Last night we were invited to the launch night for Waterside's Christmas Show, Mr Popper's Penguins. We love visiting Waterside, it's one of our favourite venues and the welcome is always warm. Mr Popper's Penguins is a story we all enjoyed, and bringing the penguins to life was a challenge that we were all excited to see.

Pins And Needles production of Mr Popper's Penguins is recommended for children 3-11 and their families, it's full of song, dance, puppetry and formation flying penguins - and it was brilliant.


Waterside is super easy to get to, opposite Sale Tram Station. It's a gorgeous purpose-built building and houses more than just theatre, until 4th Jan they are exhibiting a Cosgrove Hall collection, and it's well worth popping in to see that if you are nearby.

We were sent a copy of Sproutword last month for review and I am delighted to say that the creators have offered one of my readers a copy as a Christmas Present.

Suitable for 2-4 players, Sproutword is a letter tile game which is entirely plastic-free and utterly beautiful. The tiles are a joy to play with, and the gameplay is so much more than 'make a word'. In this game you can use everyone else's letters and change words, and winning is all about having control of the longest word in play - the Sproutword.


Sproutword is a brand new game and doesn't yet have an official age recommendation, but as long as you are a fairly confident reader then you'll be able to join in, and with luck can even win. You'll have a more fierce and competitive game with players aged around 10+.


Inside the box are 4 cloth drawstring bags containing the wooden letter tiles (made from sustainable wood in Devon and Dorset). Each player chooses a colour, takes out a number of tiles and places them face up on the table before play begins.

In the past few years Escape Rooms have become incredibly popular. The rush of adrenaline as you hear that clock ticking away, and the pride when you solve the clues and escape, are both excellent fun. Now you can experience that thrill at home with your friends and family thanks to Goliath Games, and they've sent us a copy of Escape Room The Game for review.


Inside the box are lots of different components for 3 full one hour Escape Room scenarios - Prison Break, Virus and Nuclear Countdown. Almost everything is hidden inside sealed envelopes so that you don't see it in advance and spoil your game.

The Good Toy Guide is brought to us by Fundamentally Children, who I'm working with again this year to promote the 2019 Christmas Good Toy Guide. They promote toys that teach your child the skills they'll need as they grow. Toys which make your child think, explore, problem-solve and develop motor skills like hand-strength or dexterity. The sort of toys I really like.

The special edition Christmas Good Toy Guide 2019 is out now and is free for anyone to read online,  plus 65000 paper copies are also being distributed around the UK.


Fundamentally Children and the Good Toy Guide don't sell toys, so included in the guide are over 50 toys which have been tested and specially chosen to be included based entirely on merit. Each toy is clearly rated for Fun, Skills Development and Ease of Use.

This Winter the Great Northern Warehouse in Manchester's Deansgate is playing host to The Art Of The Brick, a touring installation of more than 75 models and 1 million genuine LEGO bricks. It's all been created by artist Nathan Sawaya, and we were invited along to take a look...


I'd never been to the Great Northern Warehouse before, but it's really easy to find and get to, every tram except 1 goes down Deansgate. Inside it's a huge space, as you'd expect, and the exhibition is housed on the 1st floor.


When you first go in, don't miss the short introduction film by the artist himself, Nathan Sawaya. I found it really interesting, and I love the fact that he tells anyone watching 'anything can be art. Go and make something with whatever you have to hand' - which brings you nicely to the first model.


The first room is a collection of still life objects and the planets did fascinate my boys, as they often do. I particularly liked the Cello, the way the shape curves is spot on. My favourite was THINK!, and we had to peep inside that brain. I won't spoil it, you can probably guess the contents...

We're working with ARTdiscount and they've sent my boys one of the products from their recently expanded own brand collection for review. The 69 piece Multi-Media Art Set is a great introduction to more 'grown up' painting, sketching and drawing, with charcoals, acrylic paints and lots more.


This is an impressive set and the sort of thing that any amateur artist would be delighted with. Big, bright and colourful, and when you look inside, it's also lovely quality. I know ARTdiscount are very excited about their new products, and with over 40 years experience, they know their stuff.


The box is a mix of card and plastic. My boys choose to keep large sets like this 'in the box' when they can, as it looks so impressive and keeps it together, but ultimately it'll be nice to see more card used in future, as most people will just throw it out. The delivery packaging scores full marks for Earth-friendly - reused cardboard and paper tape - nice one.

Included in the set are:
12 x 12ml Acryclic Colours
12 Coloured Pencils
5 Drawing Pencils
12 Soft Pastels
3 Brushes
3 Charcoal Pencils
3 Charcoal Sticks
2 Blending Stumps
12 Sheets of Paper
Sand Paper
Plastic Palette
Metal Sharpener
Kneadable Eraser
White Eraser

Last weekend we were invited over to Media City in Manchester to try out the recently installed Manchester Ice Rink. A temporary ice rink set up as part of the Winter Village at Media City, it's completely under cover and family-friendly, with plenty of seating and space for spectators.


Manchester Ice Rink is very easy to get to, a couple of minutes walk away from the Media City Tram Stop. You can see it on the right hand side, just before your tram pulls in.


When you go inside, the ticket office is to the left, and the Retreat bar area is to the right, with lots of benches for changing footwear in the middle. It's a really big space and wasn't at all cramped, even though loads of people were changing at once. It is understandably noisy though.

Tadah!!!! It's time for the Christmas Present Giveaway that I know some people at least enjoy the most. The lovingly named 'Pile O Stockingfillers'. This is where I put together an eclectic mix of the stuff I've collected over the year and give it all away to one lucky reader.

This year I didn't go to as many conferences, and the pile of actual stockingfillers wasn't as big as in previous years, so I've had to top it up with a few bigger bits, including a couple who I've also included in my Christmas Present Giveaways already...


There's this Autumn's big family release - Toy Story 4 on DVD. I have another chance for you to win this here - and I'll also include a couple of paper masks which will be great next Halloween....


There are a few books I ended up with extra copies of, including a Hannah The Spanner book given by the author, Stuart Simmonds, and 2 more of you can win a copy of this beautifully illustrated story book here.

My boys are 9 and 11, and I really wasn't going to take them to see Santa this year, but they had tried to convince me you are never too old, and then we were invited by Chill Factorᵉ to review this year's Santa's Grotto and Snow Park experience.


I couldn't be more pleased that I said yes because even with 25 years as a parent. I think this was my favourite ever visit to see Santa..

I'm super late this month with the TBCSmiles, but I really am not going to offer an apology because I was busy making smiles. I had a lovely birthday on Thursday and then I went on a school trip with my youngest son, followed straight away with a press visit to review Santa's Grotto at Chill Factorᵉ. It was a bit busy and I needed an easier weekend.


I think one of the biggest problems with the UK and the entire world right now is that we forget how important people are. We are so busy and so stressed that we get on the treadmill and start walking, Our employers, our government, our society and everyone else train us and tell us to keep walking, but we all need to remember to step off regularly.

I panicked a bit that I was going to be late with the TBCSmiles, and planned to do it first thing Saturday morning, but when I saw the smiles we all made on Thursday and Friday, I realised I didn't need to panic. No-one will come to harm if my post is 3 days late, and what I was doing right then was far more important.

It's too easy to lose sight of what is really important.