Families North London Issue 101 March - April 2013

Issue 101 Mar/Apr 2013

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North London

Spring issue Pregnancy Special Annabel Karmel Easter Guide

PLUS Win a scholarship to theatre school!

T original, largest and STILL the be The best est netw network w of part-time performing arts schools in th p the world.

Nurturing and developing young peoples potential N tthrough dance, drama and singing.

F 4-18 year olds, after school, at weekends For and holiday workshops. a

Stagecoach Highgate S 0 7272 8108 020 h highgate@stagecoach.co.uk

Stagecoach Stoke Newington 020 7354 0367 stokenewington@stagecoach.co.uk

CT A !

E C N ! DA G N I S

NOW!

The fun never stops at Make & Creat Create

Holiday Active

Nonmembers welcome!

Looking for the perfect family adventure? It’s all here at DL Kids.

Explore our giant indoor play frame, celebrate fun-filled parties or banish boredom with action packed adventures on our Holiday Active programme. Plus, there’s a host of fantastic activities for children of all ages to enjoy.

We believe fun should be shared, so everyone’s invited!

Children’s Parties

Indoor Play Frame

Let the fun begin! Find out more at:

DL Kids Raynes Park

DL Kids Finchley*

Call 0845 125 7024 or visit davidlloyd.co.uk/rpdlkids

Call 0845 125 7023 or visit davidlloyd.co.uk/dlkidsfinchley

*Dl Kids Finchley non-member opening times: Monday –Thursday 12–3pm, Friday 12–7pm, Saturday and Sunday 2–6pm.

Contents Issue 101 | Mar/Apr 2013 | Families North London

This Issue 7

Family Finance

10 Legal 12 Razzamataz Scholarship 13 Education

5

27

18

16 Wonder Weeks 18 Breastfeeding 19 Pregnancy Supplement

30

25

30 Annabel Karmel 31 Weaning 33 Sleepworks

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34 Special Needs 38 Gardening 39 Easter Supplement

Regular Features 4

News

6

Health & Happiness

40 Ed’s Reading Room 46 Out and About Families North London Magazine 120 Brent Street, Hendon, London NW4 2DT For all news and features contact: editor@familiesnorth.co.uk or call 020 8202 2034 For all advertising enquiries contact: adverts@familiesnorth.co.uk or call 020 8202 2034 For all web enquiries contact: melanie@familiesnorth.co.uk or call 020 8202 2034 For all listing enquiries contact: listings@familiesnorth.co.uk

Welcome to our fabulous Spring issue. You will find us full of the Joys of Spring with our super pregnancy supplement and our What’s On at Easter Guide as well as our usual round of great articles and competitions. I am delighted to introduce Naomi Schillinger to you. Take time to read her great ideas for community gardening – a true inspiration. Families North London are so pleased to be collaborating with Razzamataz to offer one super-talented child a year’s scholarship to their fantastic new theatre school. We hope to see hundreds of entries from all over North London for this once-in-a-lifetime prize. If there is anything you would like to see in the magazine do let me know! See you in May. Sharon Editor

Families North London Ltd cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts and photographs. While every care is taken, details are subject to change and Families North London take no responsibility for omissions or errors. We reserve the right to publish and edit any material. All rights reserved.

Free Drama Class Watch your child’s self-esteem soar with Perform’s unique drama, dance and singing classes.

Our weekly workshops will do wonders for their social, linguistic and physical development as well as being the best fun they’ll have all week.

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3

news

who why where

News ZOOFARI Go Really Wild this Easter at N1 Centre Let the children go really wild this Easter at N1 Centre in Islington as the shopping centre teams up with Zoofari, the UK’s largest mobile zoo, from 10th-11th April.

From 11am-3pm each day, families visiting the N1 centre will be greeted by a whole host of furry friends from Slender Tailed Meerkats to Wallabies, African Tortoises and even Chilean Rose Tarantulas. Experienced Zoofari handlers

CRASH COURSE FOR 2ND TIMERS! Expecting your second child or has your family of three recently become four? Feeling a bit overlooked? No time to weigh your new bundle? Expected to remember all the baby stuff from the first time round?

Join our new 5-week course run by Dr. Stacey Pleaner and Dr. Ella Rachamim alongside handpicked experts, with an opportunity to weigh your baby in the comfort of a supportive environment, to learn something new, to remind yourself of something old and have an opportunity for second time mums to socialise. We are a GP and a Paediatrician team from North London with 5 children between us – and in addition, alongside our team of experts, want to offer professional guidance and support during the

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Got some news for us?

If you are a North London based group or organisation whose services or products are for families of young children, we’d love to hear from you. Send press releases and pictures to: editor@familiesnorth.co.uk

will be on-hand to entertain and educate shoppers on each of the animals in an enclosed area in the middle of the centre, promising a fun day out for all the family.

After meeting the crazy critters, shoppers can browse the array of high street stores available at N1 Centre including H&M, Monsoon and Gap, each offering children’s clothing and accessories, before dining at one of the centre’s popular restaurants including Wagamama, Glassworks or the newly opened Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

With 24 retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues under one roof, catering for all ages and offering the latest trends, delicious, hassle-free dining and great entertainment, N1 Centre is the perfect family destination this Easter.

For further information visit www.n1islington.com or follow N1 on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ n1shoppingcentreislington.

weekly sessions. Topics include: • Remember weaning?

• Tackling childhood illnesses, medicines, vaccinations and vitamins • Child development – forgotten those milestones?

• Sleep, sleep and more sleep please • Relationships including new siblings, coping with the new family dynamics, remembering yourself and your partner!

We are also able to incorporate other topics and invite other recommended speakers.

Running Thursday mornings 9:45-11:30 from 18th April till 16th May inclusive. Opening special £110 for 5 weeks. Light refreshments included. Located in both Finchley Central and Mill Hill.

Message us if interested, looking forward to meeting you, info@thebabybabble.com

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A FANTASTIC START FOR RUGBYTOTS IN NORTH LONDON Rugbytots, the UK’s first rugby based play classes for young children, opened their doors for the first time in North London at the beginning of the year. Weekend classes are currently running in both Crouch End and Muswell Hill with further venues to open across North London in the coming months.

Rugbytots offers classes to boys and girls in different age groups across the 2 – 7 year old range. Children not only enjoy the benefits of physical activity, but are gently introduced to rugby and rugby specific skills (running with the ball, finding space, kicking, catching, scoring a try and much more) in a safe, inclusive and, most importantly, fun environment. All classes are held indoors.

Keith Miskelly, father of current Rugbytot, Edward 3, and owner and coach of Rugbytots in North London said, ‘We are delighted with how quickly the classes have filled up. The word is spreading and if the positive feedback from parents is anything to go by, we expect demand for places to continue to grow.’

Rugbytots aims to introduce the sport of rugby to a younger age group in a fun play setting, whilst helping children to develop their physical, psychological and social skills. Rugbytots is not just for children or parents of children who like rugby. Through a structured programme of classes, Rugbytots allows boys and girls to try a different activity and provides them with a positive introduction to rugby. Coaches ensure that classes are fun and full of energy.

Keith went on to say, ‘We have a great bunch of kids, both boys and girls, attending our classes in two cracking venues. They seem to really enjoy the variety and energy of the classes. We encourage parent participation in the classes and, although I suspect they won’t admit it, I think some of the parents are enjoying the classes just as much as, if not more than, the children.’

For further information about Rugbytots in North London, please contact Keith Miskelly at keith@rugbytots.co.uk or call him on 0845 313 6703. Alternatively, you can book a place on a class at www.rugbytots.co.uk

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news STAGECOACH CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

CHICKENSHED IN SOUTHGATE Spring is here and it is a perfect time for children visiting Chickenshed theatre in Southgate. Every Friday and Saturday morning we have our hugely popular, interactive Children’s shows, Tales from the Shed. Aimed at children aged 0-7yrs, our performers and audiences share the same space creating really silly, lively and fun shows for all. Children are always encouraged to make a lot of noise to make the story happen.

There is also an opportunity to hold a children’s party with delicious party food in the theatre bar after the 11.30am show.

Tales characters will come and say hello to the children and sing Happy Birthday at your table.

For older children, we have performance workshops for children aged 5-12yrs called Saturday Shed. This offers a great opportunity for children to develop their performance skills using Chickenshed’s proven teaching methods and unique performing style. Each session involves movement, drama, singing and story making.

Easter Shed, from 8 April – 12 April, is a week long holiday workshop exploring and developing a huge range of performance skills culminating in a performance on the final afternoon. Spaces fill very quickly, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Tales Big Day Out on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April is a mini-festival for all the family to enjoy and take part in performance and creative activities in all areas of the Chickenshed theatre space.

To find out more about the children’s activities at Chickenshed please contact the box office on 020 8292 9222, email bookings@chickenshed.org.uk or visit www.chickenshed.org.uk.

Chickenshed is an inclusive theatre that welcomes everyone! We can be found on the Cat Hill Roundabout, with the nearest tube station being Oakwood or Cockfosters on the Piccadilly Line. There is ample free car parking immediately outside the building.

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Stagecoach is Britain’s largest part-time theatre school for children aged 4-18 and this year it’s celebrating its 25th anniversary. Stagecoach offers quality training in drama, dance and singing to young performers at weekends and is designed to build confidence and develop communication through performance skills.

The fact that Stagecoach has become so widespread during the past 25 years (almost 600 centres throughout the UK and a further 72 overseas) is proof of its success – a clear indication that its system of teaching appeals to students and parents alike. Students are taught by staff with professional backgrounds as performers, choreographers and musicians who are able to draw upon a vast selection of stimulating material to stretch imaginations. A good grounding in

performance skills early in life does wonders for character building.

Stagecoach also provides opportunities to perform professionally.

Local students have appeared in theatre productions such as, ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’, television such as CBeebies, and larger shows including performances at Her Majesty’s Theatre. They’ve appeared extensively in London’s West End theatres as well as in regional performances at local theatres.

To find out about their 2 week trial offer or for any further information, contact your local schools: Highgate (Odette: 020 7272 8108) Stoke Newington (Micha: 020 7354 0354). For all general information, visit www.stagecoach.co.uk

THE ROSE BOWL SUMMER 2013 The Rose Bowl Youth Centre in Canonbury provides positive activates for local young people aged 8-19. Hoxton Hall with our partner organisations delivers a vibrant, varied and free programme of activities in art, sport and media at the centre throughout the year.

Based in the London Borough of Islington, our focus at the centre is to teach new skills and develop talent. Sessions offered are open to all abilities and free of charge, with young people welcome to sign up to as many opportunities as they wish.

If you are interested in coming along to the Rose Bowl with your child to find out more about what we do, please come along on any day of activity and speak with our youth arts team.

Our summer term starts on Tuesday 16th April. For further information about Rose Bowl, please contact youtharts@hoxtonhall.co.uk or call 0207 354 3524.

CIRCUS GLORY The Circus Glory School opened 15 years ago at The Primrose Hill Community Centre. Classes take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons and are either 45 or 60 minutes long.

About the lessons Each class starts with a short warm-up. Children should preferably be barefoot and wearing comfortable clothing. Girls should wear their hair tied up. During lessons, children safely learn to climb a rope and perform tricks on the trapeze and hoop. The studio had three trapezes set at different heights, as well as one rope and one

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CLICK IT! COMPUTER CLASSES NOW RUNNING AT OVER 40 NURSERY SCHOOLS Click IT! are pleased to be expanding its computer classes in the Barnet area. We are teaching at The Rocking Horse, Magic (Whetstone & 2), Ladybird Montessori, Hungry Caterpillars, and Willow Tree (Bright Horizons). We offer weekly classes to pre-school children teaching them essential ICT skills together with funbased educational activities.

If you are interested to learn more and prepare your child for school, call Harsha on 07958 476 121 or email barnet@ clickit-kids.co.uk. Alternatively, speak to your Nursery Manager and ask them to call us, and we would be more than happy to introduce Click IT! to them. hoop, each with its own crash mat. Hula-hoops, juggling balls and clubs are also available to play with during the lesson.

Learning circus skills will improve your child’s concentration, coordination, balance, strength and confidence. Geneviève is CRB checked and fully insured.

Fees Fees are usually paid per term, at a cost of £11 for 45 minutes or £14 for an hour. Children are invited to come for a free try-out before booking.

Circusglory@gmail.com 07973451603

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5

health and happiness

What is wellness?

HEALTH &

What is the true meaning of Wellness? What does it really mean to be well?

Does it simply mean to be not unwell and free of illness?

need to look at the overall picture.

Wellness can be influenced by a huge variety of factors each as important as the other. These influencing factors can and do include:

• Increase energy levels • Decrease fatigue • Increase mental alertness at work and play • Rarely become ill • Feel fantastic most of the time!

• Optimizing sleep / wake patterns • Consuming good quality foods • Eating correctly for your biochemical individuality • Consuming good quality water • Consuming enough water • Drinking alcohol in moderation • Not smoking cigarettes • Eliminating toxins from your body • Decreasing your exposure to electromagnetic stress • Limiting the amount of stress in your life • Effectively handling the stress in your life • Keeping a positive attitude to life • Being happy with yourself • Being physically active • Being mentally active

So what does Wellness encompass?

So what is it that makes up the true meaning of wellness? If you are looking at the overall picture, then you really

This list above is by no means the completed list. I’m sure that as you read over the list you are thinking of other factors that could influence how you feel

Or does it mean that you have endless amounts of energy, very rarely get sick and bounce out of bed every day ready to take on the world?

If the latter picture is you, that’s fantastic!! If not then there are probably a few areas that you could improve to:

HAPPINESS on a day-to-day basis.

However, the point that I am trying to raise is that there are a lot of factors that will influence your overall wellness.

If you can honestly say that you are doing all of the above, then you are well on the way to achieving an overall very positive state of wellness. If not then you could start to look at the various factors to improve your overall health.

Wellness is not just determined by being physically fit, or not having to visit the doctor. Wellness is about being in the best shape possible, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I hope that this article has made you stop and think a little bit about what you could be doing to enhance your health and overall wellbeing.

Lyndon Littlefair Corrective & Performance Exercise Specialist Tel: 07957 152245 Email: homept@londonwellness.co.uk www.londonwellness.co.uk

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Holiday Temporary Night Nannies Mother’s Help Babysitting Service Maternity Nurses

If you are looking for a child carer or if you would like to find a family to work for, please contact us and we will help you all the way.

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family ďŹ nance

Saving for your children doesn’t have to be taxing We all want to give our children the best start in adult life but with average student debt expected to rise to £53,000 in 2013 and the average age of first time property buyers now at 35 starting life as an adult is going to be financially challenging for most children.

The first thing to do is to open a bank or building society account for your child. You can open it in your child’s name with you acting as trustee.

When you open the account make sure you sign an R85 form ensuring the interest they receive does not have tax automatically deducted from it. If an account is opened by a third party, such as a grandparent, you, the parent, will need to sign this HMRC form.

When the child is 16, providing they are not a tax payer, they will need to sign an R85 in their own name.

You need to be aware that there could be tax consequences for you from your children’s savings. If the money you have given to them earns over £100 in interest you, the parent, are liable for tax on that interest. This only applies to interest earned on gifts made by parents, other relatives and friends are not subject to the same conditions. £100 in interest might seem like a lot when interest rates are so low, but over the next 18 years they will rise.

There are lots of alternatives to a simple deposit account, the most popular being the Junior ISA. Launched in November 2011 these are only available to children who do not have a Child Trust Fund. Just like adult ISAs all of the returns are free of income and capital gains tax. Cash and stocks and shares Junior ISAs are available and with an annual limit initially set at £3000 but due to rise a significant nest egg can be built up. Most Junior ISAs have fairly low minimum contributions and offer the flexibility of one off and regular deposits or a combination of both. Children can only have 1 cash and 1 stocks and shares Junior ISA. The major disadvantage of this account is that the funds are automatically transferred to the control of the teenager on their eighteenth birthday. Whilst the Junior ISA is a good way of minimising any potential tax liability on your child’s savings, there are alternatives.

Peter Green, Chief Executive of Healthy Investment, a mutual friendly society, explained. ‘Tax Exempt Savings Plans are great way of investing a modest sum over a longer period of time to build a sum of money that your child will find really usefully.’ Unique to friendly societies, Tax Exempt Savings Plans allow every member of the family to invest up to ÂŁ25 month and enjoy the proceeds tax free. Peter added ‘The parent or other

premium payer decides when the plan commences and at what age the policy matures. If parents are serious about building a useful cash lump sum the best way is to commit to a modest amount over a long period of time.

Traditionally over an 18 year period stocks and shares have outperformed deposit based investments, which make Tax Exempt Savings Plans a useful tool for parents’.

Finally, for the serious investor, you can now invest for your child in a Self Invested Pension Scheme. They might not be able to access the funds until they are 55 but for some parents it will be a sensible option when it comes to making investing for children as tax free as possible.

For further details of tax efficient investing for children speak to an independent financial adviser or to find out more about the Tax Exempt Savings Plans and Junior ISAs available from Healthy Investment contact them directly on 0800 731 2422 quoting ABCPC2.

Sarah-Jane Butler is the founder of Parental Choice, the essential ‘one-stop shop’ to help you make the right decision on your childcare needs. For more information on your childcare options, see the Parental Choice website: www. parentalchoice.co.uk.

Parental Choice Limited is an introducer appointed representative of Healthy Investment which is the trading name of The Rechabite Friendly Society Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) with FSA register number 109994.

Imagination takes you everywhere...

story

drama

play

6 months – 7 years

Interactive storytelling and dramatic play classes t QSPNPUJOH TLJMGVM DPNNVOJDBUJPO t GPTUFSJOH DSFBUJWJUZ t CVJMEJOH TFMG DPOGJEFODF jennifer@debutots.co.uk 020 8442 2380 www.debutots.co.uk Beginners Classes: Wednesday 16.30 Hampstead Garden Suburb Thursdays 17.30 Swiss Cottage

020-8445-2588 www.panthakarateclub.co.uk info@panthakarateclub.co.uk

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Local Venues t Nurseries t Schools t Children's Centres t Parties

for children aged 5 to 14 years

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family finance

Discover the Clothes Tree The UK’s only dedicated online children’s preloved clothing brand, The Clothes Tree has re-launched its website today, offering customers the quickest and easiest way of making money back on their children’s outgrown clothing.

Instead of waiting for items to sell on the site before receiving payment, customers can now post their items to The Clothes Tree completely free of charge and receive payment within three days.

The Clothes Tree, launched in October 2011 sells new and nearly new designer clothes for 0 to 14 years of age, providing fashion conscious parents with an affordable way to buy good quality designer clothing whilst also offering an easy way to make money in current cash strapped times – selling designer ware that no longer fits their offspring.

The new Clothes Tree website has been designed to provide a ‘breath of fresh air’ for customers with its focus on simplicity, usability and clean design, offering customers a quick and easy understanding of the brand and an enjoyable browse through the rails of designer bargains which can now be viewed close up.

Clearer links to the Clothes Tree’s social network groups provides the opportunity for customers to become part of the brand’s community, engaging in a range of parenting, fashion and lifestyle topics and the new site provides a human element with fun and quirky daily news posts from Mhairi Clarke, writer, PR Consultant, mum and founder of The Clothes Tree.

Speaking about the relaunch of the website, Mhairi Clarke commented: ‘I’m absolutely delighted with the whole look, feel and usability of the new site. I’ve spent a year since the launch of the company listening to customers, seeking feedback and finding few and better ways to develop what was originally a great site, but for me felt slightly lacking in some elements. It’s been a painful process in parts but I feel we’ve got the site to where it needs to be and I’m a firm believer in trying and testing and feeding back into the business to evolve rather than trying to get everything right first time and feeling that you’ve got

‘It’s a great feeling when you clear out your child’s room, make room for new clothes and know that you’re getting money back for the outgrown items.’

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a finished product. That’s never the case in business, especially online business nowadays. It’s about keeping things fresh and interesting and never taking your finger off the pulse.’

Mum of one, Mhairi commented; ‘I started to become really conscious of all the bags of beautiful clothes which had been worn only a few times, mounting in my loft. I always thought that I would sell them at some point but that point never came around and I lay in bed one night and pictured all the houses across the country which were like mine – bags of beautiful clothes in the loft, or at the back of children’s wardrobes and thought that there must be a way of bringing all these fabulous clothes together in one place and helping mums to get cash back for their children’s outgrown or never worn clothes. We’re all feeling the squeeze just now and so I set out to create a place where beautiful clothes can be loved again and generate a bit of an income for mums and The Clothes Tree grew from that idea.’

She added; ‘It’s a great feeling when you clear out your child’s room, make room for new clothes and know that you’re getting money back for the outgrown items. Buying good quality second hand children’s clothing makes sense. It’s smart, savvy, fun and you can choose from rails of beautiful, hardly worn pieces in one dedicated online boutique rather than having to trawl through the internet, bidding on auction sites’.

