Finger foods are usually difficult to disguise veggies in but I have found a winner!

This recipe is from Tim Noake’s book ‘Raising Superheroes’ and although I am not huge on forcing ‘banting’ on kids, there are some awesome recipes in his book. I will definitely be trying more so keep checking the blog/instagram!

CAULIFLOWER AND CHEESE TOTS

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cream

2 tablespoons butter

450g cooked cauliflower

2 egg yolks

4 egg whites

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degree.

Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone.

Melt together the cream and butter.

Place the cooked cauliflower with the melted cream and butter into a food processor and blend until fine. Remove from the food processor, place in a bowl and allow to cool completely.

Once it is cold, stir in the egg yolks, cheese and baking powder.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold 1/4 of them into the cauliflower mixture, followed by the rest.

Fill a piping bag with a round nozzle with the cauliflower mixture and pipe ‘tots’ about 3cm long onto the baking tray. I didn’t have a piping bag so I used two teaspoons (scoop with one and use the back of the other to scrape out the tot).

Bake for 15-20 min or until golden brown.

YUM!!!

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And finally, while trying to cope with all of this, there is the job of finding endless Christmas presents for not only your children but your friends and family’s children.

Our range of Once-Off boxes are just the thing you need!

They are all only R249 including delivery.

Our Travel box is available for 2-3 year olds and 3-5 year olds and our Holiday Activities box is available for 1-2 year olds, 2-3 year olds and 3-5 year olds.

Travel Box

Are you taking a trip this holiday? This box will keep your toddlers busy and entertained on the plane or in the car.

They are easy to pack, mess free and guaranteed to stop the ‘Are we there yet?’ question.

This box will include activites such as lacing and threading activities(dizzy discs), a sticker books, a colouring books, crayons, scratch art or magnetic activities.

PS. We will make sure that if the books are gender specific (ie. fairy princess in the example above) they only go to that gender

Holiday Activities Box

The funny thing about “holidays” is that when you are a parent with children they can be more exhausting than you actually being at work! These boxes include activities to keep your little ones busy and entertained all holiday long!

These boxes are activity based and include items such as play dough, paint, stamps, lacing and threading activities.

Order yours today!

Please e-mail [email protected] if you have any questions.

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It’s a slippery, slimy, tasty, under the sea jelly adventure! And it’s so easy to put together.

My little boy Leo is still at the stage of putting everything and anything into his mouth (when will he ever grow out of this!!?) so to avoid a serious sugar high I managed to find some sugar free jelly at Dischem. Unfortunately it is red and not blue so we had ‘red sea’ in our activity but if you can use blue jelly to make it more realistic then do!

What you need:

Jelly

Plastic Sea Creatures (the below are from the Crazy Store)

Tupperware or tub or bowl

What to do:

Make the jelly according to the instructions on the packet and pop the sea creatures into it before it sets.

Sensory benefits:

At first Leo was a bit unsure of the sticky jelly but once he spotted the sea creatures he couldn’t wait to get stuck in and try get them out so he could put them in his mouth (obviously!). I allowed him to really play with the jelly and explore its sticky, slippery texture even once he had managed to get some of the creatures out.

For older toddlers, it can be a great language development opportunity as you can teach them the different sea creatures and their names.

Children process information through their senses and they learn through exploring all of them. Even though the sense of touch is probably the most explored sense in this activity they are engaging with their other senses as well (taste, smell etc.).

What I really love about sensory play is it offers kids the opportunity for self-expression and can develop their self esteem – there is no right way to do it and they are free to explore in whatever way they want to.

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What you need:

Spaghetti

Food Colouring

What to do:

Cook the spaghetti (as much as you want), drain it and rinse with cold water so it cools down quickly

Divide the spaghetti into a few batches and add a touch of the food colouring to each batch

You can add some olive oil to make them even more slimy!

We put the spaghetti on a baking tray so it was easy for Leo to get to but for the older kids you can put the different colours in different bowls and let them mix them.

Leo loved putting it in his mouth but was also playing with it between his fingers and moving it around on the tray and throwing it on the floor!

Have fun!!

