Review - Cadbury World

At the weekend we had a great day out at Cadbury World. My last visit to Cadbury World was a long time ago - in Freshers Week at University I joined ChocSoc and they organised a coach trip there during the year for a bargain price. I even dragged Ram along with me, I think he was the only man on the coach full of chocoholic girls! I had fond memories, so when Superbreak contacted me recently asking if I would like to review an attraction I thought it would be great to visit again, and this time take the little ones along.

We combined it with a visit to Ram's parents, who live in the Midlands (or Up North as I tend to call it). It's a good idea to book tickets to Cadbury World in advance, as they are only able to admit a certain number of visitors in a day. When you book you are given a time slot to visit the exhibition, which is the main part of the attraction. Our slot was quite late in the day, so we arrived earlier to visit the areas that are separate to the main exhibition. We went round the back of the building to the adventure playgrounds, which are very good and suitable even for little ones. At the moment there are also special events on at weekends, and there was a short children's entertainment show in a marquee in the grounds which they both enjoyed.

Then it was time for our tour. You begin in an Aztec Jungle, learning about the origins of chocolate, before following the Cadbury story through a series of displays and a couple of short shows. There is a chance to visit the production plant, although unfortunately they seemed to have finished for the day and there wasn't anything to see. There is a smaller area though where you can see some chocolates being made and try some delicious cups of melted chocolate with a choice of topping. There are also a few chocolate bars handed out on your way around which went down well.

The children enjoyed a little car ride through a little village of cheerful chocolate beans and I really liked the exhibitions focussing on Cadbury advertisements over the years. There are some green screen areas where you can have your photograph taken against some chocolatey backgrounds, but we kept it simple by just turning the children into Freddos.

We enjoyed our visit to Cadbury World. We perhaps would have got more out of the visit if our children had been a little older, as they didn't have enough patience for some of the exhibits and we did rather rush through, so that's worth thinking about if you are wondering whether to visit with the family.

Superbreak provided us with complimentary entry in exchange for this review.

Ladybird Tuesday - Lives of the Great Composers Book 1

When I find Ladybird books to buy, although I'm buying with my children in mind I also look for ones that represent my own interests. I love the way that the Ladybird books are easy to read, yet so comprehensive that they contain a wealth of information on a subject. If you are looking for an overview on a topic they are brilliant.

Lives of the Great Composers is in Series 662 - History of the Arts. I have Book 1, and there is also a Book 2. Book 1 covers Bach, Mozart and Beethoven and was published in 1969. I recently wrote about The Story of Music, which is also found in this series.

There is a lot of detailed information in this book. Each composer is given a detailed biography, beginning with a history of their family and details of their early childhood. There are also little anecdotes about their lives, for example a story about how Bach was able to fit his hand through a grille in a cupboard to copy his brother's sheets of music, and there are some lovely, lively illustrations to match the stories.

At the end of the book is a list of well-known pieces by the composers in the book with a few notes about each. The whole thing is written in a really descriptive and engaging style which makes it a pleasure to read, and once again I learned a lot from reading this book!

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood

Taking a city break with small children

We recently braved our first city break with small children - a short break to Berlin which I've written about in some detail on my blog, in particular visiting Berlin with young children. I've written about it so much, because despite our reservations we had a wonderful time! It was a real change from the typical family friendly holiday that we've taken in the past, and although it was hard work we all enjoyed it a lot.

We travelled with a four year old and a two year old, and I will admit that there were some challenges, so I've put together a few hints and tips if you are considering a similar holiday yourself.

• Stay in accommodation that is either central or easily accessible, so that you can return easily during the day if you need a break.

• Consider taking a pushchair, even if your child doesn't use one at home.

• Try and stay somewhere with a fridge in the room, and pack sandwich bags, plastic boxes and some cutlery. Then you can make up sandwiches and snacks to take out with you or to eat in the room. Remember to pack a night light too if you use one at home.

• Don't try and fit too much into a day. Keep the focus on child friendly activities and attractions, and take your lead from your child. If they start to tire, don't keep pushing them or else it will end in meltdown.

• Make a point of noticing all the things that are different from home. For example, in Berlin we saw trams, double decker trains and sausage sellers on the streets.

• Enjoy the slower pace necessitated by a small child, and see your surroundings from a child's point of view. As an adult, it's easy to miss things when you are rushing about, and there is always something interesting to spot, whether it's some beautiful carved railings, an unusual statue or an enticing shop window.

• You are probably going to be very reliant upon public transport. It's worth checking out the ticket prices in advance to see if there is a daily or weekly card that you can buy to save some money. If you need to take a pushchair, do some research as to how accessible the public transport system is. For example, Berlin was fantastic, London is very difficult with a pushchair.

