nunheadmum

Would love to hear some recommendations - but for Android. And what age things are for would help too. I've struggled to find good ones on Android for age 5 and age 7-ish. (Although I am crap at spending long looking.) I find that the obviously educational ones don't really hold their attention for long. But I don't want them just playing pure games (well not all the time). Or do I really just need to give in and get an i-pad??

Ivydale's is the second week of the holidays so the week of the 8th April. I believe it's being run by the folk who do the after-school club so it'll be a general mix of activities. Not sure how to register now - probably better to give the school a call and ask.

This place produces a good guide to the various options. http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/digital-pianos.html We bought a basic digital piano recently - happy to chat more if you catch me in the playground.

Or train Honor Oak to London Bridge and connection to Charing Cross and walk across. Or train to Blackfriars and tube to Embankment. Or train to Elephant and No 12 or No 53 or 453 from there. (I think 53/453 goes across Westminster the same as the 12.) Sorry, love a good 'how to get to.....' test! Turning into a proper londoner!

Sorry - just realised we stayed at Pinelodge not Parkdean - we'd looked at Parkdean for other trips elsewhere but not used them.

Pebbles - your daughter sounds like mine....comforter and thumb go hand in hand. Although my daughter is 7! We've tried several times to get her to stop and have on the whole managed during the day - just by constantly telling her to take it out when we see her (and me getting rather annoyed, which isn't a route I'd recommend...it wasn't planned....but did seem to work as she does like to please). But as soon as Cuski comes out, the thumb is straight into her mouth. We've considered trying to get her to stop at night but it clearly gives her a lot of comfort and it does come out as soon as she's in deep sleep, so we've kind of resigned ourselves. We did get these gloves which a friend recommended and had success with: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?ie=UTF8&asin=&isAmazonFulfilled=&isCBA=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&orderID=&seller=A3QC6G6ZJ7CMIU They helped during the day but we didn't pursue them at night. My daughter did like them - we let her choose her design which was meant to help.

I'm sure it was a Parkdean we went to around the Peak district. Don't think we paid for the swimming or the simple kids play area. But we didn't use any kids clubs so can't help with that. We thought the accommodation was great and liked the set-up.

How ripe are the bananas? I find bananas bung me up - apparently not so ripe ones (the only way I like them) do that. Is she drinking enough? My youngest won't drink and ends up bunged up. A big dish of grapes really ran through her last week though. Definitely speak to school though - they really shouldn't be telling kids off for taking too long. I mean at that age they can't really have anything that is so desperately pressing to do anyway.

Is it just me or have schools gone mad for dressing up days? There seem to be so many events now that the cynic in me wonders who is pushing the concept. For someone as uncreative as me, I can see someone making a lot of money from it over the years to come!

This link had lots of ideas for dressing up as Rohl Dahl characters: http://www.roalddahlday.info/Assets/Party/1DahlPartyHowtoGuide.pdf

Decathlon do great cheap balance bikes and the one we got was pretty light compared to some of the others on the market.

We went here a couple of years ago: http://www.cologin.co.uk/ Got a pub on the site which helped a lot! Not by a lake but lots of water in the surrounding area.

Decathlon do kids ballet stuff too - decently priced - as long as your don't need anything specific to the ballet school.

Guilt, guilt....always mean to do this and never do......skulks off quietly intent that this time......

Kids love blow up beds. You can get the ones with slightly raised sides, in their favourite character. Only problem we ever had was our youngest refusing to use anything but the wafer thin blanket that comes with them.....when camping! I'd say that as long as getting out of bed isn't a problem (i.e. they're used to sleeping without rails to keep them in) then it's probably a great option. If it's really cold, you may want to take a roll up mat or fleece blanket to put under the bed - we do that with airbeds as otherwise the cold tends to creep up from the floor.

My eldest used to do Freedom when she was 4 and we thought they were good. They do Saturday classes. She now does P'zazz at school which she enjoys too.

Who do you get 20 with? Is it reliable? I'm aware that our current speed/service is variable so need to factor provider into the decision.

Sorry Jessie, no criticism meant. Just aware I'm not really the ipad generation. Interesting to hear that Netflix not so good for kids films. My eldest (7years) seems into older films (Secret Garden, Little House on the Prairie etc) so it'd be nice to have access to some of these old films / programmes I remember of old.

Think I'm being old-fashioned but I prefer my films on the TV so we can all sit down and watch (or at least some of it for me - I never get to watch a whole film these days!). Somehow snuggling up on the sofa in front of a computer doesn't seem the same.

Think we may have found one that works for us! Thanks for the ideas.

Having just sat through the inevitable argument between 2 kids about which film DVD to watch and ended up with Toy Story for the nth time, the thought of having access to lots of films to choose from sounds REALLY nice. Having had a quick look at the options and realising that it'll mean a fairly major upgrade of our IT/telly set-up, I'm just wondering if it's really worth it or are there downsides that outweigh the perceived benefits. Hubby and I tend to watch box sets these days as much as normal TV so I suspect it would work well for us too. Anyone got any pearls of practical wisdom before we set off on the decision process? (We probably wouldn't go down the Apple route.) Do any of the options work better with kids in mind? Does it work better to get a games console that works on 2 levels or is an internet TV easier for kids to use? (They're almost 7 and 4.5.) Thanks!

It's that time of year again and I'm not feeling at all inspired. My daughter still wants a proper party - no palming off with an outing for a few friends just yet. I'm trying to find something that won't exhaust me in the preparation. She keeps talking about Gambados but I'm not sure why as we've done it before and while it was easy for me, she's not usually such a big Gambados fan. We had a nice party at home last year but not feeling so inspired on that front this year - think I used up all my ideas last year. I wondered about an entertainer but all of those I've seen so far look quite full on and my daughter is a bit on the shy side - would need to be someone who could get her onside. More girly / fairy / dancing than rumbustious mad magician. Anyone got any good ideas?

It doesn't seem too extreme to me - teaches him that if he can't be nice to his friends, he won't be allowed to play with them (they won't want to play with him)? All depends how it was explained to him, what had led up to it and how long it lasts for. I often find with my youngest (and naughtiest) that physically removing her from the scene of the crime helps her to realise that it's something that I'm being serious about and expect her to take seriously.

Those Dinopit ones are something else!!! Look more like film extras than cake. Try Googling dinosaur cakes for ideas - there's usually lots of photos to get ideas from and folk saying how they did theirs. More Betty Crocker style than Dinopit usually. Another option too is that I understand you can always get cake toppers which are pictures printed on icing that you can put on a normal cake. All depends how much effort you want to put in.

Noticed this morning that the Turbine Hall entrance was closed off. Not sure if it was just as it was before opening time but sure I haven't noticed it other days. But may be worth checking if you're heading up that way as there may be something going on.