Summer products tested
The Banana Boat Kid’s UltraMist Spray Lotion is a whopping SPF50, absolutely perfect for this fabulous weather hitting Britain. Recent surveys have revealed that children grow up with a shockingly thin knowledge of how dangerous the sun can be, and don’t know how and why we apply sun cream. Grown ups aren’t much better, with 72 per cent of us not using protection as we don’t think our wet country is warm enough!
We tested out the Banana Boat Spray Lotion and found it really easy to apply to resistant toddlers. Rather than the grim faced pin down and rub approach whilst strapped in the pram, there was no quibbles about applying this silky soft lotion, and it did a perfect job of protecting delicate skin.
Spray evenly onto limbs, taking care not to direct at eyes. For applying on the face, spray onto your own hands and rub gently onto the child’s face.
For the representative adult who didn’t apply sun cream, we found the Banana Boat After Sun Gel a blissful experience. When applied it immediately took the pain and discomfort from sunburn and really cooled the skin down. Ideal for rubbing into sensitive skin after days out in the sun.
Banana Boat is available from Superdrug
www.bananaboat.co.uk
The Feel Good Drinks Company is now launching a kid’s version of their fruity drinks in a child-friendly wedge shape. A perfect thirst quencher, the drinks are made from 100 per cent natural ingredients, with no added sugar or hyper-activity-inducing extras.
These drinks are really yummy and refreshing, and make for a perfect alternative to the usual omnipresent soft drink suspects.
For kids there are two flavours – Orange, Pineapple and Banana, and Apple and Grape.
For the adults, there are both still and lightly sparkling flavours, including the sensational cloudy lemon, orange and passion fruit, and orange and mango.
A sneaky splash of alcohol would make them perfect mixers for summer barbecue drinks.
Available across the high street.
www.feelgooddrinks.co.uk
We loved Tinti, a natural range of bath products which add fun and creativity to bath or playtime.
They are for children aged three and upwards, though we tested them on a two-year-old, as the age warning applies to the packaging.
The Bath Potions are fantastic and “wow” according to our test child. Added to a running bath, they turn the water a bright shade of red, blue or yellow, or you can mix them together to form your own shades.
The Foam Fun is brilliant for persuading a toddler to wash themselves, something they had never liked to do before. The foam, available in red or green, squirts out and expands on the skin. It contains mild herbal extracts and smells like watermelon. Delicious.
The Tinti Crackling Bath Pops added some real snap and crackle to bath time, again adding a “wow mummy” factor. The tiny crystals fizz and gently explode in the bath. Use all three products together to create a truly magic bath time.
A pack of twelve super gliders for £1.00 is excellent value for money. We spent an afternoon with a two-year old, a three-year old, a five year old, and group of nearly thirty somethings having a smashing time with these aerobatic planes. Great for indoors or the garden, they are great for getting children to run around and burn up energy.
For a winding down time, there is always something therapeutic about bubbles. The nifty little musical bubble gun takes away the potential hyperventilation if you keep at it too long. Simply dip the gun into bubble mixture, push a button and the toy does all the hard work. Ideal for indoors, garden, or a boring moment in the office, we were fighting the children off these to play with them ourselves.
If you are planning a barbecue, wedding party or an afternoon entertaining a group of children in the garden, raiding Poundland is a must.
www.poundland.co.uk
More good weather garden ideas
Make a den – vital equipment: chairs, old bed sheets, bean sticks, pegs
Hold your own sports day – up the stakes with real eggs not hard boiled
Paddling pool – add Tinti dye
Body and face paints – old clothes or no clothes is ideal to get toddlers creative
Sandpit – even an old stack and store with a bag or play sand will be perfect
Water play – don’t have a paddling pool? Again a stack and store will be fine
Mud pies – tubs of water, plant pots, old food containers and a spade is all that’s needed for these beauties
Make perfume – convince children that collecting up the weed’s flowers and crushing them into water will create a wonderful aroma
Bird watching – Get twitching with some binoculars and a note pad