Editor’s Blog

1st August 2011: Funny Baby Videos

In the Summer edition of Toddle About we have been getting all excited about new technologies - in particular QR codes - and from the looks of it, loads of you have really embraced it too which is super exciting for us!

As part of our QR code frenzy, we are inviting our readers to send us amusing videos they have captured of their little ones so that we can share them with the world. There's no competition or any prize as such... we just love watching funny baby videos and we know you do too. There's nothing that brightens up a day like a funny baby video!

And the great news is that we have received our first funny baby video from one of our readers. Heather has sent in a video of her gorgeous baby girl Lily (9 months) who she happened to catch on film as she pulled some very amusing faces as she tried malt loaf for the first time. You can see the video here - enjoy!

So how does this link to QR codes? Well, we will use a QR code in the next edition of the Toddle About magazine to link our readers to the funny videos that you send in online so everyone can enjoy them on their phones whereever they are!

So what are you waiting for? Send in your videos so we can start spreading the laughs now! Simply email your videos (or links to them on YouTube) to info@toddleabout.co.uk.

10th May 2011: Survey Results

In the current edition of Toddle About, we asked you to give us your feedback on Toddle About through an online survey, and the response has been fantastic. We had 85 responses over the last 4 weeks, enabling us build an accurate profile of the typical Toddle About reader, as well as finding out what you do and don’t like about Toddle About. And the results have been enlightening.

The good news is that on the whole, you seem to think we’re doing a good job! You gave us an average score of 8.5 out of 10 and every single person who answered our survey said they would recommend Toddle About to other parents with little ones. 70% said you wouldn’t change anything about the magazine at all!

The 30% of readers who would make a change or two to Toddle About gave us some really constructive suggestions for improvements to the magazine, and we’re really grateful for those. From the suggestions, there were a couple of recurring themes which we will definitely be acting on – keep an eye out for them in our next issue and see if you can spot them! We’re really confident that everyone will be pleased.

If you’re interested to see some of the key findings from the survey, you can see the survey results here.

Thank you once again to everyone who answered the survey – the free gifts that we promised to the first 40 respondents were posted out a week ago so they should have arrived by now. We hope you enjoy them!

Even though the survey is now closed, we’re always keen to hear your feedback – good, bad or indifferent - so if you have something to say, please send us a message via our contact form.

28th January 2011: New Year, New Baby & Toddler Activity

With the new year well and truly in full swing, things are finally settling down at Toddle About HQ. William (the new one) is approaching 5 months, and his big sisters are now playing with each other so nicely (most of the time!) that we have found ourselves with bits of time here and there to think about what activities to take them all to during the day. We have always been very active with the girls – Ruth normally had at least one group or class a day to take them to – but since William’s arrival it seems that, on reflection, we have spent this time just surviving!

The upside has been that the girls have got extremely comfortable playing together at home, and we have had the opportunity to bond as a new family, but it feels like the time has arrived to get outside in the real world again.

I expect we will be looking to start some baby signing classes with William fairly soon, and we definitely need something physical that will give Alice an outlet for her seemingly endless need to climb things. For Sophie... we’re not sure yet... probably a music class as she loves her singing. It would be great to get them swimming too, but I think we will need to keep that for a weekend activity when the whole parental unit can be present – three babies and toddlers in the pool with one adult might not be the safest thing!

The wonderful thing is, there are so many activities to choose from! And from chatting to friends it seems we’re not the only ones working out which classes to attend with our children now the new year has arrived. If you’re in the same position and you want to easily find out what is going on for your little one nearest you, our online directory makes it really easy - simply select the Groups and Classes tab, pop your address in and all the groups and classes will be listed for you, in order of distance from your house. You can search for a particular type of activity, or a day or time slot if you know what days you have free. You can also refine the search further by the age of your child (bumps count too!), or the cost of the class. We really think it's great, and we hope it helps!

Happy hunting!

23rd November 2010: New Reviews

Having recently written a review of The Style Lounge in Northampton (which is, incidentally, a fabulously child-friendly hairdressers), it occurred to me that you may not be aware of some of the great reviews that our readers have been writing recently.

