Tag: play

Best kids friendly Restaurant by Dunja

Posted on by Oreke Mosheshe

Ari and I may live in Essex but whenever we have a day off we like to venture into London. We have become experts at choosing the best kid friendly places to eat out in the very center of London.  If I find it quite boring waiting for my food to arrive, I can only begin to image how bored my hyper 2 year old must be!

So here’s a list of restaurants with delicious food and a play area for the kids:

My personal favorite, and hence being at the top of the list, is Tibits in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street. It’s a fancy vegetarian buffet place with a spacious outside area where the kids can run around safely, and downstairs seating with a playroom! Only people with kids venture downstairs so you don’t have to worry about your little one annoying anyone

Carluccio’s in Garrick Street, Covent Garden has a lovely atmosphere, and also provides a play area. The food is very simple, classic Italian, so most kids are more than happy to eat anything off their menu

Bodeans in Soho is perfect if you’re starving and on a budget. Kids eat for free, it’s extremely child friendly and they play movies downstairs to keep them entertained while you eat

If you’re looking for a restaurant that purely tailors to your kids’ needs, look no further than Rainforest café on Shaftesbury Avenue. An amazon themed restaurant with a collection of moving animatronics, waterfalls and tropical fish tanks! But do beware; kids might be too busy playing to have a good feed

Yes, there are plenty of restaurants around London with crèches and activity areas, but if you are in the very center, the ones above are your best options

Play doh fun by Dunja

Posted on by Oreke Mosheshe

This week I rediscovered the magical world of play doh. It’s been a while since I’ve been this excited about a children’s product, or even an adult product really! A friend recently asked me if I spent much time playing with Ari, and I replied, very honestly, that no, I don’t really, I leave that stuff to the nursery. I prefer to take her to galleries, museums, playgrounds, libraries and every few months, a trip overseas. He said fair enough, but I ought to try actually playing with her every now and again. As faith would have it, the very next day Ari received a birthday present, a play doh clown head set. Even just holding the box memories flooded back of the hours of fun my brother and I used to have with play doh. So I thought what the hell, even if I get bored I can just leave her to it. Now, I can’t count how many times I pushed the play doh through the clown’s head, excitedly waiting for him to spurt hair, but what I can tell you is that before I knew it, two hours had passed and Ari was desperately dragging me away form the play table.

I am now a self-proclaimed master of home cooked play doh, and have collected more molds and other play doh paraphernalia than all the nurseries in London put together. But as we all know, addiction spreads, and my last visit to amazon resulted with an extremely heavy basket filled with kinetic sand, play foam, i-clay, coloring sets, food coloring, etc.

I’m so excited about all the hours of play that lay ahead of us, changing with every few months, as hers, and my interests develop! And of course we’ll still go to museums and travel the world together, but what I’ve found out is that playing at home can be just as fulfilling.

And of course, here’s my favorite and simplest playdoh recipe:

In a pot, mix 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of warm water, 1 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1-tablespoon cream of tartar and a few drops of food coloring. Stir on a low heat until all blended and doughy. Take out, and once it’s all cooled down, kneed and store in zip lock sandwich bags.

Best kids club in london by Oreke Mosheshe xx

Posted on by Oreke Mosheshe

Where do I begin? Ok time and place is always good (year 3 history i think…) Anyway, November 15th 2014 me and my boys entered the magical world of Purple Dragon – via Chelsea’s Grosvenor Waterside. I have been to many kids clubs around the world but this was head and shoulders above any we’ve been to before. To be fair this isn’t one of your typical ‘kidz clubz’ – more a private member’s club for tots (think aquariums, giant rattan hanging chairs and hans grohe taps…)

Everything about the Purple dragon is geared towards providing you and your little ones with the most comfortable hub for fun play and relaxing. We as mums know all too well how tempting it is to put the kids in front of the TV and call it a day but it is so important and healthy to get them out and keep them active. The purple dragon easily solves that conundrum of what to do with the kids, the options – and space – are endless. There was (deep breath)

DJ’s and Divas -The music room complete with recording studio and every instrument under the sun.

 Gourmet gofers – Where regular cooking classes are held and Carter made the most delicious apple and toffee tart.

The Imagination Room – chock full of wonderful toys, games and gadgets (which are rotated every few weeks)

High rollers -The Indoor soft play area and climbing frame

Art lab – The Art room

Big hitters – simulator room with indoor golf

The Swimming pool with classes on offer for all age groups

The Juice bar

And, Sprogs & Sprouts – hands down the best food menu I have seen for kids. Feeding my boys can be a challenge: Carter can be very fussy whilst Ralph has several allergies so the fact that both boys and mummy came out full happy and satisfied is a success beyond. The entire kitchen is a nut free environment, they serve dairy free mac cheese, nut free pesto, delicious homemade soup with flower pot and yummy sides

Oh, and I can’t forget the legions of staff and helpful carers in skinny jeans playing with the kids and making sure they were all ok while maybe the ‘rents were unwinding with a book and a drink in the library.

Bliss…

Was I blown away by the Purple dragon? Yes. Am I easily blown away? No. will I be going back again h*** yeh! full membership here I come – www.purpledragonplay.com

Till next time xxx