Customers looking to sell clothing can log onto the site and complete a short summary of what they wish to sell. They then receive two large branded mailing bags that, once filled, can be sent back Freepost. Payment is sent after inspection of the clothes and the items are then steamed, hung and photographed before being listed on the site for sale – making the whole process stress free and the easiest way to turn children’s outgrown clothes into cash!

Purchasing on The Clothes Tree is easy – customers can now just click on the item, submit payment and The Clothes Tree sends out each item of clothing in a beautiful, tissue wrapped

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parcel, offering a truly boutique experience.

The Clothes Tree ‘stocks’ all major children’s designer labels, including: Armani, Dior, Chloe, Burberry, Kenzo, Ralph Lauren and Juicy Couture.

The Clothes Tree can be found at www.theclothestree.co.uk Branching into fashion Mhairi Clarke clearly likes to work.

Not only is she doing a full-time job as communications manager to Bionic Vet Noel Fitzpatrick, but she is setting up her own business which allows people to re-sell their designer clothes.

Mhairi has always enjoyed a busy work life. She used to be a production secretary on Blue Peter, but realised that the long hours and short-term contracts did not make for a secure future. She moved into tv marketing as a publication executive for specialist factual programmes like Walking with Dinosaurs and BBC Schools. Her son was born in 2003 and she planned to take a year off. However, all her plans went to the wall when six weeks after the birth Mhairi’s marriage ended, just before Christmas.

She decided to leave London and move back in with her parents in Scotland. She accepted quite quickly that her marriage was over, but it took a while to find her feet. ‘Getting a divorce is a full-time job in itself,’ she says, adding that it took her a couple of years to get herself sorted out. ‘It was not till I was divorced that I could get a feel for the future. I felt it was down to me to make a good future for me and my son,’ she says.

Retraining A freelance opportunity came up in PR and marketing. She says she was winging it a bit as she had never done PR. She decided to retrain and do a masters in PR and soon got a job in Vets Now, an emergency and critical care out of hours service for pets. The business grew fast and Mhairi rose from PR executive to PR manager.

The job was very busy and there were times she had to be away from her son

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family finance It was too big and too random. I felt there was a gap for a designer online boutique,’ she says.

She started working on a business plan and drumming up business through social media. The idea for her business, The Clothes Tree, is that she will sell old designer clothes for people. She sends people who contact her about selling clothes mailing bags which they collect clothes in and return to her freepost. She offers them a price for the clothes then she re-sells online. for two or three days. Nevertheless, her employers were flexible and allowed her to pick up her son from school and then log on again in the evening.

She did the job for three years and then the company had a restructure and the marketing department was made redundant. Mhairi was offered a 20-hour a week freelance contract working from home. Her salary was cut in half so she started freelancing on the side, developing her own PR lifestyle consultancy, doing PR for clients such as florists and jewellers.

She realised, however, that she wanted to move into the retail industry.

‘I realised that there was no online boutique re-selling quality clothes. Ebay never appealed to me for buying clothes.

The next level The shop is beginning to build up a lot of interest and Mhairi has set up an office in a converted mill 10 minutes from home. It has also brought press attention in Scotland. Mhairi has a regular blog on a Scottish newspaper, for instance. Now she wants to take it to the next level and is looking for an investor so she can afford to pay for an assistant.

This is because at around the same time that she set up the business she started a full-time job as a communications manager for the BBC’s Bionic Vet. It’s a busy job and, although she works mainly from home, she has to travel to Surrey every few weeks.

Mhairi says she looks forward to it as she loves her job and it means she can

just focus on her work, even if she misses her son.

She clearly loves being busy because she is also writing a book, which she says is an honest guide to making mistakes and surviving them. ‘It’s through the eyes of a mother and is about all the expectations we have to live up to and the guilt that comes as a consequence of feeling we are not being a good mum,’ she says.

She had decided that she didn’t want to build her fledgling business too quickly, but she says she realised she had, ironically given her background, been neglecting marketing it. Over Christmas she went to Australia and took the time to write a huge marketing strategy for 2012, including an online strategy. She is now looking forward to the future.

‘I love my work. I don’t look at it as 9 to 5 work. There are no real divisions between my work, life, family and relationships and it works,’ she says.

‘I realised that there was no online boutique re-selling quality clothes.

Ebay never appealed to me for buying clothes.’

Music classes for babies and young children!

Action songs and rhymes Music and movement Fun with percussion Musical games

® d no blues ! all r hythm an Hampstead & Notting Hill 020 8451 7626 Muswell Hill, Crouch End & Highgate 020 8889 0114 High Barnet, Mill Hill & Whetstone 020 8449 4025 Southgate, Winchmore Hill & East Barnet 020 8360 2730

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Since 1993 thousands of children across the UK have grown up with Monkey Music. Our unique teaching curriculum was written by classically trained musicians, and introduces music to very young children in a way they can easily understand and enjoy.

Rock ‘n’ roll - from 3 months Heigh ho – from 12 months Jiggety jig – 2 & 3 year olds Ding dong – 3 & 4 year olds It’s fun, formative and a great way of making friends!

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9

legal

No-nups Like most people, I’m aware of pre-nuptial agreements that help married couples plan for who would get what in the event of a divorce, but I’ve just heard about something called a ‘no-nup’... What’s that?

Certainly lesser-known that the pre-nup (and for people who are already married: the post-nup), the so-called ‘no-nup’ has actually been around for some time under several different names, including the ‘Living Together Agreement’ and ‘Cohabitation Agreement’.

Broadly, the no-nup resembles a prenup but is for unmarried couples who live together, and spells out exactly what each party would like to happen to their shared finances, property and parental responsibilities in the event of a split. It can also regulate the couple’s payments of shared outgoings during the relationship.

The alternative to not having one, of course, is the time-honoured approach of just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best...

The greatest risk, however – if there

Enjoy-a-Ball

is no agreement in place and you’re not married to your partner – and your relationship becomes untenable, is that you have less legal protection from the ensuing elements, than you would have as a spouse. The range of items that stand to be affected thereafter is likely to resemble a top-ten of what’s most important in your life, such as: your house, your children and your possessions.

As a family lawyer – who, incidentally still finds herself dispelling the myth of Common-Law Marriage (there’s no such thing) – I highly recommend unmarried couples think about what would happen to these all-important aspects of their lives by formalising their wishes regarding them in the best of times, to better plan for what might happen in the worst of times.

On the question of whether such an agreement would work in court, it’s worth exploring the recent dramatic rise

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in the power of the pre-nuptial agreement in this country.

Pre-nups are closer to becoming legallybinding now, thanks to the recent case of a German heiress who successfully appealed against a multimillion pound award by a UK court to her French husband whose pre-nup stated he could not claim on her, in the event of divorce.

The Supreme Court ruled he should be held to this agreement, and subsequently his original award was removed, thus setting an important precedent for the weight such agreements have here.

That shift will extend, in part, to all contracts made between couples, married or unmarried, so long as they entered into them willingly and received independent legal advice, before signing.

The no-nup represents a very important area of law that continues to evolve.

And with the number of people marrying in the UK falling, in favour of cohabitation, and the underlying factors of shared finances, property and children remaining, getting a no-nup should therefore be at the very top of your to-do list, in my opinion, if you’re not going to tie the knot with your partner.

Deborah Jeff is the Founding Partner and Head of Family at Seddons Solicitors (www.seddons.co.uk) in London and provides expert advice on divorce, family law and marital issues.

The Dance of Expression

CHANTRAINE

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Dance for life! Dance for joy!

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Please call to make an appointment to view the Nursery

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11

theatre school

Kasim’s Story

Kasim Rana is eight years old and a Y4 pupil at St Paul’s CE Primary School in Belsize Park, North London.

Since he could walk Kasim has loved to dance. He would hear music – it could be classical, pop, rock, anything really – and

Your chance to win an opportunity of a lifetime!

Last November Razzamataz and The Stage newspaper awarded Kasim Rana a year’s scholarship to attend their exciting new theatre school in Hampstead.

Kasim will be performing in this large-scale summer show which has been his dream for many years. After reading about the impact

work it into dance moves. He would pick out the beat, or hear rhythm in music that wasn’t typically child-like, and leap about, twirling and doing jazz hands.

He had a severe speech delay and didn’t talk until he was six. Music and dance were always his way of expression.

After being diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, one occupational therapist suggested dancing would help with co-ordination and confidence. He watched his cousins perform in the Beck Youth Theatre (in Hillingdon) and pleaded with me to take him to Razzamataz because his dream is to perform in a show.

Sam Bradshaw the Principal of Razzamataz theatre school says ‘Kasim’s email touched me when he simply said I want to be in a show, and I am delighted to be offering what could be a life changing experience to such a dedicated student’.

Kasim’s mum Julia said ‘I thought

it made on Kasim Rana’s life, Families North London Magazine decided to contact Sam Bradshaw the Principal to see how they could get involved.

Sam (Razzamataz) and Sharon (Families North London Magazine) decided to run a new competition ‘’RAZZ HAS GOT TALENT 2013’’ with first prize being a year’s scholarship worth up to £750.00 for the lucky winner.

The competition will also award a 2nd place prize of 1 term at Razzamataz worth £245 and a 3rd prize of 2 tickets to the Summer Gala theatre show at the Pleasance theatre in Islington on Sunday, 23rd June, 2013.

Anyone between the age of 4 and 18 years can enter RAZZ HAS GOT TALENT with a song, dance or acting piece which will be judged between 8th and 10th April, 2013 by our industry professional panel.

The deadline for applications is Friday, 5th April, 2013. Applications must email the

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he might be overwhelmed at the ‘taster’ session for Razzamataz. Part of his condition is he gets anxious with loud noises or crowds. He told me he had found the drama part more challenging but had loved the dancing and singing “so much” it hadn’t mattered. He had such a spring in his step I knew he had loved it.’

We read about the scholarship and I just felt ‘go for it’. I have always thought when Kasim dances you can sense not just see the sheer joy. He’s a very special little boy and when he dances this shows.

When he did his show reel he took it very seriously and kept on deleting his sequence and danced for two hours with Michael Jackson on full blast until he got it right.

This scholarship has given Kasim a huge confidence boost. He hasn’t stopped smiling. Even though he is only eight he understands this is a fantastic opportunity... and he knows his dream to be in a show still might just come true.

following: Name, Address, Parent phone number and what they will be performing to hampstead@razzamataz. co.uk. You will then be contacted with information about the Razz Has audition process.

Got Talent Sam says ‘We are so excited Scholarship to discover the local talent and 2013 see what is on offer’. The winners will be announced in Families North London Magazine and in local papers and the winning student not only wins the £750 scholarship but will also be put forward for our performance at Her Majesty’s Theatre show 2014 in London’s West End. ‘I am so grateful to Families North London Magazine for offering this brilliant opportunity’ says Sam. ‘You have to be in it to win it so apply now’.

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education

GCSEs – time for change?

By Lorrae Jaderberg and Katie Krais

Michael Gove, education secretary wants to bring in what he described as more rigorous exams in some core subjects from 2015; however this has had to be shelved for the time being.

GCSEs will be retained as they are, despite him having condemned them as lacking rigour.

He will press ahead with major reforms to GCSEs, as early as 2015, but has abandoned his plans to create an English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) and introduce a single examination board. It may be that he was warned some exam boards may go bankrupt and sue the Department for Education for breaching EU procurement rules. That might have been the reason for delaying his planned changes for the exam system until 2018.

Mr Gove is still moving forward with major changes to the GCSEs, even if they will no longer be rebranded as English Baccalaureate Certificates. Additionally there will be a revamp of the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools and a further rewriting of school league table results in order to end a culture of low expectations.

He intends there to be changes in the core GCSE subjects from September 2015, so exams are taken at the end of two years rather than in stages. He promised there would be ‘fewer bite-sized and overly structured questions and a reduced role for coursework’.

In addition there will be no more ‘tiers’ of GCSEs, so the easier ‘foundation paper’ where the maximum grade possible is a C will be removed. He has also promised that English and history will test ‘extended writing’.

The idea is that in future, the tables will reflect the percentage of pupils in each school reaching a threshold in the core subjects of English and maths; and provide an average point score showing how much progress every student makes between key stage 2 and key stage 4 across eight different subjects.

The main issue seems to be that there has not been a debate about what the curriculum should look like for young people, particularly with the raising of the participation age to 18.

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Worried about your child’s levels of achievement? Need some help with secondary school choices?

Jaderberg Krais Educational Consultancy provides advice and services addressing all parts of children’s education.

It is run by professionals Lorrae Jaderberg and Katie Krais, two highly qualified and experienced primary teachers with a long and successful history specialising in helping primary school children achieve their potential while at the same time supporting their parents. It was set up to fulfill their vision and belief that every child should be given the opportunity and encouragement to achieve to the best of their ability and potential.

Lorrae and Katie have developed a team of highly professional teachers who provide tutoring at home and in schools for all age groups from 5 to 18 years old. Teachers come home to students and provide whatever teaching is needed including: Special needs support, 11+, Y6 SATs, GCSEs, A Levels, SSATs and professional qualifications such as IELTS. Jaderberg Krais have 16+ career advisors and specialists to support GCSE and A Level choices and for all aspects of university applications from personal statements to mock interviews.

There is a full advisory and support service for families abroad wishing to send their children to UK schools and universities; including assessing children and finding the right schools for them. Tutoring online in preparation for school and university entrance exams is also offered when needed.

‘The idea behind our work is to provide a hand holding service to families – helping them through every stage of their child’s education.

This ranges from supporting parents with making the right school choices at primary and secondary level, to helping identify any special needs issues or making suggestions about how to support your child in reaching their true potential,’ Katie explains.

Lorrae says, ‘Parents want confirmation, to know exactly what level their children are working at, how they are progressing academically, what their strengths and weaknesses are and honesty regarding their

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potential. In response to this, we provide academic assessments, advice about schooling and individual and group tutoring – all to an extremely high standard. We also refer children to other professionals and specialists as required.’

Their services include academic assessments to find out a child’s ability and potential in order to make informed judgements about choosing future schools; all forms of tutoring, including preparing children for state selective and independent secondary school 11+ entrance examinations including interview technique and practice; confidence building, referral to specialists, counselling services, seminars for parents and industry and in-service training for schools and local authorities.

Both Lorrae and Katie have had many years’ primary school teaching and senior management experience behind them, along with working as special educational needs co-ordinators with qualifications in specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia. They are both published educational authors.

Since 2007, Lorrae has been running ‘Lorrae Jaderberg Educational Consultancy’ and Katie her own consultancy called, ‘Surviving School Transfer’, advising parents on all aspects of secondary transfer.

In 2007 Katie went on to write her book ‘Teach yourself getting your child into secondary school’ which was published in 2009 by Hodder as part of their bestselling ‘Teach Yourself’ range. This book provides help to parents, arming them with up to date knowledge, facts and rules about the transfer system as well as providing them with realistic expectations about future schools based on thorough assessments.

‘We are growing at a tremendous rate’, Lorrae remarked, ‘parents tell us how important this type of service is and how they wished they had known about us earlier. Once a family starts with us, we usually look after all of their children throughout their education. It is very rewarding to be able to make a difference.’

Katie continues, ‘We are really pleased with the positive impact that our work is having on the local community and look forward to many years working in partnership with parents, schools and children. We are here to guide, advise and support – not judge!’

If you would like to know more about Lorrae and Katie’s services visit their website at: www.jaderbergkrais.co.uk

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education

Jolly Phonics

EXTRA

by Caroline Knowles, a primary school teacher from the Wirral

As a full time teacher who specialises in helping year 1 and 2 children who struggle to read I have seen a lot of children overcome their problems with reading and writing using synthetic phonics.

Our school on the Wirral has a relatively high number of children with special education needs (SEN) and we have a reputation for taking children that other schools won’t take. Some of our pupils have a range of emotional, social and behavioural problems as well as learning difficulties. We also have gifted children that we place on the ‘gifted and talented’ register.

Over the last year I have been using Jolly Phonics Extra, a programme specifically designed to help struggling readers, with a group of year 1 children.

One of the children in the group is autistic and one is struggling because English is their second language.

Jolly Phonics Extra has a talking pen which allows children to work alone, or in small groups in order to check their own progress without pressure.

In order to help my struggling readers, I formed a Phonics Friends group at lunchtime which consisted of my year 1 readers and three year 6 children who had problems with reading. The group all had a straight forward synthetic phonics lesson in the morning and then at lunchtime they would get together with their ‘Phonics Friends’. The year 6 children would take a

A FEELING OF BELONGING….. …. AT THE MOUNT SCHOOL School can be challenging and girls work best when they feel happy and confident.

Choosing a school where your daughter will get to know everyone is a huge advantage. It will allow her to feel secure

14

year 1 child and they would use the large Jolly Phonics finger book to go through the sounds. The little girl with English as her second language really enjoyed the sounding out of the letters with her partner and the use of the flash cards.

The child with autism would use the Jolly Phonics Extra book with the talking pen with their year 6 partner and began grasping the concept of ‘blending’.

We had another child with autism who couldn’t look at his teacher. The teacher struggled to get or keep his attention and so she asked the teaching assistant to sit with him and use the Jolly Phonics Extra book with the talking pen. The teacher and her assistant were amazed by his response to the pen and the book – it was the first time that he’d shown any interest in learning his sounds.

Just by touching the page the child was able to get the talking pen to speak the letter sounds, sing the Jolly Songs, blend, read a story and could ask a question from the 4,000 sound files stored within.

We use the kit with a year 3 boy who has autism and he enjoys taking control of the book and responds really well to using the pen as a gadget. When he uses the talking pen he sits still and is absorbed in the process of learning. He activates the songs with the help of the talking pen, he activates the story and quite often tells the teaching assistant what he is doing and what he enjoys about the process.

The year 1 children like the pen because it looks a bit like a microphone and they love the fact that the pen as a gadget allows them to put the songs on themselves. When they achieve something or answer a question with the help of the pen they receive praise straight away from the book itself. within the school community, provide a firm support structure and give her the confidence to excel at her academic work along with the opportunity to explore her individual interests and talents.

The inspectors recognised that ‘the pastoral care given by the school is a strength; teachers know their pupils well and relationships throughout the school are warm, friendly and relaxed.’

From the age of three your daughter will be stimulated and guided in her learning by our specialist, caring teachers. With our small class sizes your daughter will be given the quality time and attention she deserves. Learning will be a pleasure, ensuring growth in her

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Children with special education needs have various challenges to overcome, some have problems remembering things, so they may know their letter sounds but can’t blend. I have a little boy who has memory problems, he can learn the sounds and think they’re fun, but when it comes to sounding out a word, such as f-a-t, by the time he’s got to ‘t’ he has forgotten the beginning. Putting things in place to help him, adding extra tools such as the talking pen, helps to reinforce what he’s learning in a fun and interactive way.

Very young children who show an aptitude and an interest in their letters have enjoyed using Jolly Phonics Extra too. I have also used the kit with my grandchild who has just turned 3 years of age, she is gifted and now knows lots of her letter sounds.

Information on Jolly Phonics Extra along with extra resources to help with the teaching at home and school of synthetic phonics, spelling, punctuation and grammar can be found at www.jollylearning.co.uk

Families North London Magazine has one Jolly Phonics Extra set to win.

To enter go to www.familiesnorth.co.uk/ competitions.

confidence and self-esteem. Each day includes a class taken by specialist music, language, PE, dance or drama teachers. From Reception learning is more structured and in juniors girls are challenged to enable quick progression.

Our senior school will provide your daughter with the opportunity to grow, develop and hone her knowledge and skills through studying a broad range of subjects.

A visit is the best was to fully appreciate our school. You and your daughter would be most welcome to attend an Open Morning or arrange a private tour.

‘Excellent exam results, small classes and a real sense of community.’ www.mountschool.com

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education

Adding a splash of colour to pupils’ education ‘Colour’ is a serious business. The chosen colour palettes for next season will have an influence on the design of every type of product in the marketplace from paint, furnishings and fashion to cars, kitchen appliances and electrical equipment. To learn how colours are forecast and marketed, Year 11 pupils were set a task

by Brand Designer, Steve Trimm, to design their own range of colours for a paint manufacturer.

Pupils then presented their new palettes to global colour expert, Justine Fox, who runs her own colour, trend and design consultancy, Clarity InColour Limited.

Both Steve and Justine were genuinely

Open Mornings School in Action

surprised at the standard of work produced.

Trailblazer pupils, Harvey and Tamsin, came up with some unique ideas for colours based on their own insights into the current British and global mood. Tamsin designed a colour range on an ironic and nostalgic British beach theme while Harvey gained inspiration from global modernist architects to make a palette for a sophisticated urban audience.

Tamsin comments: ‘I have loved working on this project. It was interesting to learn the impact colour can have on our lives, as well as how to use CS6 design packages such as Adobe Illustrator. It taught me that you really

STORY WRITING WORKSHOPS at Jacksons Lane Community Centre, Highgate

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The Mount School

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need to think about what the customer is feeling and experiencing, to produce a colour range that is relevant to them today.’