Our review team is made up entirely of volunteers who kindly give up their time to visit local baby and toddler classes, or try out new products, so that we can all make sure we are spending our money wisely. (The fact that they get some great freebies has nothing to do with it...) They have written dozens of reviews over the last 6 months, sharing their experiences of music groups, baby photographers, osteopaths (cranial or and otherwise), pottery painting, digital cameras, soft play centres, baby yoga, baby swimming... the list goes on. They really are incredibly useful, and you may well find out about some local treats that you didn’t know about before – you can read the reviews here.

If you are interested in joining the review team yourself, please contact us and let us know. There is no requirement to write any reviews – we will simply email you when we have a review to do and you can put your hand up or not. You will of course get free entry, or a free product as a thank you.

15th September 2010: New Beginnings

This blog post is about new beginnings... Firstly, on 9th September my wife gave birth to our third (and final) child, a baby boy called William. I know it’s a little self-indulgent, but if you can’t mention the birth of your son on a baby and toddler website, then when can you?! We are, of course, completely made up and loving life with our little ones.

Another new beginning to talk about is the start of a new Toddle About magazine that we are launching in South Warwickshire! We’ve been fortunate enough to have received requests from parents in quite a few areas for us to bring them their own Toddle About magazine – and we will get to everyone, don’t worry! – but our first stop is South Warwickshire. Covering the areas in and around Rugby, Leamington Spa and Warwick, we intend to launch the first edition of Toddle About in this region in January 2011. If you are a little disappointed that we are not yet in your area, and you think you might want to have a go at setting up your own Toddle About magazine, then please get in touch as we may be able to help you do just that!

Help!

We are now starting to compile content for our South Warwickshire edition, so if you know of, or you run, a mums and tots group and want to have it listed in Toddle About – please let us know either by submitting the details on our online group submission form or by emailing or calling us.

Equally, if you live in South Warwickshire and want to make sure you don’t miss out on a copy of Toddle About, you can, as always, subscribe for free and we will post you a copy completely free of charge every quarter as soon as each edition is ready.

And please help us spread the word! We’re coming to South Warwickshire and we can’t wait!

20th August 2010: Toddle About reaches 1000 subscribers!

Toddle About now has over 1,000 subscribers! We broke the 1,000 mark yesterday and more parents are still subscribing every day. We’re thrilled that so many of you are loving Toddle About!

And I’d like to say, ‘Thank you’ to everyone who has subscribed – I’m sure you’re not doing it for our benefit, but it actually really helps us. It allows us to show our advertisers how popular and well-distributed Toddle About is, which believe me is very reassuring for them, and the more advertisers we get, the more resources we have to make Toddle About even better for you! (If you’re really interested, you can read why subscription is good for our advertisers).

So thank you for your support! If you would like to help a little more, email us your thoughts on Toddle About and we will publish them on our Feedback page for all to see. Oh, and if you haven’t subscribed yet, there’s no time like the present! Sign up here.

On another note, it was Alice’s 3rd birthday party last week. It was pig-themed, with musical pigs, pig noses, pig cakes, take home pigs, a puppet show of The Three Little Pigs ... basically, it was pig-tastic and she loved it. But that’s a whole different story. I wanted to let you know that we hired a bouncy castle from the County Toy Library for just £2.52. Yes, you did read that right... £2.52. Amazing. If you haven’t explored their collection, the Toy Library have got loads of toys you can hire for up to 3 months, and their prices are fantastic. See contact details on their Toddle About Listing.

But if you’re worried about the tantrum when it comes to giving your toys back, don’t forget to check all local children’s shops in the Toddle About Directory as well as our special offers section, where we have exclusive discounts from local toy shops.

2nd July 2010: Summer Edition has Landed

The Summer issue of Toddle About has arrived! If you are one of our 900 subscribers, then your copy will be coming through your letterbox on Monday (5th July). We have thoroughly enjoyed putting this edition together, and we hope you enjoy reading it just as much. As ever, we are keen to hear what you think to see if we are on the right track, so please let us know.

In this issue, we have articles written by many local parents and grandparents who are all experts in their fields, and they make great reading. We have yoga exercises for pregnant mums, baby massage techniques to try at home, tips on developing reading skills and so much more. Not to mention the dozens of special offers, hundreds of baby and toddler groups & classes, and the handy Toddle About Directory.

