Big Daddy issue 2 April 2018 by MagLab Cardiff

BIG DADDY TER S S A E AY D I L HO ECIAL SP

SAVE £75 THIS EASTER

YOUR GUIDE TO BOSSING FATHERHOOD April 2018

We test

SLIME so you don’t have to!

Saving the easy way... one pint at a time 7-DAY

meal plan Budget-friendly & delicious

#INSTADADS

reveal their plans for

EASTER

BREAKING DAD TheDadLab’s Sergei Urban on blowing up the internet (with his kids!)

KEEP YOUR KIDS ENTERTAINED THE L ATEST DAD NEWS FINANCIAL ADVICE RECIPES DAD HUMOUR CHILDCARE ADVICE FASHION & GROOMING BEDTIME STORIES

contents

Sergei Urban

Easter egg nest cakes

Slime recipes

Save £75

Easter holiday plans

We get stained for you

How to boss an egg hunt

Enter TheDadLab and see the man behind the experiments with our social media sensation cover star: Sergei Urban

If you want to join the holiday celebrations but can’t cook to save your life, this simple recipe is sure to delight the kids this Easter

Are your kids curious about slime? We tested three of the top Pinterest recipes for making your own, so you don’t have to

Holidays of any kind can be financially draining, so we have compiled a list of great ways to save money this Easter

Dad bloggers give their best tips and ideas on fun holiday plans to keep your kids happy in their time off

Getting into a massive mess is all part of being a dad, but it doesn’t have to stay that way! Check out the best stain removers

Party games

Children on a sugar rush can be a real handful! It’s lucky we have a list of 10 inclusive party games for them, isn’t it?

Today I am

This issue the bedtime stories come from guest writer, Mark Blackburn. He is an author, designer and illustrator - as well as a father

Your guide to bossing fatherhood

Hey Dads, It’s that time again and we’re ready to bring you a brand new issue of Big Daddy - one that’s even bigger and better than before. As we’re sure you know, the Easter holidays are fast approaching. We remember the excitement of the last day of school before having two whole weeks off but as a parent, the holidays can be a source of dread. Having to make plans for childcare, days out, activities and even saving money ahead of the holidays can be stressful. To help you make the most of your time with the kids, we’ve put together our top tips, tricks and activities to make it the most fun ever. From DIY slime recipes to saving your money for the things that matter, we’ve got you covered with tons of advice from the real experts out there – the dads.

Struggling to come up with a way to entertain the kids over Easter? Use our step-by-step guide to the best Easter egg hunt ever

We’re also really excited to share with you all some original poetry from Mark Blackburn. As a dad himself, Mark pens and illustrates his poems. We hope you love them as much as we do. You can also check out Mark’s illustrations on his own Instagram, @wildandpeacefull.

Contributing Editors: Tom Gadd, Kelsey Rees, Lara Harrison, Charlie Hart, Emmet McGonagle, Chris Wallace,Haider Mahabubul, Madison King, Hallah Danbouh, Guy Hirst

Have a great Easter holidays! Cheers,

THE BIG DADDY TEAM

bigdaddymag2018@gmail.com www.jomec.co.uk/bigdaddymag Facebook: bigdaddymag Twitter: @big_daddymag Instagram: @big_daddymag

NEWS Your monthly update on all things Dad

Food makers cut the calories Public Health England’s 10 year plan continues putting pressure on the food manufacturing businesses in an effort to reduce childhood obesity ood manufacturers and sellers have been told by public health officials to decrease the calorie count in their products by 20% by the year 2024. Public Health England (PHE) announced the change earlier this month as part of the Government’s 10 year plan launched in 2016 to tackle childhood obesity levels. Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE said, “It’s hard for people to make healthy food choices, whether for themselves or their families. That’s why we are challenging the food industry to take 20% off their calories.” Overweight boys and girls were also revealed to consume 500 and 290 additional calories above recommended amounts respectively every day. It’s not just children however, as adults are likely to consume between 200 and 300 calories in excess. Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE said, “The simple truth is on average we need to eat less. Children and adults routinely eat too many calories and that’s why so many are overweight or obese.” PHE has suggested three ways in which food businesses can reduce calories:

1. altering recipes 2. lessening portion sizes 3. encouraging consumers to opt for lower calorie alternatives Public Health England has claimed that obesity in children can lead to problems like bullying, which can contribute to emotional issues such as social anxiety and low selfesteem. Obesity can also have a long-term health impact on your child, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some organrelated cancers.

The institution also said that obese parents are more likely to have obese children and in turn have a greater chance of growing up into an obese adult. As a parent, you may not want to consider that your child is overweight. According to Health Survey for England, 43% of fathers with obese children stated that their kid was ‘about the right weight’ for their height.

Children and adults routinely eat too many calories and that’s why so many are overweight According to The Times, the Government has decided to formulate a framework to set restrictions on the advertising of junk food. They have identified that curbing exposure to junk food advertisements is one of the key factors in dealing with childhood obesity. PHE believes if the target of cutting 20% of calories is met within the given time frame, over 35,000 premature deaths could be avoided and about £9 billion could be saved on NHS healthcare and social care costs across a 25 year period. rol This is a big step in helpi ng pare nts cont their children’s diet. job Howe ver, at the end of the day it is your hy. healt kid your as a fath er to keep

says:

#INSTADAD UK parents don’t help their kids with homework

Do you ever feel like you spend a little less time than you’d like helping your kids with their homework each day? You’re not alone. A survey has revealed that UK parents are less likely to spend over an hour a day helping their kids with their homework compared to parents in other countries. The survey conducted by the Varkey Foundation shows that only 11% of parents in the UK spend an hour a day helping their kids, a long way behind India with 62%. Despite this, 87% of UK parents valued the quality of their children’s teachers – the highest level in any of the surveyed countries. Way to go teachers! Super hero parent, Chris Hemsworth

(@chrishemsworth) has been enjoying an action-packed family holiday in Australia

If you want to start getting more involved in your kids’ homework , start by setting some achievable goals with them. Make a daily schedule of what subjects to cover. Gradually decrease how much you help so that they learn to work on their own.

with his three kids.

says:

Like father, like son

Babies who resemble their father are healthier, suggests a new study from Binghamton University, USA. Fathers will spend more time with their baby if it resembles them, therefore improving the overall health of the child. The study analysed data on 715 families in which babies lived separate from their father. The results show that fathers with babies resembling them spent two and half more days with them per month. These babies were healthier than those who didn’t resemble the father. “It shows that the fathers do play a role in the wellbeing of their children,” said Dr Solomon Polachek. it’s Whet her you look like your child or not, r-child always encou raging to read that fathe eing. bondi ng is essen tial for the child’s well-b out our Looki ng for new ways to bond? Check playt ime sectio n on page 24.

