kids' voice may 2013

MAY 2013

Y O U R N E W F R E E PA R E N T I N G M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E G E E L O N G R E G I O N

Reader stories Schools in focus Kids’ corner LettersTechnology Pet care Competitions What’s on

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FACEBOOK has undergone its fair share of negative press during the past, and rightly so, but this month I learned just how useful the social networking site can be.

With just a week left to deadline, I was in need of a photo to accompany my editorial, so in an attempt to find one I posted a request on our Kids’ Voice Facebook page.

Within minutes the first photo had already hit my inbox, followed by about another 20 that night. I couldn’t believe the great response!

It really highlighted to me how far technology has come and how easy it was for me to contact more than 850 people from the press of a button.

This month, the Kids’ Voice Facebook page also featured some strong reader opinions when we posted two links to two very controversial articles.

The first article, ‘Why I put my twins on a lead’, was about one mum’s dilemma as to whether she should harness or not harness her children?

Liker’s ‘against’ the harness said “I can’t handle seeing kids with leads on. My daughter occasionally runs off, but I would never do that!’’.

Another said, “Wrong, how about paying attention while sip-ping your latte? Wrong, always inhumane and degrading.’’

A liker ‘for’ the harness said, “They’re not leads - a lead is what you attach to a collar around a dog’s neck. These are safety straps either attached around the child’s wrist or on a backpack. Don’t judge others for using them and wanting to keep their children safe.’’

A couple of years ago I used to work at a baby store and I can tell you those cute animal backpacks with a harness attached used to walk out the door, so to speak!

The second article, ‘Having kids is my biggest regret’, is written by a brutally honest mum who wishes she never had her two children.

One liker said, ‘’I love the honesty. I would never begrudge someone’s right to that, even if my experience is different. I originally never wanted kids either… until I

found out I was pregnant”.

Another liker said ‘’Interesting read, honestly shocking. I think many people do gloss over parent-hood at times. Thankfully I have always wanted my children. I hope her kids never felt unwanted.’’

As a mum who desperately wanted children, all I can say is I hope her kids never stumble across their mother’s article one day!

Lastly, a big thank you to all the parents who sent in photos showing the love between children and their pets.

We received an overwhelming response, which made my decision very tough!

I chose this beautiful photo of Franki and her dog Jay Jay, sent in by Kerry from Highton.

You can also find some more pics on page 27 and we will publish a selection of the remaining photos in next month’s edition.

Thanks for reading!

Bec LaunerEDITOR

EDITORRebecca [email protected]

BUSINESS MANAGERMichele MItten

ADVERTISING SALESCath Dunning0448 077 [email protected]

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERAlan Barber

GRAPHICSElise Blach

PO Box 54, Ocean GroveVictoria, 3226Phone; 03 5255 3233Fax: 03 5255 3255

Find us on Facebookfacebook.com/Kids Voice Geelong

COVER MODELEmma Dowsley

No part of this magazine, including the advertisements, may be reproduced without permission of the editor.

The opinions expressed within Kids’ Voice magazine are not necessarily the views of the publisher, but those of individual writers.

Kids’ Voice TeamKids’ Voice is a monthly publication for parents with children of all ages. Each month the magazine will be jam-packed with news, views, reader stories, feature articles, advice columns as well as product, book and website reviews.

There will be something for everyone.

Experts have joined our team and will provide regular columns to ensure you’re in the know about all sorts of issues in the areas of health, education and alternative therapies.

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Cohen Wayne Jervies 09/04/2013

Stella Rose Maslen 15/04/2013

Contents

13 6 21

READER STORIES6 Triplets are three times the fun

17 ‘Special’ Lucy’s future a bright one

KIDS’ CORNER14 Your candid photos of kids

HEALTH19 Have party foods become daily foods?

SCHOOLS IN FOCUS11 Flinders Kindergarten

12 Clifton Springs Primary School

13 Bellarine Seconday College

TECHNOLOGY20 Dr Google is not the best medicine

FEATURES8 Sleep tips for your testing toddlers

10 Authors find new ways to engage kids

LETTERS & ADVICE15 Have your say and hear from professionals

WHAT’S ON27 Events happening in the Geelong region

BIRTH STORY21 Amber gets great support all the way

PET CARE23 Animals can feel the winter cold too

Reader StoryTriplets are three times the fun

FINDING out we were having triplets was a surprise - but a great surprise!

One of the first things I do remember thinking was, how are we going to pick six names?

People struggle with one name, let alone three girls and three boy’s names.

So, in the end we decided to find out if there was a mix or just the one sex.

Luckily, it was a mix so we didn’t need to think of six names, but we still didn’t want to know the third sex, so we only had to decide on two girls and two boy’s names!

I had a great pregnancy with no major is-sues, except for getting gestational diabetes, which I controlled by managing my food intake.

At 33 weeks and four days my waters broke and the babies were delivered by caesarian with no complications. Bono came out first, weighing 1.78kg, Lucy second at 1.79kg and Anastazia third at 1.34kg.

The hardest thing for me was not being able to hold my babies after the birth, as they were quickly examined and rushed into special care.

I was not able to hold Bono and Anastazia until two days after the birth and it was six days before I could hold Lucy.

The next seven weeks were spent travelling in and out of hospital three times a day for feeds and just to spend time with them.

Three days before Christmas they were al-lowed to come home, which was great!

The first six weeks at home were the hard-est. Fortunately, my husband Ivan was able to take long service leave from work to help, as I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own.

Every four hours I would breast feed two babies and Ivan would bottle feed the third baby and we would rotate who was bottle fed.

Feeds would take about an hour and a half by the time we fed them. I expressed more milk, burped them, did nappy changes and tried to put them down for a sleep.

We were very strict with our routine and I think that is what kept us sane. We felt like zombies the first six weeks because it was all so tiring, but as soon as we stopped the 4am feeds and the babies started sleeping through, the nights became a lot easier.

We were very lucky to have good sleepers and I don’t remember many nights where I had to settle them.

Joining the Geelong Area Multiple Birth Association (GAMBA) was a great help too, as I met two other Geelong mums raising Bono, Lucy and Anastazia

Reader Story

triplets who were able to give me great advice and suggestions.

It was great being able to talk to someone who had been through what I was going through.

But now, with my triplets being three years old, the beginning all seems like a blur and such a long time ago.

Their birthdays are always fun as it’s triple everything - cakes, presents and laughter!

It’s great for us too, as we only need to organise one party a year. All three are over and done within the one day!

They can be a handful at times, but they are generally good kids.

It gets hard if we go out somewhere and one starts playing up and then the others de-cide to follow as they think it’s funny, which sometimes ends up being mayhem.

You can settle one down, only to have the other two start, or during trying to settle one down and you turn your head for a min-ute, the other two run away in the opposite direction, which can get scary if you’re in a big public space.

They are at an age now where it’s good fun, as they can interact more and tell you what they want or need.

They always have each other to entertain

themselves and there is always a playmate around even if one decides to play on their own.

Our days are always busy as I like to try to do an activity each day with them, even just for my own sanity to get out of the house.

