The Chicco Natural Feeling Newborn Starter Set is a wonderful introduction package of Natural Feeling nursing products. Natural Feeling as a bottle range has been one of the most widely accepted ranges by babies on a global scale, with a 96% latch rate on teats and excellent anti-colic functionality.
The South African Breastmilk Reserve (SABR) has issued an urgent call for breastmilk donations as reserves run critically low.
As December rolls around, many parents get to breathe a momentary sigh of relief that a monthly school fee payment won’t be going off this month. That is until you remember that you’ll be expected to re-start payments again in January and this time it will come with new text books, school stationery, uniforms and for the bigger “kids”, you might even be paying boarding school or accommodation fees.
We all tell ourselves stories about who we believe ourselves to be and what we believe we are capable of achieving! “The trouble with these stories is that we accept them to be true, even when they are not!” says Cindy Glass, Owner and Co-Founder of Step Up Education Centres. She adds, “We make decisions and choices based on what we think we deserve, so if our stories comes from a fixed mindset, we are unlikely to achieve the successes that we dream of. If, however, the stories we tell ourselves are based on a growth mindset, we are going to be set-for-success.”
The First Dreams range features pastel pink and blue variants of a series of toys that are all fundamentally multi-tech driven, with gorgeous aesthetic and cleverly thought-out practicality.
When co-holders experience difficulties in exercising their responsibilities and rights, they must agree on a parenting plan to regulate the exercise of their rights and responsibilities as a prerequisite before approaching the court. They must first seek the assistance of the family advocate, social worker or psychologist; alternatively, they must go for a mediation facilitated by a social worker or other suitably qualified person.
Starting solids can be an exciting time. I remember when we started our son on solids. We had my brother and the grandparents over. He was propped up in a chair and we all watched as my husband and I fed him some mashed butternut from a spoon. The video is so cute, the words of praise about how clever he was is quite impressive, and his outfit was cuter than cute. However, now when I watch the video, I shudder. I shudder because I can now see all the non-verbal signals that he was sending, saying he was not ready. We could have waited a week longer, just to give him time. If I had known better, I would have done better.
You may have already imagined your child’s first sleepover camp, and everything you could get done. A week or two without your child may sound like a dream come true. However, when you finally get the solitude you have been craving, the house seems dreadfully empty and too quiet.
The First Dreams range features pastel pink and blue variants of a series of toys that are all fundamentally multi-tech driven, with gorgeous aesthetic and cleverly thought-out practicality.
It’s Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week and I have decided to talk a little about the car seat harness. The car seat harness holds a child down in the car seat so they cannot slide up, forward and out the car seat in the event of a crash.
Travelling with babies and toddlers can be stressful, whether it is navigating public transport, such as the underground in London or simply a domestic flight in South Africa – you are bound to find a pram a mission to contend with. That why I have always chosen to travel with my baby carrier. There are a few good reasons for this:
The First Dreams range features pastel pink and blue variants of a series of toys that are all fundamentally multi-tech driven, with gorgeous aesthetic and cleverly thought-out practicality.
Most of us are scared of the dentist which means dental care can easily be overlooked but, taking good care of your teeth will not only leave you with a brilliant smile, it will also keep your mouth healthy. By following a good at-home care regime and regular dental visits, you can decrease the likelihood of health problems in the future.