Big Daddy favourite, Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcher) posted a cute snap honouring his eldest son, Buzz to

says:

celebrate his fourth birthday.

Bunny behind bars?

Parents are used to telling fun little white lies to their children, but nobody expects a legal battle if they tell their children the honest truth. A Canadian couple who told their foster children that the Easter Bunny wasn’t real have recently won a legal battle against the Children’s Aid Society after they had their children taken away, and their foster home closed. Pretty extreme right? The couple, Frances and Derek Baars are Reformed Presbyterians, and do not celebrate Halloween, or believe in lying about Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. The couple started their legal battle with the organisation in 2017 claiming that the decision was a violation of their beliefs.

Ex-cricketer Andrew Flintoff

(@aflintoff11) is spending time with his

ering these Apolo gies to any horrified reade rs discov us rabbi t. The shock ing allegations about the famo reque sts for a Easte r Bunny did not respo nd to our respo nse to this ongoi ng story.

son, Rocky at the local market ahead of the Easter holidays. You can see more of our favourite #InstaDad photos at @Big_DaddyMag

says: 5

DADLIFE

We asked dads about their plans for the Easter holidays Here are some top tips from some of our favourite day bloggers on what to get up to this Easter Planning what to do with the Easter holidays can be, let’s face it, a bit of ball ache. Things can get especially tricky if you have multiple offspring to entertain for weeks. It can rinse your wallet, but there are plenty of things you can do to keep your kids from killing each other in the two very long weeks to come. To help you out, we decided to ask the experts – the dads themselves, for their advice. From how to cope with the holidays and what they get up to with the kids to how they handle issues like childcare, these dads know their stuff. Having kids of different ages to look after when the holidays roll around can be a challenge in itself so here’s some solid advice to make your holidays as painless as possible.

Tom Briggs @DiaryoftheDad

We haven’t had a proper holiday for ages so we tend to plan a couple of days out over the Easter holidays as opposed to going further afield. We’re also on one income so we try and opt for free and cheap things to get up to. The good thing about planning out our time this way is that it’s flexible and it doesn’t take too much forward planning. We plan what we’re going to do in the last week of the school term and then we can wait to see what the best day will be weather-wise. We love to go geocaching. It’s a free treasure hunt with exercise and fresh air thrown in for good measure – what’s not to like about that? We have kids of different ages so it can sometimes be tricky to plan activities that are suited to different age groups. It’s also the reason we haven’t entertained a proper holiday for a while. We try and find things that are aimed at families. We seek out local family fun days or go out for meals, picnics or go for walks in the countryside. As a blogger, I often get invited to weird and wonderful events so there may be something new we’re yet to try. We also hope to spend as much time outside as possible. We’re lucky to live in a semi-rural area so we’re never far from the countryside so fingers crossed for some sunshine. If you’re stuck for ideas, check local listings magazines and community pages on Facebook. There’s always things going on, particularly in the holidays. Remember kids aren’t too difficult to entertain. I’ve learnt that the things that I thought weren’t exciting have lived longer in their memories than things we’ve thrown money at. The most important thing is to be a hands-on dad and make memories with them.

Luis Weston @Luis_SingleDaddyDayCare Being a single dad is no easy feat. Juggling work, life and children can be challenging so the school holidays are a struggle. The children’s school may be closed but work isn’t so I’ve researched a lot about what options are available to help with childcare. Although I’m a single father, I have joint custody with the children’s mother so having an open and honest conversation well in advance with your ex-partner is probably a wise move. If any dads are in a similar situation to me, planning is vital. If you find yourself on your own with your children and have no ex-partner to work with? One of the biggest challenges is actually having the confidence to ask for help so below are some of my best tips: •If you have family living locally, they may be able to support •If you know someone else in a similar situation, speak to them and see if you can organise some sort of holiday share arrangement with each other’s children •Holiday clubs aren’t just operated by schools so look online and at your local gym or sports clubs to see if they offer help and clubs for parents who can’t take time off When I do take some time off for the school holidays, money can be tight. Sticking to free or budget-friendly options is essential. The following options are really worth considering: •Join the National Trust - once you have paid your initial membership, you have access to all of their locations across the country. Get outside, have a picnic and do some exploring •It isn’t always about going out, baking a cake can be a great way to pass time and keep the children busy entertained. •Cinema mornings - many big brand cinemas offer a discounted viewing of a slightly older film in the mornings

Robert Douglas @this_father_life Planning? I’m not sure what that word means. We don’t tend to organise much in advance for the Easter holidays unless there’s a big event going on. As the boys get older, we may start to plan trips for them to stay with their grandparents for a few days over the holidays. One of my favourite activities in the holidays is exploring in the woods with my eldest. He’s four years old and loves nature and open space to run around in. He loves doing anything outdoors really - going to the farm, the park or the woods. We tried the cinema a few times but he starts to get bored within 20 minutes of the film starting and I end up forcing him to stay to get my money’s worth. We find it fairly easy @aflintoff11 to plan for the whole familytoasthe our popped youngest is eight months old so he doesn’t know any different. markets with his son Rockyprobably to We could take him to look at a brick wall and he would enjoy it. Sometimes mydo wifea and have to divide conquer bit Iof Easter eggand shopping with the kids because the baby needs a lot more resources when heading out and about. Things can get a bit complicated but it works. We don’t have much planned for this holiday. Not sure if that makes us boring? We do like to create our own entertainment though. We sometimes will write a little family play and let the children come up with the story and characters and then act it out in the front room. It can be hilarious. It keeps them busy and entertained, it’s free and it creates really great memories for the whole family. It’s the kind of stuff I love to post on my own Instagram account as people love it.

