Geomag Supercolor Panels Recycled 35 (337)

 

Easter holidays start in a couple of days, and we're hoping for a fair weather, games in the garden and long walks, maybe even a picnic outdoors (or am I too optimistic?!). However, it being Britain, there will always be rainy days. Minecraft and Roblox are fine in moderate measures, and so is the rabbit hole of YouTube, but we also enjoy playing with construction sets.

Geomag has a vast range of educational construction sets which promote hand-coordination skills, creativity and imagination. You might remember our last year's review of Geomag 769 Magnetics Challenge Goal set.

Today I would like to highlight a different set from Geomag - Supercolor Panels Recycled 35 (337) (£36).

Geomag Supercolor is made from 100% recycled plastic. Geomag's slogan is Playing together for a healthy planet. That is a commendable motto.

Geomag makes toys which encourage STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and fun!

The sturdy box contains everything you need for a creative construction session - magnetic rods, steel balls and various panel shapes.

Geomag Supercolor is a wonderful creative game. Take simple Geomag elements and you can build endless 3d combinations. A short instructions leaflet shows you how to discover and play with polarity.

You can start with basic shapes like triangles, squares and pentagons, use them as bases to build more complex constructions

Let me show you the easy models you can build. The model below is built with 17 pieces.

You move onto a slightly more intricate design. The recycled plastic pieces are colourful and fun.

Model 3 is more elaborate.

Model 4 is a colourful little pyramid.

Model 5 is a bit more tricky than the previous four.

This set is suitable for children aged 5+. Younger children (but not under 3) would need adult supervision (due to the size of steel balls). The illustrated instructions are clear and straight-forward (there is no text, just step-by-step pictures).

As a parent of a child with autism, I believe that with adult supervision this set would work well for children with special needs and help with hand eye coordination. When my older son was little, he needed help with fine motor skills, he couldn't do buttons, or twist jar tops, and Lego was too challenging for him. Geomag Supercolor Panels contains elements which are light and easy to handle. The models are easy enough to build, and won't take too much time. 

Some interesting facts about Geomag:

Geomag products come under a Swissh Made quality guarantee, and are aligned with the most stringent European and international safety standards.

Geomag is entirely produced in Switzerland and manufactured with the utmost rigor and attention to materials.

Geomag has been recognised as the ideal game to give by the American Scientific magazine, which has conducted research on games that favour the development of children's intelligence.

Geomag lines are winners of numerous awards, with products helping children of all ages develop and train their minds, imagination and curiosity through science of magnetic construction.

If you're looking for a new game set for a rainy day, Geomag Supercolor will make a lovely gift.

Disclosure: We received the set for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Geomag 769 Magnetics Challenge Goal

Whenever we travel to Cornwall, I take a new game and DVDs with us for a rainy day. This year we had a Geomag 769 Magnetics Challenge Goal 96pc set to put in the suitcase.

This summer which comes to an end tomorrow (eek!) has had a good share of rainy days.
While some hale and robust families don't mind camping in the tents in any weather, we prefer to stay at home, bake cookies, watch a good old film and play games.
What do your children enjoy on a rainy day - do they read, watch YouTube or DVDs, draw and colour, play Minecraft and Roblox, build LEGO castles? We tend to do a bit of everything.

Many games these days are educational. Geomag makes toys which encourage STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and fun.

Geomag 769 Magnetics Challenge Goal set is a cool toy which helps teach children about magnetic forces, gravity and understand science.

The sturdy box contains several plastic bags with 96 pieces (15 metal balls and 81 elements at the base of the goal mechanism). The main challenge is to build and launch a cannon by using the force of gravity.

This set is suitable for children aged 7+, but younger children could play with it too, with the adult supervision. While there are no sharp edges, the launching of balls must be supervised, when playing with kids under 7.

The illustrated instructions are clear and straight-forward.

Some interesting facts about Geomag:
Geomag products come under a Swiss Made quality guarantee, and are aligned with the most stringent European and international safety standards.
Geomag is entirely produced in Switzerland, and manufactured with the utmost rigor and attention to materials.
Geomag has been recognised as the ideal game to give by the American Scientific magazine, which has conducted research on games that favour the development of children's intelligence.
Geomag lines are winners of numerous awards, with products helping children of all ages develop and train their minds, imagination and curiosity through the science of magnetic construction.

