Many of us rush out just before school starts to buy our children new school bags and either toss last year’s one into a cupboard or out in the trash.
However, many parents clean an old bag, stitch broken handles, or honestly just simply can not afford a new bag for their children for the school year. These parents would welcome your childrens gently used pre-loved school bags.
How you can help
Moms you can make a difference this year by supporting the“I’ve got your bag!” initiative. This is a school bag donation drive to get bags to less privileged children in South Africa.
Why?
Because the harsh reality is that the majority of children in under-resourced communities are walking kilometers every day, just to get to school. They don’t have bags to carry their books in and are using plastic packets to hold their school lunches, books and stationary. We all know how heavy school bags can be. With you donating your old school bags you could help a child in need, that will last a long time.
Simply bring those previously loved bags, and Hands of Love will distribute them to those in need.
The only stipulation is that you please ensure that bags are cleaned before.
Dropoff point
If you live in Cape Town and would like to donate your school bag to someone who could really use it, these are the locations where you can drop them off.
If you are a school and would like to participate either by donating or collecting school bags, please send an email to help@handsoflove.org.za.
2 February 2022 marks Nal’ibali’s 10th World Read Aloud Day celebration. In celebration, Nal’ibali have written a special story. This year’s story “A party in the park” has a celebratory theme and includes some of Nal’ibali’s beloved characters like Gogo, Neo and Hope and is available for FREE in all 11 SA languages, as well as Chichewa, French, Lingala, Portuguese, Shona and Swahili.
This year the focus is on families reading and telling stories together, which can happen anywhere, anytime. Reading together is bonding, brings families closer, and it’s fun!
Children who read learn how to understand the world around them through developing their imagination. Confident readers do better at school and go on to be knowledgeable adults with fulfilling careers.
Here’s how to make your family’s pledge this World Read Aloud Day:
· Visitwww.nalibali.org/wrad2022or
· WhatsApp “WRAD” to 0600 44 22 54
· Download the story in your preferred language
· Practice reading it aloud before the big day!
· Refer your family and friends to pledge
We can do this! Let’s get 1 million South African families reading this World Read Aloud Day!
One of my top reasons for loving Cape Town is the abundance of things to do as a family.
There is always something new or fun to do and we have an incredibly long bucket list each year of all the things we want to try or do with Hamish. As you can imagine, doing these activities can become quite costly when you add in entry fees, lunches and petrol to travel to the destination.
But what if there was a way to save on some expenses and enjoy more?
The Bucket list book
Well, now you can with The Bucket list book.
The Bucket list book is a beautifully designed A5 hardcover fun, interactive guide book and journal for kids to record and rate their adventures, add photos, get creative by drawing, learn the snippets of information and enjoy pages of activities.
With bright fun maps and updated details of the businesses, the book highlights some fun places to visit and allows your child to build up a keepsake album to look back at over a year.
Your child can also create their own top 10 places to visit bucket list and start to tick off the best ice cream places to try.
Best of all the last pages of The bucket list book includes over 40 vouchers to save you money whilst visiting this bucket list of family-friendly places in and around Cape Town.
The Bucket list book retails at R650 each. Inside You will discover more than R1800 worth of FREE activities and over R12 000 worth of discounted activities.
All vouchers last until November 2022, giving you more than enough time to enjoy and redeem these fun experiences.
This year give the gift of experience and memories to your children. Let’s keep our children exploring.
Our experience
Hamish loved filling in the pages of his book prior to our first adventure.
We made his Top 10 list and then sat together to read the facts about Cape Town and choose somewhere to go….he chose the Blue train park and ice cream.
The book was known at the venues and we had no problem redeeming the tickets. However, it is wise to first show your book and card inside the book and explain that you will be using a voucher.
We noticed there were restrictions with the ice creams we were ordering and thus it’s good to know beforehand what your vouchers entail so that you can use them correctly.
Also recommended is to do your homework and Google the business you want to visit first as I noticed the bike park only take online bookings, which I would not have known if I hadn’t google to try to see if their track was suitable for Hamish to ride on.