Sleep is one of the most essential aspects of a baby’s development. It helps their bodies and minds develop, and the truth is that music can play a major role in both the development of your baby, as well as helping them achieve a more restful sleep. Even though your baby’s brain is not yet fully developed, the reality is that they are actually not much different from adults when it comes to the basic structure and functionality of their brains. This also applies to the auditory cortex portion of their brain. The auditory cortex forms part of the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. This is one of the first parts of the brain to develop, meaning that playing music to your unborn baby can already have benefits. In fact, some studies have shown that playing music for your baby in utero (while still in the womb) can help create a better foundation for their reaction and appreciation for music once they are born. In other words, playing music for your unborn baby can make it easier to eventually use music as a means of helping your child fall asleep. Heartbeat is the ideal music stimulation for in-utero and newborn babies. Within the womb, from as early as six months, the unborn child experiences many sounds, including the ever-present heartbeat. It is important to note that not all music is suitable for helping your baby fall asleep. Music with high pitches or deep bass should be avoided. These types of sounds act more as a stimulant than a relaxant. This is why lullabies are a popular and good choice by most parents, as most of these are designed to instil a sense of comfort. Another popular choice is classical music. As these contain no lyrics, it can be much less distracting. It also contains more soothing and gentle instrumental sounds, rather than heavy percussion as is found in other genres of music. All our albums are suitable for helping your baby fall asleep. On top of helping your baby fall asleep, playing music during playtime and bedtime routines, as well as during sleep, can also help their overall brain development. Studies have shown that the correct music introduces your baby to emotional stimuli which will help to increase their emotional intelligence. As your child gets older and starts to interact and understand a more complex world, this gentle emotional stimulus will help your child to better understand herself, as well as recognise patterns. Pattern recognition is one of the fundamentals of child development, and a cornerstone of both critical thinking and problem solving. There are a few important things to take note of when playing music for your baby to help them fall asleep. The first of these is volume. It is very important to not play the music too loud. Even if you have the correct music, turning up the volume on any kind of music will stimulate your baby and cause her brain to enter an active phase. Secondly, placement of the music source. The further away the music is, one instinctively tend to make the music louder. Rather try placing the source closer to the crib (or right next to it), and turn the volume down. Lastly, how long should you play the music for? Most psychologists and experts will suggest not playing music to your baby throughout the night. This can cause the music to become a crutch for your baby in that they will become dependant on the music to fall asleep. What is suggested is to start playing music a few hours before bedtime, and then switch it off after your baby has fallen asleep (or as they are falling asleep). This is dependant on your baby, as some will never form the attachment while other might. An example routine would be to start with Playtime and Bedtime with Bach a few hours before starting your bedtime routine. Put on some Symphony of Sleep during bath time to help your baby get into a calm state of mind ready for sleep, and then finally Classical Music Lullabies to help them drift off into a restful sleep.
In our previous article, we looked at how to choose a curriculum provider and what Impaq offers in that regard. In this article, we are looking at Impaq as a provider of preference within the community and the home education learning environment.
Chicco, leaders in children’s development for the past 62 years, have the perfect toy range for newborns, making your little ones introduction to the world as soft as a mothers cuddle.
Too often we read about emergency services and the police force spending hundreds of thousands of Rands on wasted resources due to prank or non-emergency calls. Some emergency services report receiving up to 50 abusive or hoax calls every day. Not only does this waste valuable time for the highly trained personnel but it also causes disruptions to responses to real emergencies and puts people’s lives in danger.
Thinking processes,I define as the manipulation of information. Problem solving requires reflective thinking; reflective thinking encourages critical thinking and develops a range of thinking skills. According to Scheffer and Rubenfield (2000), the critical thinking skills are; analysis, applying standards, discriminating, information seeking, and logical reasoning, predicting and transforming knowledge. Analysing, defined as the ability of separating or breaking a whole into parts to discover their nature, function and relationship, is understood as a critical thinking skill (Scheffer & Rubenfield, 2000). When making a drawing, both the content and concept of the drawing are actively analyzed because they must be broken into parts so that they can be understood before the concept can be drawn in a student’s book. Through this engagement each student processes, understands, explores, and integrates, the content and concept they are interacting with in the drawing. For example, ‘global warming’ can be represented visually, left, Examples of how two elementary school participants represented features after learning about global warming, (Katz, 2017, pg. 238). The child draws the factory, water in solid or liquid form, while the symbols for temperature are communicated and thus concepts are mapped through the visual mode of language. In the second example an abstract concept is drawn, how the students feel about global warming. Left, Examples of affective interpretations of two elementary school participants in relation to global warming content, (Katz, 2017, pg. 239). In the drawing, the child wrote ‘Don’t cut me!’ Drawing operates to present two different types of information. In this case, the way the task is directed impacts the way a drawer analyses the content. Since alphabetic language, symbols, numbers have intersubjective meaning drawing a diagram brings together different codes of symbolic thought in a focused ‘slow thinking’ method, because drawing takes time to represent content and concept on the white page. See Daniel Kahneman for thinking fast and low. The literate person develops practices in code breaking, text meaning, pragmatic text use and text critique & analysis (Luke & Freebody, 1997) with the use of critical thinking skills. Discriminating, the ability of recognizing differences and similarities among things or situations is understood as a critical thinking skill (Scheffer & Rubenfield, 2000). Logical reasoning is the ability to make inferences or conclusions that are supported in, or justified by evidence (Scheffer & Rubenfield, 2000). In 1988, Johnson developed a task where students select one English language rule that they want to illustrate in a poster to communicate its conventions to the class. The freedom to select a rule empowered student with agency. “[S]tudents` explain how their drawing represent the rule” (Van Meter & Garner, 2005, pg. 295). Later the visual stimulus is put up in the classroom, arguable to aid memory, support student’s motivation and application of knowledge. This task is an example of concepts being translated across linguistic modes from the verbal linguistic mode of reading the rule to the visual mode of representing the rule. Secondly, encouraging thinking skills to remember because the rule was visualised for memory retention. Also apply knowledge, as the rule was designed in a poster, and problem solve as the child was asked to convert written to visual mode. The development of higher order thinking skills was practiced in this task. Predicting, as the ability of envisioning a plan and its consequences, is understood as a critical thinking skill (Scheffer & Rubenfield, 2000). I propose that ‘innovating’ designs is part of visualising a plan, for example envisioning architectural structures which is a structural example of composition planning in EGD. Also, to predict experiment outcomes in science or colours in art for paint colour mixing. Reflective thinking is part of the critical thinking process defined as analyzing and making judgments (Scheffer & Rubenfield, 2000). Creative thinking is considered as holistic thinking where various parts are considered in unison. One part develops in unity with another part in relation to the problem being solved. Transforming knowledge, as the ability to change or convert the condition, nature, form or function of concepts within contexts,is understood as a critical thinking skill (Scheffer & Rubenfield, 2000). Barbara Tversky from Teachers College, Columbia University explains the benefits of “messy lines [that promote] discovery of new ideas” (Tversky, 2011, pg. 16). She explains how a variety of different marks on a page have “context dependent meaning related to their mathematical or Gestalt properties” (Tversky, 2011, pg.16). She clarifies that marks, which make up the drawings, represent externalized symbolic thought. The act of drawing is a union between perceptive skill and cognitive skill where the perceptive skill involves ‘seeing’ in context of the object and the cognitive skill involves ‘thinking’ in context of the idea. She refers to this as “constructive perception” (Tversky, 2011, pg.16). It seems that when perception and thinking processes operate in tandem creative thinking is operating to innovate new ideas and products from existing knowledge and context. Tversky explains that messy lines aid thought because they are ambiguous, “pre-categorical, so they allow for many interpretations” (Tversky, 2011, pg.16). Messy lines are evident in Michelangelo’s Horse Composition (right, and detail a, Studies of a Horse and a Sketch of a Battle Scene, authors photograph from Ashmoleum Museum Oxford). The lines look like they were drawn quickly to visually externalize memory or observation and understanding of the structure of the horse for manipulation in a new composition. It could be argued that the horse was moving while it was being drawn. Interestingly, the observation of the horse (an uncommon subject for Michelangelo who focused more on the human body) is visible as two different poses from observation drawing on the same leaf of paper. A plan drawing for arranging the subject of the person and the horse is visually explored alongside the detailed horse representation. The drawer is creating from perception towards innovation thus using ‘constructive perception’. According to Ewa Grabska “Although designers during design process can form mental images in their heads, the majority of them do much better when those images are out of
Early introduction of technology in schools is important to close the gap between our current situation and where we need our future graduates to be. It is predicted that by 2031 all repetitive tasks will be replaced by robots, so it is no longer enough to merely teach a child how to use a computer. Children need to be taught those skills that robots cannot do. According to Michelle Lissoos, Managing Director of Think Ahead, these skills include empathy, creativity, and higher cognitive thinking. Using technology to teach these human characteristics might seem contradictory, but technology can open doors for children which would otherwise be impossible in certain home situations.
