Almost all of us in the UK, have woken, at least once, in these past few weeks, to find a blanket of the white stuff right outside our window.
All week my instagram timeline has been filled with a string of images all showcasing beautiful snowy pictures of smiling children sledging, snowmen glistening, historic buildings transformed into snow palaces and much more besides.
So what’s a girl to do? Especially one who loves to indulge herself in a little instagram every now and then? “Daily… Me? No… Never!”.
So, yes… I have uploaded a few of my favourite snow snaps to my instagram and have therefore decided to spread the snowy joy this way by uploading some of my snaps here too!
The dog & The Snow Man
A Snowy Church Court
Beautiful Snow Covered Church
A Chilly Hand Shake
The Building Of Mrs Snow Woman
Under The Spot Light
Snow Meets Light
Giant Snow Balls
Snowy Church Top
The Snow Battle
Making Footprints
Friend Walks Dog
Applying The Finishing Touches
Communication
A Red Head Enjoys The Snow
A Snowy Tumble
So… There they are. Sadly my 12 year old who has a diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, didn’t come along to the Heath for some Winter fun. I think the prospect of being cold was enough to put him of… That and the fact he has a cold sore meaning his been hiding away from the world since it first made an appearance a few days ago.
Hope all you reading this have all had your own winter fun in the snow! My motto is… “Don’t moan about something you can’t change! Instead make it into some fun!” Yes… Its a pretty awesome motto, I know!
This is a family game for players 5 years and above. The game requires a minimum of two players and there is no maximum number for the number of people able to play. This means that the whole family can enjoy the game together.
Saying this, it was just myself and little man who played Pass the Bomb. I decided to get the game out while the toddler was having an afternoon nap and little sister was at school. Little man was on half day and I was in need of something other then the PS3 to keep him entertained.
The box that holds the game is small and compact making it very easy to store. We found the rules and instruction sheet inside the box and all was simple enough to read.
There isn’t much needed to play the game. The box just holds a ticking bomb ( that requires two AAA batteries, not included) and a packet of cards.
There are no little bits that may find themselves sucked up by the vacuum cleaner. No dice, counters, not even a board is required for this one.
It’s very simple to set up and play. Shuffle the cards taking ten and placing them in a pile face down in the middle. The youngest player goes first. They hold the bomb in one hand starting the ticking by pressing the button and with the other hand they take the first card from the top of the pile laying it picture side down in the middle so all players can see. They then must come up with a word that fits in with the scene displayed on the card (example Beach – sea, sand, etc…). With each word given the bomb is passed to the person on their left who must give another word (but not one already given)! The answers and passing continue till the bomb blows and whoever is left holding it at that time must take the card in play.
This continues till all 10 cards have been played. The player with the most cards is in this case is the loser.
The bomb ticks for anything between 10-60 seconds so you never know when it’s going to go off which has you slightly panicking. The suspense is what makes this game extremely fun. What seems really simple in concept can become a little difficult as you find yourself with brain block as you struggle to find a word not already given. The ticking sound really adds to the pressure of it all.
We highly recommend this game. It’s great for social interaction and gets children used to competition. It’s also a great way to get children to process their thoughts at speed. It encourages good language skills and helps kids to think outside the box.
Admittedly, Little man almost had a tantrum when the bomb blew up on him three times in a row but the ticking sound of the bomb quickly snapped him out of it and sorted that one out a treat.
Little man has Aspergers Syndrome and as a parent I think this is a great game for all children including those with special needs.
Myself and the children are official 2012 Toys R Us Toyologists! How cool is that!
Here’s one of our latest reviews by my very gorgeous Little man.
Ok, so first there was my daughter Alice-Sara with her Monopoly Millionaire Review and now it’s the turn of Little man with his review on the Hexbug Nano Hive Habitat.
My son has Aspergers Syndrome and was a child that grew up not playing with many toys as he had difficulties relating to them. However over time his had fun discovering new and exciting toys and I’d say this is one of them. The Hexbug Nano Hive Habitat requires the child to use both imagination and logic when designing and building their chosen layout within the habitat.This means that the child doesn’t become bored very easily as they can customise the environment whenever they want to.With the endless possibilities presented to them the child can become very creative with the Hives contents. 16 pegs, 16 adjustable flags, 2 Merry-go-rounds and one seesaw.
The Hexbug Nano Hive Habitat is Hexbugs first transportable environment. It’s very light and easy to carry around. It’s really easy to open and with just the click of two buttons the hive opens out to reveal itself.
Despite the fact it’s plastic the Hive is really well made. It’s a multi level environment, separated by a ramp. Little man got lots of enjoyment out of playing with this toy. His spent hours making different layouts, ones that encourage the extremely rare Mutation up the ramp and onto the top level.
There are a few downfalls that I should mention. The pieces are tiny and due to this the child may have difficulties when building the layout (especially if the child has poor fine motor skills like little man). However, he was able to do this it just took him a little longer than “average”.
Little man pointed out that he felt the suggested age of 3 years was much to young. He states this is because of the small parts and worries a child so young may put these in their mouths. For me I think this depends on the child in question and a parent should be able to reasonably make this judgement when buying the Hexbug Hive Habitat for a child so young. It’s my opinion that a child under 5 may need more parental involvement, especially when it comes to fitting the pecs into the holes located in the habitat. This can be quite tricky the first few times but does seem to get easier as the holes for the pegs expand a little the more you use it.
Little man has suggested the special fire effect as to demonstrate just how fast the Hexbug is.
This is a really great set that will interest both girls and boys. The Hexbug itself is really fast, though this does make it a little noisy! It’s powered by vibration and it’s the speed of this vibration that makes it move around the habitat.
We loved how easy the Habitat was to set up and put away. It unfolds quickly and is really compact and light for easy transportation.
The set can also be expanded upon making the overall environment larger. However, remember extension packs are sold separately.
A great idea for Christmas (but watch out… you may find that dad is just as interested in it than the kids)!
Mummy Of Many Talents 