4M Kidz Labs Volcano Making Kit Review

We have had a bit of Dino week in our house, From reading Dinosaur Roar! by Paul and Henrietta Stickland to filming my son do his Scary roar  for a competition its been a busy week.

But we also managed a trip to London  and while we there we had to take a visit to the Natural History Museum. So not only did my son learn lots about Darwin and how the world began we also checked out the Dinosaurs too. He loved looking out how big they were and he even knew a lot of them by name (Put me to shame)! We also paid a visit to how Earthquakes happen and how Volcanoes are formed he loved this the most seeing how they feature in a lot of Dinosaur books.

So when it was time to go we stopped off at the Gift Shop and after a while we stumbled on  4M Kidz Labs Volcano Making Kit . So he had to buy one I was fine with it seeing as we normally come away with a pen or something that has no educational value or breaks as soon as we get home.

Contents

• 6 tubs of paint
• 2 Packets of Plaster Mould
• 2 Elastic Bands
• 1 Cardboard Cutouts of houses and people
• 1 Instruction booklet
• 1 Volcano Cast

The volcano was really easy to piece together and took no time at all once made you use the elastic band s provided to hold the Volcano in place ready for the plaster mix to be made and poured into the mould.

Get a old jug or bowl in our case a bucket and empty both packets of the plaster mould into the bucket add water and mix well. Once the mixture is ready pour this into the Volcano mould being careful not to spill any (top tip get a plate of a bit of cardboard under the mould for any plaster that may come out of some of the cracks ) we had a little but not much!

Tapped the mould a few times to let any air bubble float to the top and pop. Then leave the mould for about 2- 3 hours to set at room temperature. Once set remove very carefully from the mould and leave for about another 20 hours before painting.

The next day we were ready to paint ...  Once painted and left to dry we were ready for some Volcano action.

What you will need

• Bicarbonate of soda 
• Vinegar
• Red Paint
• Spatula

The kids proceeded to add the Bicarbonate of soda into crater of the Volcano with a dash of red paint and then poured in the vinegar with a  matter of moments the Volcano came to life and started to bubble.The kids were thrilled even the Dinosaurs loved watching too.

Once we were finished we tidied everything up and cleaned out the Volcano, which can be stored and the experiment repeated anytime you want. If not looks great as a talking piece in any kids room.

Not only was this fun to make even if you had to wait for a day to get to the exciting part it was educational for the kids learning about science with a hands on experiment. 

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The Cool Create Club!

The Cool Create Club is a great place for kids to go and get inspired to create awesome creations. There are lots of craft activities to get their creative juices flowing in no time perfect for rainy days and holidays to keep them entertained and the best part it’s all free.

Membership is free and each month you can send your creations you have made and if you are lucky enough to feature on the The Cool Create Wall you will win a cool prize.

We were lucky enough to win one ourselves last month which was a Suteki! Check out the review here.

With some great prizes to be won and fab creative ideas such as making Fathers day cards and this month the chance to win a Swap Watch by answering the question on the main page you would be silly not to sign up.

Well Done to this month's winners 

So please click the link now and sign up and enter some cool creations too and see if you could feature on next month’s Cool Create Wall please remember to say KTBennett This is me! blog sent you that way they know how you found out about this fab new club!

Suteki Stencil Station Review

Thanks to the Cool Create Club we recently won a Suteki Stencil Station after being featured on last month’s wall. It arrived in the post last week and as it was delivered on a rainy day it was the ideal opportunity to dive straight in and have some creative time. 

Each stencil has been colour coded so for example the green stencil is used for green paint, yellow for yellow paint and so on. The information booklet provided lets you know the order they go so as long as you follow the instructions there is no chance of getting stuck or creating anything less than a mini masterpiece! We soon had everything set up decided to start by making the girl picture first.

After the first layer of paints has been applied, in this case the yellow layer, you need to wait for the paint to dry. This is a good opportunity to wash out the sponge which is easily removed by un-screwing the bottom (please note: take care when washing the sponge as ours eventually came a little loose). 

