#StreamTeam The One Where I Get a Rare Lie-In

It has been a funny old week.  With a new job come some sacrifices - no more half day off work, no more school or nursery drop off, or pick up.  One night this week I only just got home in time for snuggles with my girls before bed.  These are all special times of day that I had been lucky enough to share with my girls in the past and this week I've really missed them.  On the days when I have made it home at a more sensible time of night, we have chatted about the exciting things they have done at school and nursery and I've listened to them both read.  Happy Times.

This morning I woke up with the alarm at stupid o'clock for Holly's swimming lessons and the exhaustion of a new regime and a new job finally hit me.  Mr. B. was lovely; he hopped out of bed and whisked Holly off to swimming leaving me and Lara snuggling together in bed.  I was treated to a lie in.  Unfortunately Lara wasn't tired any more and wanted to get up and get going.  Sigh.  She asked if she could borrow my iPad and then disappeared into her bedroom mysteriously.  I will admit that I did drift back off to sleep, only to wake when Holly got back from swimming!  What luxury.

Lara's No. 1 Netflix choice this October

So, what was Lara upto on my iPad for an hour in such silence?  Well, apart from playing matching pairs, she settled down to a couple of episodes of her favourite shows on Netflix.  Lara is so independent now that she will happily browse Netflix on her own (with Kids mode switched on, I might add) and occupy herself.  While I feel a little bit guilty for settling back down to sleep this morning, it does feel like a rare luxury to which I am indebted to Netflix!

Barbie, Life in the Dream House is one of Lara's favourite shows right now.  If, as an adult, you've never watched it before then I challenge you to sit and watch a whole episode.  It is so surreal.  It is a self-mocking Barbie programme based in Malibu and each show is made up of lots of quick-changing, parody sketches.  When we first discovered it on Netflix, I think Lara was just drawn in by the pink-ness but now she is starting to pick up on some of the silliness and quite grown-up humour.

A very big My Little Pony fan

After the lie-in, I took the girls into London for a My Little Pony themed event.  They both absolutely LOVED their day and came home very much enthused about My Little Pony so it was no surprise that the very first thing they asked to do when they got home was to watch some My Little Pony episodes on Netflix.  On Netflix there is a good range of My Little Pony series to watch ranging from 2005 episodes right through to the latest Friendship is Magic and Equestria Girls series which the girls seem to prefer.

So now, after an exhausting day battling the crowds at Ascot and Twickenham with two enormous My Little Pony toys and two tired My Little Pony fans I'm settling back into bed as I'm home alone.  I'm tucked up and ready to log onto MY Netflix account for the first time in a while - I'm ending the day with a little luxury, just like I started it.  Tonight I'm starting to watch a new series that was recommended to me by friends who, like me, had also enjoyed Breaking Bad. Episode 1 of Narcos... here I come.

#StreamTeam Project Mc² - Science Skillz

Lara doesn't very often get her way when it comes to deciding what to watch on Netflix - she often gets overruled by her little sister.  But very occasionally, Lara does get a bit of quiet time all of her own to enjoy something a little more grown up.  Recently, Lara has been watching the first three episodes of the Netflix original series, Project Mc².

Project Mc² is a US high-school based series about four top-of-the-class girls who have awesome science skills.  The girls are recruited to join a secret spy organisation where they can each make the most of their specific areas of expertise.  Think Avengers for pre-teens!

The appeal for Lara of Project Mc² is in the fact that the girls McKeyla, Adrienne, Bryden and Camryn are all a bit older than her and the US classroom is something totally alien for her!  I'm not sure Lara notices the not-so-subtle messaging about girls in science.  As a female engineer myself, I don't need convincing to encourage science and maths skills in my daughters and, so far, Lara is oblivious to the fact that a career in science (or indeed espionage) is still considered unusual for young ladies.  Even though I find the all-female crew of spies in Project Mc² a little off-putting (and unrealistic) it is good to be able to share a story with Lara in which tech and action are strongly associated with females.

Lara very much enjoys her weekly computing lessons at school (with me and Mr. B. for parents, I'd be disappointed if she didn't!) but she also enjoys science lessons and at the weekend we like to conduct our own experiments such as volcano-creation or chemical food reactions.  We are working on Lara's science skillz! The four main characters in Project Mc² each have their own skillz too.  From culinary creations to motor enthusiasm, from digital media to mechanical pencils, the four girls have all bases covered.  Of course, there is your fair share of high-school cutsieness and "cool" to set the scene but there is a little bit of action too and this helps shape the story of each episode.  To be very honest, it makes me cringe but, when I watch it, it reminds me a lot of the types of programmes I enjoyed in my pre-teens so I'm going to leave Lara to it!

