Children's books

When it comes to Summer holidays I always make sure that my kids have a good supply of books.  Despite being out of school I always encourage my children to read.

In the UK I really believe that we have a terrific supply of great literature.  Whether it’s classics to award-winning, modern-day picture books and novels.  I love the Julia Donaldson books; The  Gruffalo, Stick Man and a Squash and a Squeeze - they are all so beautifully written and Axel’s illustrations and wonderful. - I could recite them all off by heart.

Another author that I have been following for some time now is Artemis Fowl.  Eoin Colfer has written 11 books, I think, about an Irish master criminal who tries to rebuild his family fortune following the disappearance of his father, Artemis Fowl I.

As you can imagine there are many Summer books for children lists available on the internet.  However, the list that appealed and excited me the most was the WHSmith list.

1-5) The top five books are the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

6) Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson

7) Zog, by Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler

8) Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) by Jeff Kinney

9) Fallen by Lauren Kate

10) Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex by Artemis Fowl

There is no real definitive list of the top children’s book for the Summer.  So if the list above is not enough for your well read little darlins then the Daily Telegraphs top 100 books your children must read is an excellent resource.

100 books every child should read - the early years

100 books every child should read - the middle years

100 books every child should read - early teens years

At Simply Stuck the we are inspired by the daily challenges that out littles present. And we strive to bring you a few, not all of the answers.

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The Normans

If you are like me I want to keep my kids active both physically and mentally over the summer holidays.

At Simply Stuck we always try and keep kids active and come up with ideas that are easy and fun.

So on rainy days the family will sit down and try and learn something new. I recently stumbled across an excellent resource in the BBC website called “Have your Own Norman Adventure” as part of the Hands on History campaign.

Did you know that books were published to tell people how to behave at feasts and one warned diners not to pass wind, scratch flea bites, or pick their noses.

There are some fantastic resources available including;

• Downloadable Hand on History Activity pack
• Norman pull out timeline
• Photos and videos

If you are interested in other child friendly resources why not try Maths, learn about the vikings, or the children of World War 2.

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Kids Cooking

Cooking is a popular activity at Holiday time. Children just love to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in whether it is reading the recipes, weighing the ingredients, washing and preparing the foods, there are so many varied jobs to do.

We have had a couple of cake afternoons when the weather hasn’t been that great and it’s a great way for kids to learn about weights and measurements - as well as get a little bit messy too!

You’ll need to be on hand to supervise the chopping and placing the food into the hot oven. There is nothing more pleasing than eager ears waiting to hear the oven buzzer go off and the automatic reply ‘It’s ready!!’

Here’s a couple of easy to follow recipes that you can make with your children.

The cheese scones are great for snack time and the sausage & bean pot makes a delicious main meal.

Cheese Scones ready in 30 minutes

The cheese scones can be served with the sausage & bean main course or are also ideal in a packed lunch.

Ingredients (makes 10 scones)

• 40g Butter
• 225g Self-raising flour
• 1 Level tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt
• Handful fresh herbs, chopped
• 125-150ml Milk
• 40g Cheddar cheese, grated

1. Grease a baking tray. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the salt, herbs, milk and ¾ of the cheese.
2. Get the kids to knead the dough until it is smooth. Lightly pat the dough until it is approx 3cm thick.
3. Cut out the scones, this can be done using an up turned plastic cup dipped first in flour. Put the scones on the baking tray. Brush tops with a little milk and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. This will give the scones a nice crisp coating.
4. Cook in a preheated oven (220 oC/425 oF/Gas Mark 7) for 8 to 10 minutes until risen and golden. Adjust temperature for fan ovens.

Main meal - Sausage & bean pot ready in 40 minutes

Whilst the cheese scones are baking, you can start cooking the main meal.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• Olive oil
• 8 Sausages
• 6 Rindless bacon rashers, chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 700ml Passata (or use 2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes)
• 400g Tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp Smoked paprika (1/2 tbsp if you prefer mild flavours)
• 1 tbsp Dark brown sugar
• 1 Onion, roughly chopped

1. Heat a little oil in a large pan, add the sausages and gently cook for 10 minutes until evenly browned, then remove from the pan.
2. Add the chopped bacon and onion and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
3. Pour in the passata, add the beans, paprika and sugar, then season and mix well. The paprika in this dish will add a sweet and smoky flavour that kids love.
4. Return the sausages to the pan, bring to a simmer and cook everything together for a further 15 minutes.

As with all recipes you can experiment a bit and substitute ingredients with other items or add extra vegetables to make a substantial meal.