They love story time at the library, their swimming lessons, music, playgroup and just playing in the park, which makes it easier for me to take them as I know they enjoy it.

I’ve even found the time this year to run GAMBA playgroup, where Geelong parents with twins and more attend on a weekly basis.

We alternate between craft and music weeks. It’s a great meeting place for parents of multiples to get together weekly for a cof-fee and chat about raising multiples!

Quite often when we meet people and say we have triplets their first comments are ‘poor you’, but we do not see it that way, we see ourselves as being very lucky to have three beautiful healthy children, who we love dearly.

If anyone with multiples is interested in attending the Geelong Area Multiple

Birth Association (GAMBA) playgroup it is held every Wednesday from 10am to 11.30am during school terms at Western Heights Uniting Church, 31 Douglass Street, Herne Hill.

One of the first things I do remember thinking was, how are we going to pick six names?

Anne-marie with her husband Ivan and their kids Bono, Lucy and Anastazia.

-Anne-marie SimicBannockburn

Feature Sleep tips for your testing toddlers

TODDLERHOOD in a nutshell: moments of enormous excitement, discovery and delight combined with times of confusion, frustration and ‘overt communica-tion events’.

This is a period of mammoth change, as with any change process, we have to let go of the old to take on the new, and at that point, when the change occurs, there is inevitable disruption.

Toddlers have many experiences daily where their understanding of life undergoes change as they grow emotionally and socially.

For that reason it is perfectly natural to expect moments of sheer delight equalled by moments of sheer confusion.

The skill of a parent at this time is to be able to look beyond the veil of the behaviour, to see what is actually driving the behaviour: what is the toddler’s fundamental need right at that moment?

The most challenging time that parents have to do this, is when their toddler is tired and cranky, and as exhausted and frustrated parents you are trying to help them settle for sleep.

It happens in households around the world to varying degrees. Of course toddlers, with their new found independence will not at least try out the boundaries at bed time, that would be natural, but how we as adults respond to that is critical.

The following tips will help make sleep time peaceful:

•Toddlers love control. Allow your toddler to make some decisions (not too many as that causes confu-sion) just small choices, so they feel they have some sense of control. Feeling control during the day will lessen the need to take control of everything at sleep time.

•Try and imagine the situation from your toddler’s perspective. Check that what you are asking of them is realistic, considering how tired they are, and what they are

normally capable of. Now again think about how your expectations fit with that.

•Gentle, calm, kind and respectful parenting is not only good role mod-elling, it helps ground your toddler so eruptions of emotions are fewer.

•Overtired toddlers, in fact overtired anyone; overtired ‘brains’ have more difficulty calming for sleep. Put overtired high on the list of things to avoid, along with red cordial, before sleep time.

•‘No’ is common in toddler lan-guage, how about you just accept that no, and discuss how the ‘no’ situation could be achieved. Crea-tive thinking is helpful.

•Speak in positive phrases, instead of GO TO SLEEP, how about noticing how great it was you stayed in bed or quiet for that long or hard your toddler is trying to settle.

•Night fears are real to toddlers, so treat them with respect and reassure your toddler that you will protect them overnight.

A toddler’s understanding of life undergoes massive change as they grow emotionally and socially. As they discover their independence, they too will begin to test the boundaries at bed time. HELEN STEVENS shares some handy tips on how to help make sleep time peaceful.

Feature

•Toddlers cannot just switch off at sleep time. They need time to calm. Quiet play, a cuddle, feed, massage, book time, rhythmical dance, or just gently swaying and humming are all great quiet time activities. Depending on the age of the toddler, some need 10 minutes and some need 30 minutes of quiet time of calm to prepare for sleep.

•Prepare the environment; dim the lights, a night light is great for tod-dlers who fear the dark, use white noise; it is totally harmless as long as it is quietly in the background – loud white noise has been shown to interrupt deep sleep. A special teddy or blankie can help toddlers adjust to being without you.

•Predictability is very powerful. Create a predictable set of events, but remember to be flexible within that predictability. If your toddler is showing tired signs at 6.30pm why wait to 7pm when they may have worked up to overtired and cranky. If the desirable bed time is around 7.30pm and dad comes home at 7pm, let them have some play time together, and allow dad to follow that with the quiet bed time preparation.

Flexibility will keep you sane! Din-ner time, bath time, play time and quiet book time are often a good sequence, but what works for your

family will be the best sequence.

•Remember toddlers naturally wake overnight anyway, but most parents prefer not to be called. If that is the case set up ‘going to sleep’ patterns that your tod-dler can replicate when they wake through the night. That means, help your toddler calm for sleep in their bed so they can do it each time they naturally wake overnight.

•Offer kind, warm guidance at bed time. Stay with your toddler so they can rely on you for the first few nights as you begin to change settling patterns. When they are calm, just find a reason to leave, and come straight back.

Repeat this for a few nights, so you set the expectation that you come and go, then if you toddler drifts to sleep in your absence they will not wake and scream for you because they expected you to be right there beside you.

•Should your toddler be happy to have you sit in the room for hours, but has no intention of going to sleep, and keeps checking you are still there, the brief moments of separation are very powerful.

•If your toddler is a prime can-

didate for debating team training, acknowledge they have lots of requests, wants and ‘must have’s’ and remind them it is sleep time, and you will be chat in the morn-ing.

Never underestimate the ability of a toddler to get the hang of change if they are supported in the change process.

Toddlers don’t actually want to have trouble settling and staying

asleep, so by being kind and con-sistent you can help them achieve blissful hours of sleep.

For more information see www.safesleepspace.com.au or call 1300 775 337.

To win a Safe Sleep Space Toddler DVD, LIKE our Facebook page facebook.com/KidsVoiceGeelong and send us a message telling us why you’d like to win.

W I N

- Helen StevensAuthor of ‘Safe Sleep Space; Creating an emotionally safe

space where infants and toddlers may find sleep’

FeatureAuthors find new ways to engage kidsWhen KERSTIN LINDROS attended one of Australia’s biggest and most sophisticated school-based literary festivals, the book lover caught up with a couple of authors to find out how they kept kids reading.

CHILDREN need to develop good reading habits at a young age to be able to acquire knowledge and skills for life.

This includes being able to express themselves in different situations, solve problems and form relation-ships. Reading promotes creativity, and that helps create well-adjusted young people.

Perhaps today fewer young people enjoy reading as we know it, in its traditional form, because many alter-native ways of acquiring information exist, as well as countless distractions.

Primary school aged children may still read on most days because it is homework that needs to be signed for by parents, but as students advance through the years they may read the bare minimum required to obtain that signature.

At Somerset College’s Celebration of Literature Festival on the Gold Coast in March, acclaimed author Nick Earls revealed in his keynote speech that ‘in his days’ anything students got to read was ‘by dead people from the other hemisphere’.

The school-based literary festival celebrated its 20th birthday this year, during which it welcomed more than 15,000 visitors and hosted 28 authors and illustrators to meet dur-ing author talks, panel discussions and workshops.

My daughter and I experienced how a large number of home-grown authors were excited about bringing literature to the students.