The first three episodes of this Netflix original series are now available in the UK.  There are spy activities and missions to complete on the Project Mc² website too.

Netflix #StreamTeam - Family Fun

This month, the Netflix Stream Team members are exploring the diversity of the modern family.  When you think about a 'typical family' these days, it isn't necessarily a 2.4 children family that comes to mind , is it?

This month on Netflix there is a new Netflix Original series - Grace and Frankie - a comedy starring Jane Fonda and Martin Sheen (among others) in which Grace and Frankie's husbands leave them both after 20 years of marriage...for each other, leaving the ladies to form new bonds.

Netflix challenged us to explore their archives in search of more examples of fascinating, or non-traditional families.

First stop was Tracy Beaker.  Lara and Holly discovered The Story of Tracy Beaker at about Christmas, it was Lara's first foray into CBBC programming rather than CBeebies and it is great that she can now choose to watch the whole of two entire series' on-demand from Netflix.  The Tracy Beaker episodes are based on the books of Jacquline Wilson and revolve around a very feisty trouble-making member of a big household - a "family" of children and their guardians at a children's home.  Lara loves to watch the fun unfold and it gives her an insight into a lifestyle she never previously knew about.

For Holly and Lara, the somewhat under-rated Lilo & Stitch is also a different take on the concept of the Family.  Lilo is cared for by her big sister who grudingly agrees to let Lilo choose a pet... I don't think she had bargained on welcoming Stitch (the result of a scientific experiment) into their family.

But for me and Mr. B, one of our all time favourite comedy movies is Meet the Fockers which is currently available on Netflix.  None of the families in this movie can be described as "normal" - the Focker family are a couple of free spirits with a very relaxed approach to life but their son is married to a member of the Byrnes family who run a very tight ship.  When the two families come together it results in some very awkward situations. We love this movie, even more than it's predecessor, Meet the Parents.

Netflix Easter Holidays Choices #StreamTeam

Despite having to work for quite a bit of the Easter holidays, we have managed to find some time to relax and chill out (and my, don't we need it).  Right now, we're really enjoying our Netflix subscription - all four of us.

The girls can easily get stuck in a rut when it comes to television and will quite happily watch the same thing AGAIN and AGAIN so we like to encourage them to try something new at least once a week (more for our own sanity than anything).  We particularly like to use the Apple TV interface to Netflix where the children can browse the catalogue using just the images of the characters.  

This is how we discovered Oggy and the cockroaches which has become a new favourite.  Oggy and his friends are cats who are plagued by a gang of cockroaches.  This is traditional slapstick cartoon mayhem with some quite extreme accidents and tricks which make the girls roll around the room in laughter.  There is no talk, just music and sound effects so the comedy is timeless.

New on Netflix this Easter for children is Disney's Wreck it Ralph; a great idea for a rainy afternoon or just for a bit of a calm-down period after a busy day out.  Wreck it Ralph gets awesome reviews from both adults and children and Netflix.

Having recently finished our Breaking Bad marathon, Mr. B. and I have yet to be tempted in by any of the other series' we have sampled.  We are still trying to settle in to Netflix original prequel, Better Call Saul but there are a few new arrivals on Netflix this April which may tempt us instead...

• Once Upon A Time - fantasy goings on in small-town Maine
• Bloodline - A dark, Florida thriller
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt - New York Comedy from the producers of 30 rock.

#StreamTeam Our NYE Party - All Hail #KingJulien

Phew.  That was a manic afternoon.  Traditionally Mr. B. spends the entire day on New Year's Eve making a phenomenal meal for the two of us.  This, of course, requires me to be in sole charge of Lara and Holly for the whole day.  This afternoon we have made jigsaws, played Uno, crafting, dressing-up and also managed to fit in a few chores.  But finally it was time for the girls to have their tea and afterwards, while Mr. B. was putting the finishing touches to our dinner, I treated the girls to their own special New Year's Eve party.

Our party was themed to co-incide with us watching the first episodes of the Netflix original series, All Hail King Julien which is a spin-off from Madagascar featuring the king of the Lemurs.  I will admit that King Julien isn't really my cup of tea (the risque adult humour sets my teeth on edge and without the adult context, I can't see him being very funny other than when he struts his stuff to "Move It").  The girls were interested for about 10 minutes but I think they miss the other fun Madagascar characters.  One thing that King Julien does do well though is dancing... to classic party hits which was the theme for our NYE party.