Christmas is just around the corner and choosing a toy that will not only entertain, but also help develop young minds has become more important to parents than ever when deciding what to get the little ones.
If you are a parent or are around parents of young children, there is a high chance that you’ve heard about developmental milestones. You may have even read about it in a baby book or an article, heard from your paediatrician or from any other professional specialising in early childhood development. You may have heard parents proudly speak about the fact that their child has skipped certain milestones, such as crawling and has gone straight to walking, and so they’re now “ahead of the pack”. You may have seen the complete opposite, parents in a frenzy because their child is one month behind in some of their milestones. You may have heard others completely disregard milestones all together. So what is the fuss all about? How important are milestones really?
As a father of two boys, I am constantly inspired and challenged, to expose my children to the variety of cultural avenues available to them. For those who are not aware, I am both a music educator and performer and have spent many years collaborating with, or working alongside, artists of many kinds. Being involved in the cultural department here at Crawford La Lucia, I have to been exposed to the various arts disciplines on offer and have been privileged to work alongside colleagues who invest in their pupils with determination, creativity, and excellence.
Whilst modern technology and its increased usage is seen as a boon to teenagers, most parents have a total opposite view of this. The question then remains…… Is technology to be blamed for poor communication between parents and teenagers? The answer quite simply is NO since a lack of communication between parents and teenagers is an age-old issue.
With Christmas only a month away, we asked Chicco South Africa to put together a Toy Guide for Christmas. CHICCO BABY SENSES PIRATE SORTER A pull-along treasure chest that encourages children to start puzzle solving from young. Place the shapes in the corresponding holes and store the treasure in the chest. Perfect from 1 year upwards and a great aid for motor skills. Retailers: Takealot, Lilliputs, Thekidzone, Loot and selected Kids Emporium stores. 2. CHICCO BABY SENSES ANIMAL COTTAGE Teach your baby puzzle solving and motor skills with a shape sorter. Five colourful, decorated shapes can be inserted into corresponding holes while 5 different keys open the corresponding doors. Helps develop hand/eye coordination. Strong contrasting colours and popular animals make this a winner with young toddlers. Retailers: Babies R Us, Takealot, Lilliputs, Thekidzone.co.za, Loot and selected Kids Emporium stores. 3. CHICCO MOVE & GROW BABY RODEO A high-end toy for people that want to really splash out on their child. The Move & Grow Baby Rodeo is a child’s first indoor pony and the coolest ride-on. The electronic toy comes to life with sensors and moves his eyes and neighs when stroked or fed with a carrot. 3 functions include rocker, ride on (where child can push themselves) and activity centre that includes buttons, music and sounds. Suitable up to 25kgs. Retailers: Takealot and Thekidzone. 4. CHICCO FIT & FUN MONKEY STRIKE The Fit & Fun range from Chicco keeps toddlers active no matter what the weather may be like outside. Monkey strike is a 2 mode game that is a modern take on 10 pin bowling. It aids creativity, teaches numbers and helps learn colours. Comes with soft bowling ball. Pins can also be split to create stacking towers. Retailers: Takealot, Lilliputs, Thekidzone and Loot. 5. CHICCO FIT & FUN MISTER RING An electronic toy to keep your child active no matter what the weather, Fit & Fun Mister Ring is a unique take on the traditional ring toss. The base rotates at two different speeds, challenging the child’s attention every time. Comes with 8 coloured rings of lightweight plastic which make it safe for indoor play. 6 different melodies play while base is spinning. Great for stimulating manual coordination and motor skills. The perfect toy for toddles with aim. Retailers: Takealot, Lilliputs, Thekidzone and Loot. 6. CHICCO FIT & FUN JUMP AND FIT PLAY MAT A fantastic take on the old classic Hopscoth, with a new and modern twist. An electronic toy, the playmat has two game modes and players can increase difficulty as child develops. Lights, sounds and music make it a highly entertaining way of staying fit whilst playing and developing manual skills. Retailers: Takealot, Lilliputs, Thekidzone and Loot. 7. CHICCO HAPPY MUSIC BAND DRUM A colourful electric drum that lets children develop through the joy of music and musical expression. 