Additional ideas and inspiration for kid and cooking can be found on BBC Good Food website,  and UK TV.

If your children often take a packed lunch to their friend’s house or off to Holiday Club / Summer Camp it’s a good idea to label items so they don’t get lost.

At Simply Stuck we have a great range of colourful personalised self-adhesive stickers, fun tags and shape stickers ideal for lunch boxes, drinks bottles and rucksacks.

Check our online site to see the fantastic designs and see how easy it is to order and customise these inexpensive personalised labels.

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Up until a few years ago, parents had to buy school uniforms from specialist shops or direct from the school. Now many major retailers have school wear departments for boys and girls and are currently actively running “back to school” uniform campaigns on TV and in store.

Retailers like ASDA, M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury’s provide a competitive one stop shop for your children’s school clothing whatever your budget.

School Uniform items available include coats and jackets, dresses, jumpers and cardigans, pinafores, polo shirts, shirts and blouses, skirts, trousers, socks and tights, underwear, not forgetting shoes and sportswear. You can also view the variety of styles and sizes online. Most retailers cater for children sizes aged 3 to 16 years and it is easy to mix and match the clothes with personalised school labelled polo and t-shirts.

We have had trawl through soem of the early Back to School campaigns and here are our findings:-

ASDA Back to School

Asda

This year the George schoolwear department has introduced a new and improved range of school clothing offering quality and styling at unbelievably good prices. School knitwear and sweatshirts are made of 100% Cotton for extra warmth and comfort. The school trousers feature secured hems, adjustable waistbands and Teflon finish important for growing and active children.

Prices start from £2 for girl’s tops and boy’s shirts and come with a 100 day quality guarantee on their school clothing. ASDA offers free delivery on schoolwear when ordering on their easy to use website with a minimum spend of £10 and delivery is within 2 to 3 working days.

More information on the Asda Back to School range

M&S Back to School

M&S

Marks and Spencer sell quality school uniforms and their outstanding value unisex pure cotton jumpers are priced from £2.00. You’ll pay a little bit more for school uniform clothes that include:

• Adjustable waist for the perfect fit
• Crease resistant - stays smart all day long
• Permanent pleats stay neat and tidy to save you time
• Stormwear™ - keeping dry whatever the weather
• Stain Defence™ - the high performance finish that helps to repel stains

You get free standard UK delivery from 3rd June to 14th September when you order selected school items.

More information on the M&S Back to School range

Tesco Back to School

Tesco

Tesco one of the largest UK retailers is offering a back to school bundle for £12.

The package deal includes a coat from a selection of 4 styles, any 3 pack of shirts, trousers or dress or skirt from the F&F signature and Fashion Academy ranges. Girl’s individual jumpers are priced from £2 and boys shirts from £3.

Tesco are offering free delivery for a limited time only.

More information on the Tesco Back to School range

Sainsbury’s Back to School

Sainsburys

Sainsbury’s “Back Tu School” range has over 50 products and Sainsbury’s are selling 12 products in the range for just £2 each including polo shirts, jumpers, trousers and cardigans.

All clothes in the “Back Tu School” range are machine washable with features such as adjustable waists and longer length trousers for growing kids. Polo tops and shirts are 100% breathable cotton. Recently 86% of Netmums from the online parenting organisation who tested the uniform for a full term voted the polo shirt great value for money.

Back Tu School is now in over 429 Sainsbury’s stores nationwide and an entire school uniform can cost as little as just £4.33. Boys will love the cool styles, and girls the heart details on zips, belt buckles and scalloped edge trims for that extra special finish.

More information on the Sainsbury’s Back to School range

Clarks Shoes - Back to School

Clarks

Shoes can be the most expensive item on the school uniform list. Clarks are well known for their quality footwear, comprehensive and stylish school and sports shoes. Cost can be a little higher than budget ranges but the old adage you pay for what you get is never truer. With growing feet it really does pay to get good quality well fitted footwear.

Clarks are now stocking their new range of school shoes for boys and girls. Not surprisingly there is a large range of girl’s school shoes to choose from including the Daisy Jump, DaisyWatch, Daisy High, Daisy Wish, TrixiDaisy, Daisy Dust, Dolly Jazz and No Drama to name a few. Boy’s school shoes collection includes Jack Class, Deaton, Air Master and Gravel Mover.

Prices start from £26.00 and orders placed before 3pm on Fri or Sat will be delivered the following Mon. Orders placed before 3pm on Sunday will be delivered the following Tuesday. The charge for this service is £5.50 per order. There are no chargse for orders for delivery within 5 working days within the UK.