Author and illustrator, Michael Salmon, has 41 years of experience and has written and illustrated more than 160 books for primary school aged children. He loves bringing literature to students at festivals and school visits to unlock ‘a world of creativity and imagination’.

I asked him how he keeps children reading his books in the era of online study and computer games.

“You provide topics and info they are interested in, in a written format, and if they are reluctant readers you provide illustrations with it,” he said.

“Sport is big, so you use themes

like sport. When they are satis-fied… they are receptive to more.”

Salmon admits he uses a healthy dose of humour to keep his reader’s captivated and enhances his talks about practical creativity for young people with lightning fast sketches and caricatures.

Young adult author, Steven Lochran, was another engaging pre-senter we met at the festival.

The first two books of his Vanguard Prime series have been published and a third is coming out this year.

“I have ideas for 20 and I hope you like them so I get to write them all,” he said to a marquee full of early to middle secondary students.

Lochran agrees engaging presenta-tions help to keep young people interested. He says he also tries to use exciting words and relevant themes in the text itself.

He injects pop culture and equips his superheroes with superpowers, heart and humour to engage his readers.

“But when you go out, you are competing with a lot more forms of media these days,” he said.

“That is where presentations come in, as they allow me to convey how exciting they [the books] can be.’

He said publishers also help with their experience.

“A lot have education or library backgrounds and have some real insight into what it takes to engage a child. A lot are also parents and have first-hand experience,’’ said Steven, who does not have children.

I asked him what parents can do to keep their children reading. He

said if parents could facilitate reading by sharing the experience with their children at home, at school and at events like this, they would help them develop the creative mind.

Lochran believes in this era of digital revolution, beautiful books will not go away. People still want to hold books and get them signed - it is a special experience.

He said E-books had their place and would be in the domain of portable and disposable literature. However, they also caused some concerns.

“So, it’s not all gloom and doom as it seems,” he said.

Penny Lindros with author Nick Earls.

Schools In Focus - KinderFlinders KindergartenFLINDERS Kindergarten is situated at Kees Road, Lara, at the base of the beautiful You Yangs. It was established in 1974 and provides a range of quality learning experiences that aims to challenge, stimulate and develop each child’s confidence and skills.

With both three and four-year-old programs, Flinders Kindergarten focuses on the needs of each individual child through key learning areas.

These key learning areas are:

Sense of identity – skills in independence, coping without parents and being aware of the impact of their actions.

Connections and contribution to the world – individual, paired, small and large group play and being part of a larger social group.

Wellbeing – Gross and fine motor skills involving large muscles and small muscles and knowing about and using skill for a healthy lifestyle.

Confidence and involvement in learning – Academic skills involving concepts, thinking and problem solving.

Communication skills – Mostly about language in a spoken form but also includes listening and pre-reading experiences.

Flinders Kindergarten is managed by a Com-mittee of Management who is responsible for most of the operational decisions of the kinder-garten. It is governed by Geelong Kindergarten Association (GKA), which provides informa-tion and support for the Committee, as well as employing and paying our wonderful staff.

Our three-year-old program runs for two hours on either a Tuesday or Wednesday after-noon, with 20 children in each group allowing quality teaching and personalised care for each child.

The three-year-old program provides chil-dren with the building blocks for four-year-old kindergarten. Many of the skills learnt in the three-year-old program are similar in the four-year-old program.

The children take part in a wide variety of ac-tivities from music, instruments, art and craft, construction and a favourite is making use of our wonderful outside yard.

Liz Randall has a Bachelor of Early Child-hood Education and has been at Flinders kindergarten for six years, and has worked in childcare for many years before coming to Flinders Kindergarten.

Melissa has just started at Flinders kindergar-ten this year but has many years’ experience working in kindergartens around the Geelong area. She has a Diploma of Children’s services.

Our four year program is 15hrs per week, divided into five groups for 2013. Each group attends three days per week with nine children per group, resulting in 27 children per session.

During the sessions the children have the opportunity to participate in a number of dif-ferent activities. From painting, pasting, home corner, building blocks to other activities that relate to certain things during the year.

Di Vandenhurk has been working in kinder-gartens since 1987, after originally training as a primary school teacher. She has been working with the four-year-old program at Flinders

Kindergarten since 2004. Di has both Primary and Early Childhood diplomas as well as a Bachelor of Education & a Graduate Diploma in early Childhood Studies. Di says “I never tire of the enthusiasm and creativity I see with the kindergarten children. “

Cheryl began at Flinders Kindergarten in 2008, after spending several years as a replace-ment educator in a range of centres when staff were sick. In 2010 she completed Certificate 111 in Children’s Services. The children have fun singing with her and enjoy her sense of humour.

Our kindergarten is a Sunsmart kindergarten, which ensures all children wear sunhats while playing outside. The Committee of Manage-ment provides these for each individual child at no cost.

The outside play area is fun, bright and safe. It has various climbing frames, two sandpits, an undercover area, swings, water play activi-ties, cubby house along with many other fabu-lous play equipment for the children to have fun with and broaden their imaginations.

We also value the importance of healthy eating and encourage this by not allowing any type of “junk food”. Each child is given a water bottle by the Dental Health “Smiles for Miles” project. This bottle can be decorated by the children and is filled up every morning prior to the session and throughout the day as required.

We are extremely proud of our kindergarten and we welcome all our families old and new with a “Welcome BBQ” that allows the fami-lies to meet each other at the start of every year.

We hold working bees that help keep our facilities in wonderful condition to allow our children to play in a safe and happy environ-ment.

Support from our local community has enabled us to grow with the aspirations and growth of the children, this we value greatly.

For any further information or to enrol your child please contact the kindergarten directly on 5282 2091. Or you can email us at [email protected]

Schools In Focus - PrimaryClifton Springs Primary School“CHECK out the scarecrows!” exclaim the students from Grade 3 at CSPS.

The latest addition to our veggie patch has been a welcome discovery. The Scarecrows, aka, “Henry the Octopus”, “Lady GaGa”, “Katy Perry”, “Dancing Queen” and “Bubba”, were designed and built by the Grade 5/6 students last year as part of a competition at Van Loon’s Nursery.

The students were rapt to see their hard work on display and now they have a new home keeping our broccoli, spinach, lettuces, straw-berries and pumpkins safe from circling birds! The plus side is our produce is bought by our school community!

The school gardens have improved in leaps and bounds! In our Junior area the prep-grade 2’s can enjoy looking out on the Develop-mental Inquiry Garden, known as our DIG space. Features include a shop/cubby zone, a sandpit, a stage, mini veggie gardens and paved areas.

The outdoor classroom comes into effect on sunny days and the children are able to learn through play in a safe, protected environment, which all their classrooms open out on to.

We are very lucky to have large open grounds on our school so we can have a Senior and Junior playground. Students use these spaces to build positive relationships with each other and the environment.

Parent volunteers and enthusiastic teachers help to keep CSPS a wonderful place to learn. A recent example of this was some fabulous knit graffiti or yarn bombing, which has deco-rated trees and fences around our yard. This

adds a tactile element to our yard as well as an eye catching talking piece. The children love turning up and discovering a new yarn bomb has appeared!

