News & Views

The Wateraid collection features gorgeous organic loungewear for babies and children aged 0-12, with two legging and top sets for ages 1-12 and two babygrows for ages 0-2 years, perfect for a cosy day indoors or the comfiest night’s sleep. Two striking prints are available, including PO.P’s iconic stripes in a beautiful new limited-edition sky blue and a simply dreamy cloud print. www.polarnopyret.co.uk

Rumble’s Big Family Camp Out

Award-winning Rumble Live in Cambridgeshire has announced it will be hosting its first ever overnight camping event - Rumble’s Big Family Camp Out - on Thursday 2nd June - the start of the long Platinum Jubilee weekend.

The overnight camping pass costs £50 per head which will include: a spot to pitch your tent; three 60 minute Rumble Live woodland laser tag sessions (two evening sessions and one morning, worth £45); evening campfire food and breakfast (including vegetarian options). There will also be music entertainment in the evening.

To mark the Jubilee, Rumble Live will be running a ‘Platinum tournament’, which will involve a leaderboard across the three sessions. The highest scorer will win an annual pass for Rumble Live, granting them free, unlimited entry for a whole year, as well as a Rumble Live Platinum medal.

For those who want to camp but not participate in the Rumble Live sessions, the entry fee will be £20.

The event will host up to 100 campers and is open to adults and children of all ages, although children must be 8+ to participate in the sessions.

Campers must bring their own camping equipment, however toilet block facilities (with an accessible toilet) are available at the site.

“We’re incredibly excited to be hosting our first camping event,” says Jacquie Rumble who co-owns Rumble Live with husband Billy, “for some time we’ve considered the setting to be perfect for camping and, with the long bank holiday weekend in June, we thought we’d do something a little different which we’re sure will attract new players as well as delighting our regulars. It will be a fun occasion for all the family, not just the ones who join in the Rumble Live sessions.”

Bookings for Rumble’s Big Family Camp Out can be made by emailing ask@rumblelive.co.uk

With summer fast approaching and warmer weather, it is essential that children drink plenty of water. Dehydration can be the source of a variety of health and wellness problems, from anxiety to fainting spells, and even weight gain - so why is it that 45% of Brits continue to drink only one glass of water a day?

The UK sees a soft drinks market worth £3.8 billion dominated by sugary drinks and those labelled as 'zero-calorie' are still filled with a variety of additives and sweeteners. Brits are naturally looking for healthy alternatives to these flavourful drinks in order to consume enough water without ingesting copious amounts of sugar that is detrimental to their health and hydration goals.

With 80% of flavour coming from our sense of smell, instead of taste, air up harnesses this clever bit of science, infusing every sip of water from your bottle with flavoured air, and offering Brits a healthy alternative to flavoured drinks while still drinking 100% pure water. Each pod contains natural flavourings and scents that infuse with ambient air to be added to the pure water. The flavours range from Lime and Orange-Passionfruit to Cola and Iced Coffee with ten others in between, offsetting British aversions to water and improving our sense of health and wellness in the process, truly disrupting the soft drinks sector and our consumption habits. www.air-up.com

The Million Word Gap

Young children whose parents read them five books a day start school having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to, a new study found.

This ‘million word gap’ could help explain the differences often seen in vocabulary and reading development among young children, according to the researchers at the Ohio State University.

Even children who are read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don't regularly read books with a parent or caregiver.

‘Kids who hear more vocabulary words are going to be better prepared to see those words in print when they enter school and are likely to pick up reading skills more quickly and easily’ said Jessica Logan, lead author of the study.

The study appears online in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Paediatrics

More info: www.sciencedaily.com

Free kids’ app that saves the planet

Earth Cubs is a new app for children ages 3 to 7 that educates kids about the planet and sustainability. The free app is filled with games, puzzles, quizzes and comics - all teacherwritten and approved, as well as resources for projects and outdoor activities to inspire kids to get out into nature.

Children create their Earth Cub avatar in their likeness and journey across the world, visiting different environments around the globe, such as the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic.

Each environment brings an environmental issue to life in a vibrant and positive way, empowering kids to make a real difference as they interact with the Earth Cubs world and characters. They even earn badges that plant real trees in the real world.

More info: www.earthcubs.com

UK’s first wardrobe rental platform for children

Foster Care Fortnight® is back!

Foster Care Fortnight® runs from 9th to 22nd May this year and is the UK's biggest foster carer awareness raising and recruitment campaign.

Run by The Fostering Network, the campaign aims to raise the profile of fostering and to show how foster care can transform lives - both the lives of the young people who are fostered and those of foster carers and their families and friends.

Thousands of foster families are needed each year to care for a range of children, with greatest need being for foster carers for older children, sibling groups and disabled children.

Fostering is an opportunity to make a positive difference to a vulnerable child or young person, expand your skills through training and to develop lifetime relationships with generous financial incentives.

More info:www.thefosteringnetwork.org.uk/ get-involved/foster-care-fortnight

Charlotte Morley launched The Little Loop in 2020 in answer to what she perceived as a major issue in the children’s clothing market - as children grow quickly, it’s often necessary to upgrade their clothes every three to six months. The Little Loop offers an alternative to frequently purchasing inexpensive, poorlycrafted clothes that are disposed of after a certain number of wears. The service provides children aged from 12 months to 10 years with a selection of highly stylish clothes that can be put back into circulation once they no longer fit.

Thelittleloop is working towards a world where children’s clothing waste is completely eradicated. In the space of a year, the brand currently saves 630 kgs of clothing waste; 13,547kgs of carbon dioxide emissions and 583,771 litres of water. Typically, thelittleloop rents out each item of clothing 4-5 times which extends their lifespan by 12 months and eliminates the production of 3-4 new garments. In summary, that’s 80% less carbon dioxide released, 80% less water wasted and 100% fewer garments ending up in landfill (as thelittleloop upcycles or recycles everything at the end of its life).

Thelittleloop process was designed with the parent in mind. The simple premise is that the customer pays for a certain number of credits per month which can be exchanged for clothes. The number of credits per garment depends on the label, the item, and the number of times it has been worn before. The subscription fee includes unlimited swaps; laundry of the clothes that are returned and insurance against stains and wear & tear.

thelittleloop.com

Smile this summer with a FREE Perform class

Summer term is here and there’s no better time for your child to try a Perform class. Packed with self-esteem boosting activities, Perform weekly classes will round off the academic year with a fun and relaxed focus on developing confidence, communication, coordination and concentration. Using a mix of drama, dance and singing, these high-energy classes for all abilities are designed to allow even the most reticent children to shine.

The curriculum has an emphasis on fun, making friends and lots of laughter plus children can enjoy bespoke apps, downloads and videos at home. Small classes ensure plenty of individual attention and each child receives a progress report every 10 weeks. This term,4-7s will be bringing out the super in themselves as they become Superheroes on a mission to save the world. Meanwhile, 7-12s will enjoy red carpet glamour in Jack and the Wonderbeans.

If you think your child may benefit from Perform but are not sure if they’ll like it, you can book a free trial class at www.perform.org.uk/try. Families’ readers receive a special £40 discount when booking before 31st May, just quote CAM310522. Hills Road Sports Centre: Wednesdays; Newnham Croft Primary School: Saturdays; St. Andrew's Church Hall Chesterton: Mondays

NEW CLASSES COMING SOON

(September 2022): Additional classes at St. Andrew's Church Hall Chesterton: Mondays T: 020 7255 9120 www.perform.org.uk £40 DISCOUNT when booking before 31st May, just quote CAM310522