Noah lives in jogging bottoms in the winter/ spring months and they do such great joggers, in a range of colours and they are such good value. I love these bright orange ones. They also do brilliant logo and slogan T-shirts and when I saw this one I had to get it for him - he's a big Batman fan and it's raised a smile on most people's face when they've read it. 

T-shirt: £5.99
Joggers: £5.99 (these were on a 3 for 2 deal)

I got Isla a couple of really sweet bird print summer dresses at the same time, which fit in with her new found love of birds. I'll post those another time. 

Summer Swimsuits

Now it’s spring I can start to think about buying the kids some new bits for the warmer weather and I am thinking about HOLIDAYS! With that in mind here's Isla in her new Popupshop swimming costume that I absolutely love and she does too! 

It’s such a bold print and I feel like it matches her personality. It was a bit more than I would usually spend on a kids swimsuit at £22, but I’ve always been a swimwear fanatic.  I love checking out the new kids swimming costumes when they come in the stores, and I am a big fan of animal print. Isla rocked this Zebra print two piece that I’m sure came from Sainsbury's last year, and the price tag on that one was lower, so you don’t need to spend loads to have good style sense.

I got the tiger swimsuit online from Little Sunflowers and they were brilliant to deal with, I received the swimsuit the day after purchase. Now I’ve discovered Popupshop fashions, I’m coveting lots more things from there for the kids! 

Dinosaur Zoo, The Fairfield Halls - Review

On Saturday we went to see Dinosaur Zoo at The Fairfield Halls in Croydon. We decided to skip football and gymnastics classes for it as we love seeing shows and Noah is Dino mad at the moment. Every bedtime includes either a fictional dinosaur story - Dinosaurs Love Underpants is a big favourite or a factual book where I have to try and pronounce ALL the dinosaur names!

We arrived at the theatre and starting at the same time was a Frozen Singalong! All the little Elsa and Anna's were running around and looking very excited about the prospect of singing their hearts out to Let It Go (and the mums too I would imagine!). We went to a Frozen Singalong before Christmas and it was brilliant!

Anyway, back to Dinosaur Zoo. The show is really interactive with the kids, which is great - with each introduction of a new dinosaur a child in the audience gets invited up to take part. The whole show is about dinosaurs that lived in Australia, so that meant that we didn't see T-Rex but we did see his Australian equivalent, the Australovenator - he was fierce! Noah reassured himself that it was just a puppet when he told me that he could see the legs of the person inside! Aside from the fierce carnivore there were also some baby dinosaurs, some huge dragonfly type creatures that 'flew' round the audience and a really huge gentle herbivore dinosaur.

The presenter of the show gave the audience loads of factual information about dinosaurs throughout which was great for adults and kids and he was also really good with the children, poking gentle fun out of them to raise a laugh from the audience and with the little ones it felt like they believed the dinosaurs were real which was magic.

After the show the kids were able to meet and greet the dinosaurs, Isla touched the the Australovenator's nose and then got to stroke one of the baby dinosaurs. This was a nice touch as she is ever the child who wants to get up on stage, and this time she didn't so meeting the puppets more than made up for it.  

For more information about the show go to: http://dinosaurzoolive.com/

The Fairfield Halls always has a great selection of shows and screenings for all ages. This half term The Fairfield Halls are showing family films for only £2! For anyone who’s not seen Big Hero 6, then I thoroughly recommend it and it’s not long been released. Personally I think we’ll be going to see the Shaun the Sheep Movie, Isla is a big fan of the TV series and I hope to take the kids on the Shaun in The City Trail too. Going to the cinema can be such an expensive family outing, sometimes costing over £30 for a family of 4 but at these prices you could afford to go a couple of times in the holidays – particularly if we get typical school holiday wet weather! Details of cinema showings can be found on the Fairfield Halls website

 

Thanks to the Fairfield Halls for inviting us along to see the show, we look forward to visiting again soon!

Peter Rabbit's Post Office #CountryKids

Today we made our way to Limpsfield Common, a National Trust area, to see some very special little dwellings! I'd first seen them when a friend commented on a photo on Facebook and as they're only a 20 minute drive from us we had to go and see for ourselves! What am I talking about? Well some lovely volunteers have been creating some very sweet little homes on the Common, amongst them Peter Rabbit's Post Office, the Owl House and Fox Villa. 