More information on the Clarks Back to School range

Labelling School Uniforms

Although many school clothes provide a label to write your child’s name, we all know from experience that we either forget to write it on or it fades quickly in the wash.

Simply Stuck provide a number of quality labelling solutions to help ensure your new purchases don’t go astray early in the new term.

Options include iron-on labels, woven labels, stickers and even shoe labels. The labels are easy to apply to the school uniform, are waterproof, and can be personalised to include your child’s name and their chosen picture motif.

Ordering is very easy via the Simply Stuck online shop and delivery is within 3 working days.

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And we have a good bunch of films this year.  From animations like Shrek  and ToyStory to Marvel hero IronMan.  There is something for older children too with the A-Team, Prince of Persia and the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

So hold on tight for our run down of our Family friendly favourites for 2010.

Pre-teenagers film choices

Shrek Forever After

Modern day animations are now so well written that they can appeal to children and adults alike.  And the Shrek series is no exception.  I’m particularly looking forward to watching the latest Shrek incarnation.

After high adventure, Shrek settles down into domestic bliss.  Amid his mid-life crisis Shrek a new drama unfolds where once again Shrek saves the day.  This film is classified U and contains scenes of mild violence.

Shrek forever after

Toy Story 3 (2D and 3D)

You just know that it will be as good as the previous two films.  Tom Hanks and Tim Allen and once again in the driving seat with a few surprise guest, which include, Michael Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg and Timothy Dalton.  The film is classified U, and contains mild violence and scary scenes.

Toy Story 3

Nanny McPhee and the Bid Bang

A scary Mary Poppins? Lets wait and see.  Mark Kermode from the BBC couldn’t praise the film enough.   Emma Thompson, who has written a wonderful film also stars in this delightful film.  This is a delight for all the family.  The film is classified U and contains very mild language.

Nanny McPhee

12’s and over

The next selection of films is for children aged 12 and over.

Iron Man 2

Robert Downey Jr reprises his role as the Iron Man.  This is a Comic-book, big budget, action kids movie.  Not regarded as good and the first Mr Downey Jr is joined by Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke. The film is classified 12 and contains moderate violence and bleeped strong language.

Iron Man 2

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Starring Nicholas Cage, the hardest working man in showbiz.  He plays Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina).   He recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. After a crash course in the art and science of magic, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness.  The film is rated PG and contains moderate fantasy violence.

The A-Team

I’m really excited about this film.  I watched the A-team as a kid so I am fascinated to see it get the big screen treatment.  There are lots of action scenes and the ubiquitous love interest in the form of Jessica Biele.  The film is classified 12A and Contains moderate violence and language and implied strong language.

The A team

Other films to look our for.

The Prince of Persia

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Tron Legacy, not due out until December 2010.  But I thought it was worth a mention.

Child ID Bracelet

At Simply Stuck we always recommend “label up” the child with wrist bands. Even the most obedient of our little cherubs can decide at a moments notice to explore  on their own initiative.

So it’s worth making sure that you order some Child ID bracelets. Simply Stick has an excellent range of simple and durable children’s ID bracelets, which you can personalise. “If lost please call…” is usually enough.

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End of term is now upon us.  Parents across the land are, mostly, running around trying to organize activities for their kids to keep them happy and rested over the summer break.  So there will be plenty of summer camps, swimming galas, outbound activity centers, horse-riding days.

So, with the school clothes packed away the diligent parent needs to consider labeling up the summer clothes that they want to come back with the children.

End of term activities

Swimming gear, shoes, t-shirts, jumpers, trousers all need to be “labeled up”

Woven Labels

Our range of woven labels includes:

• Basic woven labels  (iron & sew) – white labels with coloured thread
• Two colour wovens (iron-& sew) – colored labels with coloured thread – customer chooses a specified product
• Funky iron-on woven labels – shorter wovens in a choice of label & text colours – customer chooses label colour & text colour

Child ID Bracelet

Also, don’t forget to label up the child with wrist bands. Wandering children are most parents nightmares.   Even the most obedient of our little treasures can decide at a moments notice to explore  on their own initiative.

So it’s worth making sure that you order some Child ID bracelets. Simply Stick has an excellent range of simple and durable children’s ID bracelets, which you can personalise. “If lost please call…” is usually enough.

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The new website simplystuck.biz helps businesses by providing a fast and efficient service for producing stickers for a variety of your  needs

Print errors – We understand that mistakes happen.