Justine Fox, who works in a global network of trend consultants and for companies in the UK such as Homebase, Addis Housewares and Tesco, adds: ‘Although colour forecasting is as old as the fashion industry itself, it is not often covered in schools and art colleges. This is my first visit to a school since going to school myself! The subject needs to be taken more seriously in education as companies these days are a lot more colour savvy than they used to be’.

‘I was very impressed with the wellresearched background stories and quality of work. Tamsin presented particularly well, at a level similar to professionals I have seen. It was clear the pupils had really thought about their paint collections and identified their customer base.’

For more information on what a Thames education can offer your child: Tel: 020 7228 3933 www.thameschristiancollege.org.uk

10 am to 1pm – April 9th & 10th - £90 at Stoke Newington Library 10 .30 am to 1.30pm April 12th £45

Book Now. www.inkhead.co.uk

Our courses are extremely popular with children who enjoy writing as well as those who don’t. We show how to construct believable characters and breathe life into them before sending them on sometimes adventurous, often dangerous, journeys, which become riveting plots.

By the end of our course your child will have written at least one story they could be proud of.

www.thameschristiancollege.org.uk

Thamesbecause small schools build big futures

Milespit Hill, Mill Hill, London NW7 2RX

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our exceptional independent school for boys and girls

‘To be rather than to seem to be’ OPEN MORNING TH U RSDAY 2nd MAY 11 .0 0 -1 .0 0

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For full list of open mornings, enrolment and fee details contact 020 7228 3933 Thames Christian College, Wye Street, London SW11 2HB

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15

health

The Wonder Weeks

What are leaps?

By Dr. Frans Plooij PhD

It’s not your imagination– all babies go through a difficult period around the same age.

Timed fussiness: the true reason Research has shown that babies make 10 major, predictable, age-linked changes – or leaps – during their first 20 months of their lives. During this time, they will learn more than in any other time. With each leap comes a drastic change in your baby’s mental development, which affects not only his mood, but also his health, intelligence, sleeping patterns and the ‘three C’s’ (crying, clinging and crankiness).

Babies cry during a leap because they’ve reached a radical new step in their mental development. That is good: it gives them the opportunity to learn new things. The ‘difficult’ behavior is actually a signal that great progress is underway.

Like the physical growth spurts that a child makes, the mental development of children is also made with leaps.

Neurological research has shown that such leaps are accompanied by changes in the brain. The Wonder Weeks, by Dutch authors Hetty van de Rijt and Frans Plooij, describes in easy to understand terms the incredible developmental changes that all babies go through during their first 20 months of life.

What is a mental leap?

A leap in the mental development of your baby means that suddenly there are many changes in his head. Suddenly, his brain perceives things it wasn’t capable of perceiving before. This change is so great that his entire world suddenly looks different.

Babies cry during a leap because they’ve reached a radical new step in their mental development.

16

Why do I have to fill in the due date and not the date of birth?

The timing of the mental development of a baby is linked to the age since conception and not to the age since birth. Therefore, to know when your baby is making a leap, you have to fill in the due date, and not the date of birth.

Phases in a mental leap Just as your baby has processed the previous mental leap and has mastered a number of new skills, the next leap announces itself! The life of your baby will change drastically yet again. This process keeps repeating itself during the first two years. Especially in the first three months, when leaps follow one another in rapid sequence. You can well understand that your baby has not had time to fully master all skills the previous leap made feasible before the next leap begins. That does not matter, because he will keep going, mastering skills made possible by previous leaps while going through the next stages of development.

Mastering all the skills made possible by one leap extends beyond several additional leaps Clinginess, crankiness and crying For 35 years, we have been studying interactions between mothers and babies. We have documented – in objective observations, from personal records, and on videotape – the times at which mothers report their babies to be ‘difficult.’ These difficult periods are usually accompanied by the three C’s: clinginess, crankiness and crying.

We now know that they are the telltale signs of a period in which the child makes a major leap forward in his mental development. Babies all undergo these fussy phases at around the same ages. During the first 20 months of a baby’s life, there are ten developmental leaps with their corresponding clingy periods at onset. The clingy periods come at 5, 8, 12, 19, 26, 37, 46, 55, 64 and 75 weeks. The onsets may vary by a week or two, but you can be sure of

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their occurrence. All babies experience clingy periods when big changes in their development occur. Usually calm, easygoing babies will react to these changes just as much as difficult, temperamental babies do. But not surprisingly, temperamental babies will have more difficulty in dealing with them than their calmer counterparts Mothers of ‘difficult’ babies will also have a harder time as their babies already require more attention and will demand even more when they have to cope with these big changes. These babies will have the greatest need for mommy, the most conflict with their mothers, and the largest appetite for learning.

How does your baby’s world change during a mental leap?

With each mental leap that your baby makes, it gains a new kind of perception. It is through this new potential or ability that he is able to perceive new things – that is see, hear, taste, smell and feel new things. All the new things he is perceiving now were already present in the environment before the leap. He just did not notice them because his brain did not make them out at the time. After making the mental leap, he suddenly notices the new things in front him. It is difficult for us adults to imagine this, but your baby’s whole world has now changed.

Consequences of a ‘new world’ The new kind of perception your baby gains when he makes a mental leap gives him the ability to develop many new skills that require this level of perception, though it may be some time before he develops a particular skill of the many that are possible.

Think of it as a store with different departments where products are sorted by properties they have in common – in this case that they require a particular level of perception. When a mental leap occurs, your baby can enter a particular department for the first time. Once

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health there he needs to choose a product, a skill, to practice. He can not suddenly buy everything offered in the whole department. What he chooses, and how he chooses it, makes your baby unique.

Does a baby control everything once a mental leap is complete?

If your baby has completed a mental leap, it means that he has come to terms with his new perceptual ability. He is no longer crying, cranky and clingy.

But that does not mean that he can do everything or has all the skills that this new kind of perception potentially has given him. Basically his brain is now capable of developing a whole set of new skills, but your baby has to try them out and practice before he can fully control them. This does not happen by itself. Your baby will learn by experience, learn by mistakes, and learn by trial and error. This exercise takes a lot of time. Your baby will master some skills right after a leap, but other skills will have to wait or take more time. And babies differ regarding their preferences and what skills they develop quickly after a leap.

How do you discover your baby’s personality?

When you open up to your baby and look for everything he ‘tells you’ with

his body language, you get a very good idea of your baby’s personality.

By keeping track of which skills your baby chooses after a leap, from among the many new possible skills listed in each section of ‘The Wonder Weeks’, you get an even better picture. Some parents want to check off as many skills as possible. Don’t do this. This is like expecting an athlete to master all possible sports at once. Developing skills takes time and practice. The intention behind each list is not for you to check off as many new skills as you can, but to see what your baby’s preferences are.

After making the mental leap, he suddenly notices the new things in front him. It is difficult for us adults to imagine this, but your baby’s whole world has now changed.

Dr. Frans Plooij P.HD is a leading expert on infant mental development and the author of the bestseller The Wonder Weeks. The Wonder Weeks describes your baby’s mental development and help him turn his 10 predictable, great, fussy phases into magical leaps forward.

It describes in easy-to-understand terms the incredible developmental changes and regression periods that all babies go through during the first 20 months of their lives. The Wonder Weeks is available online in hard copy as well as in eBook. www.thewonderweeks.com

Want to know more about The Wonder Weeks and when your baby is about to enter a Wonder Week?

Visit the website www. thewonderweeks.com and sign up for the FREE leap alarm. You will get an email during the week when your baby – at the earliest – will make the next leap. Each email will feature a short description of your baby’s imminent leap in mental development.

NEW: The Wonder Weeks is also available per chapter (per leap) on Kindle and as eBook in the iTunes Bookstore!

To win one of 20 e-books go to www. familiesnorth.co.uk/competitions

Individual tutoring and assessments available 5-18yrs children, including children with special educational needs.

Preparation for 11+ state selective and independent secondary school entrance examinations.

Katie Krais P.G.C.E., Cert. Spld.

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breastfeeding

Breastfeeding in public for the first time Getting out and about with your new baby is a lot simpler than you may think, especially when you are breastfeeding, as your little one’s meals are ready instantly and available in abundant supply.

If you are not convinced, here are a few simple tips to help you on your way out the door.

Dress for success Getting your baby onto the breast quickly and with minimal fuss, is something that will come with practice, what you wear will make this a lot easier even when you first go out. Choose a nursing bra and feeding top that give you ample room for manoeuvre and that open in the same direction. If your nursing bra opens downwards, choose a top that opens downwards too, rather than sideways

Competition!

Legoland Win one of 2 family days out to the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort and celebrate the opening of the new DUPLO® Valley – a completely new land opening in May 2013 A pre-school paradise of imaginative fun and play awaits young visitors to the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort with the opening of a NEW themed land – DUPLO® Valley. This exciting water play area will bring to life the colourful building toy range – LEGO® DUPLO® with a mix of toddler friendly rides, creative wet play

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Layer if you feel more confident. Some mums find that wearing a spaghetti vest to keep their waist covered and a loose top over it which is easy to lift, a good public breastfeeding combination.

Plan where you want to go If you are new to breastfeeding or still finding your feet, you may feel more comfortable staying close to home or going somewhere you are familiar with and would feel comfortable and relaxed when feeding your baby.

Take along a spare pashmina, muslin cloth or breastfeeding cover, if it helps you feel more confident. There is no need to cover up, surveys show that most people don’t even notice mums breastfeeding, so do what feels right for you. Some mums like to have a bottle of expressed milk to hand in case baby seems hungrier than usual or if breastfeeding in public suddenly seems a little more daunting than they expected it would.

Don’t overdo it If you feel like going for a walk in the park, along the river or on the beach, consider driving and parking closer to your ideal walking spot. If you get lost in beautiful surroundings and find you have gone a lot further than originally planned, at least you only have to get back to the

areas and spectacular water features.

The DUPLO® Splash Safari is the ultimate wet play environment for little ones. Toddlers can safely splash around amongst a menagerie of DUPLO® animal friends – from lions and giraffes, to zebras and elephants. High on top of the Valley sits the DUPLO® Drench Towers – the largest water structure in the UK especially designed for maximum soaking. Older kids will love dodging the outsized tipping brick and whizzing down the six River Rapids splashtastic water rides.

With over 55 rides and attractions including the world famous LEGOLAND Driving School, Atlantis Submarine Voyage, LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Model Display with new LEGO® Star Wars™ Gallery for 2013, PLUS new for 2013 LEGO® Legends of Chima™ 4D Movie Xperience – AND the amazing LEGOLAND Windsor Resort Hotel – it is the ultimate family friendly resort.

car rather than walk all the way home too.

Keep a bottle of water and a snack to hand to keep hydrated and your blood sugar levels balanced. Take care of yourself so that you can take care of your baby’s nutritional needs too.

Get your timing right If you are going out for a walk or lunch with your partner, give your baby a quick feed in the car before you set off. With your baby full and content, your partner can carry baby in a sling and allow you the freedom to enjoy yourself fully.

If you are going out for a meal, booking a table midway between two feeds, is usually a good idea. You can then enjoy your meal and offer your baby a feed while you enjoy a desert or coffee.

You may be surprised at how quickly you feel tired when you first get out and about. Time your outing when everyone else is in the office, as this will ensure that your energy is not sapped by large crowds of people in a hurry to get errands done before getting back to work.

Getting your baby onto the breast quickly and with minimal fuss, is something that will come with practice Geraldine Miskin Founder of The Miskin Method and Breastfeeding Experience app www.breastfeedingexperience.com

children’s tickets.

For a chance to win this fabulous prize go to www.familiesnorth.co.uk/ competitions. Full competition terms and conditions can be found there.

LEGO®, the LEGO logo, the Brick configuration, the Minifigure and LEGOLAND are trademarks of the LEGO® Group © 2013 The LEGO Group

Families North Prize Details Win one of 2 family days out at the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, including 2 adult and 2

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North London

PREGNANCY GUIDE

The Complete Guide for North London Mums-to-Be

Baby showers Health Pilates Twins

baby showers

A guide to organising a Baby Shower Baby showers are officially hosted on behalf of the mum-to-be and received the name from the ‘showering’ of gifts and lots of love before the big day.

It is a celebration of her impending milestone and an opportunity for friends and family to wish her lots of happiness.

A baby shower is normally held between weeks 25 and 35 of pregnancy and originally they were only thrown for the first child but it is now commonplace to have baby showers for the second, third and even fourth child!

They are traditionally an afternoon event and include food, favours, games and fun all coordinated by the hosts who are normally friends and family of the mum-to-be. A baby shower is often held at her house and the occasion can be an informal gathering with lots of chatting and cooing or more structured to plan the time for lovely food and cheeky games!

Invites are sent out and replies taken care of by the hosts as well as the planning, booking, ordering and buying and it is common for the flavour of the event to be baby-themed!

Traditionally, the costs would be covered on behalf of the mum-to-be but this is less common today with the mum-to-be often contributing to if not

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paying for the full celebration.

Originally established as a gettogether with her girly friends and family, baby showers are increasingly becoming a celebration for the mum and dad to enjoy together, celebrating their joint happiness as one.

In organising a baby shower, the most important thing to know is that you should create beautiful memories that will last for years to come!

A QUICK CHECK-LIST: It is important to start organising a baby shower early so to assist with your planning, here is a quick checklist of the main things you will need to consider: • Sort a guest list from the mum-to-be, including contact details • Agree a venue, date, timings and budget • Choose an event theme, often babyorientated • Send invitations to all guests, usually 6-8 weeks in advance • Produce a plan for the day to include a welcome, food and drinks, some games and the showering of gifts • Select a menu and allocate responsibilities for prepping, cooking or buying • Organise and prepare games, with any props bought that are required • Set-up and manage a gift list if requested by the mum-to-be • Purchase a good selection of beautiful decorations including paper plates, napkins, bunting and balloons.

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If you’re pregnant or you know someone who is pregnant, then there is no better way to celebrate the expected arrival than to host a baby shower and in this issue we are offering one lucky winner the chance to win everything they need to host a baby shower for ten guests.

Baby Showers are a great way to celebrate, share tips and of course enjoy a showering of gifts. Blooming Baby Showers is a unique brand that is offering mums-to-be (and more importantly their friends and loved one’s) a charming range of beautiful stationery and party ware, perfect for that extra special baby shower celebration.

The winner will receive a gorgeous package that includes, 10 invitations, 10 thank you cards, 10 paper plates, 10 napkins, 10 balloons, bunting and a fun set of games to ensure you can throw an unforgettable Baby Shower!

• RRP: Starting from £2.99 – £14.99 • Available from www. bloomingbabyshowers.co.uk For a chance to win this smashing prize go to www.familiesnorth.co.uk/ competitions.

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pregnancy

NCT’s top ten tips for a healthy pregnancy

Pregnancy is an exciting time, but it can also be nerve-wracking as mums-to-be, like the Duchess of Cambridge, are overloaded with guidance on what they should or shouldn’t do.

To help expectant mothers make sense of all the information, here are NCT’s top ten tips for a smooth and healthy pregnancy.

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Vitamins and Supplements Taking 400 micrograms of folic acid each day before you become pregnant and in the first three months can help prevent birth defects. It is recommended that you also take 10 micrograms of Vitamin D each day throughout pregnancy.

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Pregnancy nutrition Many women start pregnancy with low iron stores or slightly anaemic.

Your blood will be tested at your first appointment, and you will be advised to take iron supplements if you need them. Good sources of iron include red meat, kidneys, fortified breakfast cereals, bread, pulses such as baked beans and kidney beans, eggs and green vegetables. If you are low on iron it may help to intake extra Vitamin C as this will help absorb iron from food.

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Exercise Exercise during pregnancy helps keep you and your baby healthy, and prepares your body for labour. However, contact sports should be avoided while horse riding, skating,

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skiing, and cycling are not recommended after the first three months due to the risk of falling. There are many forms of safe pregnancy exercises you can try – from exercises at home to gym-based classes. There are also many specialist exercise classes for pregnant women.

so be sure to drink lots of water and pack a supply of vitamin-rich fresh fruit to snack on throughout the journey. If you are close to your due date and you are travelling within the UK, go to http://www.nhs.uk/service-search to find your nearest hospital, should you need it.

Pelvic floor exercises Pelvic floor exercises can help prepare for an easier birth and recovery. During pregnancy, increasing pressure is put on the muscles of your pelvic floor. The effects of the hormone relaxin encourage these muscles to relax in preparation for labour. It’s therefore important to exercise your pelvic floor muscles regularly. Continuing these exercises after pregnancy can help prevent long-term problems such as involuntary urination and postnatal stress incontinence.

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Drugs and prescriptions Be careful about what drugs and medicines you take while pregnant and avoid taking over-the-counter medicines for yourself such as paracetamol or ibuprofen with codeine without first checking with your doctor or pharmacist. Always tell your doctor, pharmacist, dentist, or anybody else advising you on your health, that you are pregnant and check with them before using any homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy preparations or herbal oils.

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Antenatal depression It is not uncommon for pregnant women to experience changes in emotions – you may feel moody, or angry or tearful from time to time. However, if you feel that you are tired all the time, have lost interest in yourself or your pregnancy, always feel down or anxious or angry, or can’t sleep, then you may have antenatal depression. It is important to talk to either your midwife or GP if you feel depressed, so that they can help you.

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Travelling/flying while pregnant It is recommended that you avoid flying to an area which will require you to have a vaccination. When booking your airline tickets, be sure to inform your booking agent how far pregnant you will be on your return.

Most airlines will require a certificate or letter from your GP if you plan to travel 28 weeks and onwards in your pregnancy. Try to book an aisle seat that allows you to move around and enables you to go to the toilet easily. Pregnant women are more susceptible to dehydration

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Getting ill during pregnancy Your immune system is suppressed during pregnancy in order to protect your foetus from being rejected by your body. This unfortunately means you are more susceptible to every bug in the book, from colds to stomach viruses to flu. If you are ill, contact your GP immediately and see advice on best treatments. Drink plenty of fluids and eat foods rich in Vitamin C which helps to fight infections.

Rest when you need to and keep your stress levels to a minimum.

Drinking and smoking during pregnancy Current government guidelines advise that women should stop drinking alcohol during pregnancy altogether. If you don’t want to do this, it is recommended that to protect your baby you should not drink more than 1 or 2 units of alcohol once or twice a week and shouldn’t get drunk. It’s common knowledge that smoking is bad for health, and smoking while pregnant can harm a woman’s unborn baby. If you are unable to give up completely, cutting down the amount you smoke during pregnancy will help to reduce the risk to your baby.

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Bodily discomforts Back pain is incredibly common in pregnant women as the weight of the baby in your abdomen tends to pull your lower spine forward, putting a strain on your lower back. Keep an eye on your posture: straighten your lower back and gently draw your bump in. Wear flat or low-heeled shoes and try to sit up straight with your lower back supported. Many women also suffer from heartburn, indigestion or constipation. Drink plenty of water and include plenty of fibre in your diet to prevent constipation. To avoid the symptoms of indigestion, try eating smaller meals more often. Heartburn is often caused by lying flat so sleeping propped up can help.

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For these and more tips for a healthy pregnancy, visit www.nct.org.uk.

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competitions WHAT WILL

KATE MIDDLETON WEAR? WOOL AND CASHMERE LUXE COAT £199

DARK NAVY LUXE LACE DRESS £169

RESSS BLUE BEADED SILK DRESS £159

CREAM LACE DRESS £179

PURPLE SILK JERSEY DRESS £108

EMBELLISHED BUTTERFLY SLEEVED GOWN £199

Win! One of three bohemian maxi dresses worth £45

By Award-Winning Maternity Brand Séraphine This season, award-winning global maternity fashion brand Séraphine launches its Spring/ Summer 2013 collection of thoughtfully designed denims, separates, dresses, swimwear and eveningwear – essential styles for perfecting daytime chic, poolside glamour and day-to-night dressing when pregnant. Inspired by founder and designer Cecile Reinaud’s French heritage and the vibrant colours of the French Riviera, the new collection features the finest fabrics and cuts in seasonal prints and colour palettes, making for sophisticated investment pieces that will see you through your pregnancy and the summer in style.

Founder Cecile Reinaud comments on maternity dressing: ‘Invest in key basics that will grow with you and adapt to your changing curves. An empire line is often the most flattering silhouette. Look for feminine necklines suck as deep V’s and scoop necks to draw the eye upward and show off your new found décolletage. As a rule comfort and good fit should always be priority to ensure you have the utmost confidence.’

Embrace your inner bohemian chic in Seraphine’s floral printed cotton maxi dresses (worn by both Alyson Hannigan and Jessica

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Alba), featuring a contrast print in three summery and sophisticated hues, makes a subtle statement that is easy-to-wear, both elongating and flattering the figure, during pregnancy and beyond. Always considerate of both style and function, the cross-over neckline and comfortable elasticated straps also provide easy access for breastfeeding.

Recently celebrating its tenth anniversary, Séraphine offers unrivalled wardrobe solutions for pregnant women available in their London boutiques and online through their international websites.

