It’s mums 70th this summer and my sister and I have been searching for ideas to celebrate. At the moment we’re hoping to book a few days at the Old Park Hotel in the Isle of Wight. My sister has stayed there before and it looks like it can cope with multi-family, multi generational holidays.

Over the summer we have decided to go camping with my cousins. They have a family camp every year as soon as school ends for the summer, but we’ve not been brave enough yet! I suspect Dh may work that week so wish me luck as I’m not a natural camper. My cousin’s husband, the plumber, has built an outdoor shower where they camp, with hot running water, and we can always retreat to my aunt and uncle’s house if we need!

If you want some holiday ideas, over at Become a Mumpreneur we’ve been writing about getting away from the business and on this site you can get ideas for family holidays in the Lakes or Cornwall. Erica at Littlemummy has got articles on 10 things to do with kids in Scotland and 10 things to do with kids in Wales too.

There are lots family friendly activities for all the family to enjoy, young or old, so no excuses not to make the most of your break away to Cornwall.

• Why not simply enjoy some of the beautiful beaches Cornwall boasts and let you little ones paddle in the waves whilst you relax and enjoy the gorgeous scenery and peace and quite sand and sea creates. A great place to enjoy a family picnic too! Or whilst on the beach, why not go exploring and see what secrets the rock pools have to offer. Finding sea creatures will amaze any little ones and collecting shells is a great way to pass the time and make great souvenirs for you little ones to keep and remember their holiday.
• The Eden Project is one of the many great family friendly venues Cornwall has to offer. It has been dubbed ‘the EIGTH wonder of the world’ and is a dramatic global garden which is housed under huge tropical biomes situated in a crater the size of 30 football pitches. Full of beautiful flora and forna from numerous climates across the globe, something for everyone.
• If your children love animals, there are numerous attractions that they will love. Dairy Land Farm World, is a great all weather venue with something for all age. Find out about the history of farming, take a beautiful nature trail through the breathtaking Cornish countryside and if the weather is  not great, they have a 12,000 sq ft indoor soft play area. There are also other animal orientated attractions throughout Cornwall including Newquay Zoo and Paradise Park.
• Any budding artists would love to visit the Tate St Ives. Catering for all ages there are activity packs and interactive talks. Why not take a walk through the Sculpture Garden with the Hepworth Family Sculpture trail.
• The mythical world of Merlin and King Arthur will enthrall any young boy who dreams of becoming a knight. The mystical castle at Tintagle with Merlin’s secret cave on the beach and the ancient stone at Slaughterbridge is where legend has it that King Arthur fought his last battle there!

With fantastic holiday cottages Cornwall has to offer, you can simply stay for a long weekend or make a great family holiday in the comfort of a beautiful traditional cottage situated in the breathtaking scenery of this wonderful part of the UK.

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• Beatrix Potter is a much love children’s author and with her home situated in the Lake District, there are lots of activities orientated around her and her adorable characters. From visiting The World of Beatrix Potter to wandering around the Beatrix Potter Gallery where the original artwork from the books is displayed to seeing where she imagined and created her beautiful books at her home at Hill Top.
• If you have older children then there are lots of outdoor activities for them to enjoy. One such place to visit is a fantastic GO APE course in  Grizedale which is full of high wire climbing fun and zip line screams.
• If you are looking for something to occupy the whole family then why not visit one of the many country parks such as Fell Foot Country Park. A great place to let the little ones run and explore and a beautiful place to enjoy a family picnic.
• There are also lots of water based activites in the Lake District, from learning about the secret world of lakes at Aquarium of the Lakes to enjoying the beautiful scenery on a lake cruise.
• Do you have a train fanatic in your family. Well the Lake District has some wonderful steam trains which any train enthusiast, young or old, will love to ride on.
• Another great place to visit whilst in the Lake District is the famous location of Hogwarts wizardry school. Great for all Harry Potter fans.

So no matter what age your children are , there are lots of great attractions and activities to suit the whole family. With a  great selection of Lake Distict cottages available for weekend breaks or weeks away, suitable no matter what size your family is. So what’s stopping you visit this breath taking part of the UK?

This post is brought to you by Holiday Rentals.

The new ad was aired for the first time on Boxing Day and show’s Neve meeting all the characters at Butlins including the new member of the team, Cederic the Seagull!

To enter this competiton is as simple as watching the advert and counting how many bounces Neve does on her tour of the resort.

To find out more and to enter this great competition, please visit the  Butlins site, where full terms and conditions can be found.

Dh collected stamps too, or, to be more precise, his aunt bought first day covers for him to collect. There seems to be a theme there – adults encouraging children to collect! And, in his turn, DH thinks it might be nice for J, 5 to start collecting stamps too.

