Learning made fun

Toy Fair 2013 - A 'Toy' That Bothers Me!

Yesterday I went to the 60th Toy Fair at Olympia. I've been every year for the last 20 years to meet my suppliers and see what is new in the puppets and instrument market for Musical Minis. Whilst it is always lovely to see the companies we buy from and have a little chat, for the last few years there has been little to be excited over. Unfortunately, this year was the same!

Looking at the toys as a whole, there was nothing that inspired me or I felt may become a new craze. I walked around the 'New Toy' section and just saw games my children played with that had been revamped and redesigned.

There was one 'toy' there that was there last year too and as far as I'm aware I don't think it has taken off. It bothered me last year and again this year so I thought I'd see what you think. It is called Magic Choc and comprises of milk, white and dark Belgian chocolate. The idea is to mold the chocolate into various shapes which you then can eat. The chocolate doesn't need heating and can be squished into the shape of animals, birds, monsters or whatever you fancy making. What do you think?

Tea India - A Review

I was delighted to receive some teabags to sample and review from a new range of tea from Tea India. Tea India has launched some Indian tea blends, which are now available in the UK.

Tea India have been inspired by the fusion of tradition with the vibrancy of modern India. The range includes a premium Black Tea and three authentic chai flavours, Masala, Vanilla and Cardamom Chai. These bold flavours have been inspired to create the vibrancy of the bazaars where enterprising chai wallahs would serve them in steaming glasses to busy shoppers.

I was sent a pack of Cardamom Chai teabags, which has been awarded a 1 Star Gold rating in the Great Taste Awards. In addition I received  a pack of Tea India's Black Tea teabags, which has won a 2 Star Gold rating in the Great Taste Awards. The Great Taste Awards, which I must admit I had never heard of, is organised by the Guild of Fine Food, and is the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink.

Magic Magnetic Balls Cube Puzzle - A Review

I was lucky enough to be selected to write a review on the Magic Magnetic Balls Cube Puzzle from Paramount Zone.

The Puzzle arrived but unfortunately the metal tin it is packaged in was dented. I think it would have helped to wrap the tin in bubblewrap. The cube is made up of 216 silver magnetic balls. The first thing I did was open up the tin and separate the cube into one long line of the 216 balls. The line was 105 cm long. I'm still unsure as to why I actually did this as ever since I've been trying to put it back into a cube!

It is great to pull the balls apart and can relieve stress - although trying to put them back into a cube is in itself stressful! It is an interesting concept as each tiny silver ball has its own North and South magnetic poles and each ball seems to attract and repel each other.

You don't have to create a cube there are many other shapes that can be made. Unfortunately, so far, I haven't had much luck making any although my family have made a few interesting shapes. It is a shame the Puzzle doesn't come with instructions or a guide as to what shapes can be made. However, there are instructions and videos on the internet.

The siver balls are very little so this definately is not suitable for young children - the suggested age is 14+. This is an ideal stocking filler for teenagers and adults. It costs £9.99 and can be bought on the internet from Paramount Zone.

Champneys Tring - A Review

Spa days and Spa breaks have become more popular in recent years. It is lovely to escape for the day, or a few days and be pampered, coming back refreshed and ready to tackle everyday life again.  The Champneys resorts don't allow under 16's in so there are no children there. When my 3 children were young Rob and I did visit Champneys leaving our children with their Grandparents. Musical Minis Mums have gone for pregnancy relax days, hen parties and just to have time to unwind. Champneys does charge a premium as it considers itself to be a luxury spa, unfortunately we don't!

Rob and I stayed overnight at the Tring resort at the end of Summer. Perhaps because we remember so clearly the Champneys of 16 years ago that we were so aware of the downhill slide of this spa. Each time we have visited Champneys Tring over the past few years we have noticed standards slip. Our recent one night stay was enjoyable but our visit was very impersonal and the standard of cleanliness and maintenance was very poor.

On the plus side the food is good and the staff friendly. On the negative side the treatments can be hit or miss. The spa staff are trained to carry out a treatment in a particular way (e.g. 3 strokes one way four strokes another) without any consideration for personal need. There are numerous treatments to choose from, which in itself can be problematic as you are not really sure as to how they differ.

The Champneys stay now just seems to be packaged. We were appalled that when an elderly guest asked for an additional half cup of coffee in the drawing room after dinner, she was told only one cup of complimentary tea or coffee was permitted. With nowhere to purchase a drink the lady had no alternative other than to make a cup in her room. Surely this is not 5 star service and was just one example of how the service is now regimented.

