LOLLIBOP SET TO ROCK QUEEN ELIZABETH OLYMPIC PARK THIS SUMMER

I'm so happy to announce that I am an official Lollibop blogger. We love Lollibop having been the last 2 years and so over the coming weeks I will be letting you know all about the fun that Lollibop has in store for you and your mini festival goers! The venue is new for this year and will be at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London - an awe inspiring place I think you'll agree! Keep your eyes peeled on my blog for a family ticket competition, discount codes for ticket purchases and interviews with LolliBop talent and organisers, a behind the scenes look at Lolli as the build takes place at the Olympic Park and lots more. Exciting stuff!
Joining some of the hottest names in kids’ entertainment, as well as hundreds of activities, workshops and interactive demos, are the Mr. Men and Little Miss Village Green Event and Shaun the Sheep’s Championsheeps LIVE!

The ever-popular Mr. Men will be hosting a fun maypole activity area and favourite characters, such as Mr. Bump, Mr. Tickle and Little Miss Sunshine, will be meeting and greeting fans at the Mr. Men and Little Miss reading hubs. 

Shaun the Sheep will be personally on hand at the Championsheeps with sheepy shenanigans, including Shirley’s Pie-athalon, the Naughty Pig’s Sack Race and Get Fit with the Flock. Kids and parents are ‘wool-come’ to get involved!

Other big names confirmed so far, include:

- LolliBop favourites Dick and Dom return with their special mix of madcap games, songs, jokes and a foam pie or two…

- Peppa Pig will be at the festival all weekend, meeting and greeting all her little fans

- Sid Sloane and Andy Day will be hosting their very own Big Birthday Bash and everyone is invited! Expect lots of energetic songs and silliness and plenty of audience participation

- Watch and learn how to ‘Copy Poppy’ with Poppy Cat on the Lolli Live stage

- Straight from Nickelodeon to the Lolli Live Stage, The Go! Go! Go! Show are bringing brand new pop songs, catchy, easy-to-learn dance moves and loads of laughs

- Sing and dance along with the adorable Cloudbabies mini show

- Witness the amazing wildlife showcase with National Geographic Kids Animal Man

- Laugh along with hilarious antics from the amazing 8ft Titan the Robot

Returning LolliBoppers will also see old favourites mixed with new attractions for 2013, including:

LolliBop Live – Popular CBeebies presenter Alex Winters is comparing the live stage which plays host to some of the biggest names in kids entertainment, with live music and performances from stars of stage and screen.

Lollipalladiam - is a live theatre tent showcasing performances from pioneering and internationally renowned companies and artists. This year it features Spooked, the critically acclaimed Broken Rose Performing Arts first show for children – a hilarious and spectacular blend of dance, theatre and spoken word featuring skeletons Molly, Jinny and Charlie.

Science Zone - Make a rocket, hold a dry ice cube, or get messy with gooey slime in the LolliBop lab - brimming with exploding experiments for pint sized guests to try! London’s Science Museum will also be attending with live demonstrations and interactive activities.

Run wild and have fun in the LolliSports area. With activities including retro favourites like swingball, hula-hoop and frisbee to football tournaments and sports day style races.

3ft and under is also making a comeback but this time is it within the brand new Itsy Bitsy Zone. Activities for babies and toddlers will include soft play, baby massage, storytelling, mini discos and much more

The Lolli Promenade – Situated on the River Lea! We’re very lucky to have a real river running through our new home, so why not relax and enjoy an ice lolly at the Lolli Promenade which also features beach hut crafts and bandstands.

Discovery Zone - will host a number of educational, interactive and hands on activities where kids can learn a new skill like beatboxing in one of the many workshops.

Lolli Stops – Enjoy crafts from puppet making, and customised fashion workshops, to balloon modelling, and graffiti painting, there is a something to make and do around every corner.

The Meadows - A perfect spot to chill out, enjoy your lunch and watch our special street performers.

There is also a wide selection of food and drink stalls at LolliBop. Extensive covered buggy parks, baby changing and breast-feeding areas are also available.


For more tickets and more information: http://www.lollibopfestival.co.uk

Learning to Fly a Kite on Kenley Common

This weekend myself and my Other Half took a 3 night trip away to the Cognac region in France for a good friend's wedding. We had an amazing time hanging out with friends, talking uninterrupted, eating, drinking and laughing ALL THE TIME. Here we are on the day of the wedding. 