I downloaded a brilliant kids party album - 105 Hit Kids Party by the Kids Fun Crew.  105 cheesy current and classic pop tracks which have been scaled down just a touch to make them suitable for small people to listen to and dance to.  Our top tracks included "The Ketchup Song", "Gangnam Style", "Roar", "What does the fox say" and an all-time classic, "The Chicken Dance".  My two girls were unstoppable.  I've never seen so much hip-wiggling on one dance floor!  There may also have been quite a lot of jumping from the sofa! It was great fun.

At the end of our mini King Julien party, we watched the King Julien midnight countdown and pretended it was midnight (well, as he says... it's midnight somewhere).  If you are a Netflix subscriber you can see the countdown here.  If not, here's a little sneaky peek.

#StreamTeam The Netflix Guide to Surviving Christmas

Who would ever have known that I would have been so grateful to Netflix for saving my own sanity.  With the stresses of work the past few weeks having rubbed off on my two girls as well, the atmosphere in our house is a little tense in the run-up to Christmas and I have two very over excited girls, one of whom is poorly.  As I've been prepping Christmas baking and craft activities I have been so thankful for our Netflix subscription which remains as popular as ever with both Lara and Holly.

Both girls have really enjoyed the wide selection of Christmas themed animations and movies (Mickey Mouse seems to be a MASSIVE hit right now) and it is quite a relief to know that when I need the space in the kitchen I can distract the two of them with a well-timed episode of Lazy Town while I prepare for the next round of baking chaos.

And chaos I think is the right term for how I'm expecting Christmas to roll this year.  I feel under-prepared for the whirlwind that is about to hit us.  Thankfully, Netflix have sent me over their Christmas survival kit which includes:-

• sticky tape so that I don't run out just when I'm entering my wrapping zone
• a wireless charger so that I needn't worry if my phone or tablet runs out at an inopportune moment
• batteries to power all of the noisy toys I've warned people not to buy the girls
• headache tablets so that I can recover from said noisiness
• relaxing Jo Malone bath oil and fragranced candle so that I can chill out once the girls have calmed down and headed off to bed

And, of course, Christmas wouldn't be fully complete without a Netflix subscription to get you through the festive period.  With lots of new Netflix original productions such as Marco Polo and All Hail King Julien there is something to suit everyone in the family this Christmas.  I can't wait to settle down and find some time to relax this Christmas and, who knows, I may even find a night when I can settle down with Mr. B. and marathon my way through an entire series of something!

  

#Streamteam - Just Staying In

These last few weekends have been very unusual for us - very little planned. No weekends away. No jobs that HAVE to be done. Just simple, scrumptious family time for us to do more or less nothing. Our Saturday afternoons and evenings have been spent snuggled up on the sofa watching television and this, according to Netflix, this is how the top celebrities like to spend their evenings too. Staying in is the new 'going out'.

Even supermodel mum Claudia Schiffer admits to enjoying a night in with the family watching TV box sets on the sofa and, just like me, once the kids go to bed, she sneaks in a few episodes of Breaking Bad with the other half!

Homemade popcorn

And of course, if we're not having a weekend away, or not having to go to the DIY shop to buy MORE stuff for jobs around the house then we're saving a few pennies as well. With a Netflix subscription costing from £5.99 a month, chilling out with a box set or a family movie is a great way to save cash you would otherwise spend going out. Today the girls made a bowl of chocolate popcorn using our popcorn machine, a tablespoon of corn kernels and a tablespoon of melted chocolate hazlenut spread. With cinema prices going up by a greater percentage than house prices this year - why go to the cinema and spend pounds on popcorn when you can spend pennies at home?

Our favourite family viewing this month has been:-

For the girls, the perennial favourites such as Bubble Guppies, Lazy Town and Fireman Sam but this month they have also tried a couple of new series' such as Dinosaur Train and Pocoyo.  Lara was excited to see that Monsters Inc is now available to watch on Netflix.

And in the evenings, Mr. B. and I have enjoyed The Hunger Games : Catching Fire (which we both watched from our own devices in small manageable chunks when the other one was out of the house!) and also House, starring Hugh Laurie which is something we used to watch together many moons ago - there are 177 episodes on Netflix so I think we've got plenty of nights in ahead of us!!!

We have also noticed a few festive favourites starting to pop up on Netflix, especially with the kids specials such as christmassy Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar.  I'm sure we will be spending plenty of time watching festive films and TV on Netflix over the coming weeks as we get into the Christmas mood.