Our inside spaces have also had a recent makeover, with new carpet and new painted walls to freshen up our work environment.

Our Grade 3 and 4 students are enjoying the new Open Classroom. This is a team teaching learning space which provides great opportunity for students and teachers to work in smaller groups within a flexible atmos-phere.

Movable furniture allows different zones to be created within the one room and the

students have three teachers to approach and learn from!

At our senior end the Grade 5/6’s have been busy getting to know their Prep buddies. Our Buddy Program has been a proven suc-cess, over many years, as a way of letting our “newies” get to know our school grounds and allows our “oldies” to experience the responsibility of being a positive role model. They work together in the classroom and in the playground. Great friendships are already forming!

Recently the Grade 4-6’s had their swim-ming sports. Congratulations go to our

Springs House on their fabulous efforts!

Bayshore, Dell and Coriyule Houses were not far behind on the points scored! Good sportmanship was displayed by all with plenty of cheering on for their team mates.

On March 23 we had the well-known Bu-nyip Festival. In conjunction with Drysdale PS, CSPS families united to bring a fabulous carnival to the local district.

This year Drysdale PS hosted the day, with plenty of food stalls, rides including the Cha-Cha and market stalls to keep the whole family happy.

The community spirit is alive and well at CSPS and we continue to strive to make our school a welcoming place to learn.

If you’re in the area drop in and take a tour – our friendly staff are always happy to show you how we continue to move from good to great.

Schools In Focus - Secondary

BELLARINE Secondary College proudly took part in this year’s Relay for Life, which was held at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds Campus on March 16 and 17.

Our school participated in a number of ways at this event:

•Our Student Government ran a Mufti fundraising and sign up on World Cancer Day, February 4.

•VCAL students painted a large banner in keeping with our ‘animal action’ theme and volunteered on the day prior to the event to help the organisers set up signage at the venue.

•A large team of students, teachers and school community members raised funds and participated.

Our team was thrilled to receive a spe-cial award at the end of the event for their on-going and positive participation in the Geelong Relay for Life event.

The team was awarded the Mick Ryan Memorial Award and received a special trophy which was presented by Anne Miller, co-ordinator of the Geelong Committee.

Alison Murphy, the Principal of Bellarine Secondary College, commented on how proud she was of the school community and its involvement in this event.

Mrs Murphy went on to say that the school’s ongoing commitment to Relay for Life demonstrated a real depth of character

of those involved and an understanding by them of what can be achieved when the community works together for such worthy causes.

The school has entered a large team each year since 2007.

Our involvement originally came about as a response to the need to support students who were being directly affected by a cancer diagnosis of themselves or of family mem-bers.

Those who were involved in this first year were so inspired by this event that they have continued to participate and contribute to the fundraising efforts each year since.

For the first time in 2012 members of the school team managed to raise over $5000. This meant the school was acknowledged for raising enough money to fund a specific cancer research project.

The Bellarine S.C. Research Award has now been established to help fund the work of Dr Elizabeth Vincan, Dr Nick Barker, Dr Toby Phesse and Prof Hans Clever towards research into bowel and all cancers.

Our final tally for 2013 is yet to be finalised.

Bellarine Secondary College would love to see more schools take up the challenge to raise funds for cancer research and become involved in this inspirational event.

Bellarine Secondary College

c o r rn e

Send your photos to [email protected]

Tara, 7, was all smiles when she spent a great day with friends on some waterslides. Sam Hafifbilek, Leopold

My daughter Serafina loves reading and singing nursery rhymes! Angela Fiala, Hamlyn Heights

I love this photo of my son Will, 3, because he looks so innocent and cheeky. Sara Taylor Photography Anne Farrer, Moriac

My son Archer, 20 months, gazes at some kites at the park. Jen Buckland, Jan Juc

Jasper giving weetbix to his baby and himself. It got very messy! Katherine Patterson, Ballarat

My daughter Sophia on her 3rd birthday. Tamsin Jackson, Torquay

Jacob, 5, on holiday at Great Keppel Island in Queensland, while sister Vivian, below, 16 months, really enjoys her spaghetti! Kate Thomson, Corio

LETTERS & ADVICE

Kids’ Voice reserves the right to edit letters at its discretion. Submit letters to [email protected]

Better to borrow than buyI WAS recently introduced to the Pad-dington Toy Library, Grovedale, follow-ing the birth of my daughter.

While I thought it would be good to have a variety of toys to borrow, noth-ing could prepare me for the 2000+ toys available.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I just thought your readers may be interested, too.

So, I feel the $50 annual fee is totally worth it. We borrow four toys each fort-night and the benefits are tremendous.

We find we can borrow toys matched to Anna’s stage of development and interests, and avoid the long term storage issue of bulky toys.

It is also great for the environment to borrow rather than buy. The Mirror wall, Little tikes wagon (over $100 to buy) and Musical instrument kit have been favorites for us.

You should see the Birthday Party Pack available for hire. There is a special deal for parents of new babies – they get the first six months Toy Library membership for free.

Keen to join for just $50? Pop in one Saturday morning 9.30am-11.30am, look at the website or email [email protected] or call 0468693795

You won’t be disappointed!

MERRIN WOOD

MANY of my clients on their first visit express a lack of information available in regards to how hypnotherapy can assist them and their families to improve their lives.

I am excited to share with you the reader, a little about what hypnotherapy can help you and particularly children with, to improve the quality of their lives.

Children today often have many aspects of their life to share their time and focus with.

Home and family life, school life, social-ising, sporting interest, hobbies, etc .

And then there can also be for some, health issues, family breakdowns, mov-ing home or school, deaths of pets and or grandparents and change of many kinds to manage also.

Sometimes some children can feel over-whelmed or anxious as a result and this can manifest in many different symp-toms, although these symptoms are not restricted to these causes.

Bed wetting, nail biting, thumb suck-ing, fears, phobias, withdrawing socially,

lacking confidence, lack of concentration, eating disorders, refusing to go to school, ticks and uncontrollable habits, just to mention a few.

Hypnotherapy is particularly effective with children as they have a wonderful imagination and this process, which is fully explained to both the child and par-ent/adult, is about using the imagination.

Children from around eight years and up, depending on the child, usually ben-efit from hypnosis.

The parent is present for the session and the child is made to feel both comfortable and empowered.

Working with children is a privilege and a wonderful opportunity to help them get back on track to head towards their full potential.

If there any questions you have, I am more than happy to reply either by email or phone.

LORINA HARRIS, CLINICAL HYPNOTHERAPIST

FOLLOWING a lengthy and detailed review of our operations and financial status, it is with regret that the Board of Rainbow Riders is closing the opera-tion.

Despite a short term reprieve from a trusted benefactor, reducing our cost base and valiant efforts by everyone in-volved with Rainbow Riders to increase our income, the uncertainty of our lease position and our forward financial position has led the Board to make the tough decision to cease operations ef-fective immediately.

Approximately 50 young people will no longer be able to access the program on a weekly basis.

