Websites to inspire creativity

If you fancy doing some creative activities with the kids this Easter, here are two excellent websites which will help you get some ideas:

The Imagination Tree: Creative play and learning in the early years http://www.theimaginationtree.com/

Kids Activities Blog: Quirky mums kids activities blog
http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/

And check out the latest edition of 2B magazine:
http://issuu.com/magazyn2b/docs/2b56

Or follow 2B magazine on Twitter: @2BNorthEast

Family Friendly Swimming in the North East

Swimming makes a fantastic family activity and here in the North East of England there are many incentives to help families swim for free, if not, for a very low cost.

If you live on the Newcastle side of the river, make sure you get a Fusion Card: http://www.activenewcastle.co.uk/fusion-scheme/ to take advantage of discounted swims.

If you’re living in or around Gateshead, get the Active Card: http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/sports1/prices/activecard.aspx
for cheap family swims.

For those serious about their swimming, Swim North East is a listing site about all swim related fixtures in the North East of England, including information about awards and coaching children:
http://www.swimnortheast.org.uk/

Here are some swimming pools I would recommend for family friendly swimming in this region:

Gateshead Swimming Pool, Bensham
http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Leisure%20and%20Culture/sports1/facilities/GLC/home.aspx
The facilities include three pools, including the 25m main pool, a sauna and a steam room. Children seem very welcome at the pool and staff kindly open the small pool for little swimmers, even when it’s very quiet.

Gosforth Swimming Pool, Gosforth
http://www.activenewcastle.co.uk/venue-results/view/gosforth-pool/
Two large pools, including warm children’s pool with inflatable session on Saturdays. Despite a recent overhaul the changing facilities are still a bit basic.

The Lakeside Leisure Centre, Killingworth
http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/browse.shtml?p_subjectCategory=1224
Which includes a good 25 metre pool with 6 lanes. The water is chlorine-free and ozone sanitized. There is also a 13m x 7m, 30ºC learner pool.

Research Findings: Identity in Newcastle

Here's an Imap view of my image based research findings.
The project sought to locate expressions of identity in Newcastle city centre.
I hope you find it interesting,
Rachel

British children’s books, Polish illustrator: Pieńkowski

The bestselling Meg and Mog stories, first published in the 1970s and still a mainstay of British children’s literature today, were illustrated by Polish born Jan Pieńkowski. Pieńkowski came to live the UK in 1946 settling in Herefordshire. Design appears to have been in Pieńkowski’s blood as he comes from a family of artists and architects, and he showed a talent for poster and stage design when reading Classics and English at Cambridge. This inspirational Polish migrant helped pioneer the modern children’s pop-up book and will be remembered for his cult illustrations in the fantastically titled classic Meg’s Eggs (witches and dinosaurs, what more can a child want?!). I enjoyed Pieńkowski’s fabulous stories as a child and my son now reads them again, and again and again today. To find out more about Pieńkowski’s work visit the Jan Pieńkowski website: http://www.janpienkowski.com/home.htm where you can download a selection of his books and play some Meg and Mog themed games.

Classes for babies and young children

In the UK you can expect to find classes or groups for parents and carers of babies and young children taking place on most days of the week in your local area. Such groups are usually hosted in church halls or at community centres. Here’s some ideas of classes you might try and that are popular in the UK; please note that these are just the big franchise companies of the baby and children’s activities world, you’ll find details about groups more specific to your area in your nearest supermarket (on the community notice boards), from your local SureStart centre (they’ll give you a leaflet about what’s on near you) or at the Netmums North East website: http://www.netmums.com/home/global-homepage-map-page-1/netmums-in-the-north-east

Baby Massage Classes:
International Association for infant Massage:
http://www.iaimbabymassage.co.uk/baby-massage-classes.html

Music groups and classes:
Jo Jingles: http://www.jojingles.com/
Music Bugs: http://www.musicbugs.co.uk/
Piccolo Music: http://www.piccolomusic.co.uk/

Dance, Gym and Movement classes:
Tumble Tots: http://www.tumbletots.co.uk/
Jittabugs: http://www.jittabugs.com/

