Tales of the unexpected with The Boy, my pride and joy.
Music is not a strong point of mine and despite wanting to be a veritable maestro on the piano, the most I can manage is 'Silent Night' one handed and with no sense of tempo. It makes teaching music to my class a real challenge, and although it's a bit easier to convince my five year old son that I know what I'm doing, I still need a bit of help!
I've found a selection of software which is perfect to promote musical composition in children, bring on the Beethovens and Mozarts!
19. Silhouette #1 (The most glorious day in weeks and we met up with my brother, sister-in-law and their daughter further along the coastline to spend the afternoon at Ogmore Beach fossil hunting. We even had a picnic on the rocks with a blazing sun overheard and minimal breeze to drop the temperature.)
20. Silhouette #2 (An after school trip down to the nature reserve to feed the swans, and the sunset cast an impressive backdrop.)
21. Scarecrow (The Boy was very keen to do some painting, specifically mixing brown. Once he'd not quite managed to do that, he decided to paint a scarecrow. I'm not entirely sure that this is a particularly effective scarecrow, but hey-ho!)
22. Froggy Legs (The Boy has brought home spellings for each week, his school uses the 'Look, Cover, Write, Check' method which he seems very happy with and he was keen to make a start on them.)
23. Numicon (I've borrowed a maths resource from school which The Boy absolutely loves. Numicon helps to develop number bonds, counting and adding skills. If anyone is looking for something like this for their child then, while pricey, I'd really recommend it.)
24. Maestro (I had to go to the dental hospital today for a root extraction from a botched molar extraction 16 months ago; they snapped off the fourth root but as most molars only have three they didn't think to check for a fourth. By the time I'd arrived home I wasn't fit for much but managed to sneak a picture of The Boy playing on the piano before bedtime.)
25. Mad Science (We finally managed to have a go this afternoon at a science activity that I've wanted to try for ages, more on the blog next week!)
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Following on from my review of the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Jingle Puzzle, I'm lucky enough to be able to offer one to one lucky reader in this giveaway!
The Boy loves music and he loves jigsaws. Therefore when we were offered the opportunity to review the new line of activity packs and jigsaws centred around well known children's nursery rhymes and songs, we jumped at the chance.
Music For Kids Jingle Puzzles are aimed at 3-6 year olds and contain a fun sing-along CD, a jigsaw which features the images from the rhyme depicted on it, and a sing-along songsheet with the jigsaw image on one side and activity ideas on the other.
We tried out the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star pack as this is The Boy's favourite nursery rhyme.
The CD is beautifully sung in a classical style, and contains the title track along with Hush A Bye Baby, Golden Slumbers, Wee Willie Winkie, Bye Baby Bunting, All Through The Night, Hey Diddle Diddle, Brahm's Lullaby and Lavender's Blue. There is also a bonus story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' on the end of the CD.
It's an incredibly sturdy jigsaw with beautiful illustrations, well cut and not too difficult for the average 3 year old to complete. We spent some time discussing the picture and what was going on in them, then he asked me what the black lines and marks on them meant, so I explained that each one meant a certain key on the piano. That's when he stood up and turned to the piano and wanted to play the tune. (Now that's why it's been sat in the corner of the dining room for the past eight years unplayed! He will have lessons when he's old enough)
The Music For Kids Jingle Puzzle is a really nice way to introduce your children to the concept of written music in a fun and exploratory manner. Priced at £9.99, it's a very reasonable price for a CD and jigsaw indeed. There are four packs in the series, alongside Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star there is; The Wheels On The Bus, Five Little Speckled Frogs and Old MacDonald Had A Farm. I think these would be a perfect present for the little musician in your family.
I was sent this product for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.
