Cheese an autistic Motor skill toy review #specialsaturday

Young children on the autism spectrum often have difficulty developing the fine-motor skills that lead to eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination and eventually reading and writing. Distractability and a preference to seek out movement and other sensory experiences often impact a child’s ability to sit and learn basic skills such as fitting shapes through openings and placing pegs inside holes.Teachers and therapists can create environments and adapt activities to help children develop these critical skills.




Helping kids with autism develop fine-motor skills begins with creating a work environment as distraction-free as possible. A child may benefit from wearing head phones to block out sounds. Seat the child facing a wall or partition with little visual clutter and nothing to touch except the activity you are teaching. Experiment with different types of seat cushions or sitting on a therapy ball with legs (so that it won’t roll). These enable the child to have some movement while seated. The child might also benefit from working in alternative positions such as reclining in a bean bag, sitting in a rocking chair or kneeling at the table.

That's why I love toys like this piece of cheese  it is a playful,wooden mouse with a tail long enough to wind through a wedge of cheese. It takes autistic children and young children on a journey of discovery. Weaving in and out through the maze of holes reinforces fine motor skills and hand eye coordination in a fun and educational way.

Disclosure ( I was sent this by toy-joy to review )

Spooky Puffs Make a Haunting return for Halloween

I love Halloween, the house gets decorated, with cobwebs and witches and ghosts and all manner of scary things, I have to answer the door to the trick or treaters and with working at a school I get recognised "Ooh Mrs Toplis"  rings out for the umpteenth time. My favourite thing to do is to draw a chalk outline on my drive like someone has been murdered......

I do love all the  limited editions of everyday food brands especially when they are themed around occasions such as this..

Thought the breakfast table was safe? Think again! Prepare to be spooked out of your wits as Honey Monster’s terrifyingly tasty cereal, Spooky Puffs rises onto shelves for a second year running, just in time to go Trick-or-Treating.

Crammed full of scrummy toffee-apple flavoured puffs, Spooky Puffs is a breakfast treat for those tricky little monsters. The limited edition cereal contains no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives as well as being a source of fibre.

Speaking about Honey Monster’s latest offering, Sheena Darji, Brand Manager, said, “Following the frightfully great reception Spooky Puffs received last year, we just had to bring them back this year with a bit of twist, and nothing says Halloween like the flavour of Toffee Apples! As a brand, we’re always eager to develop new and exciting flavours for Honey Monster as well as building on old favourites that we know our consumers love”.

Spooky Puffs is the third limited edition to be produced by Honey Monster Foods this year, following in the footsteps of Honeycomb Puffs and Strawberry puffs. Other lines in the standard edition range include Sugar Puffs, Honey Waffles, Choco Waffles and Choco Puffs.

With an RRP of £1.50, Spooky Puffs are on shelf now and available to buy from Tesco and Asda.


Guess what is in my fridge its Spooky Puffs Cakes  and here they are the spiders legs are red because I don't like black liquorice. Hurrah i cooked some cakes... well I melted some chocolate and got all arty.

The recipe is simple enough to follow with help and requires no cooking in the oven. So perfect for little ones to do sill with adult
 help though !!

Diet Chef Review

Dieting effectively is a huge challenge to do yourself - getting the right balance of nutrition without under- or overdoing calories counts can feel like a full-time job. That's why delivery diets seem like a great idea: nutritionist-planned, pre-set meals dropped at your door so that you all you have to worry about is eating them. But many of these diets are prohibitively expensive: that's where Diet Chef comes in. I had a friend who was trying the Dukan diet and what she was doing was going to work out more expensive than diet chef.

At £39 per week, the cost of Diet Chef is probably not too much more than what you're already spending on your weekly shop...if not less, if you opt for restaurant meals now and then.

The Pro's There 's a huge variety of meals - porridge and granola for breakfast, soups or milkshakes for lunch, and stews and pasta for dinner , plus a couple of snacks, like granola bars and oat crisps - and nothing needs to be refrigerated (it comes in vacuum-packed bags), so it's easy to stash meals in your work bag when you're on the go. If you do the diet for a month or more, you won't be eating the same thing every day by any means (unless you want to, of course as you can choose and alter what you have).

The downside I suppose the food is pretty basic but it is too give you a kick start and it does offer you tips and advice and recipes. You have to remember that no diet is just going to work with out you putting some effort into it. So if you sneak the odd piece of cheese here and there and the odd glass of wine you are basically not going to get anywhere.

The minuses? The food is not amazing -and I got pretty bored with it pretty fast. You do have to supplement the supplied meals with fresh fruits and veg and milk (or soy milk) which means that it is not quite as cheap as it sounds...and also means that you do have to make visits to the supermarket, which can be tempting and dangerous! I think the breakfast were the worse to be honest as they were very very boring and Breakfast is meant to set you up for the day.