Some businesses may have food restrictions, rules to obey or not be open on a Sunday, etc, so it is always good to know the information you need before venturing out.
It’s always a good idea to plan your visits before heading out and I like to see the local business around where we are heading as well. This way I can plan my day and ensure our adventure goes off smoothly.
My thoughts on the book
I am really impressed with the book and as a family that ventures out each weekend, I am sure we will use all the vouchers and save enough to enjoy some extras along our adventure.
I mostly love that it becomes a keepsake album recording our experiences with Hamish.
I also love that the book has added a few kindness vouchers along the way. Things like smile at someone, hold the door open, and give a hug. This really spoke to my mom heart.
Yesterday we saved just over R100 using 2 vouchers and with January being such a long and costly month, the free vouchers allow us to still enjoy family outings. Playdates and homeschool days out on a limited budget.
It has been a rather long festive period and after 2 weeks of Coronavirus, I am exstremly happy to enter the new year virus-free and feeling a lot more like myself.
Although I’m still getting very tired when I exert myself, I’m happy to say that I don’t feel anywhere near as bad as I did over Christmas. You can read my blog Covid for Christmas here
How we spent new year
This year, both our new years eve and new years day were very quiet. We chose to celebrate at home with a small braai and late-night movies. How parenting changes your once wild party days. Also, I normally fall asleep long before the midnight curfew.
We had told Hamish he could stay up until midnight, he was, however, asleep by 9 pm. We were both in bed by 12.01 am. Hopefully next year we are less worn out and stay awake till the wee hours or not.
New years day we spent at home playing board games and nibbling on the braai meat from the day before. It was very relaxing and as neither of us had much of an appetite due to post covid symptoms, this was the easiest way to keep fed and recovering.
We did however run out to Makro and buy Hamish his new bicycle with the money his Uncle sent him. Finding a bicycle post-Christmas is also like looking for a needle-in-a-haystack. We eventually found a really great BMX and he tested it out in-store.
The bicycle was a huge hit and he took to it like a duck to water. Before we knew it he was zooming down the complex driveway and my poor mother-heart was just about bursting as I envisioned him rolling down that hill at 10km an hour. He didn’t thankfully and seems to know where the brakes are at least.
New year resolutions or lack thereof
As the new year starts I must admit this is most likely the first year that I’ve not made a New years resolution list. I don’t have my word of the year or even a new vision board planned out.
My goals for the year haven’t been set and I don’t even have a New year, new me plan. No calendar, no diary, and no new journal waiting to be started.
Why do you ask?
Mostly because I honestly haven’t felt well enough to do it but also I think, because the last two years have been so unpredictable that I’m in a mental state of just winging it and hoping for the best.
This doesn’t seem like the most logical plan to set intentions for the year, even if it is the most realistic in pandemic times, so I will most likely work on these as we enter the new week.
However, I want to leave you with the words that hit home for me this year …..
Happy New year everyone. May 2022 bring you health, wealth, happiness, and an abundance of love.
As we turn the page to the last month of 2021 and begin to prepare our homes for the coming Advent season so do we as parents prepare our families’ hearts for the true reason behind the Christmas festivities.
Two years ago I was desperately searching for a way that Hamish could enjoy the magic of Christmas and somehow still know the true reason for the season. He was still really little and although we had read the story of the birth of Christ in his Bible book, he was unable to put the connection between the birth of Jesus and Christmas.
I then discovered that Superbook had a beautiful Christmas DVD combo consisting of 2 stories:
The first Christmas and The birth of John the Baptist
I knew this was the perfect opportunity for me to help him see the Bible come to life as we watched the story of the First Christmas together. We have since watched this DVD several times and he has begun to understand that Christmas is so much more than just Santa, his elves, and gifts.
However, something else happened that first day that we met the Superbook team to receive the DVD. Superbook was no longer just another brand or a product we would cast on a shelf until we needed it. Superbook became real to Hamish as he asked for Gizmo, the cute robot mascot, and eagerly wanted to watch more movies.