Séraphine’s collections exude effortless Parisian chic, earning the brand an A-list following including Angelina Jolie, January Jones, Claudia Schiffer, Jessica Alba Alyson Hannigan and Kate Hudson.

SÉRAPHINE.COM Families North London Magazine has teamed up with Séraphine for a chance to win one of three gorgeous maxidresses. To enter go to www.familiesnorth. co.uk/competitions. Don’t forget to add your dress size!

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EARLY CHILDHOOD This issue, we are delighted to offer one lucky winner a Snugglebundl, the world’s first baby lifting blanket! This incredibly simple idea was originally conceived and designed for parents and for carers to reduce the amount of bending and stooping to pick up, lay down or move their babies and to be able to move a baby easily while they are sleeping. The reduced strain on the body, when using the Snugglebundl baby blanket, means that mums who need to recover from C section or post birth difficulties will find this product very helpful.

Indeed any parent or carer who wants to take the strain off of their back will benefit from using the unique Snugglebundl baby blanket. Grandparents and elderly carers especially love it for its ease of use and safety. For a chance to win a Snugglebundl go to www.familiesnorth.co.uk/competitions.

RRP: £29.99 Stockist: www.snugglebundl.co.uk

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pregnancy

Pilates in Pregnancy Pilates is the probably the fastest growing Mind-Body method of exercise today.

Pilates was developed during the last century by a brilliant German guy called Joseph Pilates as a safe, low impact and highly effective way to strengthen, stretch and streamline the body.

For years, Pilates was the well-kept secret of dancers and athletes who were dedicated to balancing their bodies and optimising their performance. In the last 30 years Pilates has spread all over the world and today it is the not-sowell-kept secret of millions of people who enjoy it on a regular basis. Pilates tends to be known for specific qualities such as stretching, core strength and rehabilitation. Practiced properly and regularly, Pilates will help you restore your health, improve your posture and will give you an amazing sense of wellbeing and confidence.

Pilates is the perfect form of exercise to keep you healthy and happy while you are pregnant as well as after you have given birth. The excitement about the forthcoming birth and the anticipation of meeting your baby are wonderful but alongside your general happiness pregnancy can sometimes be somewhat challenging: feeling heavy, not sleeping well and mulling over various choices can make you feel tired or drained. Specially adapted Pilates exercises can help support your changing body in so many ways: • Pilates works on awareness, mobility and strength of those all-important Pelvic Floor muscles. A strong pelvic floor will help support your internal organs and help you avoid stress incontinence during the pregnancy. It will also reduce recovery time and a return back to normal function after the birth.

• Stabilising your pelvis and lower back to avoid common pregnancy aches and pains and to help maintain good posture.

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• Mobilisation exercises can reduce swelling in the hands, ankles and feet.

• Strengthening the legs and improving breathing techniques (to help you feel more relaxed) in preparation for labor.

• Strengthening your upper body and arms help you prepare for the physical effort in caring for a newborn.

Tips to help you keep in good shape throughout your pregnancy 1. When you’re carrying a bump or busy attending to one of your children it’s easy to forget about your own body.

Remember to pay attention to your posture – Keep your knees soft when you’re standing and pull your tummy in to avoid excessive arching of the lower back.

2. With the extra weight of pregnancy your upper body can get tensed and tight. Try to open up your chest as much as you can by stretching your arms up and backwards and taking a deep breath in. Do this stretch when you wake up, when you wait for the kettle to boil, or while waiting for the bus…

3. When you feel tension in your neck – sit tall, pull your tummy in and roll your shoulders backwards 5 times.

Do it slowly while taking deep breaths and see how good it feels.

4. It’s normal to feel out of breath during the second and third trimesters. You are supposed to be breathing for two… yet your bump is restricting the movement of your diaphragm and your rib cage begins to expand to accommodate for the lack of abdominal space. If you feel breathless, lean your back against a wall (legs wide and knees bent). Pull your tummy in and reach your right

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arm towards the ceiling. Now breathe deep into your right side. Do the same on the other side.

5. Feet and calf cramps are ‘joys’ you share with many other pregnant women. Simple stretches and mobilisation exercises can help a lot in relieving these annoying symptoms.

At the end of a long day self-message your feet, or better yet get someone to do it for you…

6. During the second and third trimesters your uterus is pulling up from the pelvic basin, which might cause Round Ligament pain. You might feel the pain starting from deep inside your groin, moving upward and outward on either side to the top of your hips. The sharp, jabbing sensation shouldn’t last longer than the few seconds. Resting comfortably should help ease your symptoms and you can also try flexing your knees toward your tummy or try laying on your side to get some relief.

Don’t hesitate to call your doctor or midwife if the abdominal aches or pains continue after a short rest.

If you are feeling healthy and capable you can do Pilates throughout your pregnancy. Make sure not to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Always listen to your body and trust your intuition! If you are worried about anything always consult your doctor or midwife.

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For a full selection of pregnancy and postnatal Pilates classes visit pilatesod. com. You can try PilatesOD for FREE for 14 days! + enjoy a 20% off special offer for Families North readers with this promo code: FAMILIESNORTH

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pregnancy

Twins

By Emma Mahony

Twins are a blessing, and when Tinker Bell in the new Disney movie ‘Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings’ finds her long lost twin sister Periwinkle, she reinforces the joy and special bond that twins will always share.

When I first found out that I was pregnant with twins, at my 12-week scan in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in South West London, I was in ‘Twinshock’. I phoned my husband from outside the hospital listened numbly as he kept repeating: ‘ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod’.

When the shock subsided, however, I was secretly thrilled. I felt I had sneaked in an extra baby into the family in the days when all my friends were agonising over whether they could cope with just one more. I also knew from being a twin myself, that twins were special. They were always a topic of conversation, people loved to hear stories of how we got up to mischief, and there was continuing fascination with the bond that my brother and I shared. I loved being a twin; it meant always having a friend and partner-in-crime, and never having a lonely birthday. All in all, the upsides far outweighed the downsides.

Only a panic at 30 weeks when work stopped, and the obstetrician had different ideas to me about how the birth should happen (I didn’t want a Caesarean section and didn’t like my pregnancy described as ‘high risk’) marred an otherwise happy time. With the help of independent midwives, who were supportive of a normal twin birth, I laboured at home and had an ecstatic birth that is still one of the crowning moments of my life. I felt truly blessed, the ‘cat that got the cream’ as my midwife said, the luckiest mother in the world holding an 7lb and 6lb baby under each arm.

A year after the birth, while writing a column on life with twins for The Times newspaper, I decided to tackle all the negative and medicalised views around twins, pregnancy and birth. Of course there were many possible

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complications with twins, but to read the books on offer you would think that twin mothers were subject to every single one of them, not just the occasional few. I felt that the influence of these books was far more pernicious than just warning about what might go wrong. Like many other mothers, I was vulnerable and suggestible when pregnant, and didn’t want negative images to haunt me through the hormonal rollercoaster.

I didn’t want to be told all the things that might go wrong with the birth, I wanted to be supported by someone who thought having twins was a normal and joyful experience, not something worthy of a freak show attended by medical students.

And so I set out to write Double Trouble: Twins and How to Survive Them to redress the balance of the books that painted a negative picture. I wanted to write something that focussed wherever possible on the positive, to encourage twin mothers into feeling good about their instant family, not to worry them about the sleepless nights and difficulties in breastfeeding to come. Most mothers of multiples will say that a sense of humour is their most useful defence against being overwhelmed, so I added some cartoons from my colleague at The Times Johnny Pugh and kept the tone light wherever possible.

In the event, God forbid, that something might go wrong during the pregnancy, I didn’t believe that any parent would find solace in a book anyway, but would turn to the arms of their loved ones to be consoled. This view was backed up by a friend who bought a copy of my book for her sister-in-law who tragically lost her twins late in pregnancy. I felt grief stricken for the mother when my friend told me, and my hands went to my face. When she then added that her sister in law had really enjoyed my book, and it had helped her to feel positive during her pregnancy right up until the end, I felt that my efforts had been worth it.

If it helped just one mother to cherish the time she had with her babies, however short, then that was enough. The time with our

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children as babies is so short anyway when you look back (and so endless when you are in the middle of it) that it has to be guarded ferociously with love.

The special bond that twins will always share starts in the womb, fighting for space – and as my twin brother said in a speech at my wedding ‘I’ve known my twin sister nine months longer than anyone in this room’.

However much hard work twins seem in those early days, the moment they fall asleep together side by side in a cot, they look like two little angels. It’s as if Tinker Bell and Periwinkle have sprinkled fairy dust all around the room, and the sweat and the tears were all worthwhile.

Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings is out on Blu-ray and DVD from 8 April 2013. Double Trouble Twins and How to Survive Them is published by HarperCollins for £10.99 and available from www.amazon.co.uk.

The special bond that twins will always share starts in the womb, fighting for space

Olé Kids

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Boo you k clas r s

Spanish classes for children and parents

Join us for fun, energy packed and culturally rich Spanish classes where children from 6 months - 10 years old come to speak and learn Spanish in a friendly environment.

Primrose Hill Library Tuesdays 4 pm St Luke’s Community centre (Islington) Thursdays 4pm Quote: ‘Families N’ for a FREE TRIAL 6 MONTHS TO 5 YEAR OLDS Enquire for other age groups or private classes.

Telephone : 020 7386 0376 Mobile: 07734900221 Email : info@olekids.com www.olekids.com

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pregnancy

Fear of the unknown

By Dr.Gowri Motha – Author of the Gentle Birth Method This statement caught my attention this week!

When I asked a lovely pregnant mother, who had come to see me for her 36 week appointment, how she was felt about her forthcoming birth experience, she said that she was a bit anxious. This came as a surprise to me, as she has been following our Gentle Birth Method programme for most of her pregnancy.

I probed a bit deeper and asked what exactly she was anxious about. She thought for a little while and said ‘I suppose how I will feel about the pain’. I laughed healthily to lighten up the topic and said ‘Yes! Exactly! Why should an intelligent young lady have to put up with pain?’

The fear of pain is really the root cause of the fear of birth and over the years I have helped mothers overcome their fear of pain by preparing them mentally and most importantly physically so that they can actually have as comfortable a birth as possible with manageable levels of discomfort. I was quick to point out that labour and birthing a baby can be made into a comfortable experience by preparing the pelvic tissues, so that the birthing movement of the uterus (which we call contractions or surges) can be experienced as comfortable all the way through labour.

I explained to her the various levels within her pelvis that her baby will drop down through to be born, and how we can condition and prepare each of these layers so that her baby can pass smoothly through preconditioned tissues.

This way, during labour the mother will feel the sensations of her baby sliding down that she can discern to be intense stretching sensations, rather than pain.

I know from my experience of working with a first time mother that only during the birth process will she be able to know how she will respond to the sensations of her uterine contractions during labour. Hence the rational explanations in the birth preparation phase rarely work! Therefore introducing these ideas during self hypnosis classes or even by listening to my CD’s preconditions the mother to automatically go into self hypnosis when her birth process starts thereby setting the scene to approach giving birth with great confidence.

You would think that a natural birth is the most natural occurrence in the world, but in our modern society we have moved away from natural habits such as squatting and eating sensibly. Therefore to be able to enjoy a natural birth, we need to go back to natural roots and also overcome negative reviews of birth.

In the Gentle Birth Method we prepare the mother’s body in an intelligent manner, step by step, all the way through pregnancy. My practitioners and I constantly reassure mothers that their bodies can be prepared to be more mobile and flexible by decongesting the pelvic tissues mostly by giving up gluten and sugar throughout pregnancy along with correct movements and simple drainage massage treatments done at home by a loving partner as outlined in my book.

From 36 weeks to birth, the lower vaginal muscles can be conditioned by teaching mothers to perform a vaginal self stretching technique with oils. This imparts great confidence to mothers as they enhance the elasticity in the lower vagina. This removes the fear of tearing.

For mental preparation, we run self-hypnosis and visualisation classes on Monday evenings at Viveka, St. Johns Wood. Our mothers also benefit greatly from the wisdom of Dr. Francoise Freedman who teaches beautiful and gentle micro-movements for birth to facilitate optimal foetal positioning and to mobilise the sacrum. This helps the pelvis tilt appropriately during birthing to accommodate the baby’s head comfortably.

Our understanding of the importance of relaxing pelvic muscles during pregnancy has been further enhanced by special coaching from April Pierrot, who is a leading expert on the Alexander Technique. Unless posture and movement is corrected, even walking and other forms of exercise can compound muscular skeletal misalignment and tighten muscles within the vaginal area that can interfere with the mechanics of birth.

Correct movement in daily life helps the pelvis behave as a mobile birthing unit that can flare open easily to give birth.

The Baby’s placenta produces Relaxin, Estrogen and Progesterone and other hormones throughout pregnancy to soften the birth passages, so that a baby can easily slide down easily and be born.

With all this softening going on, it is counter intelligent for a pregnant mother to go on a strenuous physical training programme while Mother Nature is trying to soften the pelvis!

Please cut down on exercise and if weight gain is a worry I re-assure mothers that giving up gluten and sugar can keep the weight gain within 15 to 20 pounds.

In conclusion our ‘Gentle Birth message’ is to prepare optimally for birth and have an enjoyable birth experience!

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25

competitions

FLYING HIGH WITH GALT’S NEW SONG BIRD

Baby-proof mummy jewellery for teething babies!

Introducing Gumigem – a wide ranging line of award winning, baby proof, mummy jewellery designed to look amazing, but with your baby in mind.

Babies love to grab, pull and chew on jewellery and this jewellery collection accommodates this, without damaging the jewellery or harming your baby. Nor does Gumigem compromise on style although it is practical and baby friendly it also looks great with a huge variety of necklaces and bangles.

The creator of Gumigem is Jenny Gum McLaughlan who came up with the idea while on maternity leave with m her second child ch in early 2010.

Jenny’s son inspired her to start star the company, as he h was a nightmare during teething, d biting everything in b sight!

She used to si

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tie and strap teethers to herself until the light bulb moment hit her and she decided to create a teether into a stylish piece of jewellery? Gumigem was born!

Tried and tested! The jewellery is made from silicone (like what you would find a dummy teat, teething toy or baby spoon to be made of), so is soft and flexible. It is BPA, PVC, Lead, Latex and Phthalate free, can withstand high temperatures and be easily washed in hot water or placed in the dishwasher.

The necklaces come on a long cord, so there is plenty of reach for baby, and for extra comfort and safety, each necklace has a breakaway clasp.

Gumigem are offering 3 fantastic prizes which include 1 Pepper raindrop pendant and 1 squash bermuda bangle for each luckyy winner. www.gumigem.co.uk em.co.uk For a chance ce to win one of these terrifificc prizes go to www.familiesnorth. north.. co.uk/ competitions.

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Galt launches Dr Miriam @ Galt Soft Toy Range Galt Toys launches Song Bird, a soft toy for 2013 as part of the new Dr Miriam @ Galt range. Song Bird is one of seven new developmental soft toys created in conjunction with Dr Miriam Stoppard, the UK’s most trusted parenting expert.

Suitable from birth, the soft velour Song Bird with a squeaky tail, ribbon feathers and rattle has a variety of textures and sounds for little ones to explore to encourage learning through play. Babies will love to press the bird’s tummy and hear its chirping song.

The Song Bird also includes a unique guide written by Dr Miriam with tips for parents on how to play with this toy to encourage your child’s development while having fun.

Dr Miriam Stoppard comments: ‘I can’t overemphasis the importance of play between a parent and their child as it is the most beneficial way for a baby to learn and develop.

The Song Bird is designed to aid manual dexterity, conceptual thinking and help a child’s development fly. If you play with your baby and show them how to do things, explain what’s happening and support every small achievement, you’ll encourage the development of really important physical, intellectual, manual, language and social skills.’

John McDonnell, Managing Director of Galt adds: ‘We are delighted to have worked with Dr Miriam Stoppard on this toy, and the rest of the new range. We firmly believe in the importance of play in child development and the Dr Miriam @ Galt toys fit perfectly with this approach. The delightful Song Bird is just one of many favourites we hope children will find in the range.’

Suitable from birth, the Dr Miriam @ Galt Song Bird is soft, safe and machine washable. Retailing at £10.99 available from www.galttoys.com For a chance to win one of four Galt Song Birds go to www.familiesnorth.co.uk/ competitions.

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GLAMOUR THE SALON

Glamour – The Salon, has teamed up with Families North to offer all our readers 50% off any salon treatment In their amazing new salon you can choose from Shellac gel polish, St Tropez tanning, waxing and facial treatments, or have your make-up done by top make-up artist Daria – perfect for the party season!

Look and feel your best over the festive season.

The new shop has opened to amazing reviews with customers leaving feeling refreshed and happy. No treatment is rushed so you really feel pampered and cared for.

The Salon is open Sunday to Friday and will open for specially scheduled appointments as well. So if you need to have partyperfect make-up this is ideal.

Please call ahead to make an appointment quoting Families North to receive your 50% discount.

92A Brent Street, Hendon NW4 2ES Tel: 07879 758586

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27

pregnancy

Living with Pelvic Girdle Pain After Pregnancy As a baby and toddler yoga teacher, I have noticed an increase in the number of mums attending baby yoga classes suffering with Pelvic Girdle Pain (‘PGP’).

I have a basic understanding of Pelvic Girdle Pain having trained as a yoga teacher and a massage therapist, but felt a need to deepen my knowledge and find out more practical information to help my clients. If you are experiencing any symptoms of PGP, I recommend a visit your GP to receive professional guidance, if you haven’t done already.

As many as 80% of women experience pelvic girdle pain in the first trimester of pregnancy. One in ten women will still suffer Pelvic Girdle Pain post pregnancy.

What is Pelvic Girdle Pain?

Pelvic Girdle Pain feels like anything from a minor ache to a searing sensation across your lower back and sometimes underneath your tummy.

Although the pelvis appears to be a firmly fixed circle of bone, it consists of four parts – the sacrum and coccyx at the back and at the sides and the two hip bones which curve around to meet at the front. These are joined at the front by the symphysis pubis.

‘After having my third child, the problems began when I was in my third trimester. I started having pain walking and standing for long periods of time.

It has been 4 years now and I live with this horrible pain every day. Some days are better then others. I am very active, I go to the gym, practice yoga, and dance.

Sometimes I can’t get out of my car or walk up the stairs.’ Katy What Causes Pelvic Girdle Pain?

Pelvic Girdle Pain is caused by a combination of extra pressure placed on your bones and ligaments during pregnancy and a release in hormones to relax the ligaments in your body.

Pelvic Girdle Pain can be diagnosed as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (‘SPD’), although please note that Symphysis Pubis Dysfuntion only applies to the symphysis pubis joint and most sufferers also experience pain in other joints in the pelvis.

What is Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction?

Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction applies to

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where the pregnancy hormone relaxin causes the pelvic ligaments to slacken so much that the front joint of the pelvic girdle called the symphysis pubis, separates.

It is normal for there to be a gap of 4-5mm between the two pubic points at the symphysis pubis joint and during any pregnancy this widens by another 2-3mm. If this gap widens more than this pain may occur and in some cases a severe form of the condition called diastasis symphysis pubis is diagnosed.

The job of the symphysis pubis joint is to hold the pelvis steady when we use our legs, and if the ligaments have softened or stretched too much the joint stops working properly and strain is put on the other pelvic joints, causing pain.

How do I know if I have PGP / SPD? The main symptom of PGP is pain in the pelvic joints. There can also be instability of the joints, which makes walking and day-to-day activities difficult.

If in any doubt of the severity of your problem, it is advisable to have an x-ray to see how far the pubic bones are separated. If they are separated far enough it won’t matter how much muscle and core work you do, you will experience pain because you are out of alignment because of the separation.

To continue trying to ‘fix’ the problem without surgery could cause more damage.

Ideas to offer some relief Yoga can help to realign the spine and stabilise the pelvis by strengthening muscles that support it. Yoga postures also engage the core muscles and the pelvic floor muscles. If you would like to attend a yoga class, it is advisable to contact your teacher before the class and let him/her know of your condition.

However, remember that pain is your body’s way of telling you that you have a problem. It is important to listen to your body and become aware of any ‘twinges’ or areas of pain. If you have been diagnosed with SPD/PGP, please contact your GP for medical consent before carrying out any exercise.

Yoga Postures for SPD/PGP 1. Pranayama (Abdominal Breathing) Abdominal breathing helps to strengthen abdominal muscles, relaxes the mind and body, optimally oxygenates the blood and cleanses the lungs of residual toxin.

with your spine, and neck straight. You could also lie down on your back. Start by taking slow, long, and deep nasal breaths Step 2: As you inhale, let your abdomen fill with air. As you exhale, let your belly deflate like a balloon. Repeat the exercise a few times, keeping your breath smooth and relaxed. Never strain Step 3: Breathe into your belly as in Step 2, but also inflate your thoracic region by letting your rib cage open up. Exhale and repeat the exercise a few times Step 4: Follow steps 2 and 3 and continue inhaling by opening the clavicle region or upper chest. Exhale and repeat the exercise a few times. Combine all three steps into one continuous or complete flow.