For more advice on free and budget-friendly days out, make sure to check out the Big Daddy website for our picks

Date Night Fashion

Finding the perfect outfit for a special night out can be tough so here’s our guide to cheap and trendy items that can be delivered right to your door It’s been a long day, the kids are finally in bed and handed over to their babysitter for the evening. It can only mean one thing – date night. With sunshine on the way, some cool and classy new additions are all you need to get your spring wardrobe date ready. To make things even easier, everything can be ordered online and delivered to your door. It’s as simple as that!

Mustard oxford £18, ASOS

The art of dating is difficult for almost anyone, especially for dads so I wanted to share my tips on how date as a dad.

Beige chinos £16.50, BooHoo Man

Take your time Plenty of people (myself included) tend to try and get back in the saddle as quickly as possible after a break-up. It’s completely understandable – it can be really lonely. We often think the best way to find solace is to replace that person but very often, it doesn’t work out that way. Don’t feel pressured by others to find someone new. Take your own time to heal and move on. A practical and colourful shirt is the simplest choice for any date night whether it’s a smart or casual occasion.

White trainers £25.99, ASOS

Earthy, slim fit chinos are an easy way to instantly smarten up your plain t-shirts and trainers. Don’t be afraid of rolling up the cuffs to show your ankles for a spring update.

Denim jacket £22.50, BooHoo Man

Dating when you have kids can be hard, so blogger Luis Weston provides some helpful hints

Nothing beats a fresh looking pair of white trainers. The ‘warning’ lace-ups are an update on a classic look.

Watch £30, ASOS

Get online There used to be a stigma around dating on the internet but for single dads who may not have time to meet people in person, it certainly has a place. There are loads of sites and apps (Match, Tinder or eHarmony to name a few) and you can find a platform that suits you. Chatting to new people online helps to break the ice if you eventually decide to meet in person. I’d always recommend chatting to someone on the phone ahead of a date too as you can cover a lot of ground and it helps to put you both at ease. Kids come too You’ve organised to meet up with a date, but what if they also have kids? I’m not generally the biggest fan of play places but they definitely have their uses. They’re public, they occupy the kids and most importantly, they serve coffee. I don’t see anything wrong with organising a date – or just a brief meet-up with another parent. It can help with tricky scheduling issues and gives you an opportunity to see how the other person is around your kids and their own. KISS Dating can be expensive - with meals out and fancy cocktails but as a single parent, money can be hard to come by. I would always choose to approach a date with the aptly named acronym KISS (Keep It Short and Simple). People can be nervous or apprehensive in the lead-up to a date so why not just go for a coffee or a walk. There’s plenty of time for extravagance later down the line.

Denim jackets are the perfect extra layer for those chilly spring evenings. The pastel blue hue is a nice change from the usual shades of denim.

A classic watch smartens up any look and works as a smoother alternative to checking the time on your phone all night. If you can’t treat yourself on date night, when can you?

Don’t change Whenever I’m dating, I always try to remain true to myself and try to be the best daddy possible to my two children. When I do meet someone important, I always would want them to understand that my kids are my priority and the three of us come as a package and children certainly aren’t baggage. Always make sure your date understands the situation and is comfortable as no single dad would want additional stresses and strains.

DADVICE

WE GOT STAINED FOR YOU

You know it, we know it, every father knows it - children are outrageous little filth wizards. It’s just part of being a kid. Making a mess is unavoidable, but ruining clothes permanently doesn’t need to be

*All products were tested against the same cocktail of grime, soaked for one hour on the same white t-shirts. They were then washed on the same eco cycle 40C for one hour

6: Vanish Gold Power Gel £4.54

This is definitely for smaller stains and not for tirades of Big Daddy’s mock puke solution, or gallons of your children’s sick all over the carpet. It’s for your sevenyear-old wiping their grubby, chocolate covered fingers down their pristine new school uniform, or a knocked over mug of Vimto on the carpet. Whack this squeezy gel on a small stain and it should take care of it quicktime. Apply in focused areas quickly, then wash.

What food was used?

•Tesco value tomato soup •Lidl ketchup •Tesco value baked beans •Jam •Lidl orange squash (slightly diluted to look like pee) •Oats (for that lovely simulated vomit effect) •Spaghetti hoops

5: Formil Oxi Action White £3.76

4: Ace £2

Lidl’s own-brand stain remover was unable to handle the remnants of our ketchup duel, so it’s cast asunder and relegated to fifth place. This chlorine odoured powder lifted lighter stains during the soaking process but struggled to eliminate all of them in the wash. Obviously excessive ketchup fights aren’t a normal scenario to contend with, but compared to the less expensive Co-op brand powder that finished first, it’s a no brainer.

It claims to work against muddy stains, not necessarily eradicating five pints of tomato soup on a pristine white t-shirt in one wash - we can see why. If it can’t handle our experiment, it’s unlikely to deal with your larger and more severe mishaps.

Coming second in the supermarket own brand race but third overall is Tesco’s Oxy Power. It failed to fully restore our t-shirts back to normal.

Close, but no cigar. It was a fairly close tie between the industry leading brand and the Co-op’s own powder, but Fairy Non Bio didn’t quite live up to its name during our experiment.

3: Oxy Power £1.50

As the powder does foam, so unless you want a foam party in your kitchen, do the soaking process outside. This is the cheapest product we tested, so there’s good value here, but it requires you to repeat the soaking and washing process again.

It took more than a few washes to eventually clear most of the stains. However, faint orange patches of Tesco tomato soup are still visible.

2: Fairy Non Bio £3

It would have handled the onslaught of Big Daddy’s repulsive mess better if our shirts had made it to the wash sooner, however we suspect the delay in getting the t-shirts to our washing machines left it in second place.

And the winner is...

Rough N’ Ready Kit yourself out with practical and hard-wearing clothes for playtime with your kids Shadow Crewcut Burgundy Jumper by NANNYSTATE £15 at JD Sports Perfect for keeping you warm whilst you play with your children outside, this jumper’s material is sporty but has the look of a more traditional jumper.