Superbook became a safe App on my phone for Hamish to play games and watch Bibles stories. We followed their social media and used the crafts in our homeschool Bible lessons and all too soon we found ourselves ready to celebrate another Christmas and this time I confidently knew where to turn to prepare Hamish’s heart for the coming festive season.
Last year, we, once again, excitedly, joined the Superbook First Christmas experience and made advent crafts while we decorated our homes, baked cookies, and got ready to join people from all over South Africa to watch The first Christmas episode at the same time and see how Chris and Joy, together with Gizmo find out the true meaning of Christmas.
Superbook has become an important part of our family’s Christmas traditions.
Read why I feel Superbook brings back the heart of Christmas here
The first Christmas experience and you are invited
This year Superbook will host a fun and meaningful Christmas experience at the V & A amphitheater on the 3 and 4 December from 11am- 12pm and you are invited to bring your children and experience the magic as they watch the nativity come alive on screen in a fun and relatable way that children can truly grasp.
The show is free and your children will enjoy watching, laughing, dancing, singing, and even getting to meet Gizmo the robot. Hamish and I are both super excited and can’t wait. It promises to be a wonderful experience, great morning out, and a fantastic way for us to start our advent season.
Giveaway
To help share the Christmas spirit we have collaborated with Superbook to bless one lucky Fun Mamma SA reader with a wonderful Superbook hamper.
To enter answer below with the Superbook robots name.
Experts agree that a culture and love of reading is sparked when children recognise themselves in stories and, even more so, when these are written in their mother tongue. As only 2% of children’s books published commercially in South Africa are written in local African languages*, the Cadbury In Our Own Words initiative (introduced in May) aims to continue changing this by igniting a love for reading amongst the next generation.
In Our Own Words is a rallying cry, a call to action to help co-author a collection of locally crafted children’s stories in all South African languages. These are made easily accessible through the Cadbury In Our Own Words digital library.
This year, Cadbury is creating the perfect pairing of its delicious Festive range with enchanting storytelling and is once again offering South Africans an opportunity to give the greatest gift of all, the gift of reading.
The continuation of the In Our Own Words initiative will enable South Africans to give the gift of words to help co-author festive children’s stories that showcase a truly South African season. The stories crafted over this period will celebrate our traditions and reflect what makes our festive season special and of course, these stores will be available in all African languages for children to enjoy.
This , Playalot, are building a with ! With they will an under-privileged child with a , that will give them the same your child gets when you spoil them with gifts.
Playalot , filled with one of each of the below necessities (that we all take for granted). Just drop your off in reception on your next visit to our park. You may also donate R200 through the till and we will shop & wrap on your behalf.
1️⃣ Send a WhatsApp to Chantel on https://wa.me/27871387529 requesting the details of your very own . This way you know the name/age/sex of the child that will receive your gift.
2️⃣ Fill the box with your goodies (Estimated cost – R200) and wrap/label.
3️⃣ Deliver to Playalot. Enjoy a deeeelicious coffee while the kids play.
:
Soap
Face cloth
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Sweets
Toy
Stationary
Clothing item
* , – *
Playalot filled a from @PEP (for a 6-year-old girl called Miché) and paid only R185. The perfect !
Playalot are all about recycling and suggest that you go and buy yourself a new pair of shoes, just so that you have a box for your project.
Do not have a ?
@box-itbrackenfell sells boxes, starting from R10.
Superbook has featured on my blog and social spaces often. Hamish and I are huge fans.
Read about our first experience with Superbook HERE
And why I believe that Superbook offer wholesome character-building content HERE
Why I love Superbook
Superbook to me is so much more than just another App that Hamish uses. Superbook is a community, a place where the Bible comes to life and a safe place for him to play games, watch movies and learn as he grows his faith at an age-appropriate and child-friendly level. Superbook is my guide to teaching him the Bible and their crafts and parent discussions help me to present important topics and hard conversations in a way that allows us both to feel relaxed and connected.