2. Tadasana (Mountain Pose) This pose increases awareness of your posture and also aligns your spine. It is a good idea to practice this posture in front of a mirror to check your alignment.

Stand straight and pull both your legs and feet together. Take your toes and raise them all up, let them flex out a little and set them down again as you allow the arches of your feet to lift. Your big toes should touch. Tighten your legs together and allow your spine to lengthen. Your chin should be parallel to the ground and your arms relaxed at your side.

Breathe into your chest, with slow deep breaths.

Gently move your abdomen, towards your spine. Pull your shoulders first back and then down.

OTHER PAIN RELIEF SUGGESTIONS 1. Using a u-shaped maternity pillow in bed can provide support to your pelvis.

2. Acupuncture can offer pain relief.

3. Contact the Pelvic Partnership, a registered charity (www. pelvicpartnership.org.uk) via telephone and request a local specialist osteopath.

01235 820921 4. A support belt. Try doubling up with a wide elasticated belt to take the weight off your symphasis pubis and a stiff non- stretchy thin belt to support your pelvis.

Jenni Grossman is the Director of Teeny Tiny Yoga. Baby, toddler and children’s yoga classes run from Totteridge Tennis Club in North London. www.teenytinyyoga.com.

Step 1: Sit in a comfortable position

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29

annabel karmel

Annabel Karmel Weaning is one of the most important milestones for mums and dads during the early months of parenthood.

Introducing your baby to solid food is not a fixed set of steps; some babies progress more quickly or slowly than others.

Not every day will be the same and sometimes they might not want to try food at all but have their usual milk.

Weaning is a gentle process, involving slowly and sensitively replacing your baby’s regular milk with healthy, delicious, nutritious food, which will fill her with energy and encourage optimum growth and development. You have a window of opportunity between 6 and

12 months of age when your baby will tend to eat pretty well, so take advantage of this to introduce duce a variety of new flavours that hat will hopefully set her on a path of healthy eating for life.

Annabel’s Essential Guide to Feeding your Baby and Toddler ddler available on iTunes and Google oogle Play for £3.99

Tasty Salmon Puree From ‘Top 100 Baby Purees’ Ebury Press £9.99

Trio of Vegetables

First Beef Casserole

From ‘Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner’ Ebury Press £14.99

From ‘Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner’ Ebury Press £14.99

Orange fleshed sweet potato is a good source of vitamins C, and betacarotene and is richer in nutrients than ordinary potatoes.

You can also substitute other vegetables when weaning your baby such as pumpkin.

Root vegetables have a naturally sweet taste, they puree to a smooth consistency and are unlikely to cause allergies so they make a good first food.

This beef casserole is a great way to introduce babies to red meat, and beef is a good source of iron, which is very important in your baby’s diet. Slow coking the meat makes it lovely and tender.

200g sweet potato, peeled and chopped 200g carrots, peeled and chopped 100g parsnips, peeled and chopped Method Steam the root vegetables for about 20 minutes or until tender. Blend the vegetables to a puree adding a little of the boiled water at the bottom of the steamer (about 75ml) or some of your baby’s usual milk to make a good consistency for your baby. Steaming is the best way to preserve nutrients but if you don’t have a steamer, put the vegetables into a saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over a medium heat until tender (about 20 minutes). Drain the vegetables and blend to a puree using a little of the cooking liquid or you could add a little of your baby’s usual milk.

Information From 6 months Suitable for freezing makes 6 portions

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20g/ ¾ oz butter or margarine 1 leek, washed and sliced (approx. 150g/5 oz) 125g/ 4 ½ oz braising steak, cut into cubes 1 tablespoon flour 100g/ 4oz button mushrooms, sliced 275g (10 oz) sweet potato, peeled and chopped 250 ml/8 fl oz chicken stock Juice of 1 orange (about 120 ml/ 4 fl oz)

It’s important to encourage a liking for fish early on. This Salmon Puree baby food recipe is quick and easy to prepare and combining it with root vegetables is a good way to introduce fish to your baby. Oily fish like salmon, trout, tuna and sardines are especially good as they contain omega-3 essential fatty acids which are very important for visual and brain development.

Tinned tuna however does not contain omega 3s only fresh tuna.

200g carrots, topped and tailed and sliced 125g salmon fillet, skinned 60ml orange juice 40g grated Cheddar cheese a knob of butter 2 tbsp milk

Method Melt the butter or margarine in a flameproof casserole and sauté the leek for about 4 minutes until softened.

Roll the meat in the flour; add to the leek and sauté until browned. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 1 minute. Add the sweet potato, stock and orange juice.

Bring to the boil and transfer to an oven preheated to 180C/250F/Gas 4 for 1 ½ hours or until the meat is tender.

Blend to the desired consistency using as much of the cooking liquid as necessary.

Method Put the carrots into a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and cook over a medium heat for about 20 minutes until tender. Alternatively, place the vegetables in a steamer and cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the salmon in a suitable dish, pour over the orange juice and scatter over the cheese. Cover, leaving an air vent and microwave on high for about 2 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Alternatively, cover with foil and cook in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes. Flake the fish with a fork, carefully removing any bones. Drain the carrots, mix with the butter and milk and puree in a blender together with the flaked fish and its sauce. For older babies, mash the carrots together with the butter and the milk and then mix the flaked fish with the mashed carrots.

Information Makes 6 portions From 7 months

Information From 6 months Suitable for freezing – makes 4 portions

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weaning

Stress-free weaning Having a baby is so exciting! Full of different milestones and ‘firsts’ for your little bundle of joy.

But almost as soon as he or she has entered the world we are bombarded with advice from wellmeaning members of our family, friends, health professionals, and even people in the queue at the post office! And in my experience no subject is more popular than the issue of when and how you introduce your baby to solid food.

The advice regarding weaning your baby has changed a lot over the years so it is even more important to make sure you are listening to the correct information.

I run weaning workshops for groups of parents who are often confused to say the least!

The biggest question is always ‘When do I start weaning my baby? Should I start weaning at 4 months or 6 months?

The Government and World Health Organisation recommend that we wait until around 6 months to introduce solids to our babies. Up until 6 months of age, your baby does not need anything else apart from breast milk or formula milk from a nutritional point of view. After this time, a baby’s iron stores do start to deplete and milk is no longer enough.

In practice lots of us do start weaning earlier than 6 months but there are lots of advantages in waiting. If you are thinking of starting the weaning process before 6 months, have a chat with your Health Visitor first.

Advantages of weaning at 6 months • Weaning may be less stressful as progression is often quicker. Trying to potty train a toddler who is not developmentally or emotionally ready is hard work and weaning a baby early is similar.

• There is no need to sterilise feeding utensils.

Bottles used for formula milk should still be sterilised though.

• Your baby can eat most family food. There are very few foods that cannot be given to a baby of this age. Their gut and kidneys have

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matured resulting in less worry about what they can and cannot eat.

• There is no need to just give pureed foods.

Babies of 6 months can hold food and have the coordination to eat finger foods.

Which foods can not be given to a 6 month old baby?

Foods which should not be given to babies of this age include: • Honey – due to the rare presence of bacteria which can produce toxins. Avoid honey until the age of 1.

• Very salty foods and adding salt in cooking.

• Very sugary foods or sugary drinks.

• I would also avoid giving babies hard pieces of fruit or vegetables as they could choke on them. Soft pieces are fine e.g. cooked carrot, sliced pear or banana.

• Whole nuts – due to the risk of choking.

What do I need to wean my baby?

Patience! There will be days that your little one will eat virtually nothing or throw food at the floor. Patience, a sense of humour and not getting too worried by mess will help. It is useful to have a plastic food covering which can easily be cleaned to catch food which drops from the high chair. This can be recycled back onto your baby’s plate.

• 2 soft weaning spoons – one for you and one for your baby. Your baby can try to feed themselves at the same time as you helping them. Also make sure you offer plenty of finger foods.

• Highchair. Babies should always be sitting upright when eating. A chair with a tray means you can place finger foods directly on the tray, avoiding the need for plates which will inevitably be thrown on the floor!

• Cheap plastic containers to keep leftover food in the fridge.

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• Normal family foods. Weaning is a good time to evaluate your own food intake.

What don’t I need?

• Expensive containers or gadgets.

It is unbelievable what manufacturers try to convince us we need to buy!

• Commercial weaning foods. These can be useful at times but are extremely expensive and there is nothing in them which we cannot get from normal family foods. It is worth remembering that the most convenient outcome is for your baby to eat the same food as you as soon as possible.

Above all, remember that weaning your baby is about more than just nutrition. It is important to help coordination, fine motor skills and independence in addition to developing social skills. Your baby is growing up fast – enjoy each step.

Sam Perkins, Nutritionist www.happyeaters.co.uk email: sam.perkins@happyeaters.co.uk Bio: I have a degree in Nutrition and previously worked as a Dietician in the NHS. Since having my 3 children, I have become increasingly interested in family nutrition.‘Happy Eaters’ offers 1-2-1 appointments, menu planning, and group sessions focusing on fussy eating in children and weaning babies.

I also run cooking workshops for nannies and au pairs, as well as for groups of children.

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the no.1 parenting author

NO added salt NO added sugar NO added nasties suitable from 1 year

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“My new range of ready meals are a convenient and d healthy option that taste just like homemade – they ey are based on some of my favourite recipes.”

“There are nine varieties to choose from so your little one will be spoilt for choice and many of the recipes contain one portion of their heir five a day so that’s a few less to think about! We all struggle to get e our children to eat the right foods but my range focuses on the en important nutrients that children need. All the recipes have been sty extensively tested by children and because my recipes are so tasty even the fussiest eater will love them.”

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sleep training

‘My friend’s baby sleeps 7-7, why doesn’t mine?’

By Maryanne Taylor, Child Sleep Works

You’ve done it – you’ve just produced a little bundle of perfection and you’re running on excitement and adrenaline.

Everyone has told you how important it is to bond with your baby in the first few weeks. You – with the help of adverts for nappies, soft toys and baby-friendly moisturising cream – visualise relaxing days cuddling the baby on the sofa, going for walks while the baby sleeps peacefully in the buggy and meeting friends for coffee with the baby sitting cooing happily on your lap. You are ready to join the ‘new mums’ chat about how well your baby eats and sleeps and is such a happy baby and rarely cries unless he’s hungry.

This is how it’s going to be, right?

Well it may be and, if so, to you I say, enjoy! But for the other 99% of you I have one piece of advice, certainly when it comes to sleep…don’t compare yourself to others. As you’ll hear many times over the course of the next 5 years (and beyond), every baby is different and comparing your baby’s feeding schedule (or lack of one) or sleep schedule (or lack of one) will serve one purpose and one purpose alone – to make you question your own maternal instincts and abilities. Too many times I hear words to the effect of ‘but my friend’s baby just eats, sleeps and coos, and my baby just pukes, cries and poos. What’s wrong with him/me?’

So I’d like to share some general suggestions in helping yourself get acquainted with the sleeping habits of this little person who has just crashed into your world…

Suggestion number 1 – understand the cry. Babies by their very nature are programmed to cry (and indeed poo and puke, but that’s for another time…).

Clearly if he could communicate with you in words, your baby would tell you when he was tired and needed to have a little lie-down but until you get to that point, you will have to make do with the crying. Understanding that cry can be a tremendously empowering feeling.

Granted, you do have a list of options to choose from as to what this cry might mean, but after a few weeks you’ll start to ‘read it’ – ‘it’s been an hour and a half since my last sleep and I’m rubbing my eyes and crying’ = guess it’s time for a sleep; ‘it’s around 3 hours after my last feed and I’m grumbling’ = need food, now!; ‘there’s a weird smell around here and I’m uncomfortable’ = I need a nappy change! Eventually, it will start becoming more obvious.

Suggestion number 2 – understand the sleep. In our adult world, it’s black and white – we’re tired, we sleep (unless of course there are external factors which affect this such as insomnia or non sleeping offspring). Babies are a little more complicated, notwithstanding their inability to tell you what’s wrong, and require a different level of understanding in terms of their sleep needs. Newborn babies have more asleep than awake time for the first few weeks and months. It may be that YOUR baby (but of course not your friend’s baby…) is awake for an hour and ready to go back to sleep again. That’s fine if that’s what he needs. It may be that YOUR baby (not your friend’s baby) sleeps for 30 minutes and is up again.

Again, that’s fine. Working with, rather than against, your baby’s sleep patterns

for the first few months will help you to understand his needs better as he gets older and his sleep starts falling into a regular routine.

Suggestion number 3 – understand your limitations and trust your instincts. It seems like your friend (the one with the perfect sleeping, perfect eating baby – why are you still friends with her anyway??) has embraced this new ‘adventure’ into motherhood with calm, ease and poise.

Barely a ruffle to be seen. Believe me, the ruffle is there, it’s just well and truly hidden behind closed doors. Don’t get bogged down with having to do it all ‘right’. There is only what feels right for you and your baby. So leave the pile of dishes in the sink, laundry in the basket, and e-mails in your inbox, and lie on the couch and have a nap when the baby does. It may go against the grain initially but it can be amazingly liberating too.

So in a nutshell – to cope with the blissful first few weeks and months of your baby’s life – go with the flow and don’t try and ‘fix’ sleeping or feeding patterns; be kind to yourself; and most importantly, ditch the friend with the apparently ‘perfect’ baby.

Child Sleep Works Tel: 07760 252750 Email: info@childsleepworks.co.uk Web: www.childsleepworks.co.uk

Cooking Parties Fun, cooking parties For boys and girls aged 4-16 years Cooking classes

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Unit 2 Bickerton House 25 Bickerton Road Dartmouth Park London N19 5JT

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A great way to learn while having fun!

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33

special needs

Supporting children with ADHD

By Lorrae Jaderberg and Katie Krais, Jaderberg Krais Educational Consultancy

Children with ADHD are in good company.

They should stand proud alongside the likes of Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Bill Gates, Stephen Spielberg, President Bush, Winston Churchill, Sir Isaac Newton and Alexander Graham Bell.

All of these greats, who achieved remarkable success in their chosen fields were diagnosed with ADHD. What is ADHD? ADHD – Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – is a condition which affects the parts of the brain which control attention, impulses and concentration.

It is a neurobiological condition and possibly affects 3 to 7% of school age children. The ratio of boys to girls is 3:1, with no social, economic or ethnic group bias in the general child population.

You can’t catch ADHD. Nowadays, there are three main types of ADHD diagnosed • Combined ADHD (the most common type), which involves all of the symptoms.

• Inattentive ADHD (previously known as ADD), which is marked by impaired attention and concentration.

• Hyperactive-impulsive ADHD, which is marked by hyperactivity without the inattention.

How do I know if my child has ADHD? ADHD Symptoms include: • • • • •

Higher brain energy.

Wired, spontaneous.

Inattentive and easily distracted.

Moves about quickly and impulsively.

Fidgety all the time without any reason. Constantly fiddles with things or people appearing to disregard instructions.

• Will tend to continually disturb other children and seek excitement.

• Will respond to all sorts of stimuli that others may not even notice.

• May have difficulties with fine motor coordination that affects handwriting and doing fiddly tasks such as tying shoelaces.

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• Gross motor skills are less often affected but may have difficulties with learning skills such as riding a bike, running or skateboarding.

• Hand-eye coordination can cause general clumsiness and difficulties such as copying from the board and with ball sports.

• Will tend to postpone or delay doing things. They often have problems starting homework and sticking with a task to completion.

• Excessively talkative and will tend to blurt out speaking before engaging their thoughts.

• Low self-esteem can present as oversensitive and over-reactive.

• Unintentionally reckless and careless: appearing to lack a sense of danger.

See it, touch it – think it, do it. No self regulation.

• Impatient and intolerant. Will tend to experience great difficulty in waiting for anything and expect parents to agree to their demands immediately.

• Frustration of their needs can lead to pushiness, nagging and wearing down of the adult.

Most ADHD children have trouble with social regulations: self-control, organisation and following rules. They struggle to understand why they are repeatedly blamed for behaviours over which they have no control. This is confusing for them, as they believe they are trying as hard as they can.

They can receive constant blame and punitive responses that usually involve some form of rejection. Their behaviour has the resultant effect of pushing people away. This can lead to increased noncompliance and disaffection. They will rebel against what they perceive to be consistent unfair treatment.

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It is therefore very important to break the negative cycle of our responses to them: anger, criticism, blame and rejection.

All children will challenge situations they perceive to be unfair but in addition, children with ADHD will have a strong sense of justice; and an urge to inform that may result in being blunt and sometimes even unintentionally insulting. They will challenge most situations wherein they perceive themselves (and others) to be subject to unfairness. They also tend to find challenges to their perception of events difficult to handle when conflicts occur.

Children with ADHD can appear clumsy, and disorganised, which impacts on schoolwork and writing tasks. They may be hypersensitive to certain noises and may have spatial awareness difficulties.

Adults should take this into consideration when dealing with incidents and applying sanctions. It is important not to sanction children for behaviour that they cannot help (by virtue of their disability) and in ways that may exacerbate their difficulties.

Other important factors to be aware of: • They may be more argumentative and offer more dissent than others.

• They may refuse to accept that other people’s views should be considered as reasonable.

• They may have a tendency to verbalise their thoughts without concern about the impact their words have, so they may unintentionally cause offence.

• They may be dissatisfied with the manner in which adults deal with, or resolve conflicts. Consequently, they will complain about being treated unfairly and this can build up resentment against individual staff.

How you can help your child with ADHD: Support for parents is a vital part of the therapies to address the disorder. It is

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special needs Parents are often blamed as part of the problem – yet the same parents may be bringing up several other children with no signs of these negative behaviour patterns. Guilt and parenthood often go together – we suggest you take no notice and be comforted by the fact that you are doing your very best.

particularly important, as services to diagnose and treat ADHD are seriously underfunded and overloaded. Children with ADHD have unique problems and they particularly need consistent discipline and a structured lifestyle.

Attending parenting classes, as well as joining associations and self-help groups have been found to help considerably.

Parents are often blamed as part of the problem – yet the same parents may be bringing up several other children with no signs of these negative behaviour patterns. Guilt and parenthood often go together – we suggest you take no notice and be comforted by the fact that you are doing your very best and if you are worried and feel you need help – then don’t hesitate to go and get it, starting with ADDISS and a GP referral.

GPs, Psychiatrists and psychologists have a major role in diagnosing ADHD, implementing behavioural programmes, prescribing medication and supporting parents. Family therapy focuses on management strategies and individual therapy focuses on changing behaviours.

On an immediate practical level, there may be an improvement in a child’s behaviour when certain foods are removed from the child’s diet. These include caffeine which can be found in chocolate, coffee and some fizzy drinks, some cordials and artificial colourings.

From our experience one of the more helpful and productive ways to support children with ADHD is to be more aware of how we communicate our desires, thoughts and feelings to them.

Whenever speaking to your child or young person, gain their attention. Don’t assume that they can hear you when you shout. Even if you are in the same room don’t assume that they can hear you clearly. Remember they have trouble filtering out information so when they are focused on something else, your voice may just fade into the background. They may also be switched off to the sound of your voice if a culture of negativity already exists that they have come to associate with you.

Children with ADHD respond more positively when parents and others talk in precise terms, and do not use indefinite and vague language. These children can

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have short-term memory problems. They may forget things they want to remember, as well as information that has been learnt and retained for a period of time.

In order for them to commit something to long-term memory, it may need to be frequently repeated.

Use specific language and say exactly what you mean. Develop a habit of telling your child exactly what you want them to do rather than not to do, making the instructions precise and short. Avoid words that give them a choice i.e. ‘could you, would you, perhaps, try...’ If you give them a choice, you will probably get a ‘NO’.

Remember that these children will have difficulty with generalising statements and even when they don’t, they may learn to deliberately misconstrue what was said. So after an activity, instead of saying, ‘Sort out the mess or tidy up please’, say, ‘Put the toys in the box’.

If the child throws the toys in, instead of saying, ‘Stop doing that!’ say, ‘Put the toys in the box nicely please.’

If you are interrupted in the middle of giving an instruction, start the sentence from the beginning again.

When asking questions, be sure to also phrase them in a very precise manner. So instead of asking, ‘Do you know where your school shoes are?’ say, ‘Where are your school shoes?’

Always use the same words for the same instruction each time it is given.

Whenever possible, use visual and aural cues to help establish the instruction into your child’s long-term memory, so that, when it is used again, they will be on familiar terms with it, and are thus more likely to comply.

Visual cues may be colour coded cards, pictures, or posters while aural cues may be a recorded instruction, a particular theme tune, a whistle, a drum or a bell.

Be as creative as you wish.

Give your child time to think before expecting a reply or instructions to be followed and check that they understand what you have asked them to do.

Have them demonstrate their understanding of the instructions before they begin a task.

Be prepared to repeat your

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instructions. Be mindful that merely repeating an instruction back does not indicate that the child has understood what you have asked them to do.

If your child is one of a group, use their name before giving instructions as they may choose to ignore the fact an instruction delivered to the group does includes them.