£2.59

1: Co-operative Stain Remover Clearly the winner and the best value for money out of our tested products. This tough pre-soak powder proved itself against our blitzkrieg of filth. As the second cheapest and most effective stain remover, Big Daddy recommends this as your shield against messy tantrums, food fights, puke and poop. We didn’t expect a supermarket ownbrand to work as well as it did, but this powder certainly proved itself.

No journalists were harmed in the making of this article (check out our video on Facebook to see for yourself)

ACW85 Belted Cargo Trousers by MATALAN £20 at Matalan Cargo trousers are the perfect choice for an action dad, plenty of pockets to carry anything for your kids. These trousers even come with a belt so you don’t have to worry about having a builder’s bum.

An old pair of trainers by Your Shoe Cupboard £0 at your home If you are taking a trip to a muddy park to play with your mucky children, why worry about ruining a nice pair of new shoes?

Grey V-Neck T-Shirt by H&M £6.99 at H&M Cheap and cheerful, this t-shirt looks good on anyone. Loose enough for plenty of movement and a practical grey colour for any dirt or spillage.

Save £75

this Easter Want to treat the kids to something special this holiday? We find four different ways you can cut back

Sober up!

According to Good Pub Guide’s 2018 edition, the average pint in the UK comes in at about £3.60. The most expensive place in the country to drink being Surrey where one pint will set you back around £4.40. We’re not saying you should pack up and move if you live in Surrey but cutting down on trips to the pub could save you a lot in just a couple of weeks, How many pints do you drink in a week? Say you average around six pints out a week, you would be spending a whopping £43.20 in just two weeks.

If you cut your boozing down over the holidays to two pints a week, you could save up to £28.80. That could fund a pub meal with the kids.

= £28.80

Slash costs on the weekly shop

Be it cereals, sauce or even baked beans, you’ll find bargains if you shop smart. Your shopping list is likely to be long and while one or two cheapers items might not make a difference, you can save yourself a wallet full of cash if you spend more time shopping. For example, a carton of 12 large free range chicken eggs from Tesco is currently priced £2.25. In Lidl, the same eggs will cost you £1.75. If you buy two cartons in two weeks, you would already have saved £1. Prices of coffee vary widely in the same supermarket, with some brands charging higher in exchange for premium quality. Maybe trade in your favourite

pricey coffee for something a little bit budget friendly to get your daily caffiene fix. Start by keeping receipts instead of throwing them away. You will be able to compare between supermarkets and brands. This gives you scope to improve your next weekly supermarket shop. By shopping smartly, you could save at least £20 in two weeks.

save £20

Forget the fags

We all know that smoking is bad for you but we know it is hard to quit. The fact that you are a dad now is the best reason to quit. Why not give it a try? According to British Medical Journal, on average a single cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes. Why don’t you start by at least cutting down on smoking? For example, smoke three cigarettes instead of seven. If a pack costs around £9 each time, you will be saving approximately £13 in one week. That’s a substantial saving every week.

If you don’t smoke, that’s great but it doesn’t mean you can’t give up another vice.

= £13

Don’t be too eager for Easter

A study published by Vouchercloud.com revealed that parents on average spend a substantial £25 on a child for Easter eggs. That’s £25 on a whole lot of chocolate. The survey also found out that a child eats £31 worth of Easter eggs given by relatives and friends. No wonder they end up feeling so sick. Cutting back on Easter eggs this year not only saves you money but saves on unneccessary extra sugar in your kids diets. If you buy one large-sized Cadbury Easter egg, one medium sized egg and a pack of 12 eggs, you would spend a total of £10.95 for a dozen eggs. In the process, you’ll have saved £14.05. What a bargain!

save £14.05 For more money-saving tips for the Easter holidays, head to the Big Daddy website

making your bedtime stories

come alive B

edtime stories aren’t just about about reading to your kids. Part of the fun comes from the performance and lets face it, kids can be a tough audience. You need to be an Oscar-worthy actor to make it work. There are loads of different techniques you can use to get make storytime magical. Carol Ferro aka Short Story Lady, a professional children’s storyteller provides her trade secrets to help you make every story captivating. She finds inspiration in the imaginative power of children. “Just see the stuff kids come up with when they have a free reign on their own imagination,” she said. So it’s time to bring your A-game ahead of the next storytime session.

Put your phone away

Monologue much?

Do the voice!

Props for prompts

Your stories should let your kid’s imagination thrive and run wild. Don’t make the common mistake of having your phone next to you when you are reading to your kid. Give them your full attention. Carol recommends leaving your phone out of the way so that it won’t be a distraction for you. Carol also says your child should be actively involved in the reading process. This means letting your child read the book as you perform the story to them. Reading together makes for a great bonding experience so make the most out of it.

Bring colour in your stories by copying the voices of the characters. The appearance of a new character can give you a good starting point in finding suitable voices for your story. For example, Carol suggests that if a character is physically small, you could try a high-pitched voice for that role. The same principle can be applied for all shapes and sizes. So how do you perfect your voice? “Practise in the shower,” Carol laughs. “No one can hear you and there’s a good echo too. Practice your big giant voice and do your tiny mouse voice.” Your voices don’t have to be perfect but they help to add colour to stories and the best ones will make your kids laugh too.

Small stories may not have any characters so you have to get inventive with your storytelling and use your narrating skills to entertain the kids. If a monologue is a little longer, you can make the story more interactive by talking to your child about the story. Carol says you can try asking questions like, ‘What do you think will happen next in the story?’ Engaging with your kids is a good way to keep them interested in the plot and bring the story to the next level. It’s always fun to guess and you could be suprised.