3 electronic activities including free drumming, ‘keep-the-beat’ and composing to really let the rock star in your baby come out. Includes 4 LED lights to keep baby entertained as they express themselves. Retailers: Takealot, Thekidzone and Loot. 8. CHICCO HAPPY MUSIC BABY STAR GUITAR An electric toy guitar full of fun features to bring out the rock star in your child. Select from three different musical styles (Rock, Pop and Blues) and choose among 3 play modes (short tunes, pre-recorded melodies and follow me). The 23 pre-recorded melodies can be enriched with the 3 different mixer functions: drums, vibration and acceleration of the rhythm. Retailers: Takealot, Lilliputs, Thekidzone, and Loot. 9. CHICCO HAPPY MUSIC DJ MIXY A first around the world – a DJ consol for babies. Let them scratch it like a real DJ, create their own backing tracks and select a melody and add different sounds to it. Increase or decrease the speed of the music and have the most fun playing with real sounds, in their own style. Allows for complete free expression. With two game modes and 3 lights that change colour for them to enjoy. Retailers: Takealot, Thekidzone and Loot. 10. CHICCO BABY SENSES STACK N FUN CUPS Create a fun tower with Baby Senses Stack n Fun Cups, the easiest way to learn numbers by seeing how the size of the cup goes up with the number that comes next. Simple puzzle solving makes this a great aid to get a toddlers mind school-ready whilst having fun. Includes a hole at the top of the tower where balls are placed to slide down the tower to the base. Retailers: Babies R Us, Takealot, Thekidzone and Loot.
With Christmas being just a few weeks away, choosing a toy that will guarantee smiles could not be easier than with Disney Baby.
Although the focus is firmly on the Matric Class of 2019 currently writing their NSC exams, their successors in Grade 11 are also now heading to exam rooms across the nation, and they should not underestimate the importance of these assessments, an education expert says. “The last two years of school should not be viewed in isolation. Rather, Grade 11 should be approached as the foundation upon which Matric success is built,” says Peter Kriel, General Manager at The Independent Institute of Education, SA’s largest and most accredited private higher education provider. “So any idea that your performance in Grade 11 doesn’t count, and that you can chill and make up for it next year, should be discarded,” he says. “Apart from the obvious benefit of doing well in these exams, it should be kept in mind that these marks can be submitted to gain provisional access to public universities or private higher education institutions, which means you can get in the gates before the flood of applications come streaming in next year,” he says. Kriel says although the thought of getting the exams over with and then taking a well-deserved break in December will no doubt be appealing to Grade 11s at this stage, there are 3 things they can take care of during the next 3 months which will see them start their final year of school with a distinct advantage over their peers, and with optimal chances of ending Matric on a successful note. 1) DO AS WELL AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR EXAMS “As mentioned before, your Grade 11 results can be used to gain provisional access to university,” he says, “which means that your performance could mean the difference between having a wide range vs a restricted range of options. “But more than that, if you put in your best effort now, and invest in getting to grips with the study methods that work for you while ditching those which do not, you’ll start to get a good idea of your current capability. If you find that, despite your best efforts, you don’t do well, you’ll know that something needs to be tweaked or adjusted going forward. “However not putting in your best effort, means that you will enter your Matric year not understanding your potential, so the lessons you could have learned during these exams will have to be learnt during your final year at school, when you could have directed your focus to something more productive.” 2) REVIEW YOUR RESULTS & STRATEGISE Kriel says the next step, after the exams are done and the results are in, is to honestly assess your situation. “Did you do your best? Could you have worked harder? Could you have worked smarter? Are there subjects that you know are going to need extra attention, or even extra resources in the form of, for instance, tutors or supplementary materials? “The key here is to look at how you performed, and your experience writing these important exams, and then use that information to plan your final year. Sometimes, if you identify serious red flags, it may even be necessary to consider your subject choices. But keep in mind thatonly one subject can be changed in Grade 12, and it must be done within a few weeks of school opening.” 