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My little boy Leo is now 7 months and is FINALLY ready for solids. This is a huge milestone for us as he was 2 months prem and so we have been patiently waiting to start him on some real food and get him to sleep more at night!! (not that it helps that much!). As he has a very sensitive tummy and suffered from reflux I am very wary about what to do and where to start!

I have always heard of starting with porridge but apparently this is not done anymore and you should actually start with some veggies. Porridge is now thought to be too bland and the texture too stodgy for them to enjoy so veggies are the way to go – not sure how veggies are anymore delicious!

How much do you give them and do you mix the veggies or do 1 veggie a day? 3 meals a day? It is all very confusing but I eventually found an easy way to go about it – thank goodness for Nutripaeds and Katherine Megaw! I have used their website and also read some of the book ‘Feeding Sense’ by Meg Faure and Katherine Megaw and I have finally got some structure of going about this solids thing.

Have a look at their guideline here and their website. Their guideline is a lifesaver! However, I have had to adapt it quite a bit for Leo and you should do the same.

You will see that I am not introducing as many different veggies as they say you can and also when I introduce a new one I mix it with sweet potatoe. Sweet potatoe is the easiest for them to digest.

Here is our ‘week two’ schedule:

Meal Preparation:

There are lots of ways to prepare your veggies etc but I have been doing the below and it seems to be working well so far.

Preparing (peeling and dicing) the veggies and fruit

Steaming them in a steamer (you can also boil or bake)

Blending/liquidizing them (I have been using a stick blender)

Freezing them in ice cube trays (these are great from Mambos as they have a lid)

Once frozen, empty the cubes into Ziploc bags for easier storage.

Each ice cube is about 5-15ml of puree which is what you start with daily (see guideline above).

So the meal prep is quite a bit of work but Feeding Sense recommends two great veggie mixes that you can use – once you have introduced all the veggies separately. The great thing with this is you can make bulk and then add protein to these mixes. It can get quite tiring preparing all the veggies separately and mixing them after.

Here are the exact quantities and recipes for the Green and Orange Veggies mixes – from ‘Feeding Sense’.

First Veggie Mix: Green Veggie Mix

4 medium gem squash

3 medium sweet potatoes

8 medium baby marrows

1. Cook gem squash, scoop out the pips, remove the pulp and liquidize
2. Peel, dice and steam sweet potatoe
3. Steam baby marrows until soft
4. Liquidize the sweet potatoe and marrow together and add to gem squash

Orange Veggie Mix

1 medium butternut

2 medium parsnips/orange sweet potatoes

6 medium carrots

1. Peel and dice all the veggies
2. Steam or bake
3. Liquidize them all together

Storage Guidelines:

Your pureed food can be frozen immediately or left in the fridge but only for 1-2 days

Freeze food containing dairy for up to 6 weeks

Freeze fruit and veg for up to 8 weeks

Freeze food containing meat, chicken and fish for up to 3 months

Never refreeze

Water – You can introduce 10-15ml of water after each solid meal time.

One last thing to mention – Messy Play! Great for baby not so much for mom! There are a number of reasons why you should let them get messy:

Sensory Play – The tactile stimulation you get from playing in messy textures provides loads of information for them. When babies aren’t exposed to different textures, they can become sensitive to new or different textures over time.  If you keep your baby very clean during meals, they may reach a point when getting messy feels uncomfortable.

Learning how to self feed – When babies get their hands messy in the baby food, it will eventually dawn on them that when they put their fingers in their mouth they get some food.

Leo is loving his solids and so far his tummy has tolerated it besides some slight constipation – be careful of banana! It has been really fun watching him get messy and enjoying the process so I hope your little ones enjoy it too!

Good Luck!

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Each age group received a few of the below items that were suitable for their age.

Melissa and Doug Clacking Key Ring – The clicking, clacking noise this key chain makes engages infants immediately! These three keys feature basic shapes in bright colours, link on and off the key chain and fit in the keyhole, so there are lots of ways to promote fine motor skills and sensory development (sight and sound).

O’ball Car and Helicopter – The perfect first car with soft, flexible and colourful material. It has ample finger holes to make it easy for your baby to grasp and is light enough for them to pick up. The beads rattle as the little one moves the car/helicopter around which introduces them to sound as well as cause-and-effect.

