Thursday 17 February 2011

Half Term Activities winter 2011

Half term London events and activities promise to keep the kids busy this February, with a range of activities, exhibitions and workshops taking place throughout the month. See below for activities to keep boredom at bay during the half term holidays.

Doctor Who at Half Term
Kids of all ages (and adults) can take part in one of the Time Lord's adventures at this special interactive exhibition, which includes TARDIS sets, props from the latest series and video clips from Matt Smith.

Doctor Who Experience London

Natural History Museum
Take the kids to the Natural History Museum for a range of activities for plenty of half term fun. There's the state of the art Cocoon installation within the Darwin Centre with interactive exhibits and talks guaranteed to keep the nippers happy, as well as stunning images in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.

Cocoon at Darwin Centre

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition

Museum of Childhood
Kids can go on a discovery trail of the Museum of Childhood's collection with and get arty with all manner of special workshops over the spring half term.

Half Term at Museum of Childhood

Experience historical London
Take the little ones back in time at the Museum of London. Enjoy storytelling sessions, craft and drawing workshops and even meet Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Half Term at Museum of London

Museum in Docklands
Loads of fun half term London events will be taking place at the Museum in Docklands. All things east London will be explored - kids can get involved with art workshops, while the younger ones will love listening to some storytelling.

Half Term at Museum of London Docklands

Horniman Museum
A cracking place to take the little 'uns this half term, Horniman Museum has loads of exciting exhibits and displays. There are special kids events featuring craft sessions and tours around the museum with Mr Horniman himself.

Half Term at Horniman Museum

Imagine Childrens Literature Festival
Throughout half term, the Imagine Childrens Literature Festival is once again hosting fun and interactive literary events, as well as comedy shows, family friendly films and poetry workshops.

Imagine Childrens Literature Festival

Dinosaurs Unleashed
Take your children to meet a giant reptile or two over half term at The O2, which is hosting the Dinosaurs Unleashed show. See the huge animatronic creations and come face to face with the tyrannosaurus rex.

Dinosaurs Unleashed Tickets

O2 ice rink
Also open for half term at The O2 is the venue's ice rink. If you missed out on skating around the ice at Christmas, there's still time to go slip sliding around the ice with the kids.

O2 Ice Rink

Zippos Circus
Perfect for little clowns with a love of the big top, Zippos Circus arrives in Croydon just in time for the half term holidays.

Zippos Circus London

BFI IMAX
Head to the state of the art BFI IMAX cinema to see the latest film releases on the UK's largest screen, such as the 3D Disney adventure Tangled.

Tangled at IMAX

Theatre tickets
Take in a West End performance or two this half term. With tickets available for shows including Billy Elliot, The Lion King and Grease, there's plenty to keep even the harshest young critics entertained.

Half Term London Theatre Tickets

Tower of London
Little warriors are bound to enjoy a trip to the Tower of London over the half term holidays this year, where they can gaze at the formiddable armour in the Fit for a King display.

Fit for a King Exhibition

Marvel Super Heroes 4D
Head to the Marvel Super Heroes attraction at Madame Tussauds to see The Hulk, Spider-Man and Wolverine waxwork figures, experience a multi-sensory 4D cinema experience and get involved with a series of interactive displays.