Try reducing the amount of information in your instruction and if necessary break it into smaller steps. This will help you refine your language and make your information more specific.

It is important to remember to only give one instruction at a time to avoid overloading the child with information.

Get into a habit of ending instructions with the word, ‘now’. Try to avoid giving instructions for any other period.

Give notice to your child of any impending changes in their routines, and anticipate having to repeat this information. Use visual cues to support this.

Try not to interrupt when your child is speaking as they may forget what they were going to say and will have to start again. Remember that just as adults dislike children interrupting them, children with ADHD dislike being interrupted even more. Also apart from the fact that they may have trouble recollecting their thoughts, they will likely see this as injustice, which increases the potential for a conflict.

More structure and routines will provide an enduring foundation for learning for children with ADHD. Their own world can appear as unpredictable and chaotic, so having a structure can make them feel safer, thus making it easier for them to retain selfcontrol.

To learn more, contact Lorrae or Katie at www.jaderbergkrais.co.uk

Give your child time to think before expecting a reply or instructions to be followed and check that they understand what you have asked them to do.

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special needs

Be a hero and help raise money for children’s hospices Simon Cowell, Patron of Together for Short Lives, comments: ‘I’m calling on everyone to be a hero and get involved in Children’s Hospice Week this year.

You can make a massive difference to the lives of children who may not reach adulthood and also to their families.

Please do whatever you can to support them.’

There are plenty of ways for families to join in:

Ever imagined what mum or dad would look like dressed up as your favourite superhero?

Maybe you’ve always wondered what your own superpower would be? This May, as part of Children’s Hospice Week, families across the country will have the chance to go hero-mad and get creative with capes, lycra and masks to show their support for the very special services provided by children’s hospices.

Children’s Hospice Week, 26 April – 3 May, is the UK’s only awareness and fundraising week for children with life-limiting conditions and the services, like children’s hospices, that support them. This year, the week focuses on the support provided to brothers and sisters of seriously ill children and culminates with Superhero Friday (3 May) – a special day of hero inspired fundraising.

Together for Short Lives, the national charity leading the week, is calling on families everywhere to be a hero, join in the fun and help raise vital funds.

• Dress up and donate: suggest to your local school that pupils and staff dress as superheroes for the day • Hero for an hour: get sponsored to do a good deed after school or ask mum or dad to donate an hour’s wages Visit http://www.togetherforshortlives. org.uk/get_involved/make_a_ donation • Super power pennies: Collect coins during children’s hospice week – every penny counts!

• Heroes vs villains: pick your teams for a tug of war or arm wrestling contest at school or work • Superpower office sweepstake: donate to play and choose your superpower

From left to right - Emma, Jack, Taylor and Alyson

Case study Three years ago Emma was diagnosed with a Wilms’ tumour, a rare form of kidney cancer. Her mother Dionne tells their story: ‘It was a very emotional time for us all. I have four children and it has had a big impact on family life, especially for my two older children.

My son, Taylor was six when Emma was diagnosed and he didn’t really know what was going on at the time, he just knew I wasn’t there.

My older daughter, Alyson was having trouble with school friends; Emma’s diagnosis made things ten times worse.

At the time, I didn’t think Taylor understood much but looking back, he probably understood

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more than I thought. He’s always been a very quiet child and although I didn’t keep anything from him, I never really sat down and properly explained what was happening.

Until Emma was diagnosed, Taylor had never spent any time away from me and while spending time away from parents isn’t a bad thing, in the circumstances it really did affect him. I spent a lot of nights in hospitals with Emma and it was a shock to Taylor. When I discuss it with him now it’s clear that he did feel as though mummy was being taken away from him. Even now, he still feels that Emma gets all of the attention.

Alyson knew what was happening and she was very upset. Socially it had a very big impact on her. Even now she finds it very difficult if she falls out with her friends. At the time of Emma’s diagnosis, Alyson turned to her friends for support rather than us – I think she felt that we were under enough pressure – so when that support network fell apart or if there was a minor drama, that resonated with her much more than if Emma wasn’t ill. Alyson still has outbursts but is getting better – she’s had to grow up very quickly.

In 2010 Alyson and Taylor joined the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice Sibling Programme. They find the outings and activities fun – it gives them

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including ‘Magnetism’; ‘Vortex Breath’; and ‘Internal Sat Nav’! Visit www.childrenshospiceweek.org.uk to download your sweepstake poster There are also a number of hero inspired events that people can join. Fly superhero style throughout May by signing up for the charity’s Superhero Skydive and freefalling at 120mph. For those who like to keep their feet firmly on the ground but still want be a hero, why not get sponsored for the Superhero Run in Regents Park on May 19?

For more information, ideas and inspiration visit www.childrens hospiceweek.org.uk Whatever you choose to do, every penny raised will make a lifetime of difference to the children and families we support.

For example: just £1 would pay for a child’s oxygen mask, £25 would pay for a music therapy session and £150 could pay for an hour of nursing care. You’ll be making every moment count, helping children and families to make the most of the precious time they have together.

the opportunity to be kids. When they are with their peers it’s easier for them to open up and mixing with other kids who know what it’s like or have been through a similar experience, has helped them.

Alyson, in particular, has become more confident and is now very close with a couple of girls in the group. She finds it comforting to know there’s always at least one person for her to talk with. Taylor has made lot of friends through the group.

The group has given Taylor the opportunity to go out and release some of his pent up energy. He’s a lot calmer now and his behaviour has improved greatly which has helped him at school. He has had the same male teacher for the last two years and I think, this, and the consistency of the group, has been a great benefit to him.

Emma has recovered well and doesn’t get ill very often now, but it has been an awful period in our life. I’m immensely grateful for the support we have all received and continue to receive from Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. This alone has made things easier to cope with and we will continue to reach out to them for as long as they will have us!’

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gardening

Speech therapy Talk With Us are specialist paediatric speech and language therapists who offer a professional, friendly and personal service. They see children of all ages from 3-18 years old.

Children can be seen at home, in school or in the clinic, based in Temple Fortune.

Talk With Us was set up 4 years ago

by Hannah Feldman and Naomi Nissim.

The team has years of experience working for the NHS and they understand what works and what can be done differently. Talk With Us seeks to utilise that experience and provide a more effective, personal and dedicated service.

Their approach is that intervention is most effective when it involves all parties that care for the child. In this way, they are open to parents and carers attending therapy sessions as it has been found that this empowers parents and assists in the implementation of the therapy programme at home. The Talk With Us ethos is that each child’s development is central to the intervention provided by the team and it is this that drives them to set and achieve high standards.

They are a young, dynamic, professional partnership with the individual child’s needs as its main priority. Each session is carefully tailored to each and every child and is guaranteed to be fun and rewarding. They believe that whatever difficulties a child has, therapy should be exciting and creative as this will help to develop their skills. They help children to: • Understand what others say • Remember words and what they mean • Put words together to make sentences • Pronounce words correctly (as expected for their age) • Interact socially with others • Develop phonological awareness skills • Improve auditory memory skills They help children with a variety of difficulties including: • Language delay/ disorder • Speech delay / disorder • General Learning Difficulties • Specific Language Impairment • Phonological Awareness Difficulties • Auditory memory difficulties • Dyslexia • Communication Disorders • Autistic Spectrum Disorders • Stammering If you have any concerns with your child’s speech and language skills and would like to discuss them confidentially, please see their website www.talkwithus.co.uk or email them on Hannah@talkwithus.co.uk or Naomi@ talkwithus.co.uk

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Growing pea shoots

By Naomi Schillinger

Over the last four years, our front garden community veg growing project in Finsbury Park has been experimenting with all sorts of vegetables that can be grown in pots on our doorsteps and window boxes.

Here’s a delicious (and cheap) edible container idea which will give you fresh shoots to eat just weeks after you’ve sown the seeds. These pea shoots will look as gorgeous as they taste, and are a fantastic and healthy alternative (or addition) to lettuces when preparing a salad.

Pea shoots are a very easy veg for all the family to have a go at growing, and having successfully grown them once, you’ll want to sow them again and again over spring and summer for an endless supply of this tasty veg. For this you will need: 1. Any container that’s at least a few inches deep. I used a wooden box left out as rubbish from one of our local shops and I lined it with an old plastic bag punctured with three or four holes in the bottom.

2. Multi-purpose compost 3. Dried peas (We used marrow fat dried peas here) or leftover pea seeds 4. A watering can 5. An anti-squirrel device for stopping those pesky animals digging up and eating all your lovely peas. I have built a mini cage using a wooden frame and chicken wire, but anything, such as old in-tray, or just chicken wire on its own will do the trick.

Peas will usually grow up to three or four feet, but spare seeds can be planted from late March to August outdoors in a container and picked as quick growing pea shoots. The shoots have a really succulent bite along with a refreshing

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pea like flavour and one sowing can be cropped two or even three times when the shoots are about 6 inches (15cm) tall.

I’ve always used leftover pea seeds for pea shoots. They’ve been great, but Mark from Vertical Veg (www.verticalveg.org. uk) has come up with an even better idea.

Buy dried peas from your local shop and soak overnight. This is a much cheaper option and works just as well. Neighbour Annie and I had a mini tasting session, comparing shoots grown from dried peas versus shoots from pukka pea seeds. The result amazed us; we preferred the pea shoots grown from dried peas. Their taste was much more pea-like. So here’s how: 1. Nearly fill the container with compost, leaving 1.5 inches (4cm) soil free at the top of the container.

2. Scatter seeds on top of the compost.

You can sow these really close together, about half an inch (1cm) apart, as peas are never going to grow into tall plants and you want to get as many short shoots to eat as possible.

3. Cover the seeds with half an inch (1.5cm) of compost, water in well with a fine rose on your watering can and continue watering to keep the soil damp (but not soggy).

4. If, like me, you’re plagued with squirrels, cover with any object or device that will stop them from digging all your freshly planted seeds up. Peas will also take the fancy of slugs, snails and mice, so be vigilant!

Leaves should appear a week to ten days after sowing and shoots will be ready to crop in just three weeks (if the weather is reasonably hot and a week or two longer if cooler) when they reach about 6 inches (15cm) tall.

To harvest the shoots, nip them just above the lowest leaf with your nails, or use a pair of scissors. They’re really delicious, so try not to eat all of them straight away!

Our veg growing project now has over one hundred households involved in growing vegetables in front gardens, and you can read more about this, with a month by month guide on growing fruit, vegetables and edible flowers in my new book ‘Veg Street, Grow your own community’.

There’s also plenty of really useful ‘how to’s’ for growing many other vegetables, and information about our community project on my blog. www.outofmyshed. co.uk

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book corner

Hi kids, parents, grandparents, teachers – and book lovers everywhere! I’m Ed and here is my Spring book selection for you to enjoy. The books are all available online from Ed’s Reading Room at www.edontheweb. com.

ROOM

Reading

Ed’s Ed’s Reading Room is an exciting free online book and story club for primary children in homes and schools. Each month, recently published books are selected as Ed’s Books of the Month for Owlets (age 5-7) and Owls (over 7s). On the website, there are fun literacy activities to accompany each book, including wordsearches, quizzes, poetry and reviews, and there are new original stories in Edtime Stories.

There are also lots of other fun online activities, complementary to the curriculum. Check out Ed’s Archive for Ed’s Books of the Month from previous months.

5-7

FOR AGES 5-7 YEARS

Arthur and the Mystery of the Egg

by Johanne Mercier (Phoenix Yard Books £4.99)

Ed Says: ‘Arthur finds an egg in his grandparents’ garden. It’s a fairly ordinary egg but when he takes it into the house the grown-ups make a huge fuss. It really is a puzzle where it came from as there are no chickens nearby – and they all try to solve that great mystery, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

They are in for a big surprise when the egg cracks, leading Arthur to ask the

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grown-ups another tricky question!

‘This is a lovely story for young readers who are sure to see things from Arthur’s point of view. There are super illustrations throughout the book which is the first in a new series.’

The Smug Pug

by Anna Wilson (Macmillan Children’s Books £5.99)

Ed Says: ‘Welcome to Crumblyunder-Edge! Pippa Peppercorn hates the idea of going back to school after the holidays but it is not as bad as she there is an intriguing thinks because ther new girl at school called Tallulah with an equally intriguing dog, Smug. But when Pippa tells Dash the dachshund at Mrs Fudge’s salon Chop ‘n’ Chat how amazing her new friends are, he is less than impressed.

‘This is a laugh-out-loud story that is packed full of action and fun. The delightfully wacky characters will amuse boys and girls alike.’

FOR AGES 7 YEARS PLUS

7+

this area and he decides a good way forward would be to find Hoove a pet to take care of. But Hoove is not really an animal type so will Billy succeed in helping Hoove mend his ways?

‘This is the latest story in this hilarious series. The adventure shared by these unlikely friends is very entertaining and is gripping from beginning to end.’

Bone Quill

by John & Carole E Barrowman (Buster Books £6.99)

Ed Says: ‘Matt and Emily Calder are twins who possess extraordinary powers including the ability to bring paintings to life. In this their they try to find their second adventure th mother who has gone missing and they desperately search for the ancient and mysterious bone quill by travelling back in time. Will they be able to stop those who attempt to abuse its power?

‘This is a thrilling story with fantastic characters and settings. It includes references to real and imaginary paintings thereby encouraging an interest in art. It’s a real page-turner of a book.’

Ghost Buddy: How to Scare the Pants Off Your Pets

by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver (Scholastic £5.99)

Ed Says: ‘Billy Broccoli and his ghostly pal Hoover Porterhouse III, also known as Hoove, are off on another adventure. Hoove is seriously lacking in responsibility so Billy makes it his business to help Hoove improve in

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Ed’s Reading Room is part of www.edontheweb.com, a DTI awardwinning website. It was created by Maggie Humphreys, a teacher of more than 25 years, and Les Snowdon, who together are authors of several books on fitness walking and healthy eating.

You are very welcome to contact Maggie on 01753 730019 or by email at mgh@edontheweb.com about the website or about Ed on the Web Spelling Bees in schools.

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North London

EASTER GUIDE The Complete Guide to North London family fun at Easter

Easter customs Easter events Out and about

easter

Easter Customs and Traditions Where the Easter bunny comes from and other Easter traditions • Easter was originally a pagan festival – the ancient Saxons celebrated spring with a party in honour of its goddess, Eastre.

• The date of Easter changes every year because of Roman emperor’s Constantine’s Easter rule, which stated that it should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This was because it was a day of maximum light (12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of moonlight).

• The Easter bunny also originated with the pagan festival of Eastre, as she was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

• The first documented use of the bunny as a symbol of Easter appears in Germany in the 1500s, and it was the Germans who made the first edible Easter bunnies in the 1800s.

• Some believe hot cross buns predate Christianity, as buns decorated with a cross were eaten by Saxons in honour of the goddess Eastre, with the cross symbolizing the four quarters of the moon.

• According to English folklore, buns can be kept for medicinal purposes – if you give a piece to someone ill, it will help them get better.

• Eggs are a symbol of rebirth in most cultures and had already been given as springtime gifts before Easter was first celebrated by Christians.

• Eggs are coloured brightly to symbolise the sunlight of spring.

• Medieval records note that eggs were often given as Easter gifts to servants by their masters.

• The most ornate Easter eggs are probably the jewelled and enamelled eggs that Fabergé was made for the Russian tsars.

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FUN AND FROLICS WITH DAVID LLOYD KIDS With the Easter holidays just round the corner, now is the perfect time to plan ahead on how to keep your little ones busy – and David Lloyd Leisure’s DL Kids Holiday Active programme ticks all the boxes for active fun and entertainment.

The DL Kids Holiday Active programme, which is available to members and nonmembers at David Lloyd Finchley and Raynes Park clubs, provides a plethora of structured activities for youngsters aged 5 to 11, while offering parents flexible choice, with the option to book half days, full days or even whole weeks.

David Lloyd Leisure’s wide range of club facilities means that children can play sport,

be creative and burn off their energy trying something new and different every day.

And the purpose-built facilities offer a children’s paradise, featuring activity rooms, interactive classrooms, sports halls, indoor play frames and DL Kids café bars.

Each day is packed full of fun and healthy activities, all carefully arranged by David Lloyd Leisure’s DL Kids co-ordinators to ensure children have a good mix of sports, play, rest, and the time to engage with their new friends in an environment created just for them. Plus, lunch and refreshments are provided.

Sarah Hobbs, David Lloyd Leisure’s head of family sports, health and fitness, says: ‘We know that children who have positive sporting or active experiences at a young age are more likely to continue being active in adulthood.

‘The DL Kids programmes are designed to provide the opportunities for children to get active, focusing on fun and participation and with practical facilities that work for the family as a whole.

‘Nowhere else can children have such fun under one roof every day. We have great sports activities, such as swimming, as well as arts and crafts, with healthy lunch options and the very best kids coaches around!’

Discounts on Holiday Active are available if you book early. Children’s parties also available! For more information, see www.davidlloyd.co.uk.

Justin and Friends come to town For the first time ever fans will be able to see Justin Fletcher’s favourite characters brought together on stage as Justin & Friends prepares to rock the Wembley Arena.

Saturday 6th April and Sunday 7th April 2013. Tel: 0844 815 0815 Gigglebiz favourites including Nana Knickerbocker; Lost Pirate; Arthur Sleep and Keith Fit will be joining the fun alongside a host of Tumbles from Something Special. Lord Tumble, Grandad Tumble and Cliff Tumble will star alongside Mr Tumble in a spectacular show presented by CBeebies Live!

Joining Justin on his adventures will be his friends Robert the Robot and Little Monster from Justin’s House, as Justin prepares to put

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on a spectacular rock and roly-poly show for a very special visitor!

Justin is on the lookout to find everyone’s special talents and needs you! He will be joined on tour by Nina from Nina and the Neurons, to make sure everything goes according to plan; the adventurous Andy Day who will leave no stone unturned and Katy Ashworth who will cook up a storm.

As Robert’s enthusiasm for tidying up threatens Justin’s plans to stage the most amazing show ever, he’ll need your help to keep things on track.

Prepare to be thrilled, excited and spectacularly entertained. You too will discover your special talents, as you dance and sing along with Justin Fletcher and all his friends!

Tickets are available now and are priced from £13.00 for children, with family tickets from £52.00 (for four people and subject to booking fee). For tickets and the most up to date tour information please visit: www. bbcliveshows.com.

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presents

Ticfrkomets * £13 Justin Fletcher, Katy Ashworth, Andy Day and Nina from Nina and the Neurons

Along with friends from Justin’s House, Something Special and Gigglebiz!

Sat 6 April 1.30pm & 4.30pm Sun 7 April 11 am & 2pm LONDON - WEMBLEY ARENA 0844 815 0815 www.bbcliveshows.com

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For terms and conditions go to bbcliveshows.com

Booking fees may apply. BBC Logo TM & ©BBC 1996. *Subject to availability. Available on selected seats only.

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OUT NOW

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easter

Families North Love!!

was born!’

The App has already started being reviewed by mums across the UK, and all have given it 4+ stars on iTunes. Download it on Android or iPhone for free www.wowmum.com WOWMUM have chosen their top picks across North London just for you!

Melange Restaurant 45 Topsfield Parade, Tottenham Lane, N8 8PT, Tel: 0208 341 1681, http://www. melangerestaurant.co.uk Melange – the French/Italian restaurant quickly became favourite place in Crouch End for many. It is completely child friendly with play corner for a little once and kids menu. Yet it is still completely stylish and grown-up. The two worlds should not go together on paper – but at Melange it works perfectly.

WOWMUM IS A NEW FREE APP REVEALING THE BEST FAMILY FRIENDLY PLACES IN THE UK Fast and slick, WOWMUM instantly locates nearby baby and child friendly places sorted into three simple categories Eat, Play and Pamper.

Whether you are looking for baby changing facilities, buggy friendly eateries, indoor and outdoor play areas, toy shops or children’s hairdressers WOWMUM is the App to download.

There’s even a ‘Nappy Changing Panic Button’ for times you just can’t plan for.

With over 10,000 WOWSpots located across the UK, WOWMUM features a range of user friendly icons which allow mum to search efficiently and effectively for must find facilities.

Check for highchair availability, children’s menu, bottle warming facilities and lots, lots more. It’s interactive too because if you discover a family friendly gem the App allows you to ‘add a WowSpot’, as well as share reviews and ratings.

It is as quick as counting 1,2,3!

Comments WOWMUM founders Jennifer Chen and Shruti Veeramachineni; ‘The idea for WOWMUM came after we’d met up with a friend who’d just had her first baby. The baby started crying and needed its nappy changing. We spent over 25 minutes looking for somewhere to not only change the nappy but accommodate a big buggy. We realised there was a gap in the market for an App which efficiently and effectively points mums in the direction of child friendly locations, WOWMUM

MOTHER NATURE EASTER CAMP Do you want something fun, educational and unique for your child to do this Easter Holidays?

Well, let your children get ahead with enriching science and give Mother Nature Science a call.