My First Car Rattle – This rattle will help little ones experience a few of the different senses. The bright colours are great for their sight, the rattle sound for their hearing and the different textures for their touch sense.

Small board books – Small books like this are easy for babies to grasp and try and turn the pages. They are also a good way to expose them to colours and images developing their eye sight.

Shiny Drivers Board Book – Board books with bright colours and sturdy pages are important for younger babies. Although they cannot read or even understand you, it is still worthwhile to read to them introducing them to the different sounds and tones of your voice.

VIGA Push Along Car – push along toys aid in gross motor skill development. This car is designed so that it is easy to grasp and push for the younger ones. They can push the toy along the ground or even better along a table while they stand.

Melissa & Doug Emergency Vehicle – This awesome wooden car will work on both gross motor skills (pushing the car over a surface) as well as fine motor skills (fitting the person in and out of the car). Great for imaginative play and learning about different types of vehicles.

Melissa and Doug Stacking Emergency Vehicle – So much fun to build and rebuild these vehicles. It has a freewheeling base and is constructed of solid wood stacking parts which makes it the perfect toy for problem solving as they work out how the vehicle fits together while also using their fine motor skills.

Transport Peg Puzzle – Puzzles teach patience! In addition, they also teach fine motor skills, problem solving and vocabulary development so work with them and teach them the different vehicles on this puzzle.

Slide and Find Trucks – We love interactive books – not only does this book promote fine motor skills by sliding the doors to find the different trucks but it will also encourage them to start thinking and problem solve.

Melissa and Doug Puzzles in a box – Puzzles are a perfect way to learn patience and how to problem solve. They may struggle at first but they will also learn that practice makes perfect by trying the puzzles over and over again and watching the vehicles images appear when they get it right!

Melissa and Doug Water Wow – No-mess painting for kids and a perfect travel activity – Four scenes to colour as well as a search-an-find activity for each with a chunky easy to grasp pen. Recognising different colours, grasping a pen and searching, finding and learning different objects/words are only some of the benefits of this compact creative activity book.

Busy Day – A lovely story with fun illustrations introducing and teaching toddlers about all the different types of vehicles – from cars, diggers to hot air balloons.

Sticker Activity Book – Both educational and story books are important. This book teaches a lot about each of the different vehicles and their purpose. It also has activity pages where they need to use the stickers and their problem solving skills to complete the activity.

Activities

We always try to include activities in our boxes that promote interaction so our moms/nannies/grannies can work with them and teach them – some great bonding time!

To get our next box which we will be sending out in December – sign up here or email us at [email protected].

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We included a variety of the below items in each of the different boxes to make sure that each box was suitable for that little ones age. We also had some great activities this month with Pine Cones!

Tiny Love On-The-Go Rabbit/Squirrel– Perfect for the pram or as a take-along toy. The crinkly, textured body helps stimulate tactile senses and develop fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination as they reach to play with and feel it. The basic patterns are ideal for visual stimulation.

Melissa and Doug Wiggly Worm – It’s easy to twist and turn this wooden worm’s eight sections into different positions and form creative shapes! With its bright shades of green, appealing expression and easy-to-grasp size, this is a perfect first manipulative toy.

Forest Frogs Bath Squirties – The perfect size for little hands! Water play with small toys like these is important for children as it encourages the development of hand-eye co-ordination and motor skills through holding and squeezing. Bath time play is extremely beneficial for imagination development and creativity.

Melissa and Doug Jumbo Knob Puzzle – the best first puzzle to get them started. We included this for our 10-12 month olds. The large pegs are the perfect size for this age as they are starting to develop their motor and handling skills. Each piece has a full colour matching picture underneath which helps with visual perception. A great introduction to some words as well!

Melissa and Doug Caterpillar Gear Toy – as they turn the gears, each segment moves the next which makes the caterpillar ‘move’ introducing cause and effect. The colourful gears fit onto the colour-coordinated pegs introducing colour learning and recognition.

Owl/Tree Chalkboard – we have included this chalkboard with the purpose of it being hung up on a wall to realise the benefits from drawing/writing on a vertical surface as well as writing with different textures. This encourages elbow/shoulder stability, core strength, hand stabilisation and spatial awareness (terms such as up, down, left, right make more sense). Included from 19 months up.