Superbook Events
Not only do Superbook have a great App, wonderful videos, and great games but they also have craft activities, host fun events, and have a monthly movie night to celebrate a new season of videos.
Currently, on season 4, Superbook has been hosting a new episode each week on www.superbook.com
Superbook Family Movie Nights
These movie nights are designed for families to enjoy wonderful nights of bonding and spiritual growth together. Each episode touches on a particular area of focus and this week is the last episode of season 4 and will focus on Prayer.
As we know communication is so important and The Lord’s prayer, outlined in the Bible shows us so beautifully how to pray. This episode of Superbook will help you to explain the importance of prayer to your children and teach them how to pray.
You can also download the discussion guide to continue the conversation long after the episode.
The videos are screened from Friday until Sunday night, on the last Friday of the month, only, and these last episodes screen from Friday the 26th of November from 6 pm until the 28th of October at midnight.
Connect online
Superbook is on Facebook( Superbook Manzi) and Instagram (@SuperbookManzi) and you can follow along to learn more about the Bible, discover more about the Superbook App, watch videos, join crafts, and discussions, find out about the latest events and win prizes.
Give your child a gift of love and join Superbook now.
Kids fall in love at first play with Hasbro’s 2021 Great Gifts selection
When a child receives a new toy and they fall in Love at First Play, magic happens. Imaginations are unlocked, fun is found, explorations begin, and bonds are formed.
According to a recent survey by global play and entertainment company, Hasbro, almost half (47%) parents surveyed admit their kids have been disappointed with gifts received at festive time and 30% say they have struggled knowing what to buy their children in the past. Sound familiar? Months of your child begging for a particular toy or game, only for the gift to land up at the bottom of the toy pile a few days later.
Understanding the science behind the many forms of play will help you choose toys that are the most compatible with your child’s play personality, essentially how does your child love to play and which toys are best suited to their play personality?
To help parents make the best gift decisions this festive season Hasbro developed a Play Personality Quiz. Play personalities are based on a widely acknowledged scientific theory of the way children engage with play, based on neuroscience and natural behaviours. The 8 play personalities identified in the Hasbro Play Personality Quiz are informed by Dr Stuart Brown’s research [author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens The Imagination And Invigorates The Soul] and capture the fundamentals of child development, movement, sensory development, language and attachment theory, so that you can easily navigate the best gifts compatible to your child and how they play.
Take the Hasbro Play Personality Quiz to identify whether your child is a mischievous Jokester or more of a creative Imagineer, a curious Discoverer or an active Energizer and find the perfect toys for Love At First Play.
HASBRO RELEASES ITS GREAT GIFTS 2021 RECOMMENDATIONS
Once you have determined your child’s dominant play personality move onto Hasbro’s recently released Great Gifts 2021 selection with a wide range of gifting recommendations for the upcoming festive season. With th latest releases from popular brands including My Little Pony, Peppa Pig, NERF, Baby Alive, furReal, Power Rangers and more, plus fun new Hasbro Gaming solutions – there is something to surprise and delight each family member this summer!
Inspired by the My Little Pony: A New Generation movie kids can have fun imagining with the Singing Star Princess Petals. Imagine she is performing at the Royal Gala with the 15-cm Princess Petals pink pony figure sporting a character-inspired music note Cutie Mark. The articulated figure’s soft purple hair is curled in her signature style. She also features music and movement. Press her Cutie Mark to hear her sing part of her song, “Glowing Up” and squeeze her back legs together to make her beautiful, fuzzy wings flap up and down.
furReal Glamalots – What’s more fun than walking a pet? Walking a pet that you’ve groomed and styled yourself! Give this doggie diva a sweet new ‘do with the included styling accessories, which you can use to style yourself up as well, then attach her leash to take her for a walk. She’ll make lots of happy sounds as you stroll along!
Baby Alive Baby Grows Up interactive doll transforms from newborn to baby to big girl. Reveal 1 of 2 surprise dolls as you remove her from the package, and she starts to wiggle! With first bottle she opens her eyes to reveal colour, remove her hat to see her hair colour. After rocking and pretend bottle feeding, she kicks out of her swaddle blanket! As a baby, Baby Alive Baby Grows Up talking doll sits up and says her first word. Hold her hands to help her stand. Now she’s a big girl who loves dress-up!