#StreamTeam After School Club - Some Autumtunal Activities

School is very much back in full swing and Lara has settled really well in her new class with her new, Year 1 routine.  As a working family, we don't normally get home in the evenings until well after 6pm so there is normally a mad rush to make dinner as soon as we get home, this usually involves me bundling the girls into another room to either watch some of their favourite TV shows or to get creative with their collection of arts and crafts materials.  This helps them chill out after a busy day at school or nursery but it also gives me a little space in the kitchen to get on with cooking.

This month, Netflix asked StreamTeam members for some after-school inspiration.  For my girls, when they come in through the door and crash on the sofa, they now pester me to watch something from Netflix.  There are lots of new children s television series' available on Netflix to coincide with the start of the new school term.

Lara and Holly have been so excited to see some new episodes of Bubble Guppies and Go Diego Go.  Lara has also really got into the animated TV series, Turbo Fast which features the gang of snails from the Turbo movie.

And, I know I go on about this, but the Kids interface on the Apple TV for accessing and browsing Netflix is so easy to use that the girls are very independent and can choose their own shows.  This means that I don't have to keep rushing in from the kitchen every two minutes to choose another program.  Their Netflix profiles will only show them kids shows, so there's no fear that they may accidentally end up watching Breaking Bad!

If you are looking for some crafty inspiration for autumnal after-school activities then Lara and Holly have some ideas for you.  On your walk home from school, collect as many different shapes of leaf as you can find... and as many different nuts and seeds as you can discover.

1. Trace around the seeds and nuts onto a piece of paper.  See if you can remember which outline is for which seed and write down the names.  We found hazelnuts, conkers and chestnuts on our travels and Lara has loved learning how to write these new words.

2. Make leaf rubbings using chalks, pastels or crayons.  Explore the different shapes of leave and the patterns of the veins on them.  Try experimenting with different colours of paper for dramatic effects.

3. Build patterns and pictures out of leaves.  Use plenty of PVA glue to stick the leaves and seeds to card or paper.  In the past we have had GREAT fun building big pictures out of different things we have found in our garden or on the way home.

Netflix #StreamTeam - Music Memories

This month, as part of the Netflix Stream Team, we were asked to explore the wonderful world of music on Netflix.  Now, I'm not entirely sure that my taste in music was really what Netflix had intended this blog post to be about (the hints they sent me were all romantic musicals, not ambient electronic dance epics) so I really did need to dig into the Netflix depths to find musical documentaries, animations and movies that were suitable for our family to share together.

I find it fairly easy to view and get inspiration for very popular, mainstream content on Netflix but I rarely get offered the more obscure stuff by default in the "you might also like..." sections of the Apply TV device, or on my iPad.  I tried just searching for the word "music" and was surprised at some of the content I found.

For example, I spent a happy few hours watching obscure documentaries about Dutch house music (with subtitles) one Friday night!  I also discovered a couple of "live" festival documentaries.  But I didn't think that any of these would be right for bringing the family together.  Lara is really into air guitar at present and likes to try and reproduce the actions from dances both at home and at school so I really really wanted this month's Stream Team to involve them (even though I was encouraged to spend a night on my own indulgences).

I racked my brains for a musical movie that had made a big impression on me in the past, and which I could share with the girls.  Got it.  The Blues Brothers.

Granted, the language is a bit colourful for a 2 year old and a 5 year old but my goodness, did they love it.  What's not to love about memorable tunes, fancy dances and silly car chases.   A bit of slapstick, a lot of fun.

I loved being able to share a classic movie with my girls.  Being able to share a family moment.  A whole afternoon of us all enjoying the same fun on the television (rather than a whole afternoon of kids stuff!).

The Blues Brothers is a movie which features lots of classic tunes which get you dancing.  I challenge you to sit still on your sofa watching The Blues Brothers.  Simply Not Possible!

If you are looking for more musical inspiration, here a few ideas from Netflix.  Of course, now I shall return to my world of Dora the Explorer and the Bubble Guppies.

  

  

Educational but fun Kids TV ideas for the summer #StreamTeam

This time last year I didn't really understand the worries that some Mums have about keeping your little ones learning over the long summer holiday. Now, as Lara approaches the end of her foundation reception year at school, I'm certainly aware that there is a long 6 week holiday approaching and I'm interested to see how her reading, writing and maths skills fare over the summer without the additional support and inspiration that school provides. This month, the Netfix Stream Team were challenged to find some educational yet fun viewing options available to stream through Netflix that might help continue our children's learning over the summer holidays.