Having to use the public facilities after the 11.00 a.m. check out time you would expect the facilities to be kept clean. However, both the men's and ladies toilets were dirty over a number of hours. We noticed these were used by the staff and still nothing was done about the state of them. The carpets in many parts of the resort are stained, the tap in our room would not turn off completely and was loose and a number of the hooks for towels in the sauna were snapped. All in all the resort needs a lot of maintenance and recognition that it's guests are individuals looking for a personal service.

Perhaps Champneys is now catering for the masses but still charging premium rates. Perhaps the management don't think it's necessary to keep the resort clean and in good repair. We gave feedback via a questionnaire which was emailed after our stay and to the staff before we left but weeks later we have had no response. It's not easy to organise childcare to have time for yourself  and if you have managed to do so, the experience we had at Champneys Tring really wouldn't have been worth the effort.

We think it's time to find another spa to visit. Have you been to any you could recommend? Or maybe you've been to Champneys and enjoyed your stay. Do let me know.

Photo by Flickr o5com

A Misleading Award

Guest blog by Rob Sherr

Oxford dictionaries defines the word award as “a prize or other mark of recognition given in honour of an achievement”. How well does this definition sit with a statement I recently saw on a web site that stated “Awards are one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools….”

This question has left me with a feeling of righteous indignation, not because I have anything in particular against the giving of awards but because I have recently discovered there is an industry solely dedicated to awards. I will explain.

As a consumer, there are a number of factors that will help me make a decision as to whether to purchase a particular product or service. Let’s say that I am buying a DVD player. I am down to a choice of 2 but I notice that one of them has won The Audio Visual Society’s innovative product of the year award 2012. With little to differentiate between the two I decide to buy this award winning product.

Well on the face of it there is nothing wrong with that. I have chosen a product that has been given a prize in honour of an achievement. However, my recent exposure to the “awards industry” leaves me wondering whether I haven’t just been misled.

As co-director of Musical Minis, alongside my wife Karen, I actively participate in the decisions that the business faces. One of these is how to spend our marketing budget. Finding new franchisees is a key component of how that money is spent and we were recently approached to consider spending that money on professionally written applications for awards. This particular company, for a fee, would identify awards appropriate to Musical Minis and then complete the application process on our behalf. They cite an excellent record and run a number of teams to ensure that conflict does not exist if they are handling similar businesses. So far so good. Indeed, they have already identified an award that we should aim for and in their email said exactly what this award is. It is at this point that I became a little uncomfortable as to fit the awards description would undoubtedly require a little creative thinking.

Looking further I found that the business of the organisation that granted the award was in fact an awards granting organisation. That is all that it did. From what I could tell it ran its competition 4 times a year and beyond filling in the application form and paying the awards entrance fee there was nothing further an entrant needed to do. There was no vetting and no corroboration of information. And if you were lucky enough to win or even been highly commended by the judges then you “will be eligible to purchase an Awards Marketing Pack consisting of a trophy, certificate and the right to use the winner's or highly commended logo on your website and other marketing materials”.

So what about the judges. Well I didn’t recognise any of the names although in their defence this does not necessarily mean they are not properly qualified or experienced enough to look over an application and make a judgement on its quality. But then again, based upon their profiles, I do not see how they are in any position to make a judgement call on my business.

The Audio Visual Society does not actually exist but if it did this too might be an organisation established only to collect money from businesses who have chosen to spend their marketing budget on one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools. If I had bought my DVD player based upon such an award I would feel cheated as a consumer. Likewise, I do not want anyone to buy a franchise from me because I won some artificially created prize for “Franchise with the Best Post Code”. I am prepared to enter genuine competitions where Musical Minis stands shoulder to shoulder with its peers and be judged by a panel representing a relevant magazine or organisation. Indeed, we have entered the annual Encouraging Women Into Franchising, EWIF, competition and our Buckingham franchisee, Amanda Perkins, won the young franchisee of the year award. We also encourage our franchisees to enter the What’s On 4 Little Ones Awards, voted for by people who attend groups such as Musical Minis.

So is this just righteous indignation or do you, like me, feel concerned that the public is being cheated by this warping of the definition of an award?

Marmite Chocolate

My children bought me a bar of Marmite Chocolate to try this week. They know I like both marmite and chocolate but together they're horrible! If anyone else is tempted to buy it I suggest that you think again!

The chocolate is in a yellow foil wrapper inside a black cardboard box. On the black packet and on the yellow foil the words 'Very Peculiar' are written. Very peculiar and very disgusting are both words that could describe the bar of milk chocolate. It is described as having a hint of marmite indulgence - as soon as you open the packet you are hit with a strong smell of marmite, so I'm unsure where the hint comes from!

Each strip of chocolate is made up of 4 pieces. I had one piece and could still taste it an hour after eating it and having eaten other chocolate afterwards to take the taste away!