Play-Doh fans (ages 4+) ignite your imagination with the Play-Doh Lava Bones Island playset features eggs filled micro dino bones to discover and slippery-smooth Play-Doh Slime HydroGlitz compound to make the toy volcano erupt and fill the valley below with pretend lava. Fill the clear dino mould with the skeleton and the Play-Doh Slime lava to make your own dinosaur!
Kids (ages 3+) will love pretending that they’re on holiday with Peppa Pig and her family with Peppa’s Family Motorhome toy. Press the steering wheel to hear music and phrases from the Peppa Pig show. When it’s time to ‘camp,’ kids can convert the vehicle to a multi-level RV playset. Once you’ve finished playing all accessories can be stored inside the playset, ready for the next adventure.
Blast into battle with the power of a T-Rex with the Nerf DinoSquad Rex-Rampage blaster! Rev up the motor on this motorised blaster and press the trigger to fire darts fast. It comes with a 10-dart clip so you can send 10 darts in a row racing through the air at your targets. The blaster includes a nonremovable targeting scope to line up your shots. Eyewear recommended (not included).
Flip into battle with the Nerf Elite 2.0 Flipshots Flip-16 blaster featuring 16 barrels – 8 face forward and 8 face backward. Fire darts from the 8 front-facing barrels, then flip the 8 rear barrels forward to keep on blasting darts. Just when your opponent thinks you’re out, you can take them by surprise with 8 more fully loaded barrels! The back-to-back barrels are connected, making it quick and easy to rotate them by pulling the handle. Eyewear recommended (not included).
Nerf Elite 2.0 Flipshots Flip-8 blaster – fires darts from the 4 front-facing barrels, then flip the 4 rear barrels forward to keep on blasting darts. The sight on top of the blaster doubles as the flip mechanism; pull it back to pivot the barrels. Eyewear recommended (not included).
IT’S MORPHIN TIME! The Dino Fury Morpher with lights and sounds reacts to motion. Spin the dino-shaped face to morph into action and unlock even more sounds with the included Dino Fury Key!
Take home the magic of what makes the Transformers robots – More Than Meets the Eye – with Roll N’ Change figures! The push-to-convert feature allows for seamless conversion of Roll N’ Change toys to robot mode. Pull out the sword accessory, roll forward, and watch the figure convert to robot mode in one continuous motion. Features coloured lights and 10 button-activated sound effects.
It’s the Monopoly game with a strategy twist on Monopoly Island, located in the center of the board. With the Monopoly Builder strategy game, players travel the board buying properties and collecting rent and resources. They also use builder’s blocks to build their island city! The more a player builds, the more points they’ll earn. The game ends when the penthouse has been built. Then the player with the most points wins!
In the Monopoly Crooked Cash game things aren’t always as they seem. Someone added fake cash and fake chance cards, luckily, Mr. Monopoly is giving players his decoder so they can find the fakes and still make a fortune. It’s an exciting game of hidden reveals, and players get to challenge their opponents for using fakes with accusation coins. The player with the most money at the end – real or fake – wins.
LOOKING FOR SOME FUN STOCKING FILLER IDEAS?
Meet the new pony characters from My Little Pony: A New Generation movie with these 7-cm pony figures. Each pony features character-inspired colours, hair styles, and Cutie Marks. Collect all the ponies and imagine movie-inspired stories with friends (Each sold separately. Subject to availability).
The fun starts as soon as they tear open the pinata box filled with 2 cans of Play-Doh Slime Feathery Fluff compound and lots of fun mix-ins. The ultra-lightweight, super fluffy compound feels like a big cotton ball in your hands, and colourful glitter, shiny beads, and fun charms make it even more fantastically fun!
With the 24-cm scale Power Rangers figures from Hasbro, kids can imagine the action and adventures of their favourite Power Rangers characters, inspired by the Power Rangers Beast Morphers television show.