As my daughter was not keen on watching paint dry we decided to speed things along with the help of a hairdryer and were quickly back in action and ready to apply the next paint layer - green. Another bit of manoeuvring with the hairdryer and we were soon onto the next layer, this time a pretty pink. We found a little issue getting right into the corners with the round headed sponge and felt that it might have been better if the sponge was square or if both options were offered but after a little manoeuvring we managed to get the job done. The final paint layer was black and once applied and dried the picture was complete and looked like really professional. We were very pleased with the result.

As things had worked out so well we went onto the next picture, following all the steps as laid out. Once again the results were fab and really the only downside was that we wished there was at least one more stencil to do, particularly as there was enough paint left over. It’s never a bad thing if your downside is a positive and overall, given the final results, the Suteki Stencil Station could be considered good value for money at it’s RRP of £14.99.

Both myself and my daughter were very pleased with our finished pieces of art which look even better and are ready to display after using the frames included with the set. 

How do you keep your children active and entertained during summer?

This is a good question we all ask ourselves how can we keep our kids entertained during the summer one without it costing too much and another that it's fun and keeps them entertained.


Well last year I covered a big section of my blog on this during the February Half term check it out here ...

So how can you fill 6 weeks I thought I would show you a few ideas I have up my sleeve.

We have just moved house in the last few months and our biggest challenge so far is the Garden. We have a lot of garden to try and clear so one of my ideas will be getting this under control we have already made a start so hoping we will have some more of this finished soon so we can think about getting some sand pits and outdoor toys for the kids to keep them amused even a paddling pool for those hot days (fingers crossed).

As you can see its not looking to bad already but the bottom section will be the hardest part so if i can get the top half done in time and get some things for the kids to play on, least that way they can have fun while poor mummy works on the tackling something out of sleeping beauty worst nightmare!

So whats next well we are lucky we live in Plymouth and have some great free events during June / August from La Solitaire du Figaro which is a great event for the city and the kids love watching all the boats on the sound plus there is a cool jazz and blues festival too. We also have Armed Forces day which is a great way to learn about the Forces last year we even got to sit on a Helicopter the boys loved that. 

We then have Flavour Fest which is great fun we get to try lots of different foods from all over and get to see how food gets transformed into daily meals, with lots of local traders its great to get into the community spirit and support the local area. One year we got to try blueberries never had them before and now me and the kids love them all thanks to the Food Festival. We also get some great ideas for cooking at home and as you know we love cooking check out some of our recent creations.

 So we will be doing plenty of cooking during the holidays and the kids love being so hands on in the kitchen and this is a great way bonding and having fun and cooking does not cost much and great for a rainy day too! We also love doing craft based projects being a creative family so we always try and keep empty boxes on hand so we can paint and decorate. 

In August we are proud to host the British Fireworks Championships  its a great two day event which is free and we get to watch some of the best fireworks in the country on display. 

These events are a few things that our on offer in Plymouth during the holidays so there are plenty of free events to keep my kids busy. But on those occasions where we can afford to do something more we have a great Aquarium nearby which we love to go and they also provide some great classes and activities to keep the kids entertained as well has great rates to go back and visit again its a firm favorite with the kids.

Other local attractions include woodlands which is one of the fun local theme parks in the area about a hour drive its a great way to spend a day having fun in the sun  or playing in the ball pool lots to do and a  good day out.

We also have National Trust passes so lots of great places to visit one of our favorites is Saltrum House where they film Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland. The kids love going there having there face painted and running around the Gardens. We normally pack a picnic too and with a  park on hand and ducks to feed its another great way to spend a day out. 

We are lucky enough to have so many wonderful things on our doorstep the Barbican will be holding their festival of the sea once again and last year the kids got to make there own costumes and walk in the parade around the town, Also have the Eden Project nearby too and some amazing beaches when the weather is hot. 

Last but not least we have Dartmoor, another great place to go during the summer with rivers to swim in and rocks to climb and big open spaces to run in its great. Last year we went for a swim in a place called Cadover Bridge the kids loved it so much they keep asking when we can go back so this will be a must again this summer. I also took them to a place called the rock which is a massive rock they can climb kids love it plus i can take a  chair and watch them without having to worry only that they don't fall .... 

