iPad | TheBoyandMe

Days 48-54 of Project 365

February 23, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 74 Comments

48-54 of 365

48. 'Sandcastle' (It feels like too long since The Boy has played with his sandtable, so we uncovered it and he got stuck in making mini-sandcastles and driving his cars through the sand. A chillier day than it had been the previous week, turns out Spring wasn't on its way after all!)

49. 'Downfall' (I was sorting through one of the boxes in the Ikea unit in the living room when I found Downfall nestled at the bottom of it. I got it out for The Boy and we spent most of the morning playing the game; he picked it up quickly and was really good at developing a strategy. It has remained the most played with toy of the the week!)

50. 'Chilled Out' (Every day-off morning before Mr. TBaM goes to work, The Boy sits on our bed while I shower quickly and get dressed. This morning I climbed back into bed to warm up and The Boy leant against me chilling out playing on the iPad. I love how completely relaxed he is.)

51. 'Run, run as fast as you can!' (In lieu of the fact that we want an XBox Kinext but can't afford one, we've introduced The Boy to the Wii this week and he has become a fan of the bowling game. However, we introduced him to running on the Wii Fit and he is now obsessed with it and wants to play it all the time! He loves competing against us to see who can run the fastest and it's very cute to see his little legs flying around the place as he tried to run as fast as he possibly can.)

52. 'Eggy Words' (Yes I know it's another technology shot, but such is our life this week as it has been so damned cold! I've just downloaded Eggy Words by Reading Eggs for review, and The Boy has completely taken to spelling out simple CVC words on it, I'm very proud of him!)

53: 'Slumber' (Zonked out after a long morning at nursery, and a long afternoon playing with nana, The Boy slept soundly all night. Just before our bed I went to check on him and found this tousle-haired young man cuddling Oliver Monkey tight, I do love watching him sleep.)

54: 'Lazy Saturday' (We've been very lazy today and done hardly anything! I feel quite rotten this morning and Mr. TBaM very kindly let me have a lie-in which knocked out most of the morning, and they both went shopping to give me a bit more space. Upon their return I walked into the living room and found The Boy having a bit of a chill out session on the sofa with the iPad, again. I think it's the jeans which make him look like older, it's why I tend not to dress him in them.)

I'm actually a little ashamed of the fact that there are four technology photos in this lot and only one outdoor photo. We've failed a bit on our 15 minutes outdoor play this week (only managing it five times) because of how horribly cold it has been; next week will be better!

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Days 20-26 of Project 365 (Country Kids)

January 26, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 62 Comments

20-26 of 365

20. 'Birdman' (Yes we had a snowball fight but who wants another picture of that? We spent time on Sunday putting out food for the pair of blackbirds and Mistlethrush which we have in the garden. The fatballs had frozen so needed crushing, and we had half a loaf of bread to distribute. The Boy then spent ten minutes calling them, before going inside to wait at the window for them.)

21. 'Heart-pressing' (The Boy is obsessed with Instagram. 50% of the likes you'll see from the little green bug are actually done by him, he particularly likes seeing pictures of other children playing and I have to tell him who they are. Daily I have to look for photos of Jenny, Burton and Jenson; think we need another playdate. If your photo on Instagram is of a child and I've liked it, it'll be him. If it's got a comment or of food, it'll be me liking it!)

22. 'Artist At Work' (We spend a long time making the most amazing snow picture today; 95% of it was done by him – the 5% done by me was the gluing because he's a lazy tyke! He then wanted to take a photograph of it because he was so proud of it.)

23. 'Meet The Family' (I was incredibly disappointed today to discover that, despite two inches of snow falling on compacted snow and ice, school was not closed. I made my way in to my job, but was out of there by 3.45. At 4pm we were making snowmen in the garden! I'm on the left, Mr. TBaM is in the middle and The Boy is on the right.)

24: 'Now, Which One?' (This giant Kerplunk we had for review a few months ago, is still one of the most played games in the house! Problem is that now he's cottoned on that he needs the least amount of balls to win, and is very competitive!)