Once you have assembled the cannon, the fun of launching the metal balls begins. Precision, timing and dexterity are the keys to winning.

This creative engineering toy set will make a great gift for any occasion, be it a birthday, Christmas (are you starting to look for ideas for Christmas gifts?) or indeed a toy squirrelled for a rainy day.

Disclosure: We received Geomag set for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Hannah the Spanner (book giveaway)

Many of us enjoy reading to our children at bedtime.
I have read a vast amount of books to each of my sons. I still do. Those evening hours are our special time. With my younger son, we have moved now onto Middle Grade/Young Adult fiction, but I still remember the picture books and simpler stories with great fondness.
Certain stories delight our kids even more, when they feature characters with the same name as a child you are reading to. My younger son loved stories where the characters were named Eddie. I also used to tell stories about him, which I invented (How Eddie got his name, etc).

Stuart Simmonds took his love of story-telling to the next level, and wrote a whole series of books which take their name from Stuart's eldest daughter. Hannah the Spanner series is written for parents reading to their children at bedtime.

Stuart comments, "Reading to Hannah and Lucy every night was one of my favourite parts of their childhood, it's something that both of them remember and talk about often. With a long summer break ahead of us, I hope these books give parents and children alike the opportunity to enjoy reading together. I have done my best to ensure they are entertaining for parents, as well as the kids - I know parents often have to read the same book to their children many times!"

Stuart is spot on when he talks about reading and re-reading the same stories. There are some books I can easily recite by heart, without looking at the lines, since I've read them so many times.

If you're looking for books that are ideal for reading together with your children, as part of home schooling or as a bedtime story, or just to keep youngsters aged 4-9 occupied, then we'd like to suggest the Hannah the Spanner series of illustrated children's books.

There are seven books in the series. Each book follows a different adventure for Hannah and the dreadful Aubrey:
- Hannah The Spanner and the Dancing Bear
- Hannah The Spanner and the Robot
- Hannah The Spanner and the Circus
- Hannah The Spanner and the Trip to the Moon
- Hannah The Spanner and the Diamond Robbery
- Hannah The Spanner and the Racing Car
- Hannah The Spanner and the Polar Bear.

The Hannah the Spanner paperback books are full of colourful imagery to keep little ones entertained, funny engaging stories to win the hearts of older kids, and a storyline that adults will appreciate too.
Each full colour book is illustrated by Bill Greenhead, who has previously worked on Charlie Smith Super Kid (Emma Lynch) and Animal Avengers (Malorie Blackman).

The books have proved to be such a great way to get children interested in reading, that Stuart has been inundated with bookings from schools in the UK and abroad asking him to visit to read the books and run workshops encouraging children to read.

Stuart Simmonds is an accomplished cricketer and sports coach, he now runs a property business from his home in East Grinstead, Sussex. Prior to writing the Hannah the Spanner series, he wrote an autobiography on a life in cricket, titled Watching With My Heroes, which was widely sold through all major retailers.

The Hannah the Spanner series is available from Waterstones and all good bookshops, Amazon and direct from the Hannah the Spanner website - www.hannahthespanner.com

Social Media Links:
Twitter: @StuheadLtd
Facebook: @stuheadltd
Instagram: @studheadltd

GIVEAWAY:
If your children haven't discovered yet the world of Hannah the Spanner, you have a chance to win two books from the series - Hannah the Spanner and The Dancing Bear and Hannah the Spanner and The Robot (first two books in the series).

T&Cs:
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.
The winner will be selected at random by Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email.
If no response is received within two weeks, then Chez Maximka reserves the right to select an alternative winner.
Open to all entrants aged 18 and over.
Any personal data given as part of the giveaway is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with 3rd parties, with the exception of the winner's information.
This will be passed to the publisher's PR and used only for the fulfilment of the prize, after which Chez Maximka will delete all data.
Please note, I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize. I'm only hosting the giveaway on the blog, for free.



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Photo diary: week 28, project 366

Did you notice that the days have got just a tiny bit shorter?
I know it's only minutes, but it feels like we're already getting less of sunlight.

I love watching bees in the garden, they are so full of energy and seem to be working hard all the time. In July they seem to be enjoying the potted lavender.