Instead of re-printing your promotional material, books or magazines, print a sticker to correct the mistake.

Product Packaging

Customised packaging can be expensive.  However, the product packaging can provide you with an opportunity to remind customers after they have left the shop of who you are and what you do.  Stickers can help offer a quick and easy way to promote your business on packaging or disposable bags.

Labels

Customied labels really provide an excellent way of showcasing your product.  Including a logo and design help elevate you product into a memorbal one.

Car stickers

Car livery is an excellent way to get your message across to lots of people.  Attaching your business logo, web address, or telephone number on your car sticker will ensure that your message is seen by lots of People every day.

Your business logo stickers

We can create a custom cut decals of your logo, printed in 4 colours.

If you are interested in finding out more visit the simplystuck.biz website.

Stickers for business

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It's the Summer Term

I have a friend whose son is just 2 month’s (ish) away from going to primary school for the very first time.  It’s an exciting time – but there is work to be done.  Over the summer she has to make her son “School Ready”.

There are many requirements for getting her child ready and and school labels on clothes is one of them.  What needs to be labeled?

• PE Kit,
• Trousers,
• Shoes,
• Shirt’s,
• T-shirts,
• Coats,
• Jumpers.

Not to mention all the paraphernalia, like lunch boxes, rucksacks and scooters.

School labels on clothes

Simply Stuck can help.  We offer a range of woven name labels - just like your mum used to sew in.

From sew-in woven labels to iron on woven labels. If you love this style of name tag then we are sure you will love our wovens.

Our NEW Funky woven name labels are a great alternative to the traditional style, with a choice of pictures and colours to match up with school and house colours.

Our range of woven labels includes:

• Basis wovens  (iron & sew) – white labels with coloured thread
• Two colour wovens (iron-& sew) – colored labels with coloured thread – customer chooses a specified product
• Funky iron-on wovens – shorter wovens in a choice of label & text colours – customer chooses label colour & text colour

Order online

All Simply Stuck label packs can be ordered online easily and quickly online with delivery within 3 working days.

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Simply Stuck's new website

Change is a good thing.  And at Simply Stuck we do try and keep things moving a long.

So we thought it was about would be a good to give the website a fresh new look with vibrant colours, new content and layout changes.

So now you can find the stickers that you need in your everyday life even quicker.

The new site categorises the products much better now so, whether you are looking for Gift labels, shoe labels, woven or shapes, they are now easier to find.

As well as better user experience we have included extra promotional area at the bottom of the homepage to great services like;

Simply Biz – Essential stickers for businesses

Simply love life - our new lifestyle site

Arctic Mommy – Jo’s personal challenge for 2011

Simply Stick - fun & easy solutions to change a space in minutes

Loose Moose - Our blog

Don’t be shy

Let us know what you think.  Does the site work for you or do you prefer the old one?§

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Hay Fever

We are all enjoying the dry summer weather, however, for many it can be a miserable time. As many as one in four people in the UK are affected by hay fever, an allergy to pollen or spores. Hay fever is a common condition that affects the nose, sinuses, throat and eyes and symptoms include sneezing, a runny nose, and itchy eyes. Trees, grass and plants release pollen into the air as part of their reproductive process whilst mould and fungi also release tiny spores.

Those allergic to grass pollen are more likely to experience symptoms in the months of June and July when the pollen count is at it highest during dry warm weather and less so when it is wet or cold weather. It is a good idea to keep your windows closed in the early morning and late afternoon, when the pollen tends to rise and to shower and change when you get home as pollen can cling to your clothing and hair.

Simply Stuck has identified a few resources on the web which may help you.

Advice from the NHS

Hay fever cannot be cured completely, but there are a number of treatments available to relieve the symptoms. The NHS website has a short 3 minute video with an expert explaining how hay fever is diagnosed, its symptoms and recommended treatment.

Pollen Calendar

Most sufferers can lead a normal life without undue lifestyle restrictions but it does help to be aware of when the pollen is released. There is a free pollen calendar available that details the pollen production months for various types of trees, grasses, crops and weeds, including the peak periods. Note the timings and levels will vary from year to year depending on the weather and location.

Allergy Alert Stickers for Hay Fever

Allergy stickers

To alert carers and teachers to your child’s allergy, Simply Stuck have introduced Allergy Alert stickers which are ideally suited for labelling travel bags and medication packs. Labels can detail a maximum of 4 different allergies.

You can buy an Allergy Alert Stickers pack with 35 labels.  Ordered easily and quickly online from Simply Stuck with delivery within 3 working days.

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