The car park gave no clue as to where to go to see these treasures so we set off on a walk and I took some photos of what we found. The kids loved it and found it really exciting coming across each residence. When you find Peter Rabbit's Post Office you can open the door and there's a box you can leave notes or keepsakes. Isla left a little picture she quickly drew. It really was a lovely way to spend an hour or so of our time and we know we'll definitely be back when it's warmer for a picnic and it also looks like in a few weeks time there will be a multitude of bluebells. 

Siblings: March 2015

This month it was World Book Day. I'd decided that I'd keep the conversation about this limited with the kids as the school had given us a grand total of 3 days to prepare for it, getting the letter on Monday morning about needing costumes for that Thursday didn't give me cause to swear and curse under my breath at all....

In the end I wished I'd actually asked for their input because it turned out that the mermaid costume I'd bought for Isla to be The Singing Mermaid was surplus to requirements and on seeing that Noah was going to be Peter Pan she just wanted to be Wendy, which required nothing more than sending her to school in her nightie! Gah! There was me thinking that it would complicate matters having a discussion about who they would be and in fact Isla's idea was so much better than mine and I loved that they were characters from the same story. In future we'll definitely be working it out together.

With them dressed up it also gave me the opportunity to play around with my new camera and get some practice in following the Photography for Parents course I'd taken. Practice is definitely needed I think although I'm fairly happy with these ones I took.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be....

.....A Twitcher.

This is Isla's latest desired career path at the age of 5. I have to add that she doesn't just want to be a bird watcher she has been quite clear that this will be her daytime occupation and then at night she will be a singer on TV (I think she's watched The Voice too much lately!). I love that she's thought of two polar opposite jobs, I also love the innocence of her declaration, I guess there is some similarity with birds also enjoying a good sing song! A job as a bird watcher would certainly be very lovely I'm sure, and if she wants to be on TV then perhaps she could be the next Michaela Strachan or Kate Humble on TV showing us the loveliness of Springtime or on Countryfile......?

Her interest in birds has really peaked lately, together we drew some pictures of birds and she made it in to a 'Guess the Bird' game which she tested Nanny and Grandpa on (they didn't get many right!). She also watched a Natural World programme: Super Powered Owls last week (if it's on the iPlayer still do watch it, it was fascinating) and paused it throughout, drawing and writing about the programme as it went on. She was amazed by the way they could turn their necks all the way round and kept saying 'Look Mummy, I can do it too', whilst spinning her whole body round. She was upset when at the end of the programme, one of the young owls called Luna, flew off and didn't stay with their handlers. I was so impressed that she watched this all the way through and her interest didn't wane and she got so attached to the owls and had even picked a favourite from Luna and Lily.

I found a great book at a local charity shop about owls and we've read this many times now. I feel like it's such a shame that we have such a small garden and we own a cat and there are about 5 other cats in the near vicinity, so we don't really get any birds in our garden apart from the brave wood pigeons, who are probably the same size as the cats!

When I told my sister about Isla's new found interest she reminded me that at my junior school, I used to be part of the RSPB Young Ornathologists club. I'd totally forgotten! It was easy for me to spot birds as we had a great garden when I was young that also backed onto allotments, I'd see plenty of jays, magpies, blue tits, robins and occasionally we'd even sight a heron in the neighbours garden, stealing from the pond!

I'm fully supportive of her love of nature. Long may it continue, but I'm sure there will be a multitude of jobs Isla wants to pursue in the future and I won't be too disappointed if she isn't the next Bill Oddie! What do your children say they want to be when they grow up? Any fellow twitchers for Isla to hang out with?

Owls by Isla, aged 5 and 3 quarters.

Dinosaur Zoo at The Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Fresh from its success at the Edinburgh Festival and following a UK and international Autumn tour, West End hit show DINOSAUR ZOO is back by popular demand this spring for its fourth major UK tour, stopping at Fairfield Halls, Croydon on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 March 2015.

Australian-based creators Erth use ingenious puppetry to bring dinosaurs to life in this interactive and imaginative live show. Suitable for all the family (ages 3+), DINOSAUR ZOO introduces audiences to a range of creatures from cute baby dinos to teeth-gnashing giants, including a carnivorous theropod known as the ‘Australovenator’ – Australia’s version of the American T-Rex.