Carol says it’s best to start reading to your kids at a very early stage, when they literally can’t escape and wriggle away. Eventually, the child will fall into a routine. Even then, you might find yourself struggling to hold their attention so props come in handy. Use your children’s toys as props. From building blocks to teddy bears, see how you can incorporate them in the story. Carol says, “Children want to play; make the story a part of their play. Let the story come out of the page.” If you’re clearly having fun with with your storytelling and the kids definitely will too.

storytime

Mark Blackburn is a father, a passionate writer, illustrator and designer. His upcoming first children's book 'Today I Am' is the culmination of a long time dream. Mark is releasing a limited run of his book, printing 300 high quality copies. To pick up your copy before they're all gone, keep an eye on his Twitter @TodayIAmBook

Today I am a

Up up and away! Take off like a helicopter We're launching, no delay. Daredevil of the open skies My skills, beyond compare The aerobatics master Pilot extraordinaire I fly both search and rescue And fighter jets or rockets. Though not a drone, I'm in control And small enough for pockets. Got all of the manoeuvres I'm Top Gun bug all right. So buckle up your safety belts And hold on very tight.

Pssst! You can take these pages out of the magazine and share our fun colouring page with your kid

Today I am a

Tiger day is best. No one would tell a tiger That they had to wear a vest. Who would make a tiger Go and brush their hair And pick up all those toys and stuff? They simply wouldn't dare! I decide what time is bed Tigers stay up late I think tomorrow's tiger day Tiger day is great.

Today I am an

True multitasking hero. I ride my bike Watch telly Eat my cereal And still go In the garden With my friends I lend them each a hand To fix their broken scooters Then become a one girl band I'm on the drums and on the bass I'm playing all the keys. There's no one quite like octopus We should all be one of these.

ENTER

THE DAD LAB

Social media sensation Sergei Urban is producing educational and entertaining experiments for families worldwide 17

ergei Urban, better known online as @TheDadLab, has achieved his dream of teaching and having fun with his kids as a profitable career. Together with his two sons, Sergei conducts a number of experiments and educational exercises, usually by using common household items. The London-based dad shares creative and scientific projects with parents on social media in order to educate children, inspire parents and encourage quality family time. The 35-year-old first created TheDadLab over two years ago on Instagram, never dreaming that he was about to start down a path that lead to making parenting his fulltime career. “The idea was my wife’s originally,” said Sergei. “Two and a half years ago she told me: ‘There’s this huge buzz on Instagram, let’s do something there.’ At the time, I just wanted to share good, useful educational toys because we had a lot of rubbish ones in the house. I thought there must be some better things out there, and I wanted to share my findings online.” These humble beginnings quickly snowballed, as Sergei and his family came to realise how rapidly his audience on social media was growing. Currently, TheDadLab’s Facebook page has an incredible following of over two million subscribers, a level of success that Sergei never expected to see. “I didn’t expect anything like this,” said Sergei. “When I started, I was just sharing toys. Quite quickly I noticed that people were interested in what I’m posting, but when I started doing experiments with the kids, things got even more popular.” “For about a year now, TheDadLab has been my full-time job,” he said. “I never expected something like that to happen. Every day brings new opportunities, things I would never have expected to do. Being interviewed by newspapers and magazines. The whole experience has just been crazy.”

A dream come true

While producing videos together with his children is obviously a dream come true for Sergei, he still has to work hard to keep his ever-growing audience entertained. “It’s a lot of work, by myself,” he said. “Coming up with ideas, editing, posting, answering comments across all platforms - it takes a lot of time. I sometimes call TheDadLab my third child, because it takes up so much of my time.” That’s not to say Sergei isn’t delighted with his newfound career. His popularity on social media has allowed the father to spend quality time with his two sons, five-year-old Alex and three-year-old Max. “I’m so lucky to have this modern profession I have now as an influencer”, he said. “Being at home, spending time with the kids, having fun and doing fun activities. Just spending time with my family as my job is the best part of all of this. None of this would have been possible 10 years ago, before all this social media. It’s a new profession, and I’m so lucky to have all of this and to be able to spend all the time in the world with my kids.” TheDadLab may have started off as a simple idea, but Sergei has a clear philosophy behind everything in his work – he wants to use his unique platform to make a positive impact on the lives of children and their families. “The idea behind TheDadLab is to show what unexpected things can happen when you mix some regular things together. It’s not about giving them any specific knowledge about chemistry, physics or electricity, I just want to teach my children to be curious about the world,” said Sergei. Sergei proves that you can make a career out of something that you love

In the lab: Sergei’s child-friendly experiments have become a viral hit on social media A lot of people come to my YouTube channel for inspiration, a lot of teachers, parents, grandparents, carers. They all want some new, interesting ideas to try out with the children in their lives. So I’ve been influencing future generations. Something that I never expected to happen, I didn’t have that in mind. I was just sharing what we do, and now it’s a brand. Everything has taken an unbelievable turn, it’s great.”

Creating memories

“The original idea was okay, and I was doing educational stuff, but I realised that’s not the main idea behind TheDadLab,” he said. “The main idea is actually creating memories, spending time together. While the educational stuff is certainly a positive, the main thing behind all of this is creating memories with the kids, and just being there.” While his work has caught the eye of children and parents everywhere, Sergei always tries to cater each of his experiments to his sons’ interests and abilities. “The kids

love all the experiments, but I try to adapt what we’re doing to whatever it is my kids are interested in at the time,” he said. “Max, he loves cars,” Sergei said. “So I just put stickers with dots on some toy cars and the boys created this parking lot out of paper. I had him match up the number of dots on the car with a number written on each parking lot, and he had to put the car in that spot. “I do sometimes do classic science experiments, but I try to adapt to what my kids are into at the moment, what their abilities are, because sometimes I do a lot of matching activities. For Max it could be colour matching activities, for Alex it could be something a little bit more difficult involving some mathematical questions. I have to change the complexity of the experiment depending on their age and abilities to keep them on their toes.” Although TheDadLab started out through sharing educational toys, Sergei found his content has grown so influential that he recently had the opportunity to create

INTERVIEW

Fun projects to try out at home Painting with Magnets

This art project is a great way to let kids get creative, and even learn about magnets and how they work. To get started, take a square Perspex box (such as a Ferrero Rocher box). Place a white piece of paper on the inside of the lid, and pour a different colour of paint onto each corner. Now place something magnetic, such as a screw in the centre of the page, and tape the box shut. Place a magnet underneath the box, so that when you move the magnet, the screw moves with it. Let your child move the screw around into the paint and watch them get artistic.

and produce his own experiments box in collaboration with Trunkaroo - l toys and exercises for children, delivered via a monthly subscription. In their collaboration, Sergei and the company produced a water science experiment trunk, full of special STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths) projects. “My followers had been asking for something like this for a while”, began Sergei. “When I did the research, Trunkaroo really stood out with their designs and the way they do things, so we decided to produce this box together and see how it went. The trunk has been really well received.” “We’re getting people from all over the world buying it and trying it out,” he said. “The thing is, the idea behind TheDadLab is to use something that you have at home, something really simple, something you can find in your kitchen cupboard so everything is accessible. Sometimes parents need an extra push, or maybe they don’t want to be bothered looking through the whole house to try and find stuff, so having a box full of experiments delivered to your house saves the hastle. It’s an easy way of educating kids and having fun at the same time.” “Different ages will learn something new from each experiment. It’s not always about

the what is going on, it’s about how children understand what they see, how they analyse the situation and what they’re getting out of it,” Sergei said.