Mondays are Eddie's favourite days of home-schooling because they have new art tasks.
This time one of the tasks was to write your own name in five different styles/fonts.

For the last few summers I've been picking bunches of spiraea which grows in abundance in the flood fields and drying it for my Mum. She likes adding it to her tea. The plant has medicinal properties and a pleasant taste when brewed as a tisane.
This year I picked a bunch, but my Mum and I won't be seeing each other this year.

Meeting Suzanne who blogs at Expat Life with ChickenRuby was the highlight of my week. It was also the first time I dared to visit a café at Blue Boar to have a coffee. It's been one of my favourite haunts pre-Covid, as it's in a convenient location not far from the school, and I would often pop in there for a quick cup of latte before rushing to do my chores. It was nice to be back.

It's kind of strange meeting with someone whom you only know from reading a blog, but I felt like I've known Suzanne for a long time, and it was so lovely to finally meet in person. And then there was the adorable Bob as well. My son who stayed at home, was disappointed that he didn't come with me. I know he would have loved Bob.

Another first after the easing of the lockdown was going to M&S. I ordered some swimming trunks for my guys and went to pick them up, plus visited the food court to get some Percy pigs (oh, we missed them so much), some of their delicious ginger cookies and salted caramel cookies. Then I spotted the mini cucumbers and chuckled, seeing the name of the grower.
I love Inspector Montalbano books and TV series, and yes, his name is Salvo, not T, but this pack made me smile. They were tasty crunchy cucumbers as well, with a thin skin and oodles of flavour.

Sasha's favourite place in town is Cafe Nero, he loves sitting by the window and watching people passing by. He missed the cafe, which has re-opened recently. The social distancing arrangement works fine, but they could do better with cleaning. When we arrived and found a spot for Sash to sit with his father, I had to clear the table and use their disinfectant to wipe the table. The cafe wasn't busy at all, so they could have really done it.
Anyway, my boy was ecstatic to be back, he couldn't believe his eyes when he realised where he's going.

Today we received Eddie's school report, and I was delighted for him. He got 6 Es and 8Gs. It's been such a stressful year, with the lockdown, and Sasha turning 18 and trying to sort out his future respite visits and college in a year's time, his medication issues, etc etc.
I'm cherishing this moment of joy and feeling proud of him.

I've been reading on Mumsnet (where else?) just yesterday how some people scorn these announcements of school reports on Facebook. One parent said that she has a special needs child and this type of posts makes her feeling sad and inadequate as she cannot share the joy. I know where she comes from.
I have a severely autistic child, but I would never begrudge anyone feeling proud of their children's achievements, even if sometimes these posts make me sad as well. I'm glad for these children and their parents, but I'm also sad it would never happen to my boy, that he would never have a girlfriend/boyfriend, wouldn't be able to have a driving lesson, hold a job, be independent.

I love my boys, and I'm proud of both of them, for different reasons.

Today was Eddie's day, and I rejoice with him.

I'm too tired today to take any photos, so here is another picture from yesterday. On top of our lovely noisy neigbours', we also have an additional pleasure of the roadworks in the street, which start late in the evening and go on until 1am. The noise is horrible, and the flashing lights are abysmal.

We have one more week of school, and then the summer holidays will start.
As Lensky sings in Eugene Onegin, "What does the coming day have in store for me? It escapes my eyes, it is hidden". Who knows what the coming summer holidays will bring?

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Photo diary: week 27, project 366

I'm not sure if we're officially out of the lockdown, but it didn't make much difference to our lives.

All Sunday I've been humming catchy tunes from a new film.
The day before we watched Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga on Netflix. I didn't think I would enjoy it so much. There are quite a few crude jokes, innuendos, but overall it's an entertaining family film (age rating 13+).
I'm not a fan of Will Ferrell, but he's pretty good in this film as a man-child obsessed with winning the Eurovision contest. Rachel McAdams is brilliant, and Dan Stevens totally stole the show as the gay Russian star.
Once the soundtrack CD is out, I'm going to buy it, as I keep listening to the videos on YouTube. I know you can get it on MP3, but this is not something I use.

Monday, back to homeschooling and art lessons from Seesaw. This time Eddie has chosen to draw Toothless, following the step by step video on Art for Kids Hub.