Over recent years different tastes and spices have been added to chocolate. I quite like chocolate with chilli or cinnamon and have bought them again after trying them once. Whereas I understand marmite is a taste you either love or hate, I really think marmite chocolate is one you just hate! Surely there will be no repeat buys on marmite chocolate.

Marmite chocolate costs £2.99 from Selfridges. It may be available elsewhere - but I'm guessing not for long!

Mother's Day Flowercards

When I was offered a Mother's Day Flowercard to review I jumped at the opportunity as a card containing fresh flowers sounded interesting and something I could see myself sending.

The Flowercard arrived on the correct day and was hand delivered. It was packaged well in a red box - it is worth noting that the box is too large to fit in the letter box so someone needs to be in to take delivery. When I opened the box I was pleased to see the flowers were still fresh and apart from a few leaves in the box it had survived its journey.

I received a Mother's Day card with white freesia inside. Unfortunately, the flowers lacked colour and reminded me of a bouquet for a memorial or funeral. I do think this is unfortunate as other Flowercards on the website are full of colour and look much more cheerful. They do smell lovely though.

The card is A5 size and is made of thin cardboard. It is a bit flimsy and hard to position so the flowers are displayed properly. The Flowercard comes with a pipette to water it with - I really liked this.

The Flowercards cost £19.99 with £2.99 postage on top. I wouldn't consider sending anyone this Flowercard although I would one with different more colourful flowers.

Give As You Live - Helping Charity Isn't Just For Christmas

LAST month I went to an event at Libertys in Regent Street to find out about Give As You Live. I was amazed to hear how we can all be raising money for charity when shopping online and not have to pay extra to donate as the money is given by the retailer. It is such a simple concept and if charities can earn from my shopping then I certainly have nothing to lose.

Everyclick is a fundraising technology company that enables people to give to any of the UK’s charities through everyday online activity, such as online shopping. No extra money needs to be donated. The company was set up in 2005 by Polly Gowers, after she recognised the enormous potential of the internet and technology to do good. The technology developed by Everyclick is different from other fundraising initiatives, such as Just Giving, as people do not need to make a conscious donation and it supports any of the UK’s charities.

Everyclick’s flagship product is Give as you Live, which allows supporters to turn every pound shoppers spend online, into funds for their cause. Give as you Live enables a supporter to raise funds for any charity of their choice every time they shop online, without having to pay anything extra. It represents an additional £1.25bn in potential unrestricted revenue for the charity sector. Over 1,500 leading retailers are already on board, including supermarkets, travel agents, fashion brands, and more are joining daily. From classic family gifts to the hottest new gadgets, every online purchase can raise significant funds for UK charities and not cost the purchaser a penny more – as it’s the retailer that makes the donation.

Give as you Live’s new ‘Wish lists’ functionality enables shoppers to create lists for themselves, friends and family, to ensure they get exactly what they want for Christmas this year. Users of the Give as you Live Wish Lists can both choose their favourite gifts from over 1,500 retailers, and choose who to support from 220,000 UK registered charities. With many people opting to go online in the search for those perfect Christmas gifts, Give as you Live represents a great opportunity for shoppers to give charities that much need funding boost this Christmas. Collectively, this festive season, online shoppers have the potential to raise £170m* for UK charities through Give as you Live. From the nation’s most famous department stores Harrods and Selfridges, to much-loved retail outlets including John Lewis and M&S, to Christmas favourites like Hamley’s. Give as you Live works with over 1,500 UK retailers, offering over 15 million products and covering 80% of the UK’s top 100 retailers, working with each to raise money for deserving causes at no cost to the shopper.

I think this whole idea is great - not just for Christmas but for birthdays and even regular shopping. If you are shopping online, for example from Tesco's, it is great to raise money for charity at the same time - you still earn ClubCard points so have nothing at all to lose. I had a bit of trouble when just trying to buy from a site I accessed from the Give As You Live site so I think it probably is easiest to create an account with them. This is how you do it:
The simple instructions are:
1. Visit http://www.giveasyoulive.com/ and create an account by signing in on the top right hand corner.
2. Choose a charity to support with all of your shopping. If you don't want to choose one your donation will be sent to Give As You Live charity of the month - although I couldn't see what this was.
3. Shop and raise money for your favourite cause from over 1500 leading retailers  You just click on stores and choose where you want to shop.
4.  You can create a wish list and share it with your friends and family.

You can Download Give as you Live so you can shop directly at all of your favourite retailers and raise money for your selected charity. Whenever you shop online Give As You Live will pop up and your chosen charity will receive money. If charities can benefit from our shopping, with no change to our shopping habits or at no extra cost to the shopper then there really is nothing to lose!

Happy shopping!