Looking to the future

While Sergei’s whirlwind career took flight much quicker than anyone could have expected, he still has some definite plans for the future of his videos. “I want the experiments we do to change and grow with the kids,” he said. “When I first started I was looking at baby toys, which obviously isn’t going to work with 5 or 6 year olds. “I might revisit some of the experiments as the boys get older. The older they both get, the more they will get out of each of the experiments. At first it could be just fun bubbles and colours, but later on when they are older they might figure out exactly what is going on.’ Eventually they will realise: ‘It is just baking soda with vinegar, I know how this amazing experiment works.” “I’ve done a few quite complicated experiments where I can’t completely explain to my kids what’s happening there. He knows generally what’s happening, but he doesn’t understand why. A couple of years down the line, I will give him more details about what is happening, and maybe he’ll understand why.”

I sometimes call TheDadLab my third child, because it takes up so much of my time

Popping balloons with an orange peel This simple trick is super easy to set up, and may surprise you just as much as the kids! Peel an orange, and tear the peel up into smaller pieces. Hold up an inflated balloon, and have your child squeeze the peel tightly enough so that liquid shoots out of it. When this liquid hits the balloon, it should pop. This happens because this liquid is called limonene, which breaks down the latex of the balloon, causing it to pop. (Tune in to 0:28 to see the poor kid’s face as the balloon pops).

For more experiments, check out TheDadLab’s YouTube channel

ADVERTORIAL

Woodland Rise camping and caravan site

Welcome to Woodland Rise, a camping and caravan park situated in the heart of the West Wales countryside. Woodland Rise is a small, family-run site tucked away in the quiet village of Blaen-y-coed in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. It’s the perfect spot for a short get away with the kids this Easter. In this idyllic location, visitors can enjoy views of the gorgeous West Wales countryside by day, and starry skies by night. Woodland Rise are also a pet-friendly site, with plenty of space onsite and local woodland trails for you and your furry friends to stretch your legs. If you’re looking for a full day of activities with the kids, Woodland Rise is also ideally located to visit some of West Wales’ top attractions in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The site is also a short drive away from many picturesque National Trust owned beaches such as Barafundle Bay and Rhossili Bay.

Just a 40 minute drive away is Wales’ biggest theme park, Oakwood, suitable for young children and adults. Pembrey Country Park is nearby with 10 miles of sands, a toboggan run, dry ski slope, laser tag, cafe, and much more. A 40 minute drive away is Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo, where children can feed the animals, visit the park zoo where they can discover ferocious lions and cute penguins as well as enjoying the indoor funfair. Andrea Routley, manager of Woodland Rise said, “We love to see people enjoying the freedom and peace of the countryside with their family and friends. We have lots of space for our young visitors to run around and play outside. We welcome well behaved dogs, and there are off road walks nearby, as well as our 12 acres of fields.”

Contact Information and Prices Grass tent pitch without electricity hook-up: £15 per night Grass tent pitch with electricity hook-up: £18 per night All per night tariffs include one 8m x 10m pitch and full use of all facilities. Also included are two adults and one car, with no extra charge for children under 18, dogs. Additional adults are £2 per night and additional cars can be parked in our on-site car park for £1 per night. Phone: 01267 281 452 or +447977 470 324 E-mail: admin@woodland-rise.com

Facilities Amenities cabin with two modern wetrooms (two showers and two toilets) with two additional toilets, one with a baby changing facility included. Approved fire pits available for hire at £5 per stay. Pets welcome and encouraged. Bookings can be made at woodland-rise.com

CHEF DAD

Hop to it! Easter nest cakes in 3 easy steps Easter egg cakes are so simple to make that even our own feckless layabout could do it With Easter fast approaching, many dads are feeling the need to get creative in the kitchen to join in on the celebrations. Sadly, fatherhood doesn’t come with free cooking lessons so we have to make do. Luckily, you can win some free brownie points with the family without sacrificing your house and worldly possessions in a cooking and hubris-fuelled fire. Even better, if you hide this magazine after making these sweet treats, nobody would blame you for hailing yourself as the new Gordon Ramsey. The kitchen is your kingdom, and your family are your doting subjects. Until they ask you to cook anything else and the jig is up, anyway - but you can probably keep the lie going for at least a week. To test out how simple these Easter eggs cake are to make, we set our own hopeless waster loose in the kitchen and set him to work - with just a few ingredients, a pan and a tearful prayer to the gods that we’d live to see another day. Mercifully, in just under 20 minutes, instead of a horrific chocolatey death, we were treated to 12 surprisingly edible cornflake cakes. Despite our best efforts to distract him, even our inept chef was able to follow this recipe, before being safely escorted out of the kitchen before he could do any damage to himself. If he can do it, absolutely any sentient human will be able to do a better job. To see our disgraceful excuse of a chef in action, check out our hilarious, yet useful video on the Big Daddy website.