Marvel Super Heroes at Madame Tussauds

Sunday 13 February 2011

Autism: What games to buy. What skills to promote

Whether you want to find a fun game to push your child’s skills or you are looking for a new game for family game night, The Brain Trainer store is your one stop shop. Here at the Brain Trainer, Dr. Parker, the director, is always looking for new and exciting games that will push cognitive skills.
Looking to push certain skills, try these games.
Attention – concentration of the mind on a single object or thought.
The following games push sustained attention; the ability to stay on task for an extended period of time.
  • Selective attention; the ability to remain on task when another action is present.
  • Divided attention; the ability to switch back and forth between two tasks quickly.
  • Attention to detail; focusing on visual or auditory details.
    • Hue Knew? – by MindWare
    • Pattern Play – by MindWare
Logic and Reasoning – the ability to find patterns and problem solve. Finding alternative ways to look at or deal with situations.
  • Chocolate Fix – by Think Fun
  • Set Cubed – by Set
  • Solitaire Chess – by Think Fun
  • Noodlers – by MindWare
Math Skills – the ability to accurately add, subtract, multiply or divide. These games focus on ways to make basic arithmetic skills more automatic.
  • 7 ate 9 – by Out of the Box
  • Flip 4 – by MindWare
  • Math Dice – by Think Fun
  • Math Dice Jr. – by Think Fun
  • Zingo 123 – by Think Fun
Memory – the ability to recall previously learned information. Working memory focuses on information that is currently being worked on, while short and long term memory focus on information that was learned over a period of time.
  • Rock – by Out of the Box
  • Letter Flip – by Out of the Box
Processing Speed – the speed at which the brain processes information. Makes completing tasks faster and helps with sports such as basketball, football and soccer.
  • 7  ate 9 – by Out of the Box
  • Rock – by Out of the Box
Verbal Expression – the ability to convey a message verbally. Verbal expression looks at a person’s ability to accurately and fluently express themselves.
  • Word On The Street – by Out of the Box
  • Word On the Street Jr. – by Out of the Box
  • Smart Mouth – by Think Fun
  • Thumb Balls - by Actions in Motions
Visual Processing – the ability to process and make use of visual images. Helps one create mental picture faster and more vividly; helps one understand and “see” word math problems and read maps.
  • Backseat Drawing – by Out of the Box
  • Noodlers – by MindWare
  • Q-Bitz - by MindWare
  • Quirkle – by MindWare
  • Squint – by Out of the Box
Work Attack – the ability to convert graphic images into intelligible language. These skills are necessary to read, and working to improve them helps make reading more accurate and fluent.
  • Letter Flip – by Out of the Box
  • What’s GNU? – by Think Fun
Looking for fun party games?
Try the following:
  • Smart Mouth – by Think Fun
  • Word on the Street – by Out of the Box
  • Qwirkle – by MindWare

Saturday 12 February 2011

understanding benefit changes Feb 2011

Confused by all the benefits changes? – help is at hand from Contact a Family
To help parents make sense of the recent welfare reforms announced by the Coalition Government and what the changes will mean for them, Contact a Family has produced a free guide to Future Benefit Changes.
Derek Sinclair, Senior Welfare Rights Specialist at Contact a Family, said: “The recently announced benefits changes amount to the biggest shake up to the benefits system in generations.  Changes include replacing means tested benefits such as income support with a new 'universal credit', major reform of Disability Living Allowance and cuts in housing benefit. It is really important that parents with disabled children understand what these changes will mean and that is why we are making our guide to Future Benefit changes available to them for free.”
The changes will impact on all families with a disabled child.  While some of the changes will not take affect for a year or two, others will start to impact from this April - including changes in housing benefit for many private tenants, and a number of tax credit cuts including reduced help with childcare costs.
While many of the changes proposed will mean cuts in financial help – there is some good news. One of the changes being made in April will allow children aged 3 or above who have a severe visual impairment to start qualifying for the high rate of the DLA mobility component.

Weekly Ballet Classes in NW London, supports those on the spectrum!


icandance caters for people with social, emotional, physical and cognitive disabilities.
icandance mixes ballet and free movement to encourage creativity, social interaction and confidence in each dancer.  icandance's unique approach to dance integrates the use of specialised educational methods, developmental movement, expressive dance, therapeutic interventions and ballet techniques.  Visit  http://www.icandance.co.uk/ for more information or contact ( Juliet 07931 533 955 or email: info@icandance.org.uk


Cyber Safety: Interactive E Safety Game

There is a new internet safety game for 8 – 10 year olds called ‘Star Riders’.  This interactive game requires the user to answer questions about internet safety to increase the amount of time they have to collect stars and avoid nasty icons.  There is a leader board to encourage users to improve.  The questions users are asked will be changed every few months to reflect new themes.   
You can access this game at www.thinkuknow.co.uk/8_10/star-rider/

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Using ordinary games to expand expressive language

use ordinary games to expand your child vocab
good games include branded games from Orchard

Teach your child to cook

did you know that there are cookbooks out there for those on the spectrum? Okay they are not specifically for them but because there are loads of pictures in them they can easily pick up how to cook! prices are quiet reasonable so check out the link, you can also find them on ebay!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=usborne+beginners+cookbook

okay, it only caters for those from a British background but you can always tailor things by taking your own pics and making a list of things that you use in the kitchen