So you can see Plymouth is a great place to go during the holiday we are just lucky we live here with so many things to do and most being free, there will plenty to talk about this summer on my blog, So weather the weather is hot or not we have some great ideas planned for keeping the kids entertained. 

I hope this may have given you some great ideas to plan ahead and find out what you city will be doing during the summer, if all else fails you know where to stay ... But keep checking out my blog as we will be posting some great places to go and things to do and this hopefully would have show you what too look forward too in the coming months. 

And hopefully I may even be lucky enough to review this 12ft  Twist Trampoline from EXIT now that we have a  garden big enough to fit one of these thanks to ActivitytoysDirect.com. If you have a  blog and fancy a chance at winning find all the details here:

Home Made Burgers

Like I promised here is a picture of tonight's tea we made homemade Burgers topped with melted cheese and bacon with added mushrooms fried onions and peppers .....

So this is how we made it ...

I bought two lots of minced beef about 540g in total added one chopped onion, Atbsp of Mustard with one egg yolk a tbsp of olive oil and about 30g of chopped Coriander. Then chucked this into a big bowl and mashed all together to make 8 burgers.

Pop these onto the grill to cook once they have cooked prepare the bacon and then place this on top of the burgers with a slice of processed burger cheese (we used dairylea slices)  pop these back into the oven.

While they are melting fry up the onions,mushrooms,and peppers and toast the burger buns.

Then the fun part making the burger I layered the onions and peppers on the bottom then added the burger with the bacon and melted cheese placed the mushrooms on the top and it was complete and it tasted amazing even the kids loved it which is great seeing as my boys are quite fussy when it comes to food.

The fun part was trying to eat it !!! 

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Catch Up Time !

Well had a busy week so far got a job interview this week at Build-A-Bear cant wait for that also had a few fab new reviews to do this week one of which will be live later today Suteki!  if all goes well. And a great opportunity for winning some cool stuff yourself more to follow today.

But please keep checking back for Iron Man 3 ArcStrike Toy review thanks to Toys R us toyologist program also received some Febreze from there new sleep serenity range thanks to super savvy.

Also a Box of OMG came today back full of goodies for the kids more to follow here too.

Also last monday me and my WWE crazed son went to the O2 Arena at watched WWE live was a great night and I even had fun too check out how close we were greats seats!

In the meantime have a look at what we have been cooking in the Bennett household this week from dino cupcakes + Popping candy to a home cooked chinese and Banana Fritters complete with syrup yummy!

Tonights menu homemade burgers with bacon and mushrooms and ships nom nom will post pics of this later too!

Fairy Platinum Dishwasher Tablet Review

We love trying new and exciting things in the Bennett household, but this time it was something I could really get my hands dirty with.

I was lucky enough to try out Fairy’s Platinum tablets for my dishwasher, now I normally just go and buy whatever tablets are on offer at the supermarket not really caring much on how well they might perform.

But after taking this trail run I think I will be buying Fairy from now on.

Fairy Dishwasher Tablets come in a great resalable bag perfect for kids and kittens not to get their hands on them, so great for storage and safety. The tablets come in two parts one side powder the other liquid detergent which contains a powerful anti-grease action great for stuck on grime. The tablets are encased in a film which dissolves without leaving a sticky residue on your dishes.

So we got to work trying these tablets out and letting all our friends and family know about how great the cleaning action can be, by handing out coupons and a free pack along with a little questionnaire to see how they got on.

And if you are anything like me the thought of putting your hand in the sink with floating weetabix or porridge or thick grease after a Spaghetti Bolognese night, there is nothing worse I can tell you but after putting all these horrid dishes in your dishwasher and finding they come out looking like new then you will be amazed and you can see for yourself the result are fab.

We had a go and trying  a few challenges from the kittens food bowls with dried in food to the cup with tea stains and each time the tablets did it.... is there nothing they can’t do!!!!

So not only will the tablets leave your dishes looking great it’s also has a high standard of degreasing your dishwashers filter too, I suggest you try the filter challenge for yourself I am sure it wont dissapoint ....

So needless to say we have now been fully converted to using Fairy all the time and so have my friends and family the only question WILL YOU BE TOO !!!