Ingredients 200g of plain cooking chocolate, broken into pieces* 3 tablespoons of golden syrup 50g of butter 100g of cornflakes 2 bags of miniature chocolate eggs

*Always make sure you have extra chocolate... for testing purposes

Method 1. Weigh out all the ingredients. To include the family (or to have a free moment to have a sneaky drink) you can have the kids do this one. With supervision, have them put each ingredient onto the weighing scales. The butter, chocolate and golden syrup can be put into a pan or microwaveable bowl, with the cornflakes in a slightly larger bowl. 2. Put down the drink and take over for this one. Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a saucepan over a low heat. Allow it to cool a little bit before pouring in the golden cornflakes. 3.Time to drink again! Hurrah. Let the kids gently stir the ingredients together using a wooden spoon. Once they’re ready, pour the chocolate cornflakes into 12 cupcake cases. Maybe do that one yourself though, before the kids smear chocolate cornflakes onto every conceivable surface in your kitchen. We did warn you!

Master the Meal Plan

When the kids are at home for holidays, the extra cost of fun days out and childcare can start to take a hefty toll on your bank balance. We have crafted a shopping list that’ll save you money

According to the Money Advice Service, the average weekly food shop is costing families £53.20 every week, with meat products costing us the most at over £6 a week. At Easter, your food bill is likely to get even higher due to the kids being home. To help you get on top of your weekly meal prep each week, our 7 day family meal plan and shopping list is packed full of budget friendly ideas to keep you and the kids happy this holidays and it caters to the fussiest of eaters.

Check out our website for a great child-friendly bolognese recipe

Dinner

Lunch

Breakfast

Mon

Shopping List FRIDGE Creme fraiche 5 carrots 4 red onions let uce spinach broccoli tomato

2 packets of mixed peppers cheddar cheese pack of 12 eggs chicken 2 packets of ham bacon 2 packets of beef mince strawberries blueberries lemon 4 cherry tomatoes

CUPBOARD

8 tortil as 1 loaf of bread pancakes 4 English muffins pasta bows 1 tin sweetcorn soy sauce ketchup sweet potato

natural yoghurt beef stock cubes bananas 1 tin chopped tomatoes egg noodles

7-day meal plan

Total Cost: £64.57

Tues

Weds

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Peanut butter on English muffins with fruit

Porridge with fruit

Bacon and egg muffins with spinach

Fruity yoghurt pancakes

Egg and bacon quesadillas

Boiled egg and soldiers

Yoghurt and fruit

Tomato soup with crusty rolls

Tuna mayo wraps with tomato and lettuce

Ham and egg sandwich

BLT Pasta Salad

Ham, cheese, tomato lettuce wraps

Vegetable soup using leftover vegetables

Peanut butter on toast

Rainbow veggie tortilla pizza

Kid-friendly bolognese

Chicken noodles

Sweet potato cottage pie

Tuna pasta bake with spinach

Lemon and broccoli pasta

Chicken with vegtables and sweet potatoes

PLAYTIME

We tested slime recipes Slime is an easy, cheap and fun activity to get the kids involved with over the holidays. We tested the top Pinterest slime recipes so you don’t have to You must have been living under a rock if you haven’t seen slime all over social media. There are thousands of accounts out there dedicated to the creating slimes in all different colours, with glitter or sequins added for extra fun. It’s no secret that kids love a bit of messy fun so we tested Pinterest slime recipes to see which ones are worth testing and which ones just made a mess.

Our slimemaking morning wasn’t without catastrophe!

Slime 1

Slime 2

Slime 3

Ingredients:

How to:

How did it go:

We rated:

1 cup of PVA glue 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 1 tablespoon of contact lens solution Food colouring Glitter (optional)

1. Mix the glue and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl 2. Add food colouring to the mixture 3. Add the contact lens solution and mix with a spoon until it becomes stringy 4. Take the mixture out of the bowl and knead it for 20 seconds – then you should have the perfect slime!

This slime recipe was super quick to make and easy to follow – anyone could do it. Even as adults, we had a ton of fun with the slime. It was mess-free (even when we chucked it at cream walls) and the clean up process took a couple of minutes maximum. It’s one that your kids will love to make.

We rated:

1 cup of PVA glue 3 cups of shaving foam 5 tablespoons+ of contact lens solution Food colouring (optional) Glitter (optional)

1. Empty the glue into a bowl and add any food colouring or glitter 2. Start adding the shaving foam one cup at a time until the mixture is thick and fluffy 3. Add the contact lens solution one tablespoon at a time 4. Keep stirring and add in more ingredients as needed 5. Knead the mixture for three minutes and you’re sorted

The recipe is less ‘slimy’ and more messy. It was far stickier than other slime recipes which wasn’t entirely expected. If you want to try this recipe, we’d recommend waiting for a warmer day and setting it up outside or you could end up with some extremely sticky furniture. The clean up process was a little more difficult – mainly because trying to get the bloody stuff off your hands is a nightmare. Fun for kids, yes. For dads? Not so much.

Side note: this slime does contain Borax (an ingredient in the contact lens solution) that helps to bind the slime and create the stretchy consistency. It’s safe to use and shouldn’t irritate your skin but watch out for kids trying to eat the stuff. If they do, it’s best to call a doctor for advice.

1 cup of PVA glue Laundry bio-gel Food colouring (optional) Glitter (optional)

1. Add glue to the bowl and add a cup of bio-gel and mix 2. Add any food colouring, more bio-gel and continue to mix with a spoon until you get a thicker, more solid consistency 3. Keep adding bio-gel and as the mixture thickens, use your hands to knead the mixture and then you’re ready to hand it over to the experts

It went badly. This slime recipe has really mixed reviews and even as a room full of adults, we could just not get it to work and we ended up with a liquidy mess that just wouldn’t turn into a slime-like consistency no matter how much we tried. This recipe is highlighted as being borax-free but we’d still recommend keeping a close eye on your kids.

If you want to see how we got on, watch our DIY slime tutorial on the Big Daddy website.

10 party games for kids on a Sugar high

screaming toes

This is a great warm up game for your Easter party. Everyone stands in a circle and chooses a pair of adjacent toes. On the count of three everyone attempts to make eye contact with the person whose toes they chose. If participants make eye contact, they scream, and they are out. This is a fun, simple and nonsense game that all children can take part in.