Intrepid audience members who are brave enough to get up close and personal with the dinosaurs are invited up on stage to assist the Zoo Keepers in their daily tasks - but be warned - not all of these ravenous reptiles are as tame as they seem! Each performance concludes with a post-show ‘meat & greet’ session offering every audience member a chance to meet the dinosaurs in person.

 

We will be going along to the show when it's on, so pop back here for our review. Noah is a huge dinosaur fan at the moment, every library visit yeilds another 5 or 6 dinosaur books to read. He loves finding out their names, knowing most of them off by heart and he knows if I get them wrong!  

If you've also got a dino-mad child then go to Fairfield Halls for tickets.

Running time: 50 minutes + post-show ‘meat’ & greet

 

Photography for Parents Online Photography Course Review

I've always loved photos and keeping a record of the things I do. Not only since having children, I have stacks of photos from my teens and twenties when big nights out were captured from beginning to messy end and holidays and festivals were recorded in technicolour. I always had a camera, or for times when I didn't I'd rely on disposables. I remember loving the anticipation of going to collect my prints from Boots and thinking of the moments I'd captured and hoping they looked as good as I remembered them to be. And then there were always the photos that I couldn't remember taking and being surprised by them as I leafed through the prints.

In recent times I've used my iPhone as my camera, which in the most part is fine because they give ok results and if the phot isn't as good as I'd hoped there's always a photography app like A Beautiful Mess and Instagram where I can fade out imperfections with filters and other gizmos. There is absolutely nothing wrong with photos taken in this way as it's so convenient given that I always have a phone in my pocket, but I decided to delve into the world of DSLR and bought a Nikon d3200. I soon realised that if I was going to have a clue what I was doing with this wonderful technology I'd need to go on a little photography course.

Photography for Parents online photography course is perfect for people who can't make it to face to face lessons and given that the subject of my photos these days is mostly kids it seemed the course was perfectly titled for me. The course comes in 6 modules of learning, running weekly and alongside it there is a forum where you can ask questions and gain support. For every module there is also a homework element and you submit your homework to the forum for the moderator to appraise and give pointers of how you could do things differently and also say "Yes! You really captured that!". Because the course has live support it also means that you get feedback really quickly and in the case of this of this course we were asked if we would like a week midway through to help us process some of the technical information about aperture and depth of field etc.

The idea of the course is to get people off the 'Auto' setting and to get some really great photos of your little ones. It gets you thinking about light, composition, aperture, shutter speeds amongst other things. I have to admit that if I hadn't started this course I think I would have definitely left the camera on Auto and not braved it. There is a lot to take in when you are getting to grips with a DSLR and I won't deny that it didn't frighten me slightly in the same way that my weekly physics lessons in senior school used to terrify me, but the course is so clear and the moderators online really make you feel at ease. There is nothing intimidating about it. I feel that I have a better understanding of the settings on my camera now and like I can navigate my way round without fear. My only wish is that my brain would work quicker and I'd be able to think through best settings for different situations faster. In the time it takes me to remember what ISO I need or whether spot metering would be best I potentially lose the moment. However this is really just me getting to grips with a fairly new camera and with more practice it will come.

During each module there are practical exercises to complete. I liked doing these particularly shooting at different focal lengths and also the exercise on focus and achieving blur in the background of my photos. At the end of each module there are homework tasks for you to complete in your own time and submit to the forum. I have to admit that I haven't been great at that bit and I attribute that to a few reasons. Firstly as it's winter, good enough light to take great photos is limited, and with me working full time these days I can't round up my trusty subjects when I get home and herd them outside like I could in the summer months. And our house is too dingy to get photos I feel happy with. I am also not so good at hooking up my camera to my Macbook and uploading my photos and resizing them so I can upload them to the forum. I am one of those people with a camera full of photos (just like my phone) and they're trapped in there. This is something I need to be better at.
I was given the chance to join the Level 1 online Photography for Parents course for free in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.




At the end of every module you are able to download that weeks course content in pdf form and print it out which I have found to be invaluable for when I'm commuting to work and I want to re-read some of the stuff I've read online. I also highlight some of the things I want to stick out for me. Once you come to the end of the course it doesn't end there, the forums stay moderated for another few weeks to allow for stragglers to post their homework (umm yes that's me!) and you can join a Facebook group to continue sharing your photography practice.