In the world of Peppa Pig, Peppa’s day is packed with lots of fun activities, and the Little Rooms accessory sets give kids ages 3+ a chance to act out even more of those adventures! Each set includes a figure and themed accessories. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability).
It’s time to be a hero! Pre-schoolers can zoom to the rescue with the PJ Masks Hero Vehicle toys. Each vehicle has super cool deco straight from the Disney Junior show and comes with a poseable PJ Masks action figure that sits in the open cockpit. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability).
Get ready for an exciting quick-playing Monopoly card game! The Monopoly Bid game is a game of chance, luck, and strategy as players bid in blind auctions, pay with money cards, steal properties with Action cards, and change their luck with Wild cards.
Hasbro products are available from leading retailers (subject to availability) including: Takealot.com, Toys R Us, ToyZone, Toy Kingdom, Hamleys, Checkers Hypers & selected Checkers store, Makro and Importatoy.
*The brands featured are all registered trademarks of Hasbro
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to Creating the World’s Best Play and Entertainment Experiences. From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro connects to global audiences by bringing to life great innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS, as well as premier partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio, eOne, Hasbro is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place for all children and all families through corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked among the 2020 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media and has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past nine years. We routinely share important business and brand updates on our Investor Relations website, Newsroom and social channels (@Hasbro on Twitter and Instagram.)
Holiday wish lists are far from a new concept, for most kids the biggest toy trends hit the top of their lists but the pressure every parent feels surrounding the festive season is sometimes overwhelming.
As a parent we often struggle with giving our kids too much or not enough, you often wonder where the balance should be, coupled with the feelings that they are too spoiled or not spoiled enough.
Frequent questions we ask ourselves include; what should we spend? Are we making them materialistic? Or just simply showing love? That’s where a wish list comes in, it helps parents and kids keep the right attitudes and perspective during the biggest giving and receiving time on earth.
Kids love making Christmas wish lists, here are some tips from the experts at Toys R Us on how to make, organise and share your kids wish lists with friends and family. This will ensure you get them something they really want and at the same time give them some guidelines and provide a good learning opportunity.
Setting guidelines:
Children need guidance from their parents to manage expectations and provide a good learning opportunity when creating their wish lists. If you are particularly worried about a wish list promoting greed, an important thing to highlight is that, ‘Just because you list it doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.’
Be sure to let them know that if they get it, great, but if they don’t that’s cool too, create a savings plan to buy it themselves at a later time.
Starting early:
Don’t wait until December to get your kids to do their wish lists. Every year Toys R Us releases their top toy list with an expertly curated selection of toys for all kids, this year is no exception. Children can pick up Geoffrey’s ‘Big Book of Wonder’ in-store or online making selecting toys for their wish list much easier. There’s also an opportunity to win their wish list.
A parents veto:
Mom or dad have the last say, sometimes you just have to say NO. Explain to your kids why they need to accept it and move on and help them select a different gift. Give them some alternative options, brainstorm with them and discuss pros and cons.
Needs vs. Wants:
This is an especially valuable conversation to have and the festive season provides a great opportunity to demonstrate this. Explain to your child the difference between a need and a want and show them options of gifts that demonstrate both.
Why not have them write down something they need, want, can read, can wear, and can give!
Putting the list together:
This should be the fun part. Get some coloured paper, decorations, crayons, pens etc and get creative.
If you want a way for your kids to create a digital wish list and share it with family, visit this link to create a registry: https://www.toysrus.co.za/registry
Giving back:
It should be instilled in your children that the season isn’t all about receiving, it’s also about giving as well. Find a worthy cause to get your children involved, why not get them to donate some old toys of theirs before they get their new gifts?
Take advantage of this great learning opportunity this holiday and help raise conscientious gift givers and receivers. It’s just one more way you and your kids can add more joy into the holidays.
For more information visit the website or follow Toys R Us on Instagram and Facebook #TopToys2021 #LandOfWonder #BigBookOfWonder
