Learning made fun

Are Apps Harmful For Young Children?

As you may know, Musical Minis recently launched a Nursery Rhymes Puzzle App as part of our 25 Year Celebrations and to demonstrate that despite the age of Musical Minis, we are keeping up to date with the advances in society.

We have started rolling out a change in our membership packs which now gives every new member the App for free, as a gift, to replace a Book Bag. This was not an easy decision to make as we know that not everyone agrees with giving apps to small children and there is some evidence to suggest that over reliance on technology may be harmful. We had our own fears about this and consequently put considerable research into the pros and cons of the app argument. We wanted to share our findings with you to provide an explanation and justification as to why we decided to create our app.

Donate Your Baby Blanket - In Conjunction With Dettol

I was asked by Dettol to help with their campaign to donate baby blankets to help less fortunate babies. 

The Dettol Baby Blanket campaign video explains it all .

Rachel Stevens is supporting the campaign and is calling out to mums, dads and parents to donate a blanket to the Dettol Baby Blanket Donation charity campaign to help babies in need. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers of bacteria on baby blankets whilst highlighting the shortage of baby blankets available to infants born to families in need.

Once collected the baby blankets will be hygienically washed with Dettol Anti-Bacterial Laundry Cleanser, an additive that kills 99.9% of bacteria even in temperatures as low as 15°C, before being re-distributed to families.

Dettol has also pledged to donate £1 for every blanket donated to Sparks – a children’s medical research charity.

Rachel said “I’ve got all my mummy friends donating their blankets and I’m trying to get as many people involved as possible. It’s a brilliant campaign in itself but now I’m a mum I am even more aware of how much washing there is to do. With Dettol Anti-Bacterial Laundry Cleanser I get to do loads of quick washes at low temperatures and I know that things will be hygienically clean and germ free.”

Please send your baby blanket to:

FREEPOST RTKJ-YSGS-SSHR
The Hay Loft
Balcombe Place Stables
Balcombe
RH17 6AZ

Please tweet to @DettolBlanket on Twitter with the #sharethememories hash tag.

Dettol sent me 2 products to review, a Dettol Hand Wash and some Dettol Cleansing Surface Wipes. Both products were easy to use. Obviously it is impossible for me to tell if they really do kill 99.9% of bacteria on hands and surfaces, as I have no way of testing this but as they claim they do it must have been tested.

 

Musical Minis Top 10 Names In 2014

Following our tradition of tallying the names of children attending Musical Minis classes, the list below shows the most popular names for children attending in 2014. It isn't necessarily children who were born in 2014. Furthermore, it doesn't include children who attend Children's Centre sessions or nursery sessions.

The numbers in brackets shows the name's position in 2013.

Top 10 Boys Names:-

1 Jack  (5)
2 Henry  (=3)
3 Charlie (=3) 
=4 Harry (1)
=4 Thomas (=8)
=6 Oliver (2)
=6 Ethan (=6)
8 George (=8)
9 Jacob (9)
10 William (10)

The only name that has dropped out of the top 10 boys names is James, which is a surprise as it has been in the top 10 since we started name tables 5 years ago. James has been replaced with Jacob. Jack and Thomas have become more popular over the year and moved up the top 10, whilst Oliver, Harry and Henry have become less popular and moved down the list. Despite the birth of Prince George, the name George has kept it's place as the 8th most popular name.

Top 10 Girls Names:-
1 Emily (1)
2 Isla (=2)
=3 Evie
=3 Freya
=3 Lily
6 Alice
=7 Isabelle (=9)
=7 Florence
=7 Poppy
=7 Lucy

There have been more changes in the girls names. Emily remains the most popular name. New entrants are Evie, Freya, Lily, Alice, Florence, Poppy and Lucy. Whilst Sophie, Jessica, Ava, Amelia, Chloe, Olivia and Charlotte have dropped out of the top 10. Isabelle has gained popularity over the year and moved up the top 10.

From the popular names to the unusual names, from Aaron to Zoe (in our A - Z for 2014), there is a huge variety of names.

Names are obviously a personal choice by the parents. What one person loves another might not. If you would like to know how popular your child's name is or fancy finding a unique name for your baby, just let me know.

Emily is the only girls name which has appeared in the top 10 for all 5 years since we started analysing the names. Girls names seem to be much more  varied and move in and out of popularity. Boys names seem to be more static in the list. In the last 5 years, Oliver, Harry, William, George, Jack and Thomas have all appeared in the top 10 every year.

Once again it is my 21 year old daughter, Emily, who has created the list of names. Her name has been the top girls name for the 5th year in a row. She is still happy being called Emily, so parents of Emilys we have chosen well!