Your children will have the opportunity to get hands-on with exciting and fun science activities and take home experiments every day in the 4-day Rockin’ Robots! Science Easter Camp 2013! Content includes: gearwheel mechanisms,

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ZEBRA Ceramics 110 Alexandra Park Road, Muswell Hill, London N10 2AE, 02084421314, www.zebraceramics.co.uk info@zebraceramics.co.uk A stylish and contemporary ceramic café, where you can get creative and paint wonderful gifts to give, keep and treasure. They specialise in capturing babyprints in clay, silver & on ceramics and offer parties for any occasion. They also serve organic teas and coffees with a selection of gorgeous cakes. Free hot drink and cake for Mum when booking on Mother’s Day – Sunday, 10th March.

Carlucccios 291-293 Muswell Hill Broadway, London 020 8815 1946, www.carluccios.com/restaurants/muswell-hill With warm Italian charm, Carluccios in Muswell Hill welcome families and children and offer a great value nutritional children’s menu. Kids have the option to create their own pasta dish by choosing their favourite pasta shape and a sauce to go with it. Alternatively, kids can enjoy options such as the Milanese di Pollo (breadcrumbed breast of chicken served with rosemary potatoes): Ravioli (handmade parcels filled with spinach and ricotta cheese) or a choice of dishes from the adult menu which are available in

pneumatics, robotic claws, electronic motors, solar powered grasshoppers, 6-in-1 solar robots, plasma balls, an Eco-Robot design competition and much, much more!

The Camp is open to children aged 5-12 years and runs for two weeks during Easter: Week A: Tue 2nd – Fri 8th April ‘13 and Week B: Mon 8th – Thur 11th April ‘13. The timings are 9am – 3:30pm daily and camp venues include: Hampstead, Swiss Cottage, Maida Vale, Harrow, Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hillingdon and more! There

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smaller portions for the little ones. Carluccio’s also provides highchairs and activity packs to keep kids entertained and work up an appetite!

Pickled Pepper Books 10 Middle Lane, Crouch End, London N8 8PL http://www.pickledpepperbooks.co.uk As well as having a lovely selection of books, there are some amazing events and great storytime activities. They do very good coffee for the grown-ups and healthy snacks for kids, and it’s also double buggy-friendly and breastfeeding friendly. They have high chairs and a nappy changing station will be installed very soon!

Minikin 22 Broadway Parade, Crouch End, London N8 9DE http://www.minikin.co.uk Minikin is a gorgeous childrens store with a fantastic kids hairdressing salon which is very popular. They sell beautifully designed children’s clothing such as No Added Sugar and ILoveGorgeous, gifts, nursery equipment and skin and hair care for babies, children and toddlers.

The specialist hairdressers are very caring and children love to play with their great selection of toys. They do really good boy’s hair cuts as well as girl’s and for your baby’s first hair cut you can get your their curl wrapped in a ribbon with a photo – aww!

Monkey Nuts 2 Park Road, Crouch End, London N8 8TD http://www.monkeynuts.biz Monkey Nuts is where all the big and little kids go for great breakfasts and burgers and steaks. It has nappy changing downstairs and colouring pens and highchairs galore. Set up by the son of the founders of the kid friendly Giraffe restaurant group, Monkey Nuts is a firm favourite amongst locals. The kids menu is a winner with a huge selection of goodies to suit all kids tastes, even the fussiest eaters!

is also a ‘Multi-Booking Discount’ available: book siblings or with your friends under one payment and save!

Mother Nature Science also do the best Birthday Parties andd After School Science Clubs. Call, email or go online for more information: 020 8863 8832 info@mnature.co.uk www.mnature.co.uk

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Join us for some Easter fun and let us keep your little bunnies busy this Bank Holiday weekend!

Easter egg hunt Egg & spoon races Face painting Arts & crafts & lots more Admission: £5.50 adults; £4.50 concessions; £2.50 children; under 3‘s FREE Supported by For further information about Capel Manor Gardens, visit their website www.capelmanorgardens.co.uk

Registered Charity No. 1081156

A

HIGHLIGHTS ...

GRE FAMIAT LY DAY

North Finchley

OUT!

SENSACIONAL WED 10 – FRI 12 APR • £7.50 (ADULT FREE) 9.30, 10.15, 11 & 11.45AM An interactive light and sound experience for little ones. Truly unique. 18 mths – 3 yrs

THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD SAT 25 & SUN 26 MAY • £10.50 / £38 FOR 4 A magical musical adaptation of the much-loved children’s book. Ages 3+

Time Out WE’RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT SAT 29 & SUN 30 JUN • £10.50 / £38 FOR 4 Catchy songs, adventure and a few surprises on the way. Ages 3+

AT SNOZONE MILTON KEYNES SNOCAMPS, EASTER EGG HUNTS, ARTS & CRAFTS AND FUN ACTIVITIES ON REAL SNOW! VISIT SNOZONEUK.COM TO FIND OUT MORE OR CALL 0871 222 5673.

“The best family show I’ve seen” Sky Arts

FAMILY SHOWS EVERY SUNDAY. NO BOOKING FEES. artsdepot 5 Nether Street • Tally Ho Corner London • N12 0GA

Box Office 020 8369 5454 www.artsdepot.co.uk WWW.SNOZONEUK.COM

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MALLINSON SPORTS CENTRE 2013 ACTIVITY COURSES

Easter Fun! 2 – 5 and 8 – 12 April 10:00am – 4:30pm

Easter EGGstravaganza!

Follow the treasure trail to find the chicks and egg hidden in the Museum then create and decorate your own Easter basket to take home. There is a chocolate egg for every child and prizes to be won.

MSC ACTIVITY COURSES FOR CHILDREN AGED SCHOOL YEAR 1 to YEAR 9

MSC Admission free

Telephone number: 020 8342 7272

10am – 5pm Monday to Friday. Closed weekends and public holidays. Entrance in Bartholomew Lane, London EC2R 8AH. Tel: 020 7601 5545 www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum

Address: Mallinson Sports Centre, Bishopswood Road, Highgate, London, N6 4NY Email: msc@highgateschool.org.uk

Trapeze School For children from 2 ½ years old, Teenagers and Adults On Monday, Wednesday or Friday afternoons At the Primrose Hill community centre Hopkinson’s Place NW1

0797 345 1603 circusglory@gmail.com Circus Glory also organises workshops for birthday parties or other events.

Don’t forget to say you saw the ad in Families North!

44

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easter MR BLUNDEN HAS ARRIVED!

EGGBERT’S ADVENTURES

Fro the creator From of the The Railway Children, comes Ch the equally magical and ma much-loved classic mu The Th Amazing Mr Blunden, which Blu finally gets a long-awaited DVD release from Second Sight Films.

This powerful British drama from the late Lionel Jeffries is based on Antonia Barbar’s novel The Ghosts and stars a stellar cast of British acting talent including Laurence Naismith, Lynne Frederick and Diana Dors. It has been hugely in demand but unavailable for many years and now comes to DVD on 11 March 2013.

A mysterious and kindly old solicitor called Mr Blunden pays a visit to recently widowed Mrs Allen and her children offering her the position of caretaker at a derelict country mansion. Struggling in their cramped London flat they cannot refuse and soon arrive at their new home.

More surprises are in store when the children not only encounter the ghosts of two previous young residents but also find themselves going back in time to help them right a 100-year-old wrong.

We have three copies of this wonderful family adventure DVD to giveaway. To enter go to www.familiesnorth.co.uk/ competitions.

A Special RReader Offer on aall 3 Eggbert’s Adventures A Children’s C BBooks. Suitable for Children fo from 2 to 7 fr yyears. Buy all 3 Books for £10 incl. p+p and save £7. Also visit Eggbert’s fun and educational website at www.eggbertsadventures.com and download and print of the free activities.

‘Endearing characters and eternal values.

Children will love and learn from these wonderful little books.’

Sir Cliff Richard Please send the three Eggbert’s Adventures books to (Please Print): Full Name Address:

Postcode

‘Really splendid and very entertaining.’

Chris Tarrant

Telephone

‘The episodes are written with a delightful simplicity. I particularly like the charming illustrations.’

Colin Dexter (Creator of Inspector Morse)

Please include a cheque for £10-00 made payable to Eggsact Books Ltd and mail to: Eggsact Ltd Oxford, PO Box 579, Abingdon, OX14 9FF United Kingdom. This offer is subject to availability.

For classes in Barnet, Bush Hill Park, Cheshunt, Cockfosters, Edmonton, Gordon Hill, Highlands Village, Palmers Green, Potters Bar & Southgate

For classes in Crouch End, Hackney, Highbury, Highgate, Islington, Muswell Hill, North Finchley, Primrose Hill, Stoke Newington & Swiss Cottage

Contact: Lucy 07732 380706 lucy.hough@diddidance.com

Contact: Charlene 07892 711162 charlene.dinger@diddidance.com

Favourite

N8 NW1 N NW8 N16 Approved Football Training for Kids Aged 18 Months to 7 Years

Mill Hill, Friern Barnet, Swiss Cottage, Hampstead, Muswell Hill & Golders Green 020 8201 1084 - jlevene@littlekickers.co.uk

Football training for under 5s who are nuts n about football

Southgate, New Barnet, Enfield 020 7684 7969 - ehanna@littlekickers.co.uk

Get your midfield i dynamo enjoying super-skills, fun & exercise

Islington, Hackney, Wapping & Wanstead 020 8958 2808 - amarks@littlekickers.co.uk

CRB checked & FA qualified coachess

www.littlekickers.co.uk

Where Learning’s a Ball familiesnorth.co.uk

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Training sessions, courses & parties across London

kiddikicks.co.uk ki k k 020 7937 7965

NEW! Match Play for Under 8s

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out and about cinema • museums • exhibitions • theatres • concerts

Out & About Your guide to North London family entertainment

Cinema ODEON KIDS odeon.co.uk Screenings Saturday & Sunday Mornings Check website for current films and locations. Cost from £1 – £4/accompanying adult free.

PHOENIX CINEMA 52 High Road, N2 9PJ ( East Finchley) 020 8444 6789 phoenixcinema.co.uk Kids Club March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Film and pre-booked activities. 5 – 10 years. Cost £2.

Toddler Time March 5, 12, 19, 26 Short film and activities. Booking essential. 2 – 4 years. Cost £3 (adult + child).

RIO CINEMA 107 Kingsland High Street, Londin E8 6LJ (Dalston Kingsland ) 020 7241 9410 riocinema.org.uk Easter Holiday Matinees March 29 – April 12 Cost £7.50/£5.50/family £23.

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – LIVE CINEMA 020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland March 28 Live ballet relayed to many local cinemas including Curzon Mayfair, Picturehouse Hackney, Cineworld Enfield, Vue Finchley Road and Vue Islington.

TRICYCLE THEATRE 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR ( Kilburn) 020 7328 1000 tricycle.co.uk Parent & Baby Screenings Adults accompanied by a child under 12 months can see films in a safe and relaxed environment.

Museums & Exhibitions GRANT MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY Rockefeller Building, University College London, 21 University Street, WC1E 6DE ( Euston Square) 020 3108 2052 ucl.ac.uk Fossil Forage March 16, 23 Drop-in activities as part of National Science and Engineering week. Free.

HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM 25 Brook Street, W1K 4HB ( Bond Street) 020 7495 1685 handelhouse.org Hip Hip Hooray for Handel!

April 21

Arts Depot

Musical treats with Georgian costumes and percussion instruments. Limited numbers.

Booking recommended.

Accompanied 7+ years. Cost £5/ children free.

OCTOBER GALLERY 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AL ( Holborn) 020 7242 7367 octobergalleryeducation.co.uk Family Art Days March 16 Art and craft workshop. Arrive early, latecomers not admitted. Limited places. Free.

PETRIE MUSEUM OF EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGY Malet Place, UCL, London WC1E 6BT ( Euston Square) 020 7679 2884 ucl.ac.uk

ARTS DEPOT Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, N12 OGA ( West Finchley & Woodside Park) 020 8369 5454 artsdepot.co.uk

Family Workshop March 23 Drawing techniques inspired by Ancient Egyptian objects using finger prints. Free drop-in.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS Burlington House, W1J OBD ( Green Park) 020 7300 8000 royalacademy.org.uk Portraying Life March 17 Paint a portrait of a family member.

Free drop-in sessions.

International Women’s Day Lectures March 9, 10 Free lectures on extraordinary women in science and technology.

Family Workshops March 9, 10 Build and race a toy car.

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Theatres & Concerts

Science Week March 16 Look at fingerprints under a microscope and learn about finger printing techniques. Free drop-in.

SCIENCE MUSEUM Exhibition Rd, S London W7 2DD ( South Kensington) 0870 870 4868 sciencemuseum.org.uk

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Tricycle Theatre

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My Big Little Sister March 3 Ruby wants to be all grown-up. 4 – 8 years. Cost £7.

Mavis Sparkle March 10 Magic tricks and animation. 5 – 10 years. Cost £7.

Rumpelstiltskin & The Wheel of Fortune March 17 Puppets and music. 4+ years. Cost £7.

Misunderstood Monsters March 24 Earth is threatened by aliens. 4 – 9 years. Cost £7.

Curious April 21 Introduction to theatre with after show activities. 0 – 3 years. Cost £7.

CHICKENSHED THEATRE Chase Side, Southgate, N14 4PE ( Cockfosters/Oakwood) 020 8292 9222 chickenshed.org.uk Tales from the Shed March 1, 2, 15, 16, 22, 23 Colourful puppets and live songs. 0 – 7 years. Cost £5.50/free for babies under 6 months.

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theatres • concerts out & about Entertaining show with puppets and music. 5+ years. Cost £10.

Cloud Child April 21 A lonely woman cares for a child fallen from the sky. 2 – 5 years. Cost £10.

Half Moon Theatre

Globe

Performance Workshops March 2 – 23 Saturday workshops. 9 – 12 years.

Cost £6 per session.

Adventure and discovery with familiar characters including Nogbad the Bad and the Ice Dragon. 4+ years. Cost £8.95.

Tales from the Shed March 7 – 9 Held at Dugdale Centre, Enfield EN2 6DS.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus April 21 Fun, feathers and laughter. 3+ years.

Cost £8.95.

Tales Big Day Out April 20, 21 Mini festival with shows, stalls and activities. Booking recommended.

0 – 7 years. Cost £8.

HALFMOON YOUNG PEOPLE’S THEATRE 43 White Horse Road, E1 OND (Stepney Green/Limehouse ) 020 7709 8900 halfmoon.org.uk Mazymeg & the Honey Bees March 2 A stranger steals Albert’s honey bees and Mazymeg helps out. 4+ years.

Cost £6.

Whole March 6 What happens when you’re in a hole? Occasional strong language.

13+ years. Cost £6.

Hue Boy April 28 Boy doesn’t to be growing, but learns to be tall despite his height.

3+ years. Cost £8.95.

LAUDERDALE HOUSE Highgate Hill, Waterlow Park, N6 5HG ( Archway) 020 8348 8716 lauderdalehouse.co.uk The Elves and the Shoemaker March 2 Magical tale. 3 – 6 years. Cost £4.50.

Nice April 28 A world where anything is possible.

4+ years. Cost £10.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland March 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28 April 2, 6, 11, 13 Also screened live in local cinemas on one selected date.

LYRIC THEATRE HAMMERSMITH King Street, W6 OQL ( Hammersmith) 020 8741 6850 lyric.co.uk

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, SE1 9DT ( London Bridge) 020 7401 9919 shakespearesglobe.com

The Nightingale March 2 A little king who has everything he wants but still feels sad. 4 – 8 years.

Globe Magic Party April 21 Family events, games and magical mayhem to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday. No booking required. Free.

Nobody Rides the Unicorn March 9 Zoe must set the Unicorn free. 4 – 7 years.

Wolf Tales March 15, 16 Behind the scenes with the big bad wolf. 5 – 10 years.

Landscapes March 23, 24 Puppets and visual projections. 4 – 9 years. Cost £8/family £30.

The Tinderbox April 20 A brave soldier and a beautiful princess. 4 – 10 years.

The Rainbow Adventure March 9 Puppets and music. 2 – 7 years. Cost £4.50.

The Hare & the Tortoise April 27, 28 Who will win the race? 3 – 7 years.

Cost £8/family £30.

Little Bo Peep March 16 Sing along with favourite nursery rhymes. 2 – 7 years. Cost £4.50.

PEACOCK THEATRE Portugal Street, WC2A 2HT ( Holborn) 0844 412 4322 sadlerswells.com

The Pied Piper March 9 Puppets, music and story telling. 3 – 7 years. Cost £6.

Family Friendly Concerts March 17 Hour-long concerts where children are welcome. Cost £7/£1.

Dogs Don’t Do Ballet March 16 Biff wants to be a ballerina! 2 – 5 years. Cost £6.

Rumpelstiltskin March 23 A baker’s daughter can spin straw into gold. 3 – 8 years. Cost £4.50.

Moon & Genie March 20 – 27

Theatre Shows April Check online for dates and information.

PUPPET THEATRE BARGE Blomfield Road, Little Venice, W9 2PF ( Warwick Avenue) 020 7249 6876 puppetbarge.com

LITTLE ANGEL THEATRE 14 Dagmar Passage, N1 2DN ( Angel or Highbury Islington) 020 7226 1787 littleangeltheatre.com

Joey’s Fireworks March 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17 Marionette spectacle with Joey the Clown, Burglar Bill and Mr Punch.

3+ years. Cost £10/£8.50.

Curioddity March 3 A playful, funny world. 3+ years.

Cost £8.95.

The Nightingale March 6 – 10 Classic tale. Baby friendly performances at selected shows. 4+ years. Cost £10/£5 Friday 5pm.

The Sagas of Noggin the Nog March 24

Hullaba Lulu April 20

The Hare & the Tortoise & other tales from Aesop March 23, 24, 30, 31 April 1 – 5, 6 – 8, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28 A collection of Aesop’s fables. 3+ years. Cost £10/£8.50.

Jamal gets help to cook a meal for his grandmother. 3 – 7 years. Cost £6.

JACKSONS LANE 269A Archway Road, N6 5AA ( Highgate) 020 8341 4421 jacksonslane.org.uk

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ROYAL OPERA HOUSE Covent Garden, WC2E 9DD ( Covent Garden) 020 7304 4000 roh.org.uk

The Secret Garden April 25 – 28 Story of the forbidden locked garden with young dancers aged 9 – 15 years from London Children’s Ballet.

3+ years. Cost £14 – £55.

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The Tempest From April 23

SOHO THEATRE 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE ( Tottenham Court Rd) 020 7287 5060 sohotheatre.com comedyclub4kids.co.uk Comedy Club 4 Kids March 9 Family friendly comedy. 6+ years.

Cost £10/family £30.

TRICYCLE THEATRE 269 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR ( Kilburn) 020 7328 1000 tricycle.co.uk Misunderstood Monsters March 9 An out of this world adventure. 4 – 9 years. Cost £8.

Circles in the Sand March 23 Explore sand in exciting ways. 0 – 3 years. Cost £7.

Birbal’s Animal Tales of India April 27 Delightful moral tales. 4+ years.

Cost £7.

UNICORN THEATRE 147 Tooley Street, SE1 2HZ ( London Bridge) Soho Theatre

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out and about theatres • concerts • easter activities • workshops Who Done it?

April 2 – 4 Family workshops. Limited places. No booking required. 6+ years. Free.

Stamp!

April 9 – 11 Creative family workshops to make your own stamps. Limited places. No booking required. 6+ years. Free.

British Museum

020 7645 0560 unicorntheatre.com 1001 Nights Until March 17 6+ years. Cost £16/£10.

Mouth Open, Story Jump Out March 5 – 15 A chain reaction of events. 9 – 11 years. Cost £16/£10.

Mister Holgado March 24 – April 28 Something is lurking in the shadows.

8+ years. Cost £16/£10.

Carnival April 9 – 28 The power of imagination. 4 – 7 years. Cost £16/£10.

Easter Activities and Workshops ARTS DEPOT Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, N12 OGA ( West Finchley & Woodside Park) 020 8369 5454 artsdepot.co.uk Sally and the Sunflower April 7 Some magic seeds lead Sally on an adventure. 3 – 7 years. Cost £7.

Sensacional April 10 – 12 Unique space for little ones. 18 months – 3 years. Child £7.50/free for accompanying adult.

Burgh House

Each Peach Pear Plum April 14 A game of I-spy. 3 – 7 years. Cost £7

BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM Bartholomew Lane, EC2R 8AH ( Bank) 020 7601 5545 bankofengland.co.uk Easter Eggcitement April 2 – 5, 8 – 12 Decorate a basket to take home and follow an egg trail. Free entry.

BARBICAN CENTRE Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS ( Barbican) 020 7638 4141 barbican.org.uk Wonder – Art & Science on the Brain March 2 – April 10 The study of the brain and the nervous system with various related events and activities.

Wonder: Street Fair April 7 – 9 Drop-in foyer activities, performances and demonstrations based on art and neuroscience.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HOUSE 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF ( Charing Cross) 020 7839 2013 benjaminfranklinhouse.org Georgian Games April 2, 9 Play games from the past – quoits, marbles, and stringed cat’s cradles.