WARNING: The kids have gone savage on a sugar bender! But luckily super dad has planned activities for after the Easter egg hunt. Here are 10 inclusive party games for hypedup sugar goblins

triangle tag

Three kids hold hands to form a triangle. One person in the triangle is the target. The person outside the triangle needs to tag the target. The goal of the other players in the triangle is to spin so the target can’t be tagged. Nobody can cross through the triangle, and if they do, they are it. Minimum participants required: 4

Minimum participants required: 3

dizzy egg and spoon race

It wouldn’t be Easter without a good old fashioned egg and spoon race.. And it wouldn’t be nearly as funny if the kids weren’t dizzy. This is best done in garden or park. Get your eggs, get your spoons, make a start and finish line, and go! Make the kids dizzy at your own discretion. Minimum participants required: 2

toads and flies

Choose one detective and one toad. The detective can’t know who the toad is. The rest of the participants are buzzing flies who must make buzzing sounds. Every time the toad sticks their tongue out at the flies, the flies must die a dramatic death and cease buzzing. The detective has three guesses to discover who the toad is. Toadily radical!

egg roll over

This is an Easter classic. Get some pre-hard-boiled eggs, decorate them for extra pizazz and create a start and finish line in the garden or park. The aim of the this game is to get your egg across the finish line by only using your nose to roll it forward. It’s an energetic game with no messy breakages like an egg and spoon race. Minimum participants required: 4

Minimum participants required: 6

bobbing for donuts

cereal box game

Perhaps the best game ever invented. Get ringed donuts, get string and hang the donuts from a tree [or anything else] at the various heights. The goal of the game is to eat as much of the donut you can without it falling off the string, without using your hands. It’s just a good excuse to eat donuts.

Cut one cereal box in half horizontally. Each player takes turns to pick up the cereal box with their mouth, they can’t use their hands and their knees can’t touch the floor. If a player fails they skip their turn. Each turn the cereal box should get smaller. This is harder than it sounds. Frustration guaranteed.

Minimum participants: 2

Minimum participants required: 2

the dragon and the coins

It is likely to rain in April, so this an inside game. Get bed sheets, towels, spare cardboard boxes, pillows, chairs, mattresses and build the most badass den you’re capable of. Then get some tin foil and wrap it around some big and small DIY cardboard coins. Dad hides the small coins and the kids hide the big coins around the house. The kids are the heroes and you are the dragon. The aim of the game is for the kids to retrieve the small coins and bring them back to the den before you find the big ones. Dragon noises highly encouraged. Minimum participants required: 2

animal pairs

hit the target

Do this one outside. Two kids stand in the middle of a circle. One is the target and the other is the bodyguard. The aim of the game is for people on the outer circle to hit the target with a soft-play ball. The job of the bodyguard is to deflect it. Once the target is hit, the bodyguard becomes the target, and the person who made the winning shot becomes the bodyguard. The roles keep rotating. Eventually a 4ft child will be trying to protect a full grown man. Minimum participants required: 5

This is a loud outdoor game that gets the kids shouting, acting and moving around. Put some animal names in a hat, make three sets of each animal - three lions, three elephants ect. Get all the kids to choose from the hat, and the count of three get them to act out their animal. They need to find their animal friends, once they’ve found each other they sit down and the game starts over. Minimum participants: 9 Check out our website to find out more ways to entertain your goblin! jomec.co.uk/bigdaddymag

how to boss the easter egg hunt Coming up with inventive ways to keep the terrors occupied over Easter is a challenge. So why not put them to the test with the ultimate Easter egg hunt ?

26 26

Eggsellent buys Easter weekend is at the beginning of the holidays this year, so you’ll be full of energy and ready for the break, right? No doubt when you do get some precious time at home, the kids will either be bored or bouncing off the walls from all the extra chocolate in the house. Easter egg hunts are a great way to delay the inevitable sugar rush and keep the kids occupied for a couple of hours – plenty of time for a cup of coffee or two. You can stage the hunt indoors (in case the good, old British weather gets in the way), in the back garden or even in a local park if you have time. To help you plan out the ultimate Easter egg hunt, we’ve asked dads for their advice on how to absolutely boss it.

1. Plan out your route

2. Use your artistic flair

3. Cut down on sugar

Once you’ve planned out a route, now’s the time to get creative. You can attach letters to each egg and once they’re found, the kids can have fun unscrambling the letters to spell out an Easter-themed word or phrase. Instagram dad @daddyandjacob plans to create some bunny footprints to form a trail to the next egg. You could leave a trail of mini eggs between hiding places. For older kids, a hand-drawn map could be the answer to keeping them on track. If you’re feeling extra creative (we said if!), how about writing out some clues?

As much fun as an Easter egg hunt can be, there’s always a danger of very hyperactive or worse, extremely sick children after consuming way too much chocolate. Try to set a limit with the kids on how much chocolate they can eat straight after the hunt as a sugar rush is the last thing you need. We know that might be unrealistic so in that case, Instagram user, chef and dad @homecookingcoach recommends using empty egg cartons to hide some little toys.

4. Make it fair

5. Piñata party

We’ve all experienced a meltdown when one of your kids has something the other wants. Always make sure there’s an equal amount of eggs between kids. You can keep track of this in a number of ways. You could give each child a specific colour wrapper to look for or even ask the kids to come back to you when they’ve collected x number of eggs. Either way, keeping track of numbers can help to avoid future temper tantrums.

How about ending the hunt with a piñata? There’s plenty of budget friendly piñatas available on the high street or online which can be stuffed with goodies for the kids to enjoy – in moderation of course. You could even attempt to make your own Easterthemed one as there’s plenty of affordable and easy online tutorials. Plus, what better way for kids to get rid of all the excess energy than whacking the hell out of a paper mache horse or bunny.

It may seem simple but making a quick note of the route through your Easter egg hunt will really help when it comes to planning. When hiding the eggs, make sure you keep note of where they’re hidden or you could still be finding Easter treats at Christmas. Make sure you set out boundaries for where the eggs will be hidden or before you know it, kids will be climbing on top of work surfaces and fences. You know, just generally putting themselves in a dangerous situation in pursuit of a sugar

Easter garlands are perfect for adding some festive fun to your house £2

These Cadbury mini eggs are just what you need in order to leave an egg trail for your hunt £1

A basket of milk chocolate Easter eggs is the perfect purchase to start off your hunt in style £3 All products are available at Aldi