If you haven’t subscribed to receive your own copy, then you can still do so here, and we will post one to you every quarter when they come out. Alternatively, you will be able to pick up a copy from hundreds of places including sure start centres, health visitors, libraries, and even Early Learning Centre in Northampton.

22nd June 2010: Music Bugs Review

If you’re suffering from Toddle About withdrawal symptoms, never fear! The next edition of the magazine is coming – it will be landing on our subscribers’ doormats from 5th July. You lucky things.

For now, we have a new review to show you! Toddle About reviewer Fiona Gibbs took her 2 year-old son William to a Music Bugs class for us, and tells us how she got on. If you’ve been thinking about taking your little ones to a music class, but haven’t done so yet, then this is especially good for you to read. Fiona really wasn’t sure about the benefit of music sessions before going along, but it seems she has been converted... You can read the Music Bugs review now.

If you would like to become a published author, or perhaps you just want to try out some free stuff, then you too can join the Toddle About review team. It’s easy, and there is no commitment for you to actually write anything. Simply email us with your name, children’s ages and location, and you can choose which reviews you want to do.

3rd June 2010: Reviews & Discounts

Since our Spring issue went out in April, our team of reviewers has been growing steadily and I am really pleased to announce that the first review to be done by one of our readers is now online!

Helen Pryse-Lloyd has two children, aged 2 and 4 years, and she took them along to a couple of GymBugs sessions in Northampton for Toddle About to find out what was going on. GymBugs runs gymnastics and physical play sessions for 0 – 5s and have recently moved to Northampton. If you want to find out how she got on, you can read the full review now.

In other news, we also sent out our first special offer mailing this week to the hundreds of you who have opted in to receive them. The letter included a massive half-price discount from Tumble Tots, a 2-4-1 deal from Aqualight Babies, a special 15% discount from the YabbaYabba online shop and a free print and half-price studio fee from Fisher Creative Photography. They are all great services and we hope you now appreciate being able to enjoy them for less!

If you want to make sure you don’t miss out on the next special offer mailing, simply opt-in when you subscribe to Toddle About, or email us with your name, address and email.

Right, must get back to work – our Summer issue comes out in just a month!

6th May 2010: Blog 9

Well on a day when there is little else being talked about other than the election, I thought I would give you a little break and let you know about a brand new children’s activity centre that has opened in the heart of Daventry!

My little family made the trip to experience The Ickle People’s Resource Centre in Daventry Leisure Centre about a month ago and we were delighted with the time we had. Set up by two lovely local mothers, both with impressive child caring/entertaining/teaching CVs, Ickle People’s ticks all the boxes. It is the perfect sized space (not too big, not too small), it offers the choice of all sorts of different activities for preschoolers of all ages, it is very reasonably priced, it’s open all week, and there are no cliques – as unknown parents we found we were very warmly welcomed by everyone. I definitely recommend them!

You can read the full review now, and find out more about the Centre and the services they offer on their listing. Try them out and see what you think!

20th April 2010: Blog 8

Our Spring Issue is here! If you have subscribed, you will have already received your copy. If not, you can pick one up at your local library or children’s centre (and many more places besides!) Or you can still subscribe now (for free) and we will post you a copy ASAP.

This issue is packed with even more local baby & toddler groups & classes for you to attend, plenty of ideas of things to do and places to go with the children, and some amazing competitions. All in all, we are giving away prizes worth over £1000!

We also have a fantastic new function on our directory to help you find the classes and businesses that other local parents recommend – our Recommends function. Whenever you visit a listing in our online directory, you will now be given the option to recommend it. If you have enjoyed it before, please do! It lets others know that that listing is definitely worth a visit. Each listing then gets a ‘Recommends’ rating to give you an idea of how good it is. Start searching for businesses or groups you know now!

25th March 2010: Blog 7

With just over 2 weeks to go before the release of the next issue of Toddle About, things are really starting to hit maximum velocity here! Writing, editing, designing... it’s all happening and we’re really excited to show you what’s in it. We have more groups & classes than ever before, more special offers and some really fascinating articles to read. We also have over £600 of prizes to be won! If you haven’t done so yet, you can still subscribe for free to get your own copy delivered to your door, hot off the press.