Sensory Groups and Classes:
Baby Sensory: http://www.babysensory.com/
Messy Monkeys (this is specific to the North East):
http://messy-monkeys.com/

Sports Classes:
Little Kickers (football): http://www.littlekickers.co.uk/

Baby and Toddler signing classes:
Tiny Talk: http://www.tinytalk.co.uk/
Sing and Sign: http://www.singandsign.com/

Swimming classes:
Water Babies: http://www.waterbabies.co.uk/
Puddle Ducks: http://www.puddleducks.com/

Let me know what sort of groups and classes you might expect to find in Poland by posting a comment or emailing me at the usual address, Thanks! Rachel

https://twitter.com/PolishNewcastle

It’s bitter at the Baltic

I was down on the Quayside last week, taking a trip to see the Turner prize hosted at the Baltic Art Gallery and it was freezing by the river! We had both children wrapped up in hats and gloves and winter coats despite their protests. This made me remember one of my interviews with a Polish mum; she had been astounded at how local children are dressed in the cold weather here. I think the cold weather does take us by surprise in the UK, and we’re not as prepared as Poles for subzero temperatures, as was the case last year.

As a mum I’ve actually found it really hard to find good winter clothing in Newcastle for my boys. After a lot of looking I managed to find pram suits (for babies) (kombinezon zimowy) in Mothercare and John Lewis this year, but they weren’t really up to much against the Geordie chill. For older children thick duffle coats (budrysówka) could be found in Marks and Spencer and Next, and there were some bright raincoats (płaszcz przeciwdeszczowy) in Primark and H & M.

In the end I gave up looking on the highstreet and found this website: (Little Trekkers) http://www.littletrekkers.co.uk/ who sell expensive but high quality winter outdoor wear for children (na przykład kombinezon narciarski, odzież nieprzemakalna i odzież termoaktywna). I’ve found their delivery to be excellent, and the brands Columbia and Spotty Otter (pram suits and all-in-one snowsuits for toddlers) to be especially good. Like I say, they are quite expensive so try looking on Ebay for second hand versions of these brands first.

https://twitter.com/PolishNewcastle

Letters to Santa

For free personalised letters from Santa (listy do Świętego Mikołaja) I can thoroughly recommend using the Royal Mail’s ‘letters to Santa’ service. My little boy received his response from Santa today and was thrilled that it mentioned him by name.
Just get your child to write a letter (which should include your home address and the child’s name) and put it in an envelope with a second or first class stamp attached to it. The envelope should be addressed:

Święty Mikołaj
(aka Father Christmas)

Santa’s Grotto,

Reindeerland,

SAN TA1

For more details go to: http://www.royalmail.com/letters-to-santa

My second recommendation is for the website Portable North Pole TV (go to: http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home) where you can get a free personalised video message from Santa sent to your inbox. Just follow the simple guidelines selecting who the message is intended for and suggesting a few photos and ideas Santa might like to use in his message.

Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego

Rachel X

Popular Polish / English Baby Names

While trying to decide on baby names for my forthcoming arrival and I came across this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_popular_given_names

According to the list these were the most popular boy names given in the UK and Poland in 2010:

Most popular boys names in the UK 2010

Oliver
Jack
Harry
Charlie
Alfie
Thomas
Joshua
William
Daniel
James

Most popular boys names in Poland 2010
Jakub
Szymon
Kacper
Filip
Michał
Mateusz
Bartosz
Wojciech
Adam
Wiktor


Most popular girls names in the UK 2010
Olivia
Sophie
Lily
Emily
Ruby
Jessica
Chloe
Ava
Grace
Amelia

Most popular girls names in Poland 2010
Julia
Maja
Zuzanna
Lena
Wiktoria
Amelia
Oliwia
Aleksandra
Natalia
Zofia

Names I especially like which work well in both Polish and English (names which retain the same spelling and where pronunciation differs only slightly) include:

Boys: Albert, Bernard, Edward, Edmund, Gabriel and Sebastian
Girls: Barbara, Isabella, Joanna, Julia, Pauline and Sabina

At the moment frontrunners for me are Otto (if my baby is a boy) and Klementyna (Clementine) (if the baby is a girl).