We are bitterly disappointed with this outcome but have reached this decision before the new school term starts in order to not create unrealistic expecta-tions for children and their families who were due to start back with us.

We would like to express our thanks to everyone who has supported us for more than a decade.

In particular, we would like to ex-press our sincere thanks to the staff for their hard work, flexibility and loyalty through some very tough times.

With their unfailing dedication we have been able to make a real difference to the lives of many young people in

our region.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will be realising our assets.

There remains a small window of op-portunity for organisations interested in taking over our unique service to approach the Board for consideration.

Please contact Megan Pobjoy in the first instance who will be remaining with the organisation through the period of closure on 5264 1175.

Hypnotherapy helping kids

Rainbow Riders ‘bitterly disappointed’ about closure

RIKKI RAADSVELD, EXECUTIVE OFFICER,

RAINBOW RIDERS

Reader BlogReality hits... the babymoon is overI KNOW nothing lasts forever. (And we both know hearts can change. An’ it’s hard to hold a candle. In the cold Novem-ber rain... Ahh Axl Rose. Who knew what great philosophical insightfulness was lurking under those dirty long ginger locks and sweaty red bandana?)

Something has been creeping up on me for a little while, but I’ve only just been able to articulate what’s happened. It’s been pretty shocking. And I’m struggling to fully come to terms with it.

I no longer find everything my child does cute.

Yep, the honeymoon is over! Gone are those heady days where the boy could burp and fart adorably, be super cheeky and smooth it over with a spontaneous cuddle attack, or get away with jumping all over my bed at six in the morning because my eyes were glazed over with the gorgeousness of his funny little knees.

Nope, it seems, that after three and a half years, reality is kicking in, and some things he does are really annoying. (Just so you know my knuckles are crammed into my mouth as I attempt to stop screaming “BAAAD MUUUUMMMYYYY”).

It all started with this noise he’s begun to make. If you can imagine a really whiney, pitchy and LOUD “Ehhhhhhh”, which ends on a particularly torturous high note, then this is the noise.

It is now used in lieu of actual words on various occasions, it’s a noise that just can’t be ignored, and is by no way, cute.

To make matters worse, it’s crossed over into his usually adorable fake laughter, which used to be my pinnacle of cutie-cute-cuteness! It is now dead to me. The whininess killed it.

The ending of an era was further reminded to me on Tuesday when I picked him up from day-care, upon which I was nagged not to forget his “artworks”.

Let me paint you a picture (yep, pun in-tended). The first few times paintings came home I was elated. Delighted by the sweet little creations conjured at the hand of my darling heart.

Seriously, I kid you not (I’m on a pun role), I was pretty convinced he was an artistic genius, comparing the green globs of paint to the vista that abuts our property.

I framed it and picked the location which would best complement the light and shade in which to hang it. I bloody curated that thing to within an inch of its life. Seriously, it was awesome.

What I collected earlier this week – not so awesome.- it was rubbish! Literally. It was one of those black polystyrene meat trays (you know, that your chops come on), with a red pipe cleaner stuck on it. It was titled: My Birth-day Cake. Uh Huh. (To be fair, he hasn’t had a very good reference point for birthday cakes).

This was accompanied by a large piece of white paper with about three chunks of white masking tape attached. And piece number three was a cardboard cat food box with some holes stabbed in it.

So a few things were running through my mind, not least of which was: has this day care centre run out of paint or something??

I was also thinking of where I was going to keep these things at home, and how they could surreptitiously be disposed of without little feelings being hurt.

But most of all, I was thinking: I’ve turned into one of those mums I could never under-stand. Whose eyes rolled when special projects were brought home to be displayed; that groaned at the prospect of some crafty delight having to take centre stage on the dining room table, or who, evil of all evils: chucked them straight in the bin! I get that now.

I worried a bit about my son and talking earlier on, so all those knowing remarks which went something like “once he starts he’ll never stop” or “you’ll be wishing he shuts up soon” were met with feelings of disbelief and an at-titude of I am never going to wish my son stops talking.

Yeah, well, never has arrived my friends. As the “What’s that? What’s that?” has finally turned into “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?” and he’s coming out with such pearlers as “I’m sick of this” and “I don’t like it” and “I want (insert everything here)”.

Yep, it grinds on your nerves and you just want them to shut up. Today, after a couple of weeks of feeling like a bucket of dirt and know-ing I look like one too, the boy takes to calling me moustache for part of the afternoon.

It was a bit funny, even though he did have me running to the mirror to check that excess facial hair wasn’t another issue I could add to my current list.

Not long after, he decides to hold a concert for me (and just to set the scene for the upcom-ing info: is based on small local music festivals he’s attended). He stands atop the coffee table and announces “I’m the singer. Mummy, you can be the food tent.” The food tent!?!? So now I’m fat and hairy?! Please. Shut. Up.

But as I sit here writing this article, being hounded almost continuously for food, to come play, to stop computing, or to just “Look at me! Look. At. Me!” every two seconds, he redeems himself by creeping silently to my side, arm behind back and instructing me to close my eyes.

Upon opening them he yells “Happy Birth-day! Surprise!” and kisses my cheeks in turn, snuggling into me, he smiles up and presents me with a yellow weed flower from the back-yard. And it was pretty damn cute.

-Jessica SawyerMental health worker, writer, mumBlogging at amindfulmumma.wordpress.com

Reader Story

ONE of my three daughters was diag-nosed last year with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Type 3. My youngest, who is 18 months old, possibly has it too (hoping not though).

Individuals with EDS have a defect in their connective tissue, the tissue that provides support to many body parts such as the skin, muscles and ligaments.

The fragile skin and unstable joints found in EDS are the result of faulty collagen. Collagen is a protein, which acts as a “glue” in the body, adding strength and elasticity to connective tissue.

We think we are fortunate at this stage that it appears Lucy, who is three and a half, only has Type 3, which is the mildest form of EDS.

So many other people suffer daily with the problems that the other types of EDS can bring.

Things started to ring bells for us when Lucy was just two. She was jumping on the trampoline and sublocated her knee and couldn’t walk for two days.

I was 34 weeks pregnant at the time and it was quite difficult carrying a two-year-old around as well. We still had no idea that anything was wrong.

We would feel her joints separate as we lifted her up off the floor and then we discov-ered how flexible she was and how she could pull off some hideous looking party tricks

with her joints! Her thumb does almost a full 360.

Lucy would fall over all the time and never ran. She had no muscle tone at all and we always commented on how soft and silky her skin was. We just thought all these things were just the ‘special’ things about Lucy.

We had it investigated when she was two and a half., when for eight weeks straight she woke up with conintuous night pains in her legs.

We could be up five times a night with her screaming in pain about her legs. Although she had gone through many episodes of night leg pains before, we just thought it was ‘grow-ing pains’, but it had never lasted eight weeks.

We finally went to the doctor as we thought this can’t be normal. After seeing her joints and how flexible they were, we were then sent to see a specialist in Melbourne.

It was nice in one way to finally have some answers and then to have some ways we may be able to help her.

Swimming has been great and with the use of Bowen Therapy and Chiropractic care we have minimal pains and about a month ago she started running everywhere!