Novelty Christmas Items from Poundland - A Review

Christmas products are readily available on the high street and it is relatively easy to find products to match the budget you want to spend. The amount you are happy to spend may be guided by how many years you want the items to last. Poundland sent me a few novelty goods to try out and review. I actually thought they were good fun and worth the £1 they cost, however, I expect they won’t last long and are a bit tacky.

This snowman is available in pink or blue. It is battery operated and lights up to bring a bit of festive cheer to any space such as a desk or shelf. There is an on /off button so it doesn’t have to flash all day. I’m not sure how long the battery will last for.

These Christmas playing cards are ideal as a stocking filler. They come in a Santa or snowman design.

 

 

 

Get into the spirit of Christmas with these light up assorted musical ties. Available in tree, Santa and snowman designs. There is a button on the tie to press to start the music and the flashing. Once started you can’t stop it but it only lasts a few seconds. I’m not sure how long the battery lasts.

 

 

 

Hanging Christmas characters make Christmas decorations come alive. These are fun fabric made character hanging decorations. The cord to hang it up actually looks as though it may break but can be replaced with string.

Count the days to go to Christmas with a chalkboard. This also hangs up but the cord looks as it will snap soon and needs to be replaced with string. It would have been great if it had a piece of chalk with it.

 

 

This large Santa stocking is about 50cm in length and is made of cloth. It has a handle. It is ideal to fill with small Christmas presents.

I was also sent reindeer headbands and elf headbands. These are always fun to wear for a short time. Another item I was sent was, I think, a Santa toilet lid cover made of felt. I did try to fit it to our toilet lid but it didn't fit. I'm not sure what else it could be though!

These novelty items were fun and for £1 each they are reasonable. I'm sure they won't last more than one Christmas but what really can we expect for £1.

Have A Happy Halloween…On A Budget! A Review

SORRY it's a bit late in the day but I wanted to share with you some products Poundland sent me to review.

What springs to mind when you think of Halloween? Carved out lanterns and apple bobbing? Or is it the more Americanised tradition of kids in spooky costumes trick or treating at night around the neighbourhood? Increasingly, the latter of the two is at the heart of Halloween and can put worry on parents when allowing children to roam the streets. So how can we keep our kids safe this Halloween?

One option, of course, is accompanying little ones on their neighbourhood visits - that way they can have fun under adult supervision. Or, why not allow the children to have fun whilst being under your watchful eye by throwing a Halloween party? That way the whole family can join in and have smiles on their faces!

To the kids, parties seem to come together as if by magic, but we all know there's a lot more work involved - time, patience, creativity and expense! Let’s face it, most of the time it can seem like an uphill struggle trying to gets kids' parties organised so everyone's happy. So here’s a helping hand to throw a Halloween party with minimal spend and stress!

It's easy to bring Halloween themes to life in your own home and - if you know where to look – it can be affordable too. There are plenty of websites offering handy tips and ideas for crafts and activities at Halloween. Kaboose.com is a great website with plenty of ‘how to’ guides and videos that demonstrate costume ideas and straight forward quick-makes that are fun to do together. Another resource for inspiration are ‘Mummy’ blogs. These wonderful writers often test a whole variety of products with their kids, so it’s worth checking out their reviews on Halloween to see what products are available.

Thankfully though, Halloween products are readily available on the high street so you don’t need to head to specialist party shops for your supplies. Make sure you find a store that sells a range of inexpensive products so you can decorate the house for the party and let the kids pick up everything they need for their costumes without the cost mounting up. It is only one day of the year after all! Besides products, your Halloween party really needn't cost a fortune. It’s a great opportunity to recycle things from around the home; using old cotton wool as spooky spiders webs, the last bit of tomato ketchup as fake blood or a little talc to get a perfectly pale complexion. Old clothes and sheets can be recycled too and made into costumes. Or there’s the toilet roll trick - wrapping it around the body can make a very convincing Mummy! Getting into the spirit of the occasion and involving the whole family is part of the magic of the day; it needn't break the bank to keep your little witches and devils happy.

If the children do still want to head out trick or treating this Halloween, there are lots of sites like Kids Health, which offer handy tips on staying safe. From wearing bright costumes so they can be seen in the dark, to not carrying so much that they fall over. Poundland has guides you can download from its website too, with tips on throwing Halloween parties on a budget and suggestions to keep the children safe.

Pondland sent me a few Halloween goodies which are both fun and good value. I received shrunken skull lollies, Make up Stix, jewellery which lights up - witches earings, spiders and scary head boppers.

Wishing you a very Happy Halloween!

Great sources for Halloween party ideas:

• http://www.halloweentips.com// • www.allfreecrafts.com/halloween/index.shtml