3-5 Piece puzzles – An upgrade from peg puzzles as they try fit pieces together. They may need some help to manipulate the pieces together at first but they will love seeing the picture form. Puzzles are important to teach patience and the concept of working towards a goal for reward.

Melissa and Doug Magnetic Bug Catching Game – a game to take the puzzle a step further. Trying to catch the bugs not only develops hand-eye co-ordination but also stability in their arms and hands. Our subscribers will enjoy the challenge of returning them to their preferred perches as well. A good way to introduce counting to 10.

Lacing cards – Lacing is one of the most important ways to develop and refine fine motor skills which is extremely important at this age(2-5 year olds) as they are getting to the stage where they will soon be learning to write.

Play and Colour Puzzle – Colouring-in and a puzzle in one! They can get all the benefits of colouring in and then put together their masterpiece working on a large variety of creative and logical skills.

Magnifying glass – Getting them outdoors and into the forest to collect leaves and bugs and use their observation skills to analyse them.

And the books….a different book for each age group…

Usborne Touchy-Feely Book – bright, colourful illustrations with textures to touch and feel on every page and simple, repetitive text which helps develop language and sensory skills.

In the Forest Googly Eyes Board Book – A bright, fun board book with sturdy easy to turn pages. The extremely colourful images will help develop a baby/toddlers colour recognition and visual development. A good book to use for tummy time as it is large enough to lay out on the floor.

Goodnight Owl – The sturdy tabs are easy for little ones to turn and the colourful detail and characters introduce the different forest animals which they will become familiar with. A good read for bedtime.

Sam Vole and His Brothers – A wonderful story which teaches a great lesson about siblings and how you feel about things until you actually do/try them. Understanding feelings and emotions is essential at this age and they will love the illustrations of the forest and animals.

Harry the Wolf – Realistic illustrations enhanced by side notes with interesting real life facts encourage learning. This engaging format means you will be able to read them this story over and over and still introduce new elements to them each time.

We included three different activities in our boxes – Process Art(Pine Cone Fingerpainting), Pine Cone Lacing and Weaving and Hedgehog Fork Painting.

See the Hedgehog Fork Painting activity here.

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What you need:

Hedgehog template

Fork

Paint

Pom pom nose

Googly Eye

What to do:

1. Draw a line to seperate the hedgehogs neck from his body
2. Dip the fork into the paint and press down onto the hedgehog to make the quills. As you do this explain that hedgehogs don’t have quills on their face
3. Help them stick on the nose and eye and draw a smile

What’s his name?

Benefits:

Good activity for fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination. Can also be used for story telling and imaginative play.

When you subscribe to Poppet Post, you receive the activity packs all prepared for you. A wonderful example of progress through play and lovely for you or the nanny to do with your child.

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What you need:

Spray bottle

Paint

Water

Paper

Leaves

What to do:

1. Fill the spray bottle with a combination of 1/2 paint and 1/2 water
2. Either lay some paper outside or lay down a lot of newspaper/any paper    and place some white paper on top
3. Help them choose a few leaves they want to spray and show them how to spray with the bottle onto the leaves
4. Lift the leaves off the paper to see the patterns!

Benefits:

Using the spray bottle helps to strengthen the muscles in their hands and help with their co-ordination. They may need to use two hands at first.

It gets their creative juices flowing! If you can, fill a few different bottles with different colours and it can turn into a colour learning activity as well.

They will love to see the art that they have created.

If you do try this activity – send us some photos of your little ones masterpieces!

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*CAPE TOWN*

Snow World

Where: GrandWest Arena

Dates: 1 May – 31 July 2016

Cost: Non-rider Pass: R50

Mini Pass: includes ice slide, Ice Age exhibit and snow play area, R60

Snow Rider Pass: includes snow tubing, two ice slides, Ice Age exhibit and snow play area, R120 (for the older siblings)

Snow Boarding Pass: includes snowboarding and snow tubing, all ice slides, Ice Age exhibit, snow play area, R140 (for the older siblings)

Book: Computicket

So much fun for all ages and the Ice Age exhibit makes it a fun educational day out. The younger ones will love the snow play area while the older siblings will enjoy the thrill of the snow tubing, slides and snowboarding.