Have your children collected stamps – boys or girls and at what age? Let me know if stamp collecting is a 21^st century hobby to keep the kids happy this holidays or if it is simply not interesting when compared to computer games?

All three children having a  DS is a real sign of how your values get eroded by having more children. Admittedly K only has one by default: if there had only been one second hand DS on offer I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to get another. But with D, we only allowed her one for her 7th birthday. J has one at 5 and 10 months, and K will never remember not having a DS.

And it gets more complicated than that. Once, D was happy with her DS. The second hand bundle included a DS and a DSi, so she was keen to upgrade and have the better model. Now she has seen the Nintendo dsi xl and has something else to aspire to, alongside owning a mobile phone, an ipod and an ipad! And only today Erica was telling me that they hardly play with the Wii now they have an Xbox Kinect. We’re still using the Wii – albeit amid battles because we have 2 handsets and three children. Is it good for them to have one of everything each? My feeling is that learning to share (the hard way) and not always having everything builds life skills. What do you think?

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Gareth Lippiatt is a dad of one who runs the children’s activity provider Sports Xtra, which he created to bring high quality, structured physical activities to children. His company engages over 75,000 children each week, promoting his ethos that every child should have a positive experience through physical activity. Gareth and his team are passionate about promoting this message and providing children with the opportunity to enjoy being active. In this article, Gareth recommends ways to keep young children healthy and active.

Many children (and I suspect some of their parents too!) love games consoles, because they are a way of allowing them to have some power and control in a life where they are told what to wear, what to do and when to go to bed.

As parents, we know it’s not exactly the healthy option but it works for us, keeping the children quiet and safe. We consider it much better to have the child safe at home rather than exposed to the dangers that lurk outside.

That’s a sensible, valid point of view and no-one could argue against that, however what we as parents also need to consider is that although the child is safe from the immediate dangers that we all know exist, there are also other threats to the child’s well-being that may not be as tangible but are just as real.

Consoles themselves are not a threat to a child’s health or well-being, and as part of a balanced lifestyle that includes physical activity and participation in environments that promote socialisation skills and increased self-esteem, I have no problem with them at all.

As a society we are fully aware of the increasing problem of childhood obesity and the health warnings that accompany that message, so why do we continue to ignore them? Physical inactivity is either directly or indirectly linked to heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, certain types of cancer and many other illnesses…all of which may not be manifested until later life but all are increasing health issues in western culture.

Working with over 600 primary schools across the UK, unfortunately I can assure you that our children’s generation is in a far worse position than we were at their age as we now live in a completely different society. As well as the direct dangers of being physically inactive due to the huge volume of time spent on the console, in my view just as great a threat is the lack of interaction with other people that this promotes.

Such long periods in isolation cannot be beneficial to socialisation and the development of self-esteem and confidence that comes with personal interaction. Although these are strong reasons in their own right for a parent to be concerned, the reason that I particularly highlight them in the context of this discussion is that research indicates that the greatest barrier for participation in physical activity is…low self-esteem!

Cultural change is far too great a project for any individual to take on so the only way to break the pattern is to take responsibility for what you can in your own circumstances. If you’re a parent that is familiar with the scenario described above and is concerned about getting your child more physically active, here’s my top tips to getting the ball rolling in your household and ensuring that your child gets the most out of their activity.

1. Be a positive role model: As a parent, you are the greatest influence on your child so what messages is your own lifestyle sending out to your children?
2. Praise/reward good behaviour: Linked to the previous point, forget the sweets or donuts, the best reward a child can receive is affirmation from their parent which is a power that only you possess!
3. Consider unstructured activity: Just as important as higher intensity physical activity is so called ‘incidental activity’ such as walking to school. The minimum recommended daily amount of physical activity is one hour which doesn’t need to be structured ‘sport’.
4. Find an activity that they enjoy: Our most popular activities include street dance, fencing, rock climbing and spy school! Just because your child believes that they don’t like sport (they’re really referring to team games such as football etc) doesn’t mean there’s not something out there that they will love.
5. Check out the quality of the provider: There are a lot of different types of providers offering different types of activities for children. That offers great diversity and choice for children and parents, but you should be certain to check that the provider is properly qualified and insured to deliver the activity. No reputable provider will take issue with you asking the difficult questions!
6. Is your child enjoying it: There’s no better way to put a child off an activity than putting them in an environment in which they’re not happy. It takes expertise to create an environment that provides a positive experience for the children and factors such as the ability of the coach/instructor, the activity itself, the number and mix of the children on the activity and the way the activity is presented will all be factors in this.

Menus4Mums’ survey found that a staggering 83% did their food shopping online to save hassle – with no traffic, no queues, and no children.  50% thought it saved them time, and 41% found it stopped them making impulse purchases.