Watching Netflix from the iPad mini

Our summer holiday is likely to be spent doing a mixture of things - a couple of weeks of holiday club, a couple of exciting family weeks away exploring the UK and a few fun days out. But in among that I'm hoping to save a little money and do some creative and crafty activities at home so yes, we may chill out in front of the TV for a little while as well.

Netflix inspired us with a fun activity that I think Lara will really take to - story starters. The idea of the game is that you roll a collection of dice that feature lots of different pictures. Whichever pictures are face up when the dice come to a standstill become the characters and theme for a story that you must tell, or write. This is a wonderful game for younger children as it doesn't require them to be able to read or write but it is just as suitable for older children too who would enjoy the challenge of a tricky combination of pictures. For us, story starters is a good way of encouraging Lara to do some writing during the holidays as she likes to have a good reason to write!

Since we started our Netflix subscription, both Lara (5) and Holly (2) have seen a lot wider range of TV programmes. While I love CBeebies, I do sometimes find the programming a bit limited, especially at the times of day when we are home. I've really enjoyed introducing Holly to some of the pre-school programmes such as Dora the Explorer or Bubble Guppies because I can instantly see her learning new words and phrases. Bubble Guppies is a particularly interesting programme because Lara also learns a lot from each show which has a different theme - the human body, healthy eating, the farm, musical instruments, celebrations and so much more. Each episode features at least one catchy song on the theme, a few quizzes (that both girls now shout the answers to) and stretches of 'role play' which pass on the educational theme. When it gets to the end of the programme, I really feel that Lara has taken new knowledge away with her... a bit like I would do from a documentary.

 

Dora the Explorer is another family favourite. We missed her when we didn't have satellite TV and it is great to have Dora back! Dora is single-handedly responsible for Lara's interest in foreign languages because each episode features a handful of Spanish phrases including counting and colours. Dora's stories are very repetitive and I think this helps at a young age. Lara's favourite part of every Dora episode is "The map" so this week we decided to make our own maps in the style of Dora's map. This was a great creative activity that both girls could invest as much or as little time in as they liked. I think it would make a brilliant summer holiday activity, especially if you use the map afterwards for your own explorations.

Take your home-made map out for a walk around your local streets to see if you can find your final destination.  On your travels you can look out for birds and mini beasts as well as flowers and leaves of different colours and shapes.  You'll be surprised how many different natural shapes can be found on your own doorstep.

My two little explorers

I've Joined The Netflix Stream Team

I'm really proud to have been chosen to join the Netflix stream team.  Over the coming months I'll be sharing with you some of my experiences as a newbie Netflix user as well as news and features about the Netflix streaming service.

About a month ago Mr. B. and I had been seriously considering changing our current broadband TV subscription.  We unsubscribed from our satellite service when I found out that I was pregnant with Holly (as a cost-saving exercise) and only now that Holly is two years old have we begun to feel that we could afford the few extra pounds each month to pay for some additional TV channels.  Really we wanted to find some extra programmes for the girls.  There is only so much CBeebies and Milkshake! that a parent can handle without breaching some sort of sanity barrier.

I did some research and found that it was going to cost us an additional £7 a month to extend our TV package to include more children's TV channels.  Would it be worth it?

At about the same time Netflix invited me to the Stream Team.  I didn't know an awful lot about Netflix at the time and had really assumed that it would all be movies that I could stream to my TV (or other devices).  When my Netflix welcome pack arrived with an apple TV device through which to stream Netflix content I suddenly realised that Netflix is so much more than movies.  The kids content is phenomenal.

In the past fortnight my girls have re-discovered (or in Holly's case, discovered for the first time) the joys of Dora the Explorer, Bubble Guppies and Monster Maths Squad which previously would have only been available to us through a TV upgrade.  Astonishingly, the unlimited Netflix subscription costs less per month than the additional kids channels would have cost us and yet there are so many other benefits.

• Unlimited movies and tv series' for Mummy and Daddy to watch.
• No pesky adverts to tempt your kids to part with your money.
• Full TV series playable in order (no need to chose a random episode and hope it makes sense)
• Really easy to use software on several different devices (we have tried  appleTV, ipad and android tablet so far).
• Great choice of kids content.

I'll be blogging in more detail about most of these over the coming months, I should imagine.

At the weekend, after Lara's birthday party all she wanted to do was curl up in an exhausted heap in front of the TV and watch Tangled on Netflix.