Thank you to everyone who voted in the Toddle Models competition – the competition was close, but we do now have a winner. Find out who when the magazine comes out! Thank you as well to everyone who entered – all the entries were genuinely delightful and by sharing them with us you have put a smile on the faces of hundreds of people already.

Anyway, must dash – I’ve got a magazine to publish!

18th March 2010: Blog 6

We have had some really funny and cute entries to the Toddle Models competition over the last few weeks, and they are now all online so you can view them. It's also time to choose a winner, and we'd like you to decide!

Each household has one vote, so use it wisely... Simply visit the Toddle Models Gallery, choose the photo that makes you smile the most (for whatever reason!) and follow the instructions to cast your vote. It will take just a couple of minutes and we'd love to hear from everyone so we can really get a good competition going and find ourselves a true winner.

The winner will be announced in the next issue of Toddle About which comes out on 12th April, and they will win a free studio session and mounted print worth £85.00, courtesy of Mark Betts Photography. We will be announcing the prizes for the next Toddle Models competition then as well.

Remember, if you don't vote then you can't complain if your favourite doesn't win! View the entries and vote now... I'll be amazed if you don't enjoy it...

16th March 2010: Blog 5

One wedding and a funeral in the last 4 days. Not quite such a catchy title, but it has has taken me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster...

My brother James got married on Saturday to his beautiful bride Katrina, and the day was just perfect. The sun was shining, everyone was smiling, the music was fantastic and the bar was open! My daughter Alice had her debut gig as bridesmaid alongside her cousin (also called Alice – a long story!) and they both looked so incredibly cute – especially as they chased each other across the lawn in their frilly white dresses. She performed ... OK ... as long as you don’t mind if your bridesmaid refuses to walk down the aisle without her mummy! I think the cute factor made up for it.

At the risk of sounding super-cheesy (a recurring problem for me...), it was a genuinely joyful day – the bride and groom were beaming with happiness and they are I’m sure going to have incredibly happy lives together.

And then this morning I attended the funeral of good friend of mine, Nim. He sadly passed away in his sleep just over a week ago at the age of 30. The funeral was a wonderful celebration of his life and though it was obviously an incredibly sad occasion, I couldn’t help but smile at the sheer number of people that attended – the hundreds of friends and family were walking proof of the incredible impact he had on anyone who knew him.

So it is with a philosophical frame of mind that I write this entry... It seems to me that it is definitely the people in our lives that make all the difference, far more than any of the things that we might accumulate along the way. So I think I will be knocking off early today to go and spend some QT with my wife and daughters...

8th March 2010: Blog 4

Well it’s been a busy couple of weeks for us with not one, but two visits to local photographers, and a very enjoyable trip to Everdon Woods.

You can read about our different experiences with Pixifoto in Northampton and Laura Candler Photography near Milton Keynes in the reviews in our articles section. I would definitely recommend considering them both if you are looking to get some attractive and memorable photographs of your family, though don’t forget to check out the sponsor of our current Toddle Models competition, Mark Betts Photography, who I can confidently say is one of the loveliest chaps you will meet - and he certainly gets recommended a lot as a photographer of choice.

You can find the closest photographer to your house using this link.

Another highlight for me recently was a brief, frosty, and very enjoyable, visit to Everdon Woods, just outside Everdon (not surprisingly) and 5 minutes drive from the A5. If you haven’t yet made a visit there, it is a definitely a great place to visit with your children if you want to give them an ‘off –the-beaten-track’ experience. It isn’t a huge wood at all, and can be circumnavigated in perhaps 30 – 45 minutes which is great if you have little children. With trees are spaced widely enough apart that you can see quite far, it is very child friendly, and it certainly feels safe enough to let the children ‘off the leash’ so to speak!

There are plenty of fallen branches for building projects, a large number of plants and shoots to be inspected and of course all the creepy-crawlies you might want to discover. At the moment, the ground is covered in bluebell shoots and if you were going to make just one visit a year to these woods, I would definitely recommend a visit in April/May to see the veritable carpet of blue that takes over when they bloom.

On another note, I have finally made a start on my veg patch in the back garden after 2 years of good intentions... but I will wait to say more when I have something more interesting to report on that front...