It was wonderful but we did miss the kids a lot and so when we got back we were really grateful for the extra day we had booked off work so that we could spend the day with them. They had been well looked after by their Grandparents for the weekend but I know that they were so happy to see us. So happy in fact that Isla was awake at 5.30am the first morning back - I'm not going to deny that I did wish I was back in France getting a lie in at that time!

The weather must have known we had the day off as it decided to play ball and the temperatures hit around 20 degrees. It was blue skies all day long and I decided that we would check out some local woods that we have never visited even though they are on our doorstep. I got the heads up for the Visitwoods site when I was sent a Poppy Cat Mystery Trail Pack. Visitwoods is partnering with Poppy Cat this month to launch an outdoor campaign to get families out this Spring in the woods and connecting with nature. 

As a gift from France we bought the kids a kite. So we packed up some stuff and headed to Kenley Common. It was lovely. We had a steep climb up the steps to the common. First of all Isla did some bark rubbing, she really got into that. 

Then she was desperate to balance on some tree trunks that had recently been felled. 

We also saw a few gliders, some of which felt like they were swooping quite low. 

Then we got the kite out and this caused much excitement. Isla and Noah were running around like mad things. Mainly trying to get the OH to hand over the controls - he was determined to keep it up in the air and didn't want to hand them over that easily! It was great fun and I'm ashamed to say the first time I have ever properly tried flying a kite.

Next we headed off into the woods and played hide and seek - a game that Isla and Noah both love. We also spotted the tracks of horses - big horseshoe prints in the ground, and the tell tale signs of horse manure...The woods were lovely, loads of yellow butterflies flitting about. Some really great hiding places with logs covered in moss - as thick as a carpet. 

We came across another grassy field where there were some more felled trees, we picked the leaves off them and used them to practise counting. Isla said she wanted to make a skirt like Tinkerbell's with them. We spotted a tractor and a big truck carrying more logs, but Noah didn't like those, because he said they were too noisy! So once we'd had a snack and drink it was time to go home and have some fun in the garden. We'll definitely be back to explore Kenley Common again as there is still so much more to check out, with grazing cattle and the aerodrome close by too.

All in all we had such a good day and I'm really enjoying the age that my two are now. They are starting to have lots of fun together (arguments too) especially more so when we're out of the house.

POPPY CAT PARTNERS WITH THE WOODLAND TRUST TO LAUNCH OUTDOOR ADVENTURE CAMPAIGN FOR FAMILIES

The UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, the Woodland Trust, is partnering with the popular Nick Jr. series, Poppy Cat, to launch an outdoor campaign for pre-schoolers with an ‘adventure’ platform for its VisitWoods website for one month from 19th April 2013.

VisitWoods.org.uk hosts information on over 11,000 UK woods that are open to the public. Poppy Cat content has been created for the site with downloadable activity materials focusing on ‘Mystery Trail Adventures’ - available for children aged 2-6 years to engage them during family outings to the woods.

Simone Ashley-Norman, Woodland Trust, says, “You are never too young to visit a wood and our partnership with Poppy Cat will enable families across the country to get outdoors this spring and make the most of our beautiful native woodlands. VisitWoods.org.uk makes finding and visiting woods as straightforward as possible, for all ages and abilities, so there’s no excuse to stay indoors!”

Michael Dee, Director of Content at Coolabi, the producers of Poppy Cat, adds, “Poppy Cat is an adventurer who is often embarking on journeys to the woods with her friends. This provides a natural link to VisitWoods and we are pleased to partner with the Woodland Trust to provide exciting content for children and families to make their everyday adventures extraordinary!”

To support the Woodland Trust partnership and allow Poppy Cat fans to continue the adventure at home, Nick Jr. will air nature-themed Poppy Cat episodes every day from the 18th April at 7.15pm for two weeks. There will also be campaign content at nickjr.co.uk alongside Poppy Cat clips, games and activities.

Poppy Cat, starring the voice of Joanna Page (Gavin & Stacey), is based on the award-winning books created by Lara Jones. Poppy Cat's heroic gusto and unquenchable curiosity propel each experience often leading to unexpected discoveries. For more information on the Nick Jr pre-school series or the Woodland Trust Poppy Cat campaign, please visit www.poppycat.com / www.visitwoods.org.uk, or become a fan of Poppy Cat’s on Facebook (www.facebook.com/officialpoppycat) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/PoppyCat_).