Booking required. 5 – 11 years. Cost £5 per child/discounts for groups of 4 or more children.

BRITISH MUSEUM Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG ( Tottenham Ct Road) 020 7323 8000 britishmuseum.org Ice Age Art Until May 26 Exhibition of the world’s oldest known sculptures, drawings and portraits. Cost £10/child free with paying adult.

Ice Age Animals April 8 – 12 Drop in Easter activities based on the current exhibition. All ages. Free.

BRUCE CASTLE MUSEUM Lordship Lane, N17 8NU ( Seven Sisters) 020 8808 8772 haringey.gov.uk Holiday Activities March & April Drop-in activities on Sundays. Check website for dates and information on special Easter activities. 5 – 13 years. Free.

BURGH HOUSE & HAMPSTEAD MUSEUM New End Square, NW3 1LT ( Hampstead) 020 7431 0144 burghhouse.org.uk Mad Hatters Easter Tea Party April 2 High tea with games, stories and craft and perhaps a glimpse of the Easter Bunny. 2 – 7 years. Booking required. Cost £15.

Family Activities Kids corner with costumes and toy box. Also museum trails and organised family walks.

CAMDEN ARTS CENTRE Arkwright Road, NW3 6DG ( Finchley Road)

020 7472 5500 camdenartscentre.org Clay for Infants/Juniors April 9 – 12 Clay workshops. Groups 5 – 7 years & 8 – 11 years. Cost £140/£126 early bird discount.

Animation for Infants/Juniors April 9 – 12 Basic animation and screening. 5 – 11 years. Cost £140/£126 early bird discount.

CARTOON MUSEUM 35 Little Russell St, WC1A 2HH ( Tottenham Ct Road) 020 7580 8155 cartoonmuseum.org Easter Workshops April 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 Individual workshops on animation, design or film. Booking essential. 8+ years. Cost £10 or £20.

CHATS PALACE 42 – 44 Brooksby’s Walk, E9 6DF ( Homerton) 020 8533 0227 chatspalace.co.uk In a Deep Dark Wood March 16 Interactive show about a girl who bravely ventures into a dark and mysterious wood. Separate shows for 2 – 5 years & 6 – 9 years.

Afternoon Wordship March 30 A show of rhymes. 8+ years. Cost £10.

CHICKENSHED THEATRE Chase Side, Southgate, N14 4PE ( Cockfosters/Oakwood) 020 8292 9222 chickenshed.org.uk Easter Shed April 8 – 12 Drama, dance, singing and storymaking workshops. 5 – 12 years.

Cost £120.

CIRCUS GLORY Primrose Hill Community Centre, NW1 8TN 0797 345 1603 Holiday Workshop April 10 Circus skills. 4+ years. Cost £50.

Lauderdale House

BRITISH LIBRARY 96 Euston Road, NW1 2DB ( Kings Cross) bl.uk Murder in the Library Until May 12 Exhibition on crime and detective fiction including Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple. Free.

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easter activities • workshops out & about My Brother the Robot April 14 Bobbie wants a brother, so her dad builds a special robot. 4+ years. Cost £8.95.

Dramarama

CREATION STATION 0844 854 9085 07931531596 thecreationstation.co.uk Holiday Classes Easter Arts and crafts classes. Held in Belsize Park, Muswell Hill, Finchley and Brent Cross. 2 – 11 years.Cost £7.50/£4 siblings.

CREATIVE WIZ KIDS 020 7794 6797 creativewizkids.com Easter Holiday Club April 2 – 6 Painting, drawing and free art time.

Held at St Peters, NW3 4HT and St Judes, NW11 7AH. 3 – 9 years.

DANNY GRANT SOCCER SCHOOL 020 8446 0891 dgsoccer.co.uk Holiday Football Courses Easter Non-stop football, fitness training and tournaments. Check online for dates and venues. 3 – 12 years.

DRAMARAMA STAGE SCHOOL 020 8446 0891 dramarama.co.uk Holiday Drama Courses Easter Drama, street dance and musical theatre in NW3. Check online for dates and venues. 3+ years.

DUGDALE CENTRE Thomas Hardy House, 39 London Road, Enfield EN2 6DS (Enfield Town ) 020 8807 6680 dugdalecentre.co.uk

Badges & Buttons March 9, April 6 Drop-in activities. 5+ years. Free for children and two accompanying adults.

GEFFRYE MUSEUM Kingsland Road, E2 8EA ( Old Street) 020 7739 9893 geffrye-museum.org.uk Easter Holiday Events April 9 – 12 Baking, craft workshops and a treasure hunt. 5+ years. Story time for younger children. 2 – 5 years.

HACKNEY EMPIRE 291 Mare Street, E8 1EJ (Hackney Central) 020 8985 2424 hackneyempire.co.uk Horrible Histories – Terrible Tudors & Vile Victorians March 29 – 31 History live on stage. 5+ years. Cost £10 – £20.

HANDEL HOUSE MUSEUM 25 Brook Street, W1K 4HB ( Bond Street) 020 7495 1685 handelhouse.org Charles Jennens: The man behind ‘Messiah’ Until April 14 Exhibition. Cost £6/£2 (children free on Saturdays and Sundays) Hallelujah Easter Egg Hunt March 31 Easter trail with riddles and rhymes and a chocolate surprise! Museum entry £6/children free.

Rapunzel March 30 – April 13 A girl with golden hair, locked in the tower until a handsome prince rides by. 3+ years. Cost £10/online discounts.

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FOUNDLING MUSEUM 40 Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ ( Russell Square) 020 7841 3600 foundlingmuseum.org.uk

JACKSONS LANE 269A Archway Road, N6 5AA ( Highgate) 020 8341 4421 jacksonslane.org.uk

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JEWISH MUSEUM Raymond Burton House, 129 – 131 Albert Street, NW1 7NB ( Camden Town) 020 7284 7384 jewishmuseum.org.uk Passover Make and Take March 24 Family art activities. Booking required. 5+ years. Cost £6.

Young Artist’s Studio April 3, 4 Art workshops. Booking required.

8 – 12 years & 6 – 11 years. Cost £6 per session.

Moving Pictures April 7 Explore colour and gesture to bring the paintings of Kitaj to life. Booking recommended. 4 – 8 years. Cost £6.

KENTISH TOWN CITY FARM 1 Cressfield Close, NW5 4BN ( Kentish Town) 020 7916 5421 ktcityfarm.org.uk Easter Weekend Special March 30, 31 Pony rides. 4+ years. Cost £2.

Easter Sunday March 31 Egg art. Cost £2.50.

Activities for under 5’s March & April Mondays: Sing a song and stay for a cuppa. £3. (term-time only) Wednesdays: baking, creating and rhyme time. £4.

Fridays: Messy play. £3.

Weekends: Pony rides weather permitting. 4+ years. £2.

KIDZ ON THE HILL Muswell Hill 07881 553480 kidzonthehill.co.uk Shrek April 8 – 12 5-day workshop at N10 1PP. 4 – 7 years & 8 – 13 years.

LITTLE ANGEL THEATRE 14 Dagmar Passage, N1 2DN ( Angel or Highbury Islington) 020 7226 1787 littleangeltheatre.com The Gingerbread Man March 30 & April 17 Puppets and live cooking! 3+ years. Baby friendly performance at selected shows. 3+ years. Cost £10.

Dogs Don’t Do Ballet March 29, April 1 Biff doesn’t think he is a dog, he thinks he is a ballerina. 2 – 6 years.

Cost £10.

Tinderbox April 3 – 7 A magic tinderbox brings riches to a soldier. Baby friendly performances at selected shows. 4+ years. Cost £10 Easter Club April 8 – 11 Puppet styles and workshops. Cost £45/£140 for 4 days.

LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM Covent Garden Piazza, WC2E 7BB ( Covent Garden) 020 7565 7299 ltmuseum.co.uk Easter Family Fun April 1 – 12 Celebrate 150 years of the London Underground with make and take arts and crafts workshops and story time sessions for younger children.

Annual ticket £15/children free.

LYRIC THEATRE HAMMERSMITH King Street, W6 OQL ( Hammersmith) 020 8741 6850 lyric.co.uk Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! April 6 Fun adventure with a cheeky pigeon.

3 – 7 years. Cost £8/family £30.

Pied Piper April 13 Family favourite. 3 – 7 years. Cost £8/family £30.

London Transport Museum

LAUDERDALE HOUSE Highgate Hill, Waterlow Park, N6 ( Archway) 020 8348 8716 lauderdalehouse.co.uk Egg Decorating, Treasure Hunt and The Great Egg Roll March 31 Tickets on the day on first come first served basis. Wear suitable clothing.

Cost £6.50 per child.

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory April 3 – 5 Holiday workshop. Booking required.

3 – 6 years.

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out and about easter activities • workshops • special events MILLFIELD THEATRE Silver Street, Edmonton, N18 1PJ (Silver Street ) 020 8807 6680 millfieldtheatre.co.uk

Sensational Butterflies From March 29 Live specimens, games and interactive displays. Cost £4/family £14.40.

The Wind in the Willows April 4 Classic tales of the riverbank. 5+ years. Cost £8/£7 online.

Chocolate: A Natural History March 30 From plant to chocolate – with tasting sessions.

MUSEUM OF LONDON 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN ( St Paul’s) 020 7001 9844 museumoflondon.org.uk Easter Holidays March 29 – April 14 Holiday activities based on how Londoners have made things from Roman times to present.

Pearly King and Queen March 29, 30 Meet the characters and marvel at their costumes. 5+ years. Free drop-in.

London Make Do and Mend April 2 Create ‘make do’ toys and learn about London during WW2.

MUSEUM OF LONDONDOCKLANDS West India Quay, E14 4AL (DLR West India Quay) 020 7001 9844 Easter Holidays March 29 – April 14 Various activities during the school holidays.

Billy Jenkins: A Pirate’s Life for Me March 30 Meet the pirate and listen to stories.

6+ years.

Musical London April 1 The sounds of London – a musical adventure. 1 – 5 years. Free tickets available on the day.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY St Martin’s Place, WC2H OHE ( Leicester Square) 020 7306 0055 npg.org.uk George Catlin: American Indian Portraits March 4 – June 23 A way of life as seen by the artist in the 1830s. Free admission.

Family Activities March 16, April 20 Drop-in sessions inspired by the Collections and extra activities during school holidays.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD ( South Kensington) 020 7942 5000 nhm.ac.uk

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Egg-stinct: Fossilised Eggs from Prehistoric Times March 29, April 6 Eggs from extraordinary creatures.

Held in the Attenborough Studio.

PEACOCK THEATRE Portugal Street, WC2A 2HT ( Holborn) 0844 412 4322 sadlerswells.com My First Cinderella March 27 – April 7 English National Ballet School. First taste of ballet for young audiences in a rags-to-riches story with narration.

3+ years. Cost £10, £15, £20, £25.

Family £55 on selected seats.

ROYAL AIR FORCE MUSEUM Grahame Park Way, NW9 5LL ( Colindale) 020 8205 2266 rafmuseum.org.uk Easter Airlift March 28 – April 5 Make a parachute and origami supply box. Accompanied 5+ years.

Free entry.

Eagles at Easter April 6 – 12 Outdoor wild bird displays.

SADLER’S WELLS & LILIAN BAYLIS STUDIO Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN ( Angel) 0844 412 4300 sadlerswells.com Family Weekend – Rapunzel March 29 – 30 A new version of the fairytale in this two-day festival including games and activities at extra cost. 7+ years.

Cost £15.

Sutra April 3 – 6 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China. Cost £12 – £38.

020 7287 5060 sohotheatre.com Doctor Brown Brown… and his Singing Tiger March 29, 30 A ski race, tennis match and BMX finale in a silent comedy adventure.

Cost £10/family £30.

020 8983 5200 museumofchildhood.org.uk Egg-Tastic Easter Fun March 29 – April 1 Bunny stories, games and workshops. Drop-in. All ages.

Autism-Friendly Family Workshops March 30 Story telling and workshops for families with children on the autistic spectrum. Booking required. Free.

Oranges and Lemons April 1 – 7 Workshops and story telling with Maypole dancing and live music on the last day. Drop-in. Free.

SPANISH NURSERY & CHILDREN’S CENTRE FOR CULTURE & LANGUAGE Community Centre, Ingestre Road, NW5 1UX ( Tufnell Park) 020 7482 3622 thespanishnursery.com info@thespanishnursery.com Easter Break Camp April 2 – 11 Whole day sessions or drop and pick up at any time. 4 – 8 years. Cost £200 for 8 days / or £30 per day session.

Special Events

SUTTON HOUSE – NATIONAL TRUST 2 & 4 Homerton High St, Hackney E9 6JQ ( Bethnal Green) 020 8986 2264 nationaltrust.org.uk Cadburys Easter Egg Trail March 28 – April 5 Egg trail and chocolate prize. Cost £1.50 + admission £3.50/£1.

Easter Fete March 31 Easter themed activities with arts, crafts and costumes.

TRICYCLE THEATRE 269 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR ( Kilburn) 020 7328 1000 tricycle.co.uk The Tinderbox April 13 Classic tale of magic, bravery and love. 4+ years. Cost £7.

V&A MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA ( Bethnal Green) EFDSS

BARNET WALKS Paul Baker 020 8440 6805 barnetwalks.talktalk.net Ghost Walk March 9 Through High Barnet and Monken Hadley. Cost £8/£4 under 12 years.

Battle of Barnet April 12 Anniversary guided walk. Cost £8/£4.

EFDSS Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, NW1 7AY ( Camden Town) 020 7485 2206 efdss.org Family Barn Dance April 21 For children and adults – minimum 1 adult to every four children. Cost £5/£3/free for under 2 years.

HAMPSTEAD HEATH ( Kentish Town/Hampstead) 020 7332 3322 020 7482 7073 (bookings) cityoflondon.gov.uk/hampstead Rookie Rangers Wildlife Club March 17 Education Centre, Parliament Hill.

Booking required. 8 – 12 years.

SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2A 3BP ( Holborn) 020 7440 4263 soane.org Holiday Workshops April 3, 4, 10, 11 Craft sessions based on various themes around the museum.

Booking essential. Charges apply.

7+ years.

SOHO THEATRE 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE ( Tottenham Court Rd)

familiesnorth.co.uk

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special events • further afield • classified out and about HARINGEY FAMILIES haringeyfamilies.co.uk Nearly New Sale March 9 and April 13 Held at St George’s Hall, Park Road/ Cranley Gardens, N10 3AH. Second hand clothes for children and babies, toys, books and equipment. 10.30am – 11.45am.

ZSL LONDON ZOO Regent’s Park, NW1 4RY ( Regent’s Park) zsl.org Tiger Territory Opens March 22 New exhibit – five times the size of the current tiger enclosure. Entrance charges apply.

HIGHGATE LITERARY & SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION 11 South Grove, N6 6BS 020 8340 3343 hlsi.net

Further Afield

Children’s Book Fair March 2 Second hand book sale, children’s activities and refreshments. Special guest Helen Oxenbury. Free admission.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF MUSIC Marylebone Road, NW1 5HT ( Regent’s Park) 020 7873 7373 ram.ac.uk Junior Academy Symphony Orchestra March 16 Junior Academy students perform.

No tickets required. Free.

ST PATRICK’S DAY PARADE & FESTIVAL london.gov.uk/events March 17 Parade from Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square followed by family entertainment. Free.

TOTTENHAM NCT 0844 243 0299 nct.org.uk/branches/tottenham nearlynewsale@tottenhamNCT. org.uk Baby Fair – Nearly New Sale April 27 At Harris Primary Academy, Philip Lane, N15. Baby & preschooler clothes, toys and equipment. 11am – 12.30pm. Cost £1 per adult.

Drama

Street Dance

RADLETT CENTRE 1 Aldenham Avenue, Radlett, Hertfordshire, WD7 8HL (Radlett ) 01923 859291 radlettcentre.co.uk The Wind in the Willows April 10 Family theatre with audience participation. 5+ years. Cost £9.50.

ORIGINAL HANDPAINTED MURALS

CHELSEA PHYSIC GARDEN 66 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HS ( Sloane Square) 020 7352 5646 chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk

07572 634 991

Garden Photography April 10 Bring a camera or phone to take pictures – lighting and composition advice given. Booking essential. 8+ years. Cost £11/£8.

WATFORD COLOSSEUM Rickmansworth Road, Watford, WD17 3JN (Watford Junction ) 01923 474100 watfordcolosseum.co.uk guinnessworldrecords.com Guinness World Records – Science Live!

March 20 Touring show of science facts and world records and a chance to attempt genuine records live on stage. Cost £15/£13/family £50.

SALLY SUNSHINE FACE PAINTING FUN !

07837 713 699

www.pippinpuppets.com Tiptop puppet shows Kate - 020 8348 4055

KENSINGTON PALACE Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX ( High Street Kensington) 0844 482 7777 hrp.org.uk Easter Bonnet Competition March 29 – 31 Make or bring an Easter bonnet to be judged in a competition. Kids go free.

Spring Palace Tapestry April 1 – 7 Help make a felt and textile tapestry.

Free entry for children.

Musical Theatre

Danny Grant Soccer School

Stage School Exciting Holiday Performing Arts Courses

Star in exciting Plays, Street Dance Shows and Musicals!

Plus term-time Drama, Drama Exam & Street Dance classes on Saturdays in Hampstead.

Attention boys & girls aged 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7-10 & 11-14.

Join our fun-packed term-time and holiday courses.

Drama or Street Dance Parties also bookable!

020 8446 0891

Contact us for more details www.dramarama.co.uk

familiesnorth.co.uk

OSTERLEY PARK & HOUSE Jersey Road, Isleworth, TW7 4RB ( Osterley) 020 8232 5050 nationaltrust.org.uk Easter Eggstravaganza March 29 – April 1 An Easter trail in the park. Cost £3 plus admission £4.35/£2.25.

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Action-packed Holiday Football Courses for energetic & enthusiastic players aged 3 & 4, 5 & 6 & 7 to 11.

Non-stop football fun! Develop fitness & football skills! Exciting matches each day!

Specialised term-time weekly football classes for 3 & 4yrs and 5 & 6yrs. Plus weekly football training and league matches for 7 to 12yrs.

Also bookable football and general sports birthday parties.

Call for more details!

info@dgsoccer.co.uk

facebook.com/FamiliesNorthLondon

020 8446 0891 www.dgsoccer.co.uk

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The Ultimate Indoor Adventure Park

ENTERTAINMENT for kids, WHATEVER THE WEATHER

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Laser Ta g and o Parties ther at reaso nable p rices Don't forget to "like" us on Facebook for more exclusive offers, deals and competitions - www.facebook.com/kidspaceromford

for more information call 01708 768 003 www.kidspaceadventures.com The Brewery, Waterloo Road, Romford, Essex RM1 1AU

25% off* next term’s fees at Fiorentini Weenies & North London Branch *Limited places. Applies to new students only

The Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School for 4-18 years The North London branch of the Saturday Anna Fiorentini Theatre & Film School is currently taking applications for the next term and its forthcoming Taster Days.

The school originally opened in Hackney in 2001 and now has over 250 students aged 7-18, many of whom have gone on to secure professional work on TV, Film and in theatre. Examples include Charlie Jones and Belinda Owusu, who played Ben Mitchell and Libby Fox in EastEnders and Tahj Miles who currently plays Simba in the West End’s The Lion King.

As well as providing professional training, the aim of the school is to also provide a safe and supportive environment for

all children to explore their creativity regardless of what career path they eventually choose to follow.

Every week students follow a timetable of drama/film, dance and singing under the guidance of top industry professionals. As well as weekly classes, students are given the opportunity to take part in Voice Idol, Drama and Stars in their Eyes competitions, culminating in a yearly Oscar Night.

The school has recruited some excellent teaching staff including: Mike Burnside (actor in The Bill, Bergerac, the RSC), Mark Short (choreograhper to Tina Turner, Peter Andre, Liberty X), Michael Buffong (director of EastEnders, Holby City, Casualty and Coronation Street), Jacob Murray (former associate artisitc director of the Royal

Exchange Manchester and teacher for National Theatre’s educational Department) and Jay Henry (X-Factor coach and voice coach having worked with Craig David, Mariah Carey and George Michael to name but a few). Celebrities such as Joseph Marcell (Jeffery in Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and Dani Harmer (Tracey Beaker), have also been amongst special guests to give master classes at this prestigious school.

Students get to work with a variety of casting directors, producers and TV directors. They also get the opportunity to be considered for the agency to audition for professional work.

Contact us to book your free no obligation Taster Day. Hurry - Limited Places!

Lamda Qualifications in Drama which carry UCAS points also available.

www.ANNAFIORENTINI.com Tel: 020 7682 1403

Drama, Singing, Dance, Film, Set & Costume Design for ages 4-18 Saturdays in North London & Hackney Tuesdays in Bethnal Green Wednesdays in Docklands

ANNA FIORENTINI

THEATRE

FILM SCHOOL