Baby and Children's Brands in the UK and Poland

In some of the interviews and conversations I have had with Polish parents, informants have compared popular baby brands in Poland to Britain.

Here’s a useful list of babycare manufacturers, brands and websites popular in Poland:

For buggies and car safety
Implast: www.implast.com.pl/
Deltim: www.deltim.com.pl/
Aro Karon: http://www.aro.pl/
Wampol http://www.wampol.com.pl/

For babycare products
Canpol: http://canpolbabies.com/pl/

For children’s toys
Smyk: http://smyk.com/

For children’s clothes
Reserved: http://www.reserved.com/pl/kids
5.10.15: http://www.51015kids.eu/pl
Wójcik: http://www.wojcik.com.pl/
Takko: http://www.takko-fashion.com/pl/kids/index.php
Coccodrillo: http://www.coccodrillo.pl/

Children’s shoes
Bartek: http://www.bartek.com.pl/

And popular in the UK...

For buggies and car safety
Silver Cross: http://www.silvercross.co.uk/
Phil and Teds: http://philandteds.com/
Bugaboo: http://www.bugaboo.com/home
Quinny: http://www.quinny.com/gb-en
* useful buggy and pram price comparision site: http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/*

For babycare products
Mothercare: http://www.mothercare.com/
Boots: http://www.boots.com/en/Mother-Baby
Mamas and Papas: http://www.mamasandpapas.com/

For children’s toys
Early Learning Centre: http://www.elc.co.uk/

For children’s clothes
H&M: http://www.hm.com/gb/department/KIDS
John Lewis: http://www.johnlewis.com/Baby+and+Child
Marks and Spencer: http://www.marksandspencer.com/Kids/
Next: http://www.next.co.uk/

TKMaxx: http://www.tkmaxx.com/kids-baby

Children’s shoes
Clarks: http://www.clarks.co.uk/kids

Try these supermarkets for a good range of cheaper children and baby clothes:
Asda: http://direct.asda.com/asda-babyshop
Tesco: http://direct.tesco.com/homepage/babytoddler
Sainsburys: http://www.sainsburys-tu-clothing.co.uk/

Buying and Selling Children's Wear and Toys

Here are some useful websites to help you buy and sell children’s wear and toys in and around Newcastle.

http://www.gumtree.com/newcastle - (especially good for finding cheap accommodation to rent (in my experience) and for sourcing cheap furniture)

http://www.netmums.com/boards/nearlynew/newcastle - (especially good for finding cheap baby equipment in your immediate location, particularly prams and buggies)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ - (I’m not such a fan of ebay as I’ve been out-bidded too many times! Prices can get quite high so be careful, and always check the pick-up location or delivery charges for items you’re interested in)

http://groups.freecycle.org/toon/posts/all - (good for passing on furniture and electrical equipment, but you have to sign up for an account and be 'accepted' as a user)

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/2000icbargains/freeads - (if you’re selling an expensive or specialist item you may wish to consider paying for an advert in the local newspaper. Follow the link here if so.)

Also, there’s a shop in Whitley Bay, ‘Cherished Toys’, who will sell your good quality children’s clothes and toys on your behalf. I’ve heard that the shop is very popular with mums-to-be looking to buy second hand baby and nursery equipment: http://www.cherishedtoys.co.uk/default.html

Lastly, I thoroughly recommend the British parenting institution of the ‘nearly new sale’. Here, huge amounts of clothes and toys are donated or sold to the sale organisers who hold a morning or afternoon event selling off all the goods, usually in a sports hall, village hall or church hall. These events are usually well attended and a good way to find very cheap clothes and toys. Baby cardigans can sell for as little as 10p for example.

The National Childbirth Trust organise the best quality events. Here’s how to find an NCT nearly new sale event near you: www.nct.org.uk/branches/events/nearly-new-sales

*Finally, help raise funds for the North East’s neonatal baby care service by supporting the Tiny Lives Fund Nearly New Sale from 10am-1pm on Saturday 9th July 2011, to be held at Trinity Church, Gosforth High Street, Newcastle. Go to the website for more details: www.tinylivesnearlynewsales.org.uk *