Disney on Ice

Where: GrandWest Arena

Dates: 6 July – 10 July 2016

Cost: Cost between R150 and R400

Book: Computicket

Anna and Elsa in real life!!! They will be joined by the stars from Cars, The Little Mermaid and Toy Story. The kids will love seeing them all skating on ice as well as singing along with them to the songs they know and love.

Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer

Where: GrandWest Arena

Dates: 15 – 17 July 2016

Cost: Cost between R185 and R525

Book: Computicket

Dora and her friends Boots and Diego are starring in a fun show – Dora’s Pirate Adventure. Dora and her crew will teach your little ones about friendship, kindness and adventure.

Child City Sightseeing Special

Where: Starts at the Two Oceans Aquarium

Dates: 1 May – 9 October 2016

Cost: Two kids under 18 along for free when you buy one adult one-day ticket.

Book: City Sightseeing

This one is for the older children. Take your child around the attractions that they have never been to, all in one day. The kids would love to explore the Company Gardens, or visit the World of Birds, so why not treat them to a day of exploring?

Noddy and Friends Show

Where: Artscape Theatre Foyer Well

Dates: 27 June – 9 July 2016

Cost: Cost between R60 and R80

Book: Computicket

This show is interactive and is ideal for your younger children. They will get to see Noddy, Big Ears and Tesstie Bear in action. Pre-show activities will include face-painting and play tents.

*DURBAN*

Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer

Where: GrandWest Arena

Dates: 1 – 3 July 2016

Cost: Cost between R185 and R525

Book: Computicket

Dora and her friends Boots and Diego are starring in a fun show – Dora’s Pirate Adventure. Dora and her crew will teach your little ones about friendship, kindness and adventure.

The Winnie the Pooh Show

Where: Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre

Dates: 30 June – 17 July 2016

Cost: Adults R188/R150/R120. Children/Pensioners R150/R120/100

Book: Computicket

For children over 3. A lovely colourful show including children actors, fun costumes and amazing set design.

Jump for Joy Trampoline Park

Where: Waterfall, KZN and Durban North, KZN

Dates: All

Times: Mon 12-8pm, Tues – Thurs 9am-8pm, Fri – Sat 9am-11pm, Sun 9am – 6pm

Cost: 3-7 year olds, R70 per hour, 8 and over, R90 per hour

Book: [email protected] or at the venue

This one is for kids 3 years old and up but a good way to get rid of some of their energy.

Little Red Riding Hood

Where: Rhumbelow Theatre

Dates: 1 July – 16 July 2016

Cost: R70 per person

Book: Computicket

This classic fairy tale comes to life and is told in a way you’ve never seen before so exciting for both kids and parents! Appropriate for all ages.

*JOHANNESBURG*

Disney on Ice

Where: GrandWest Arena

Dates: 24 June – 3 July 2016

Cost: Cost between R150 and R400

Book: Computicket

Anna and Elsa in real life!!! They will be joined by the stars from Cars, The Little Mermaid and Toy Story. The kids will love seeing them all skating on ice as well as singing along with them to the songs they know and love.

Montecasino Bird Gardens

Where: Montecasino

Dates: Weekdays: 8:30am – 5pm, Weekend: 8.30am – 6pm, open all public holidays

Cost: R70 per adult, R39 per child/pensioner

Book: Montecasino

They will not only get to see birds but also reptiles, mammals and unusual animals. They will also love the spectacular ‘Flights of Fantasy’ bird show.

Dino Expo

Where: Eastgate Shopping Centre

Dates: 28 June – 17 July, 10am – 4pm (closed on Mondays)

Cost: Children under 12, R100, Full price, R120

Book: The Dino Expo Website

Your toddler or child obsessed with Dinosuars? This is the perfect place to take them. They can meander through the colourful and magically lit wonderland and see the life size animals and hear their noises!

Peter Pan

Where: Joburg Theatre

Dates: 6 June – 31 July 2016

Cost: R125

Book: Joburg Theatre or Webtickets

Peter Pan comes alive during this show with flying sequences and flights. A wonderful musical with Captain Hook, Pirates and Indians that kids of all ages will enjoy and a perfect introduction to theatre.

So lots of fun activities for you and your little ones to do! Send us your ideas as well

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