Older brothers and sisters can also discover more age appropriate activities via the Woodland Trust’s Nature Detectives initiative – naturedetectives.org.uk.

Stay posted for some of our adventures to the woods over the coming weeks. We will be using some of the downloadable activity materials to aid us in our nature trails!

Soft Talking Poppy Cat Review - Great Christmas Stocking Filler

I was recently sent a Soft Talking Poppy Cat for the kids to try out and for the first time since I started my blog I had a dilemma about what to do when it arrived as Noah is now a lot older and takes an interest in everything, especially things Isla is playing with. He has also developed quite a soft spot for Poppy Cat as for the last few months we've been reading a pop up Poppy Cat book at bedtime. He's not quite into TV yet so he doesn't really know her from the TV programme. I knew that Isla would assume it was hers, so I just decided to tell them they had to share. Obviously this means zilch to Noah, he doesn't understand sharing, but Isla does so I was interested to see how this went! It went something like this: 
"I'll play with it first mummy and then Noah can have it", I had to remind her after a long while that her turn was up and it was his turn now, this led to a bit of snatching on Noah's part, but on the whole I think she got the idea that it wasn't solely hers.

Back to the toy. This is part of a new small collection of Poppy Cat toys that have sprung out of the popularity of the fab animated show that's on Nick Jnr. The series is great for pre-schoolers we reviewed it here when it first came out and Isla loved it. It's based on an award winning book series by Lara Jones that has sold more than 2.5 million copies.  We were sent a 22cm plush talking Poppy Cat. She says 5 different phrases when you squeeze her tummy and is of course voiced by Joanna Page. Since Poppy Cat arrived she has mostly spent her time in Isla's clutches but when Noah does get his hands on her he loves hearing the phrases. He really does love talking toys - but funnily enough now I think about it I don't think they make many talking toys aimed at boys - he's always loved Isla's talking Dee-Li from Waybuloo and her Princess Holly talking toy.....

This Soft Talking Poppy Cat retails at £9.99 and would make an excellent stocking filler for any PC fan! Also in the range are Poppy Cat dominoes, five piece figure sets and a wind up Poppy Cat amongst other things.

For more information on the pre-school series, please visit www.poppycat.com, or become a fan of Poppy Cat on Facebook (www.facebook.com/officialpoppycat) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/PoppyCat_).

We were sent the talking Poppy Cat to review, all views are our own

Poppy Cat DVD Giveaway!

TAKE YOUR LITTLE ONES ON AN EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE WITH THE FIRST EVER POPPY CAT DVD

‘Birthday Treasure and Other Adventures’

available from 3^rd September 2012

To celebrate the launch of Poppy Cat on DVD for the first time ever in ‘Birthday Treasure and Other Adventures’from 3^rd September, Lionsgate has teamed up with I-Heart-Motherhood to offer one lucky winner the chance to win a copy hot off the press.

Voiced by Gavin & Stacey star, Joanna Page, Poppy Cat is a great new British children’s animation based on the best-selling books by author Lara Jones, which have sold in excess of 2.5 million copies.

‘Poppy Cat: Birthday Treasure and Other Adventures’features 11 episodes (over two hours) of non-stop family fun.

To win a copy of this fantastic DVD, all you have to do is give your answer in the comment box below and leave a way of contacting you.

Who voices Poppy Cat in the popular TV series?

a) Joanna Page

b) Joanna Lumley

c) Joanna Rowsell

For an Extra entry you can tweet the following "I've entered to win the @Iheartmuthahood competition to win a Poppy Cat DVD" Please add an extra comment below to say you have done this with your twitter ID.

<<Separate comments must be made for both entries>>

This bumper Poppy Cat DVD offers something extra special for all of the family. With any DVD purchase, families will receive a buy one get one free voucher into Chessington World of Adventures. If, like Poppy Cat, you enjoy the thrill of making everyday adventures extraordinary, then look no further than this exciting competition.

‘Poppy Cat: Birthday Treasure and Other Adventures’ will be available at all good retailers with a RRP of £12.99.

For more information on the Nick Jr and CITV pre-school series and DVD launch, please visit www.poppycat.com, or become a fan of Poppy Cat’s on Facebook (www.facebook.com/officialpoppycat) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/PoppyCat_).

This competition is UK only. The competition will close at midnight on Sunday 2nd September. The prize will be sent out by the PR to the winner.