The diet is very low in calories (1200 a day) so I felt hungry a lot of the time when I was doing Diet Chef...but you can pretty much eat as much fresh fruit and veg as you like, so it was possible to take the edge off with an apple or water . And, OK, it IS a diet. Being hungry should not have come as a surprise. Though surely this might take you off the straight and narrow path of dieting?.

The final important point: did I lose weight? Even with a couple of cheats (giving up cheese seemed to be impossible it kept whispering to me from the fridge), yes! In just a week I ended up about four pounds lighter.

Was I able keep it off once I finished my Diet Chef regime? Yes it had given me a kick start and left me with the thought I really would not be wanting to pay £39 a week for myself as factoring my family shopping into this it would be an expensive weekly shop.

( Disclosure I was sent a weeks supply for review)

Win Glee season 2 on DVD

Win Glee Season 2 On DvD 

Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to 'gleek out' when the second season of Glee is released on Blu-ray and DVD this autumn. Glee: The Complete Second Season and Glee Season 2: Volume 2 are released today, from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. As fresh romances arise and the infamous Finn-Rachel-Quinn love triangle develops, the New Directions braces themselves for their biggest challenge yet; battling Vocal Adrenaline at Nationals in New York! Before then, however, Gleeks can look forward to the high-school prom, the infamous "Born This Way" episode, and a selection of the best musical mash-ups and dance routines to hit the small screen.

Glee Season 2 was awarded three Golden Globe® awards and is jam packed with A-list cameos including Gwyneth Paltrow and Britney Spears! Relive every memorable moment including "Britney/Brittany", "The Rocky Horror Glee Show", "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle" and the finale "New York" again and again when Glee: The Complete Second Season and Glee: Season 2: Volume 2 is OUT NOW.

Finishes 31st October

Just comment anywhere on my blog and comment below to tell me wish one.

Salter Kitchen range

NEW Salter Digital 3 Tier Stainless Steel Steamer RRP £54.99

This Salter Digital 3 Tier Stainless Steel Steamer guarantees precision steaming with its seven programmed functions.  With a self-set countdown option, 60 minute timer and a delay start option simply set the controls, sit back and let the steamer do the cooking. The 11 litre large water tank capacity features 3 steam baskets for preparing individual dishes, including one with a removable base so you can steam a whole chicken and a special bowl for rice.  Additional elements include an external water level indicator and the easy to store stackable bowls are dishwasher safe.

NEW Salter Stainless Steel Health Grill £59.99

The Salter Health Grill allows you to enjoy healthy grilled food without the grease.  It features a non-stick and easy to clean cooking plates so you can cook without using fat or oil and the sloped grill allows the fat to drip off. The large cooking area allows you to cook up to four portions at a time and the adjustable floating hinge means the food can be various sizes. The digital temperature control and high heat sear function gives you precise control for excellent results every time. The Salter Health Grill also includes a cool touch handle and the grill can be stored away in an upright position.  Drip tray included.

NEW Salter Induction Hob RRP £69.99

 The new Salter Induction Hob gives you precise control making it perfect for all types of cooking.  It gives you six pre-programmed settings which range from simmer through to boil reaching a maximum of 280° and a clear, easy to read digital display with touch controls.  The Microcrystal glass top gives a premium high quality finish that is very easy to clean and the smooth edge design means no dirt traps. As heat is only generated in the base of the pan itself, the cooking surface remains cool in operation making this a very safe appliance to use. As soon as the pan is removed, the flow of heat stops immediately.  A child proof lock is also added for peace of mind.  

Colourweigh Kitchen Scale (£20)

In funky Lime and striking Raspberry, these ultra-slim and easy to store Salter Colourweigh Kitchen Scales pack a lot of efficient features into its slinky frame.

Key features include:

§         Ultra slim design for easy storage.

§         Easy-clean stainless steel platform – you can weigh directly on the platform and clean afterwards or with your own bowl. Suitable for use with most bowls or containers.

§         Add and weigh ‘zero’ function – for measuring multiple ingredients in the same bowl. You can just re-set the scale to zero whenever you add a new ingredient.

§         Easy to read LCD display.

§         Aquatronic™ function for measuring liquids.

§         Choice of metric or imperial measures – switch easily between ounces and grams, millilitres and fluid ounces.

§         A weight maximum of 5kg/11lbs/5l/175 fl oz.

§         Available in Lime and Raspberry.

§         The Colour Weigh Kitchen Scale RRP: £20 and available at Independent Cookshops, Steamer Trading, Department Stores and www.salterhousewares.com.

And I shall be reviewing the Induction hob and the steamer I can't wait.