I know chiro doesn’t work for all EDS sufferers, but it has done wonders for us. We built up her balance with a balance bike and at the age of three and a half she is off

training wheels.

We also increased her Vitamin C intake as this helps with collagen production and Mag phos at night to help relax her overworked muscles.

We have been very lucky at this stage that she has only dislocated fingers rolling over or shutting the car door, and she has put them back in herself. Some EDS sufferes can dislo-cate up to 20 times a day.

We hope Lucy’s future is a bright one and that we can continue management so the ef-

fect that EDS has on her body is not extreme.

Ehlers Danlos National Foundation Face-book Page is campaigning for awareness in May.

Even if one new person hears about EDS then we may be helping someone who has EDS, or who has been misdiagnosed for years. It may also bring some people together.

‘Special’ Lucy’s future a bright one

- Vanessa SmithOcean Grove

HealthHave party foods become daily foods? PARTY foods and treats used to be just that, special foods we ate at parties.

Even a three-year-old knows a birthday cake belongs only at a birthday party. But over more recent years, party foods and treats have become part of the daily food intake of many families. What impact does this have?

While regular consumption of these foods and drinks may, in themselves, have a del-eterious impact on the growth and develop-ment of our children, the more important impact is in the way these foods and drinks displace those nutrients our children really need to grow well.

Children have small stomachs and small food requirements. Most need five small meals per day to consume enough of the wide variety of foods required to build healthy bodies.

When any of these meals are routinely re-placed with party foods, children will usually miss out on vital nutrients, with associated impact on their growth and development.

Parents who have had time to catch up with the recently released, revised Australian Dietary Guidelines at http://www.eatfor-health.gov.au/ may have also had a chance to look at the sample meal plan providing the nutritional and energy requirements for a child aged 9-11 years, of average height, healthy weight and light activity.

This sample meal plan is a useful picture of how we apply the Dietary Guidelines in childhood.

The new guidelines refer to party foods and drinks as “discretionary choices”, because they are not an essential or neces-sary part of our dietary pattern. They are not necessary to provide the nutrients the body needs, but they may add variety.

Discretionary foods and drinks are high in kilojoules, saturated fat, added sugars, added salt, or alcohol, but relatively low in nutrients.

If chosen, they should be eaten only sometimes and in small amounts. Save discretionary choices for special occasions, such as parties!

Examples of discretionary choices include: sweet biscuits, cakes and desserts, processed meats and sausages, ice-cream, confec-tionery and chocolate, meat pies and other pastries, commercial burgers, hot chips, and fried foods, crisps and other fatty and/or salty snacks, cream and butter and sugar-sweetened cordials, soft drinks and sports drinks.

Excessive intake of foods such as these leads to many of the health problems associ-ated with poor diet in Australia.

If these foods are consumed regularly they can increase the risk of excessive weight

gain and other diet-related conditions and diseases.

Similarly, inadequate intake of nutrient-dense foods, including vegetables, legumes/beans, fruit and wholegrain cereals, is also associated with many of the diet-related health problems in Australia. A wide variety of these nutritious foods are needed every day to promote health and wellbeing and help protect against chronic disease.

There are some key messages in the guidelines, for which the evidence base has strengthened.

•The association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and the risk of exces-sive weight gain in both children and adults

•The health benefits of breastfeeding

•The association between the consumption of milk and decreased risk of heart disease and some cancers

•The association between the consumption of fruit and decreased risk of heart disease

•The association between the consumption of wholegrain cereals and decreased risk of heart disease and excessive weight gain.

When feeding our children, we are doing so much more than satisfying their hunger at the moment of eating. We are building healthy bodies. We are developing their taste preferences. We are training them in eating behaviours they are likely to maintain throughout their lives.

It is, therefore, worth taking some time and trouble in deciding what our goals for our children’s future eating patterns might be, and how we might attain them with our day to day choices at meal times.

One of those choices is what to do with “discretionary” foods and drinks. Do we only use them sometimes and in small amounts to celebrate special occasions, or have they become part of our children’s daily food intake?

If you would like to talk through some strategies related to using discretionary foods in your home, please don’t hesitate to contact the dietitian in the Child Health and Development Team at Bellarine Commu-nity Health (BCH).

For appointments and enquiries please phone 5258 0812.

TechnologyDr Google is not the best medicine WITH winter just around the corner, so is the common cold and flu.

Usually it starts with body aches and a tickle in the throat, then progresses to the sinus or chest, or if you are really unlucky, both.

These symptoms are relatively easy to diagnose, but what about those times you or your loved ones get a rash or twitching muscles or an unexpected lump? It is easy to jump to conclu-sions, and even scarier when you investigate online.

Searching online for medical diagno-sis of symptoms is not only worrying, it can be very dangerous.

Try searching for any ailment and you will be faced with a number of medical websites claiming to be experts.

In some cases there are qualified practitioners posting on these medical websites but it is important to remem-ber these posts are generalisations and may not be specific to you. They should only be used as a guide and always seek medical advice when con-cerned about health.

The other type of search results, which are even more dangerous, are forums. These forums are full of opin-ions by the general public and their stories of their illness or condition.

Sometimes these people have self-diag-nosed their own issue, and then go on to diagnose others. When you are feel-ing poorly or already concerned, these forums can only cause more concern.

Eric Horvitz and Ryen White, scientists at Microsoft’s research division have ana-lysed the behaviour of Internet surfers.

If we were to type ‘headache’ in to Google, there are almost 80 million results found in half a second.

The first three websites listed mention brain tumours numerous times even though we are only at a 0.002 per cent chance of having one.

If you are one of the 80 per cent of people who have searched for medical symptoms online, you may be suffering from Cyberchondria.

White and Horvitz defined Cyber-chondria as the “unfounded escalation

of concerns about common symptoma-tology, based on the review of search results and literature on the Web.”

Using the Internet to assess your health is not necessarily all negative. It means at least you are taking some action and not ignoring problems by hoping they will go away.

The important thing is any concerns are followed up with your GP. Some-times doctors even refer patients to the Internet for providing more informa-tion on a specific issue.

Some websites hold more credibility than others, including Government sites, such as www.health.vic.gov.au

Diagnosis and intervention is often necessary for an illness, but it is impor-tant to make sure a professional is in charge.

It takes more than seven years of intense training to become a medical doctor. So remember you shouldn’t presume you are an expert in 0.32 seconds. If pain persists, seek medical advice!

1. Engage with your childSit with your child while they are using a computer, iPod or iPad and help them realise the correlation between what they are doing and real situations.

2. Choose carefullyIf your children are playing games on devices, try to ensure the games are ones that stimulate. Don’t opt for the ones that are repetitive, but that actually stimulate the mind.

3. All in the timingTechnology should be used in a quiet area where they can concentrate. Try not to use them for those busy times when you are out and about, when there is plenty of other stimulations. Also, try to avoid overuse or using right near bed time when their minds should be slowing down.