The survey also uncovered some great tips for grocery shopping online:

1.  Always use a shopping list, add the basics from your “favourites” list, and have a quick look at the special offers.

2.  Use a supermarket comparison site, like www.mysupermarket.co.uk, which will suggest cheaper alternatives.

3.  At the end, ask yourself if you really need everything in your trolley.  Also check the quantities ordered as it’s easy to end up with double.

4. Complain if items are too near their use-by-date (this was the number one gripe about online shopping in the survey).

5.  See if you can lower delivery costs by getting an off-peak slot.  Some companies, e.g. Ocado, even have free slots.

Alison Pinto, founder of Menus4Mums (pictured below) says:

Parents use Menus4Mums because they are busy but still want their families to eat well.  Many find it easy to combine our service with online food shopping, so it’s natural they’ve got some great tips.  We particularly like the tip of checking your list at the end – it’s surprising the impulse buys you can do without.’

When you’re regularly cooking for the family, it’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut.

Menus4Mums (www.menus4mums.co.uk) has been created to make family life easier, providing a weekly menu planner of family dinners along with easy-to- follow recipes and a shopping list sorted into supermarket categories. For a free weekly menu plan, visit: www.menus4mums.co.uk.

We’ve visited Butlin’s three times now, once for the launch of the Ocean Hotel when K was just a baby and once just over a year ago in February half term. This is the first time we’ve stayed in an apartment and the first time K has been old enough to take part. In contrast to our February half term visit, our long weekend was unremittingly sunny and felt more like August than April.

In the past we’ve made the most of the making and craft activities, but this time D, 9, was old enough to do a few more independent classes which came under the name of Club Red. After an introductory club meeting, she could choose from a couple of club sessions each day: we simply dropped her at the meeting point and left her to it. For a 9 year old who gets a bit fed up with doing things with her family all the time this was ideal.

The boys each took part in football training: J’s group met both mornings, while K had one afternoon session. They both loved the football based play and activities and enjoyed the ceremony on the Sunday night where they received a certificate and badge or medal.

Highlights for me were the falconry and the meal at the new Brian Turner restaurant. The falconry display was simple but designed to be very family friendly. We all got a chance to hold a bird: it was fabulous being so close up. Then the handler brought all the children who wanted to take part on to the pitch and arranged them so that the bird flew right in front of them a number of times which was really breathtaking. Although we were on a breakfast and dinner inclusive package, we took one night out to try out Turners. It is a lovely place to eat, with beautiful quality ingredients – I could have easily eaten K’s battered plaice pieces! The smartly dressed staff made you feel you were dining somewhere slightly exclusive, but in fact it was a very friendly and accessible place for all the family with lots of high chairs and a menu based on doing excellent versions of British classics but with the best ingredients. We paid £70 for a meal for five, including three children,  which I think may deter some families.

Alongside all this, the kids loved the shows, met the Skyline Gang and Billy Bear, enjoyed eating ice cream, playing on the beach and doing mini golf. In its 75^th year, Butlin’s has still got it when it comes to action packed family holidays.

Disclosure: Our accommodation and some meals were paid for by Butlin’s

Everyone loves to have fun outside and make the most of the summer sunshine, but with skin cancer on the increase, it is more important than ever to be safe in the sun from an early age.  Parents who want to protect their children’s skin from the harmful effects of the sun can buy fashionable and affordable sun protection clothing on line from the Beach Factory.  All with a tested UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) of 50+, UV protective swimwear blocks out approximately 98% of harmful rays, and should be an essential part of every family’s wardrobe this summer.

Mother of three boys, Anne Speak and founder of The Beach Factory says,

“There is so much to think about when you’re a parent.  We all love to see our children running around outside having fun, but it’s really important to think about sun protection for their delicate skin.  Dressing a child in sun protection swimwear means one less thing for busy parents to worry about.”

TOP FIVE TIPS FOR STAYING SAFE IN THE SUN THIS SUMMER

1.        Wear UV protection swimwear that is safe and comfortable to wear all day

2.        Wear a hat – a legionnaire hat is especially good for children

3.        Use at least sun protection factor (SPF) 15 sun cream with both UVA and UVB protection

4.        Don’t forget to protect the bits that aren’t covered by the UV protection swimwear – arms, legs, face, neck, ears, hands and feet

5.        Try to stay out of direct sunlight between 11pm and 3pm – the sun is at its strongest then.  If you or your children have to be in the sun then, make sure you have sun protection swimwear with a UPF of at least 50 along with a hat and high factor sun cream for the uncovered bits

We will offer free delivery to Family Friendly Working readers who order and use the code FFW0411 in the discount code box at the checkout, this offer will expire end May.

www.beachfactory.com

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