Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Did you know that Ravensburger has a brand new puzzle that combines traditional puzzling fun plus a digital play experience? This is our fourth time reviewing Ravensburger puzzles. We have had similar Ravensburger puzzles before, with Big Hero 6, The Muppets and How To Train Your Dragon 2. However, this is our first encounter with this fascinating combination puzzle! Both of my children love it!
Did you know that Disney Tsum Tsum has made its way to Disney Stores across the UK? This is following phenomenal success in Japan, with the launch of a range of stackable and collectible soft toys featuring favourite Disney characters from Mickey and Minnie Mouse to Dumbo, Donald Duck, Frozen characters and many more.
Disney Tsum Tsum (pronounced ‘Soom Soom’) means “stack stack” in Japanese, and stems from the Japanese Zen art of stone stacking. The soft toys are designed to be stacked big and high, the soft and cuddly toys are available in small (RRP £3), medium (RRP £10) and large sizes (RRP £20), allowing each individual to build a collection of their most adored Disney characters.
As a Chinese family living in the UK, it can be easy to lose touch of Chinese culture especially during the Chinese New Year times. So it is very important for us to teach and enlighten our children on our Chinese culture. Each year when it is near CNY, I would teach my children CNY crafts and also the story/meaning behind it. I am really pleased to come across this app called Miaomiao’s Chinese New Year (iTunes £2.29).
Little Galaxy has marked 1 million downloads with its biggest ever update on Tablet and Mobile devices for iOS and Android. The app is suitable for children and adults alike. Follow the adventures of a young boy with dreams of living on a far-away galaxy by jumping from planet to planet.
If you are a fan of racing cars or The Gadget Show, you may have seen Anki DRIVE (as shown on The Gadget Show on 13th October). This is truly the best interactive car racing game. My husband and son are huge fans of racing cars and this Anki DRIVE has taken car model racing sets to a whole new level.
Not only do you race each other, it is also part of a combat zone where players try to outsmart you! It truly is a great family activity, which gets you talking and interacting. We invited friends to come over and they brought along their tablet to play along with us. You can play with up to four players.
We have received the cars plus the starter kit which comes with: 2 robot cars with 2 charging cases (Boson and Kourai), race track, power cord with adaptor and tyre cleaner.
Read with Biff, Chip & Kipper are one of the more commonly used reading books in primary schools. Both my children are using them as their take back homework to read each night. The books start from level 1 to 6 and gradually increases in numbers of words and complexity by level. Some of the books are with phonics.
In addition to the books they read at school, we had also bought a full set of the books too. I find the books are very applicable and helpful for both of my children. We love the paperback books, but I welcome the use of a book app for whenever we go on holidays or outings. Less hassles with misplaced books and of course less weight to add to your luggage!
Teksta is a life-like interactive robotic puppy that responds to your voice, physical gestures, lights and sounds. There are five in the Teksta range: Blue, Pink, T-Rex, Kitty and Dalmatian. They are suitable for aged 5 and above.
Inside the box, it comes with a puppy, dog bone, a red ball and instructions. It requires 4 x AA for the puppy. For advanced programming, you can download the Teksta app from Apple store or Google play to have more fun with your puppy!
Today, 26th June 2014, you can download Dr Panda’s brand new Hoopa City game at: Apple App Store, Google Play Store & Amazon App Store for Android for £1.99. I think this is very reasonably priced! This is another fun and educational game from Dr. Panda. This time, you learn to plan and build your own Hoopa city! This app is suitable for children aged 5 to 8.
Jonty – The Dinosaur Who Could Not Go to Sleep is a bedtime storybook app for children learning to read. The story stars Jonty, a young dinosaur who has trouble getting to sleep when he goes to bed.
This is an ebook which allows children can interact with the story to help Jonty get a good nights sleep and enjoy the interactive adventures.
Both my children enjoy all Dr. Panda apps. We already have the Beauty Salon, Hospital, Supermarket, Handyman, Daycare and Restaurant. I am delighted to get this Restaurant 2 for review. Both children were so happy that they couldn’t wait to play it.
In the first edition of Restaurant, it is set in a different building with different floors whilst for Restaurant 2, it is set on an island. To get to the island, customers have to go there via speedboat.
Mr C is a big fan of science and he regularly watches Professor Brian Cox’s documentary shows on BBC. I kind of watch it together with him and find that I am very drawn to his shows too. The universe is always so fascinating and interesting. It makes me hunger for more information.
Early this February 13th 2014, HarperCollins Publishers launched Brian Cox’s Wonders of Life for £3.99.
Pacca’s Carousel is a new educational language app that combines pre-school play with multi-lingual learning content and introduces activities in five different languages for children age 2 – 6 years.
Following on from Ladybird’s successful I’m Ready for Phonics app which I had previously reviewed, I’m Ready to Spell is a new Ladybird app. It is the perfect way to support your child’s phonics and spelling, learning in a comprehensive and user-friendly way. It will encourage and motivate your child to practise their spellings.
In this app, there are three mini space-themed games which split into three different levels: easy, medium and hard. Easy level is for Reception and Year 1. Medium level contains spellings that children in Year 1 will be learning while hard level is for Year 1, 2 and 3 will be learning, as well as teaching how to spell plurals, compound words, prefixes and suffixes.
The three space themed games are:
Scrambled Spellings
This is to unscramble the letters to complete the word. It is quite hard for Mr K as he is still learning his words but it is a great challenge for him to find the correct word by listening carefully.
Sinking Spellings
Fill in the missing letter to complete the word by tapping the correct alphabet letter. Mr K started with the easy level and managed to make good progress each day. It helps him to think how to use the letters to fill in the gap!