Ways to maximise your child’s learning using technology

- Shelley Gross Director of Wonderful Websites

www.wonderfulwebsites.com.au

AMBER has lived in Melbourne for most of her life, but she is now enjoying residing on the Bellarine Peninsula.

After working for Parks Victoria for many years, Amber decided on a career change five years ago. She studied at Melbourne University and the Australian Catholic Uni-versity, and she is now a midwife. She works in the Special Care Nursery at Geelong Hospital.

When Amber found out she was pregnant she engaged the services of the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) at the Geelong Hospital.

The MGP team provides midwifery care to women and their families throughout pregnancy, birth and the first two weeks at home with a new baby.

Pregnancy care was mostly provided in the community. Amber saw one allocated midwife throughout her pregnancy and she found the continuity of care a great support.

The midwife was available and on call for the labour and birth, with the back up of a small group of midwives.

The MGP midwives maintain relation-ships with medical staff, who provide col-

laborative care when necessary.

Amber was lucky to have a wonderful ex-perience during her pregnancy and maintain good health.

Having just finished studying midwifery, it was a perfect time to experience pregnancy as she felt she had a good understanding of the changes occurring to her body.

It also helped with making informed choices around the type of pregnancy and birth care.

Amber did a lot of meditating and gentle exercise during her pregnancy to prepare her for the birth. However, as we know, births often don’t go as planned.

Amber had to be induced a couple of days after her waters had broken, when the con-tractions of labour did not start naturally.

Having an epidural was not on the birthing plan agenda, but in the end, after a long few days, it provided an opportunity to rest and meet the challenges of the final stages of labour.

Harriet was born by a natural birth, and Amber and Rod were thrilled to have the support of the wonderful MGP midwives.

In the couple of weeks following, she also found the support offered at home by the MGP midwife so helpful, especially for breastfeeding.

Following some great initial advice, breast-feeding was a wonderful experience and is still going strong.

The past year has been a wonderful jour-ney for Amber and her husband Rod. They

have loved watching their little girl grow and develop,

Harriet is now walking, talking and saying mum and dad. She is cute as a button!

- Jennifer Carr

Birth StoryAmber gets great support all the way

Associate nurse unit manager Special care nursery

Geelong Hospital

Amber and Harriet

Pet Care

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Animals can feel the winter cold tooWINTER is approaching, so it is time to consider how the cold weather affects our pets.

Although they have furry coats to help keep them warm, as they get older they can feel the effects of joint stiffness and pain in cold weather, just as people do.

Degenerative joint disease (DJD) or arthritis affects one in five dogs. Of dogs more than six years of age, 65 per cent have arthritis.

The cause of DJD may be due to trauma to the joints such as a sprain, an area where a fracture has healed, joint infection, or uncon-trolled inflammation from day to day wear and tear.

Particular breeds are more prone to devel-oping DJD- for example German Shepherd dogs are known to be predisposed to arthritic hip disease, and in general large breed and overweight dogs will be affected more severely than smaller dogs.

DJD is a progressive condition, and over time may drastically affect your pets quality of life. Dogs with arthritis experience varying degrees of lameness, stiffness, and joint pain, which is more apparent in the morning and after they first get up.

They may exhibit irritability and behavioral changes associated with worsening disability. Cold and damp surroundings increase pain and stiffness.

DJD is common in old cats as well but it is very often missed. Affected cats have problems grooming themselves and look untidy.

They walk with quick little back leg move-ments and often have difficulty using their litter tray accurately as they cannot squat when toileting. They may also be unable to jump up on the couch or bed anymore, and tend to sleep on the floor instead.

Diagnosis of DJD is made by x-ray that shows bone spurs at points where the liga-ments and the joint capsule attach to the bone.

There may be varying degrees of joint space narrowing and increased density of bone around the joint. Often an experienced vet will be able to feel an abnormality in the qual-ity or range of movement in affected joints and will make a presumptive diagnosis with out an xray.

There are a wide range of treatments to help with arthritis and improve the life span of the animals’ joints:

SURGERY may be indicated to correct any underlying deformities, to stabilise joints affected by ligament ruptures, or to alleviate discomfort.

The success of surgery depends on the condition being treated and the amount of degenerative change already present. Surgery may also be indicated in severe cases such as to remove the hip, or fuse the affected joint.

CONSERVATIVE and post surgical man-agement of DJD usually involves weight loss, exercise modification and physical therapy.

A COURSE of disease modifying arthritis injections are highly recommended early in the course of disease. These compounds eg. Cartrophen, Pentosan or Zydax, actually help to stop the progression of DJD.

They stimulate cells in the joints to produce healthy cartilage to resist further damage, and slowly heal damaged cartilage. They also stimulate joint capsule cells to produce lubri-cating joint fluid, reduce swelling and block inflammatory processes, and improve blood flow and nutrition to joint structures.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY / pain relief medication called non-steroidal anti-inflam-matory drugs (NSAIDs) are often prescribed.

There are a wide variety available. While ap-proximately 80 per cent of dogs improve with this medical treatment, the medications do not cure the arthritis. In many cases, animals affected by arthritis will need to be on medica-tion for the rest of their lives. There are also injectable and oral formulas available for cats.

NEUTRACEUTICALS such as Glu-cosamine and Chondroitin are useful aids to DJD management as they assist in rebuilding the cartilage of the joint surface. There are a variety of prepared dog foods that contain these same nutraceuticals and are therefore very useful in helping to keep your pet pain free and mobile.

In cold weather arthritis is always worse. Make sure your pet has comfortable and sup-portive bedding, and a protected place to sleep.

Consider a dog coat and if your dog lives outside, ensure it has a warm kennel with a bed raised off the floor. Cats may need their bed in a less elevated position and a larger litter tray with low sides or cut out at the front so it can get in and out easily.

Don’t forget that early treatment for arthritis is the key to prevention and as many pain-free years as possible.

Newtown Veterinary Clinic121 West Fyans Street, Newtown

03 5221 5333

Tilly will keep warm this winter.

Reviews

To win a copy of this book, LIKE our Facebook page facebook.com/KidsVoiceGeelong and send us a message telling us why you’d like to win.W

IN

QUICK & EASY TODDLER RECIPESBy Annabel Karmel - Randomhouse(Release date May 16th)Toddler mealtimes can be a battleground. And for busy parents, time for preparing food is in short supply. The UK’s number-one expert on feeding children, Annabel Karmel, is on hand to help. In this new Quick and Easy book she offers 130 recipes that can be rustled up in minutes. With an eye on nutritional content and appeal for children, as well as speediness for hassled mums and dads, she solves mealtimes in an instant. The book is a full-colour recipe book with beautiful, inviting photographs of the food. The recipes have been taste-tested by toddlers and mums and include everything from simples scrambled eggs with tomato salsa, mango and apricot chicken through to grilled peach and raspberry pancakes.With plenty of tips and tricks to encourage your child to eat, from savoury to sweet, for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner, Annabel’s Quick and Easy Toddler Recipes will make for mellow mealtimes.