3) SORT OUT THE UNIVERSITY ADMIN Too often, the decision about what to study and where is left until way too late, because it seems like such a straightforward thing to decide and apply, says Kriel. “Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Choices about qualification and institution are major ones, which will have a substantial impact on your life after school, and your future prospects. “These are not decisions that can be left until June next year, and then you wake up and start to scramble to secure a place somewhere, anywhere. That is an ineffective approach and a potentially costly life and financial mistake, not to mention the fact that you simply won’t have the time or energy to do the groundwork next year,” he says. Grade 11 learners should therefore take a week or so timeout to rest after their exams, but then get to planning their post-school life. “The benefit of doing it now, during your holidays before you enter Grade 12, is that time is on your side. So you will be able to do extensive research about the job market and opportunities in the field or fields that interest you. You’ll be able to visit campuses and speak to career counsellors, you’ll also likely find careers and qualifications you’ve never even heard about. “Doing proper research now means you’ll be able to make an informed choice about your future, and, should you come to a decision, you’ll be able to get the extensive and exhaustive admin of the application process out of the way. Then on to Matric where you will start out on your strongest foot, and without the mountain of planning and additional stress that will be waiting for those who decided they’ll cross these bridges when they get there next year.”
If you love all things nature-inspired, summer is the best time to get your kids involved in your downtime activities – from hikes, to cycling trails and running trails. The most important thing is to be organised and prepared, plus have the right gear to make things efficient and easy on the day. Enter Swedish brand, Thule, which creates a range of premium products, so that you and your family can fully immerse yourself in your given outdoor activity… plus a roundup of some of the best hikes, cycling trails and running trails to do with young kids.
In today’s world anxiety is becoming more and more prevalent in children. While it is a normal and necessary emotion, designed to protect us, it can inhibit as well. Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in children.
Kids all over the world are ditching their cellphones, and switching off the TV in favor of spending a school holiday at Sugar Bay Kids Resort in KwaZulu Natal. But that’s not the surprising part, the real surprise is that kids are going on holiday for an entire week (or two) without their parents. That’s right, Sugar Bay is a kids-only resort where children 7-17 years old can enjoy a safe, fun and parent-free holiday. For the working parent, this eliminates the stress of trying to arrange supervision and entertainment for their kids when the school holidays approach. Sugar Bay provides 24/7 supervision and all-day entertainment. Simply book online or give them a call, and they will handle everything for you, even your child‘s transport! Transport to the Resort Your kids can catch Sugar Bay‘s private bus service from Sandton, or catch a flight to King Shaka International Airport. The camp counselors, which are basically au-pairs also trained in Emergency First Response and Child Psychology, will escort your little ones safely to Sugar Bay – whether from their flight or during the bus trip. These transport options allow children from all over the world to enjoy a tropical beach holiday, and to make new friends from around the globe – without a cellphone in sight. Safety and Security With the highest staff-to-child ratio in the country (1:3) and over 18 years of experience, parents can rest assured that their little ones are safe and supervised. All water activities are supervised by qualified lifeguards, the property is secured by electric fences, 24-hour armed response, 25 CCTV surveillance cameras, night watchmen and fire alarms. The resort boasts facilities like a sports field, 25-metre pool with waterslides, paintball arena, indoor sports hall, theatre, infirmary and a waterfront with private access to the lagoon and beach. Unique themes every holiday Each school holiday is guaranteed to be a unique experience with different themes informing the itinerary and décor. Children are welcomed by superheroes, cartoon characters (and more) in an entirely new and imaginative setting from their previous visits. Accommodation Sugar Bay is a three-star establishment graded by the Tourism Grading Council. Nestled among trees and surrounded by sugar cane fields, the children sleep in spacious wooden