Walking into town with Eddie and my husband, when Sasha was at school. We popped into our favourite book shop, and even got a couple of books, including The Wild Way Home by Sophie Kirtley. It's about a 12-year-old boy whose newborn baby brother needs a heart operation. In anxiety and panic he flees through the ancient forest and gets transported into the Stone Age. We're half way through, and it's quite sad.
This book is chosen as the Waterstones Book of the Month for kids.

Last week I took part in two blog tours for Broken Silence by Liz Mistry and A Quiet Death in Italy by Tom Benjamin. The first one is rather tough to read, as it deals with such topics as human trafficking and modern slavery. The second one is set in Bologna, it made me think of that beautiful town, and how much I'd love to explore it again.

We receive a weekly fruit and veg box, and there was a pineapple in the previous week's box. We don't often eat pineapples. I find that the fresh pineapple is too much for my sensitive teeth. So, I decided to use it in baking. I have cubed it and pre-baked in a tray with rum and demerara sugar, then the next day I added the pineapple to the cake batter. It turned out to be a very tasty cake.

On the way home from the town centre I've spotted this evil-grinning cloud.

My echinacea is going to bloom soon, I can't wait to see its spiky petals.

I love hollyhocks, this elegant white one with purple veins has been planted by my Mum a few years ago. It's taller this year, and has more blooms on it.

We didn't do much on the so called Super Saturday, I'm not a pub-goer, and wasn't planning to go out for a meal anywhere. Did you happen to visit any place you've been longing to see?

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Photo Diary: Week 26, Project 366

Annalisa Barbieri, The Guardian's Weekend columnist is a wise lady. I admire that she doesn't just give her own opinion on whatever problem she is discussing, but consults psychologists and psychotherapists, thus presenting a more focused and balanced reply. I don't always agree with what she has to say, but I follow her column with great interest.
In the latest article she gives advice to a lady who is very anxious about "returning to the world" after the lockdown. She says that our world has shrunk, and expanding it again - safely - can seem onerous for some. And that's how I feel as well. I go out shopping, as if going to the battlefield. My husband needs to go to his office in Oxford, and the idea of him travelling by bus sends me into a mild panic.
Sasha goes to school three times a week, and I keep worrying about the risks he's taking. It's unrelenting.

I was supposed to meet up with a friend for a social distanced coffee in town, but I felt so anxious and stressed that I asked her to postpone the meet-up. I felt guilty about it later.
I need to build up my confidence to expand my world and not to transfer my anxiety to my family.

Last Sunday was Father's Day. I baked a marbled ricotta cake, which turned out very tasty. Eddie did a lovely drawing of Han Solo for his Dad, and we've also chosen a gift for him in the book shop.
I thought of my late Dad, and how much I miss him.

This is one of a very few pictures where my Dad and I are together. We didn't have a camera when I was a child, and there are not many photos from my childhood. A different era, unlike these days, when everyone seems to record every bite they eat for posterity (myself included).

It was taken on the day my Mum was in the hospital, giving birth to my brother, while my Dad looked after me. In those days, fathers were not permitted to be present during the labour. If they were lucky, they would have seen a baby held by a nurse from a window.
With my short hair I looked like a boy, but at least, I've got hair in the photo, as apparently I was a baldie as a baby, while my little brother had long locks, huge eyelashes and was utterly gorgeous.
I'm so much older now than my Dad in this photo. Wasn't he handsome?!

On Monday Eddie did one of the school tasks on Seesaw - to draw a cover for The BFG. The teacher said it was amazing, and awarded him an extra house point for this work.

I was well-chuffed, seeing that Danilo Cortellini has visited my Insta page. Not every day famous chefs look at my pictures.

I was waiting for a hand saw delivery from amazon, which I ordered the day before, so when a thin long package has arrived, I just put it aside. When an hour later, another long package was delivered, I looked at the first one, wondering if I got two seesaws by mistake.
It was a bouquet, which my friend sent to cheer me up. I almost welled up.

Another screenshot - it was so hot, my brain was melting. I hate the heat, I cannot function properly.

Another hot day, made more unbearable by the inconsiderate twats, aka builders next door. They were rebuilding the conservatory, with the music on full blast all day. I'm not a vengeful person, but I did wish a series of calamities on them and the new owner.
My potted phloxes are not doing that well. One of the plants is being eaten by some bugs. I cannot see anything suspicious, but the leaves are pretty much destroyed. Any ideas on who might be the culprit?