I'm personally really happy that I was given the opportunity ti try this course and I would recommend it. The course is full of information but it's delivered in such a way that makes it easy to understand. It's broken down into easily digestible chunks that allows you to not feel under pressure and for me that is key when I'm learning something new. If there was any pressure then it wouldn't work for me what with all the other stresses I have as a working parent. My aim from taking this course was to understand my camera better and to start getting some great photos of my family and that's already underway.

The Level 1 course costs £65 if you get an earlybird rate and the standard cost is £87. It runs for 6 weeks. The next course starts on Monday 2nd March so..... GET BOOKING!

If you're not quite sure you want to commit to the whole course fee, then Photography for Parents are currently offering a module 1 trial offer for 37 which seems like a bargain to me! It will allow you to get a flavour and see if you think the course is for you. If you like what you see then you can pay the remainder of the course fee and carry on. If you decide it's not for you then you can leave it at that and walk away, you're not obliged to carry on. Go to: Photography Course for your trial offer.


For more details and to sign up to the website go to: Photography for Parents

They can also be found on Facebook: Photography for Parents

Disney's Big Hero 6 - Review

On Sunday we woke up early (normal) and got ready to leave the house by 9 (not normal on a Sunday!) and made our way to the Odeon Leicester Square for a gala screening of Big Hero 6 in 3D, the latest big release from Disney. I didn't know a whole lot about it but Isla already knew that the main character was called Baymax and both her and Noah were hyped to be going to the cinema. I love going to the Odeon, Leicester Square. The screen is so huge and the sound is brilliant, it's also the type of place where people clap when the film finishes - something that rarely happens these days. 

Prior to the film starting we were treated to some Baymax balloon modelling and face painting which the kids loved and then we took our seats and prepared for 3D fun! As with most Disney films now there was a short film to warm every one up called 'Feast' about a dog, and we all loved it. I won't say anything about the story here, but as I was watching it I felt like it could be a longer film, it was that good....


What's Big Hero 6 about then?

“Big Hero 6” is an action-packed comedy-adventure, about robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, an orphan living with his Brother and Aunt. Hiro learns to explore his genius—thanks to his brilliant brother Tadashi and their like-minded friends: adrenaline junkie Go Go Tamago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Just as Hiro decides to turn his back on Bot fighting to go to 'Nerd' college and join his brother, a devastating turn of events catapults them into the midst of a dangerous plot unfolding in the streets of San Fransokyo. Hiro turns to his closest companion—a robot named Baymax, created by Tadashi —and transforms the group of friends into a band of high-tech heroes determined to solve the mystery. I'm not going to spoil the film for any of you by revealing too much of what happens, you NEED to see it yourself! 

Big Hero 6 has some brilliant laughs for adults and kids alike. The robot Baymax is the source of most of this comedy genius. He was created by Tadeshi to be a robot nurse, to fix all ailments. He makes it his mission to 'fix' Hiro when his heart is broken after the loss of his brother. The way he takes literal meaning from a lot of the things that Hiro says is hilarious and were the bits that had me chuckling. Isla found the lumbering character of the huge vinyl, Michelin man shaped robot the funniest, laughing every time he was involved in some sort of catastrophe. She also loved the scene where Baymax is running out of charge and Hiro struggles to get him home. I loved that although Baymax is a robot, he learns human emotions and fragility and in his own blustering way he mends Hiro and returns him to being the person his brother would be proud of. For a character with hardly any features he is very loveable and we all felt such immediate affection for him. 

I liked the setting for the film, in fictional San Fransokyo, a cross between San Francisco, with all the hills and golden gate bridge and Tokyo with the snow capped mountains and Cherry Blossom. The film also projects the message that science is cool and since seeing the film, I've heard Isla say a number of times "I'm going to be a scientist". I think this can only be a good thing.

We give Big Hero 6 a big thumbs up and I feel sure that it could spurn a sequel, Baymax is such an enchanting creation that it would be a shame to only see him once. 

Check out the trailer here:



For a little bit of extra Big Hero 6 fun, check out these fun activities for kids:

Spot the Difference
Baymax Origami
Hiro and Baymax Balloon Experiment!

Big Hero 6 is on general release in 3D from 30th January. To get all the latest info about Big Hero 6 and other Disney releases: 

"Like" the official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DisneyUK/ 

Subscribe to the YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WaltDisneyStudiosUK/

Follow on Twitter : https://twitter.com/Disney_UK #BigHero6

Thank you Disney UK for inviting us to the film we had a super time!