• Don't feel frustrated if you can't see everything that you want to, remember it's a family holiday and it's all about spending time doing things together.

For us, the biggest advantage to taking a city break was the fact that we were able to take a reasonably priced holiday during the school holiday, instead of the more traditional family friendly options which increase their prices so much. City breaks are definitely something to think about if you have children that are in school and are looking for a short break, try browsing through some of the budget airline destinations.

Have you tried a city break with young children? Could you add any more tips to my list?

Image courtesy of Hannes Wolf via Unsplash.

Visiting Berlin with young children

We recently returned from a family city break to Berlin, and discovered that Berlin has a huge amount to offer families, even if you are travelling with very young children. We visited with a four year old and a two year old. There is so much to do with the family, but here are our absolute highlights:

For free city views

The historic Reichstag Building in Berlin has a large glass dome which can be climbed for 360-degree views across Berlin. It is free to visit the dome, although a visit must be booked in advance. It's an easy sloped walk, fully pushchair accessible, and for older children and adults there is a free audio guide sharing facts about the building and the sights that you can see.


To get close to some exotic animals

The Berlin Zoological Garden opened in 1844 and is famous worldwide. It's compact, ideal for children that can't walk too far, and you can get very close to the animals which include all the zoo favourites like elephants, giraffes, lions and apes. There is also an Aquarium as part of the zoo complex, and combined tickets are available.

Berlin Zoo

For indoor construction fun

The Legoland Discovery Centre is located in the Sony Centre in Potsdamer Platz. It covers two floors and is packed full of Lego attractions, as well as plenty of Lego for the children to play with. It's worth planning a visit for a less busy time as I would imagine that it would get very crowded - we visited mid-afternoon during the week and it wasn't too bad. Our favourite parts were the Factory Tour - where you can learn about how Lego is made and children can receive their own Lego souvenir brick - and the Duplo building area. There are a couple of small rides, some soft play areas, and lots and lots of Lego for the children to play with, build with and race with. We also spent a lot of time exploring Miniland - seeing the most important and famous buildings in Berlin constructed in Lego, including a little re-enactment of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For some historical background

The Brandenburg Gate, a former city gate of Berlin, is a world famous symbol for the city. You can take the U-Bahn close by and walk under the gate, continuing along Under den Linden, a leafy boulevard with plenty of historical sites along its route.

When visiting Berlin, you can't avoid being reminded of the Berlin Wall, as well as some of the darker times in German history. It's up to parents to decide how well their children will understand and cope with some of this, but I think that it's important that even younger children are aware of some of the history about the places that they are visiting. The Berlin Wall Memorial contains a long stretch of the Berlin Wall with the preserved ground behind it and is a free outdoor museum, aimed at making the history of Germany's division comprehensible to visitors.

You can also visit Checkpoint Charlie, the best known Berlin crossing point between East and West Berlin, and there is plenty of information here about attempts to cross the wall in a free open air exhibition.

Berlin Wall Memorial 

For whole family play and exploration

We loved the afternoon that we spent at the Labyrinth Kindermuseum, and you can find a full report of our visit here - Labyrinth Kindermuseum Berlin. It's an absolutely wonderful place to visit with young children, and a great way to enjoy playing and exploring alongside your children.

Labyrinth Kindermuseum Berlin

To test your willpower

Since spending some time living in Germany I have been a huge fan of the German chocolate bar Ritter Sport, so we couldn't miss a visit to Ritter Sport Chocoworld - the Rittersport flagship store. You can learn a little bit about the history of the bars and how they are made, and even order your own customised bar of chocolate. We enjoyed browsing the shelves for new bars to try, and Harry had fun making up a pick and mix bag of miniature bars.

For miniature railway enthusiasts

LOXX Miniatur Welten is a huge indoor model railway, with miniature replications of many of the famous Berlin historical and modern sights. We enjoyed it here so much that I wrote about it in more detail here - LOXX Miniatur Welten. Definitely worth a visit, children will be enthralled and it's also a great introduction to the city.

For hands on science play

The Deutsches Technikmuseum (Museum of Technology) is spread across several buildings. The main museum is very interesting, with lots of exhibits including trains and planes. If you have younger children though I would recommend heading straight to the Spectrum building which is packed full of interactive experiments which children will love, even those too small to fully appreciate the science behind them.


Getting around

Travelling around Berlin with small children is very easy. The public transport system is quick and efficient, and never seemed too busy. All the railway stations are well provided with lifts, in many cases taking you directly down to the platform. Children aged up to 6 travel for free.

Visit Berlin kindly provided us with a Berlin Welcome Card for the duration of our visit. The Welcome Card allows you unlimited use of the public transport system in Berlin as well as generous discounts on many of the main attractions, including all the paid attractions mentioned above, and I would definitely recommend it.