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TRULY TAN - JINXEDBy Jen StorerTan Callahan is the cheeky main female character in a great new series called, “Truly Tan” for 8- 11 year old girls by Melbourne author Jen Storer. The first book is called, “Truly Tan” and the new book out this May is called, “Truly Tan - JINXED!”.Tan is a young girl with plenty of personality who was forced by her parents to move from Melbourne to the country because her dad who is a vet and a pet rescuer has a new job. She has three other sisters who she and her dad call, “The Lollipops” because their names are named after lollipop colours: Rose, Amber and Emerald, who is the oldest and who can be truly hysterical. Tan also has pets, one is a dog called, “Awesome” who is truly awesome, another is her sisters dog called “doodad”, a tortoise called QV short for Queen Victoria. When they move to the country, Tan has to move her detective spy headquarters, because that’s what she pretends to be, a super detective spy and so of course in the country there are lots of mysteries to solve, like the case of the haunted house and “Wandering Wanda”. Truly Tan is really good fun and a great thing about the book is that it has lots of episodes which have about 3 chapters in each, a few illustrations, new words

to learn and a diary entry from Tan at the end of each “episode” She signs her diary off as Truly Tan as in Yours Truly which is where the book gets its title. Truly Tan is a great read and you will love it and the best news is that the author is coming to my bookstore on the morning of Saturday 18 May to talk about Truly Tan, so come along and meet Jen Storer at bookgrove.Erica Crawford aged 10, student and bookseller at bookgrove. http://www.facebook.com/bookgrove

ReviewsDANDELION By Galv in Scott Davis - RandomhouseIn the spirit of Where the Wild Things Are and Grimm’s Fairytales, Dandelion is a moving book for children about bullying and the power of imagination. Based on a number 1 bestselling children’s- book app on iTunes.Benjamin Brewster is a very particular little boy. He attends the School for the Misguided, a place for never-do-wells and bullies. A place where happy thoughts are quick to run and hide. A place where dreams and thoughts are squished. Until one day dandelions appear by Benjamin’s side and he finds the courage and imagination to force the bullies to take flight. Bullying, after all, is for people with no imagination.This magical interactive book for children is based on a bestselling children’s iTunes app and came about when Galvin Scott Davis’s son experienced bullying. The story encourages parents and children to discuss bullying and discover whether some problems can be solved with a little imagination. The story for Dandelion came about when Galvin Scott Davis’s son experienced bullying.

To win a copy a of this book, LIKE our Facebook page facebook.com/KidsVoiceGeelong and send us a message telling us why you’d like to win.W

INDON’T STARVEPC Beta - Not rated This game is currently a Beta, and my opinion may change when the full game is released.‘Don’t Starve’ is currently a PC beta with a brilliant hand drawn art style (kind of like Tim Burton) and a spooky back story. The music has a cheerful but eerie sound with different instruments matched to the characters personalities. Your first character is Wilson, the scientist that gets tricked into making a machine by Maxwell, the antagonist in trade for forbidden knowledge.

But when the machine is triggered, it actually takes him to a undiscovered wilderness. The main aim of the game is to survive as long as you can, without starving, going insane or being killed by the weird monsters that roam the world and sneak around in the night. You have to collect food and supplies to survive and always remember to prepare for winter that comes with an additional challenge being added on to the game - freezing. You will have to make a warm set of clothes and cuddle up to the fire because the risk of freezing is always looming over you. While you are exploring you also find lots of freaky magic stuff such as eye bones, wooden things and sacrificial pig stones which gets you wondering, who made that stuff?Overall the game is a definite for adventuring/survival gamers with a love for a challenge. If you buy it from the Steam store (online) before the 24th of April you will get 20% off, a free copy and two genuine Team Fortress 2 items.You can catch me on Steam at Sushiphantom or send me an email at [email protected]. Frag out for now! Callum B.

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Cooking Creations

Ingredients:1 packet jelly crystals (any flavour)

3tbsp icing sugar - 1tbsp bicarb soda3tsp citric acid (more if you want sour sherbet)

Our kids LOVE sherbet! It doesn’t matter if it’s a wizz fizz, or any other version – it’s always a bit of fun, a guaranteed mess and big smiles. So I fell in love with this recipe as I know exactly what goes into it. The kids (even the little ones) can do this so easily, and then serve it up in plastic shot glasses or little bags – with a side of lollipops and musk sticks for dipping, of course. This recipe is great for parties!

METHOD:

Pop all your ingredients into a bowl and stir together. Make sure its well mixed.

Serve in individual cups, cones or bags with small spoons.

HOT TIP!Use lollies or

lollypops for extra dipping flavour!

SHERBET

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Education Health & fitness MumsYouthEVERY MONDAY: Road to Reading, age-group sessions between 9am-3pm, at Uniting Church, Anderson Street, Torquay.

EVERY TUESDAY: Road to Reading, age-group sessons between 9am-1pm, Western Heights Uniting Church, Dou-glass Street, Herne Hill.

TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS: Freshwater Creek Steiner play groups- toddler’s group and 3-year-old groups- experience baking, singing, storytelling, crafts and free play. Phone 5264 5077 or visit www.fwcss.com.au

EVERY WEDNESDAY: Pregnant Young Mum’s Club, Newcomb Community Health Centre, 104-108 Bellarine High-way, Newcomb. Phone 0423 603 633 or 52603333.

FIRST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH: Greenmums, Moby, Esplanade, Torquay, 10am.

THE MUSICAL GARDEN: fun, educa-tional music classes for young children in Geelong West. Contact Liz on 0415 977 860 or visit www.themusicalgar-den.webs.com

EVERY MONDAY: Parent and toddler group fitness, 9-10am, Barwon Heads Community Hall, corner of Hitchcock Avenue and Ozone Street.

EVERY WEDNESDAY: Yoga and dance, 9.30am-10.30am, Barwon Heads Commu-nity Hall, corner of Hitchcock Avenue and Ozone Street.

KID’S DANCE CLASSES: Tuesday to Friday evenings, 4/22-26 Essington Street, Grovedale. Phone 0420 998 596.

GIRL CONNECT 3241: Free communi-ty art program for women 14 and over.

Programs will run on Wednesday in Winchelsea from February to June. Phone 5221 6333 or email [email protected]

The fOrT Drop In youth centre, St Georges Rd, Corio (Old Tourist Information Centre-Stead Park), open Monday, Thursday and Friday, from 4pm, for anyone aged 12 to 25.

MONDAYS: Food for fOrT, 4-6pm.

THURSDAYS: Movie Night, 4-7pm.

MUSIC LESSONS: guitar and drums – bookings 0488 443 778.

KOOMBAHLA PARK EQUESTRIAN CENTRE school holiday program, phone 52562742.

Submit your listings for What’s On at [email protected]

TUNING IN TO KIDS parent program: For parents of children aged 4-10 years. A six-week program from 9.30am -11.30am each Thursday from May 2 to June 6 at Bellarine Community Health Centre, 21-23 Palmerston St, Drysdale. Contact Stefanie Szlapa on 5251 2291.

List your business in the Kids’ Voicetrade directory.

Phone 0457 007 463 or email [email protected]

Mietta and Bindi Emily and Coco Lennox and Elmo Tahlia and Busta

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