The tomato plants in the greenhouse show the very first tiny fruit. I'm very pleased, as these are the tomatoes I've been growing from seeds, and they've been quite a challenge.

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Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity launches Phizz-whizzing Workshops

I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.
Roald Dahl

Dahl's books have been enjoyed by several generations of readers. Some of his books - like Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or The Twits - have become true classics of children's literature. He is considered to be one of the greatest storytellers of the last century. His unique style of writing, his characters and dark humour appeal to readers of all ages.

Do your children love Dahl's books? Maybe, like my son's class, they study The BFG right now.
If you're looking for fun and educational activities, check out Dahl-inspired online workshops.

Today Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity is launching a series of Phizz-whizzing Workshops to teach primary school age children about core values including bravery, empathy, resilience and kindness.

The workshops highlight the charity's work, the vital role its Roald Dahl nurses play in supporting 21,000 seriously ill children across the UK and why these values are important to foster better understanding of the challenges faced by children with lifelong illnesses.

The workshops, which have been developed in partnership with national children's radio station, Fun Kids Radio, are designed to encourage families to take part in fundraising for the charity through a competition to come up with their best fundraising idea.

The winning idea will be picked by Doctor Who star, Jodie Whittaker, Blue Peter Presenter, Richie Driss and CBBC Presenter, Ed Petrie and launched by the charity as part of its Roald Dahl Day fundraising activities.
The winner will also win a bundle of Roald Dahl prizes.

Richie Driss, Ed Petrie and Jodie Whittaker

Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity provides specialist nurses and support to seriously ill children and has created the workshops to stimulate conversation between parents and their children about the challenges faced by children with lifelong illnesses as they are more likely to experience bullying. A study found that 96% of parent carers said that their disabled child has been bullied at school.

Each workshop, which is presented by the charity's mascot, Marvin the crocodile (designed by renowned Roald Dahl illustrator, Sir Quentin Blake) has a fun challenge to complete to further their understanding and there are accompanying worksheets and certificates to download.

You can find all the videos and read the T&Cs at Phizz-Whizzing Workshops. Your children will enjoy taking part in the workshops, and don't forget to enter the competition!

Photo diary: week 22, project 366

It's the last day of May. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new era for school, as some of the years are going back. Eddie's year is not one of them, so we will continue to study at home. I don't think I'm ready psychologically to send him to school anyway, and we have now a nice pattern of homeschooling, and actually learning quite a lot.
Our next door neigbours still continue their persistent banging and frequent drilling. It was nice to have a relatively quiet weekend.

Looking at last Sunday's photo of tomato plants, I can see that they've doubled up in height and width since then. These are the tomatoes I've been growing from seeds. Not sure which variety they are, as I had two different packets of seeds. They didn't germinate well, or maybe I'm a rubbish gardener.

Rocket is doing very well. We've had some for salad yesterday and today. I was surprised that all the seeds have sprouted, as the packet of seeds had an expiry date from 8 years ago and I even thought to throw it away. But the tomato seeds were new, and should have fared better than they did, I had three plants out of a dozen of seeds.

I haven't walked in the flood fields in a long time. It's so peaceful there, with birds singing their hearts out.

Eddie is a big fan of Liz Pichon's series of books about Tom Gates. He has quite a collection of Pichon's books, and would love to read more. In fact, since the photo was taken we got two more books for him. I tweeted the photo of Eddie with his book stash to the author. She was very kind in her reply tweet.

Sorting out some old stuff, we found a LED lighting unit for one of Ravensburger 3d puzzles. The puzzle has been broken but the light still works. Eddie liked playing with it late in the evening. He looks like Zorro here.

The Moon was up and early in the blue sky.

Thomas Taylor, the author of Malamander and Gargantis, was running a children's drawing competition on Twitter. You had to do a squiggle, and then create a sea monster out of it.
Eddie tried his best to draw a monster. But I got the dates completely wrong. I thought the closing date was the last day of May, but the competition closed on the 27th. I was sorry for my disappointed child, and it's entirely my fault.

We have lots of these weird wild irises in the garden. They are quite elegant, but slightly creepy.

Hope the new week of the eased lockdown is not too scary, and that we are all keeping safe.

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