25: 'Eat Your Heart Out, Gordon!' (Uninspiring photograph, but it's a milestone snap. The Boy made his own tea tonight: pizza pocket. He cut the pitta bread in half, sliced up the chicken and grated the cheese himself, before stuffing them in the pitta pocket. And yes that's a sharp Kitchen Devil vegetable knife. Give a child the correct tools to use – under supervision – from the start otherwise they just need to be retaught. He'd be more likely to cut himself with a blunt knife as the knife would slip!)

26: 'Birdies, NO!' (Today has been a non-day. I hate days like this; slow to start and before you know it, the weather has turned and the light's almost gone. They affect my mood greatly, pyjama days on a weekend do not help the happy family way of life for us! All too late in the day we went to feed the swans at the local country park, they must have been starving because as soon as we walked towards them and they spotted the bag of bread, they were out the water and coming! To me, it was something like a horror movie, The Boy took it in his stride, and Mr. TBaM stood there telling them off for pecking his bottom! Nutter! The Boy then made us go for a walk in the pitch-black around the lakes, luckily we had our torches!)

My favourite photo this week is Day 20: 'Birdman'

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Days 6-12 of Project 365

January 12, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 44 Comments

This week has been a bit manic with an additional day in work leaving only Tuesday for a The Boy and Me day. Therefore I tried to make the most of it and get a whole load of playing and activities done to make up for the lack of time we should have had together.

6-12 of 365

6. 'Strike!' (Bowling)

7. 'Restless' (A poorly Boy with a persistant ear infection meant his sleep this week has been hot and sweaty, and he's been very disturbed.)

8. 'Taaaaaaarzan!' (We've finished at Tumble Tots as I didn't think he was being challenged anymore, and he didn't want to go up to the next group as parents weren't allowed to be with their children. We've found a 'free-play' gymnastics session where he can explore proper gymnastics equipment and be challenged in his ability and confidence.)

9. 'Squirt!' (I'd prepared some coloured ice cubes for him to play with when I got home from work, and gave him salt and a water bottle. Great fun!)

10. 'Follow My Leader' (This is the Eggy Alphabet app we've installed on the iPad, enabling him to practise his letter formation.)

11. 'Flip!' (For Christmas, The Boy had the PlayMobil farmhouse and shop with two characters who resemble Fiona and Farmer Nick from Coombe Mill. Here, Farmer Nick is making pancakes for Fiona who is having a lie-in. Lucky Fiona!)

12. 'Sleeping Soundly' (This is how I found The Boy sleeping when I checked on him, his knees were up and bent as well. He does have some strange sleeping positions!)

[Amended: Forgot to say which was my favourite. Probably hard to believe but it's the one from Tuesday; what looks like a bad photo is actually motion blur as he swung past me at eleventy billion miles an hour while tightly hanging onto the rope for dear life.]

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Peppa Pig's Sports Day App (Review)

September 13, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

Riding on the back of the Summer of sport is this fantastic app from the popular Peppa Pig range by P2 games. Peppa Pig's Sports Day is a brilliant app which allows your little ones to be introduced to the concept of competitive sports in a fun, secure and familiar setting.

Peppa Pig
There are four races to take part in, alongside a refreshments kiosk where players can make and design their own ice-creams, a rosette making game, and a sticker section to make scenes from awarded stickers.

The four races allow for four of the Peppa Pig characters to be chosen and played with in the game, which means that up to four players can take part. However, if your little one is playing by themselves, then they can choose just one of the characters and compete against the computer.

Peppa Pig
The four games are: Obstacle Race, Bike Race, Long Jump and Tug of War. They require the players to tap their character on the side of the screen to move the 'avatar' along in the race.

Peppa Pig
In the ice-cream parlour, players can add ingredients to a bowl, mix it, add it to an ice-cream maker and then decorate their ice-creams.

Peppa Pig
It did occur to me that maybe a smoothie might have been a healthier option, but on the other hand, it's a nice addition to the game and The Boy loves concocting odd recipes.

Peppa Pig

The four pictures at the end of the game which allow the player to build up a scene are a nice addition, especially as the size of the characters can be adjusted to suit.

The Boy loves any Peppa Pig app on the iPad and it provides hours of entertainment for him. I've reviewed a few of them but I've also bought them. At £2.99 they are one of the more pricey apps for children, but the content and quality makes them definitely worth it.

Peppa Pig's Sports Day is available on iTunes for £2.99.

I was sent a download code for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.