What did we miss? I'd love to see you share your suggestions in the comments!

Disclosure - We paid for our trip to Berlin ourselves, but as well as a Welcome Card we were also provided with complimentary admission to some of the above attractions (LOXX Miniatur Welten Berlin, Labyrinth Kindermuseum, Berlin Zoo, Technikmuseum)

Italian Breadsticks

The Great British Bake Off may have finished on television, but the Great Bloggers Bake Off is still going strong, and I'm so glad because I enjoyed taking part in the challenges so much.

Although the weekly challenges have finished, The Crazy Kitchen and Mummy Mishaps are continuing to host linkys for us to share our baking achievements, and this month we will be attempting bakes from the show that we didn't get chance to try out first time round.

So I decided to have a go at bread sticks. I'd seen a recipe in my Kenwood Chef recipe book, but without pictures I didn't feel confident enough to attempt it. Despite feeding my children bread sticks almost daily since they were six months old, I was imagining that the recipe would create large, puffy ones in the style favoured by Olive Garden restaurants in the States. Having watched the contestants bake bread sticks early on in the series, I decided that I wanted to give them a go.

After taking part in the original challenges, I was lucky enough to be sent various different ingredients to try out in my baking, so look out for those over the next couple of weeks. This week, I tried some Tesco Finest Bread Flour for my bread sticks.

I used a recipe from my Kenwood Chef Recipe Book and you can find it online here - Kenwood Chef Recipes. It's a very simple recipe, and for once no purchasing of unusual ingredients was required! Making the dough was easy, but making the bread sticks themselves was a bit of a faff. I didn't have enough baking trays or space in the oven so I had to make them in two batches, and I got very bored of rolling out and shaping all those individual sticks - they would definitely not pass muster according to the strictly measured Bake Off rules!

I was pleasantly surprised with my finished bread sticks. They make a nice 'snap' if you break them across one of the thinner bits, so really they needed to be thinner all over, but they are still tasty and would be nice for parties. But although I'm glad that I gave these a go, unlike some of my other Great Bloggers Bake Off bakes I don't think I'll be bothering with these again - far too fiddly!

I was sent the bag of Tesco flour to use in my baking

Meeting Father Christmas at Squire's Garden Centre, Washington

This year, Squire's Garden Centre in Washington, West Sussex, has introduced a brand new 4D Christmas Experience for children to enjoy as part of the traditional Christmas visit to Father Christmas, and we were really excited to be invited along to experience it.

I took along Harry, 4, and Mia, 2. We were greeted by Santa's Elves for some colouring and biscuits before we were taken into the attraction. The experience begins with a 3D film about Boris the dog and his adventures as he rescues a lost teddy on Christmas Eve. Everyone wears 3D glasses, and the film is enhanced with lots of special effects, it's a real delight and a lovely festive story. We all really enjoyed it, even Mia sat quietly all the way through it which is most unlike her!

Then we joined a queue to see Father Christmas in his grotto. I wasn't at all sure as to how the children would react - previous Father Christmas meet and greets have been rather unsuccessful. But he was lovely and friendly, and Harry warmed to him almost immediately, telling him what he wanted for Christmas and speaking for Mia who was still rather shy. Father Christmas gave them a lovely gift each, then we all posed for a photograph and wished each other Merry Christmas.

I was really pleased with how well our photograph turned out and so I bought a print for £5.99. There are various photograph bundles available and there are also other photographic mementoes which you can purchase, like baubles and snow globes.

We were invited to the press launch of the experience, so our visit to Father Christmas was complimentary, but I couldn't resist buying the official photograph of them with Father Christmas!

How to bake simple ice cream cone cupcakes

As a member of the Zanussi Easy Team I was sent the ingredients and instructions to make my own ice cream cone cupcakes. These are something that I've often admired on Pinterest but was never really sure how well they would work out, so it was a great opportunity for me to try and make some!

I made up the boxed cake mix following the instructions and divided it between nine flat bottomed ice cream cones, placed inside a silicon cake case in a muffin tray. The batter came about halfway up the cones and I wasn't sure how well it would rise inside the cones. I was also worried that they would burn, so it was with some trepidation that I placed them into the oven.

To my surprise, the ice cream cone cupcakes worked perfectly! The cakes rose to just above the height of the cone and were beautifully cooked all the way inside. I finished them off with icing and sprinkles, and I was really pleased with how they looked.

They tasted lovely too. The ice cream cones were a little softer after cooking, but the combination of flavours worked really well. This would definitely be a more unusual treat to bake for a child's birthday party, and you could really get creative with the icing. I couldn't resist slicing one in half to see what it looked like inside, for some reason it surprised me that the cake went all the way down to the bottom!

As a member of the Zanussi #easyteam I was sent some of the ingredients to make these cupcakes.