cabins with en-suite bathrooms which are allocated according to age and gender. Additionally, all bed linen is provided and laundry is done for guests who stay longer than one week. Activities for all interests: Unlike other holiday camps, there are no compulsory activities at Sugar Bay. The children are free to choose from over 100 activities. Some popular activities include: Paintball and Airsoft Zip Lining Waterslides Bungee Trampoline Surfing Dance Lessons Skateboarding Kayaking Rock Wall Climbing Bmx Standup Paddle Boarding (SUP) Yoga Arts, crafts & baking. Kids deserve a great holiday break too – this is the concept behind Sugar Bay, which has created a winning formula for extraordinary fun and impeccable safety. Sugar Bay is an ideal getaway from today’s distracting technologies, and a perfect opportunity for kids to learn how to enjoy the outdoors. This children’s paradise is situated just 30 kilometers north of Ballito in a little seaside village called Zinkwazi Beach. The cost of a typical 7-day holiday includes accommodation, activities, three meals per day and 24-hour supervision. Naturally, parents may have concerns and questions before being convinced to send their kids away on a holiday alone. Sugar Bay’s friendly office will gladly chat to parents about their individual concerns for their children. Give them a ring on (032) 485 3778 or pop them an email at [email protected] . You can also watch this video for a preview of the camp’s facilities and the activities on offer. Get In Touch: www.sugarbay.co.za [email protected] (032) 485 3778
This amazing tradition was introduced by Carol to her family. Santa’s Scout Elf has the job of reporting to Santa whilst encouraging children to watch their behaviour because he is there, in the home, watching them and reporting back to Santa. Her children were also encouraged to talk to their Scout Elf every day so that they can be sure that he will take their messages back to Santa every night. Now in her new book, Elf on the Self – A Christmas Tradition, Carol shares the story of how Santa knows if little ones have been naughty or nice. Written in the first person by one of Santa’s Scout Elves, makes it more credible for little ones to relate to. He tells children to give him a name which allows him to start his mission – that of reporting back to Santa. Written also in rhyming format, makes reading the story fun and helps children to not only be good but to do small acts of kindness each day. Find him every day when he gets back from Santa, as he will always be in a new spot. (By Carol V Aebersold & chanda A Bell with Illustrations by Coe Steinwart) Parents can make it a game for children to see who can find him and to come up with unique and inventive places within the home for their children to find him. One rule to follow is don’t touch him, because he will lose his magic and then cannot report back to Santa. But he’ll listen to them so they can tell him anything and he’ll report back to Santa. The night before Christmas his mission ends and he goes back to Santa to spend the rest of the year. What’s great about the book too is that there is place at the end for your little ones to record when this tradition started in your family. Don’t forget that you can choose between a girl or boy elf… adopt a new family tradition this holiday season! Elf Pets: An Artic Fox Tradition This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a magical fox that plants snow around the world on the roof tops of all the houses and magical lights in the sky. Create magic when The Arctic Fox provides a path for Santa while he delivers gifts to the children all over the world. When some children stop singing the Christmas song, Santa brings out the little fox cubs to gift those children with their magical snow kept in their necklace collars, it keeps the children believe and the magic is alive. All in all your little one will enjoy the ENTIRE Elf on the Shelf experience. Keep the magic alive and bring a little joy to your Christmas this year. Claus Couture Collection Make your Elf on the Shelf look stylish this Christmas. ‘Claus Couture Collection’ provides 7 ongoing outfits, that turn your Christmas from glim to glam! One of the outfits include a rockin’ Christmas tree guitar, awesome glasses that’ll drive every elf crazy, and a ‘Christmas rocks’ sweater for your Christmas jam sessions! The Scout Elves work so hard they need a good night’s rest. Imagine having your child place out a bed each night for your Elf to catch a small nap! You can buy your Elf on the Shelf, a little bed to keep him warm and energised. Included is his own personal teddy to keep him company. Keep the magic alive by ensuring that your Elf is kept comfortable this holiday season. Available to purchase at: Takealot.com Toy Kingdom Hamleys Toy Zone Toys r Us
