Category: events

To say it’s been a busy day is an understatement. Tuesday is our Spanish Rhythm & Rhyme session, which means furniture removal for me and then a back room filled with the sounds of Spanish nursery rhymes. Despite a cold start Jennifer was busy, which was great. Normally I then move furniture back in so that the room is ready for after school tuition, but not today. Instead, I did this:

Because of this:

Yes, the talented Caryl Hart spent the afternoon at Chicken and Frog. Caryl got here just in time for lunch, before a whole class of Year 2 children arrived to meet a real author. These opportunities can’t be beaten. Caryl talked about the process of writing, the importance of libraries and read her latest book, Catch That Rat!

The experience for the children was brilliant. They hung on Caryl’s every word, as she shared her book and encouraged the children to take part in the telling. The adults were just as enthralled, which made the afternoon even more magical.

Caryl very kindly signed books for the children and even demonstrated some pretty impressive drawing skills, as she made each book individual,

Although we ran out of time, all of the children got to take home the materials needed to create their very own rat,

We only have three of Caryl’s books left. Looks like I’ll be adding them to this week’s order…thanks Caryl and the children of Hogarth for a superb afternoon. If this is what busy looks like, I welcome it.

Well, that’s almost it. The October half term break is very nearly over. Apart from the odd INSET day scattered across the country, the majority of children are tootling back to school on Monday. I don’t know about you, but this half term is one of my favourites. First of all, it’s a welcome break from the shock of going back to school in September. That’s probably enough for most of us! But secondly, it always feels like quite a calm, relaxed affair. The full-on craziness of ‘the’ holiday season hasn’t quite kicked in and although the weather is usually very British, it’s still OK to go and about a bit.

 

Having said that, Halloween appears to be giving Christmas a good run for its money. I don’t think that I have ever seen so many trick or treaters as I did this year. Either that or it’s a sign of my age. Rather like the fact that police officers are looking younger these days. Well, they are!

 

We have had lots of fun at Chicken and Frog this Halloween, from a LEGO Challenge and swap shop,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to some heavily sugar-fuelled cooking sessions,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, plenty of messing about with face paints (any excuse),

So that’s it. Just a quick reminder that we still have 20% off all non-fiction, including Rory’s Story Cubes until close of business on Saturday.

Ooh and, as it’s now November, I can get officially over-excited about the Butterworths coming to visit us on the 16th (14:30-16:30).

 

The October half term is creeping up on us. Before too long the children will be off for a week – hurrah!

We have quite a lot of ghoulish goings on planned in for the week. First up on the list is the return of our ever popular LEGO challenge, on Monday 28th October (10:00-12:00). This time, we invite you to create your very own Dr Frankenstein’s lab or Dracula’s castle. Also, the rather brilliant Ben will be hosting his first ever LEGO Mini figure swap-shop during the morning.

All you need to do is bring along any doubles that you wish to swap – they must be complete! Mr Frog is ready, with a stash of doubles just waiting to be exchanged.

On Wednesday 30th October, 12:00-14:00, you can join me for Meg and Mog’s Halloween Party, as I help you to decorate spooky biscuits, share stories and lead you through a Halloween craft. This will be suitable for ages 5-8, £10 per child, including a sand-witch, juice, decorated biscuits, crafts, stories and games. Parents can drop and fly! Pre-booking and payment is essential.

And finally, cooking returns to Chicken and Frog on Thursday, 13:00-15:00. Expect to make putrid punch, creepy cakes and much more, all in time for your Halloween celebrations.This session is suitable for ages 5+. £12 per child – pre booking and payment is essential! Spaces are flying out for this one, so hurry!

Last thing – I know that I’ve already said ‘finally’, but I lied! All of our regular story time sessions, Thursday Rhythm & Rhyme and Creative Writing will be on as usual.

p.s. Why not make the most of the week off and get busy writing an entry for the writing competition? It is now open to all – no age limit – so go for it!

 

We have had such a lovely day today. Do you want to know why? I’m going to tell you anyway. We were visited by the very talented Steven Lenton (whose Twitter handle is 2dScrumptious, hence the title of this blog).
It’s always a little scary for Mr Frog and I when we have a visiting author or illustrator. Not because we’re naturally nervous, but because you just never know how many people are going to come in to meet your guests. We appreciate the time that our visitors give, especially as we only pay in tea, biscuits and chocolate! In keeping with the theme of Steven’s first illustrated children’s book, Shifty McGifty, (written by Tracey Corderoy), we decorated cupcakes last night:

Displays in the window and inside the shop reflected our joy of Steven’s visit,

Tweets had been tweeted, our FaceBook events page was updated, Phoenix FM had mentioned the event, so by this morning we were as ready as we ever going to be!
To our delight Steven arrived, with Shifty and Sam in tow (behaving impeccably as reformed criminals should). And shortly after, children arrived too – phew! Steven read to the enthralled group, whilst encouraging some serious spider spotting along the way.

A spot of drawing soon followed, with Steven taking the group step-by-step through how to draw Sam and Shifty,

I think you’ll agree that they did very well indeed. Now we have our own Shifty and Sam gracing the wall, with a waving spider and a brilliant chicken and frog! Thanks Steven 🙂

Well hello lovely readers, how are you? I’m jolly well, thanks for asking. It’s been a busy couple if weeks, what with one thing and another, so I thought I’d fill you in with a bit if rambling and a handful of photographs.
First up, the crazy stuff that makes me chortle. Friends, who know me far too well, bought me a wind up chicken and frog for my birthday. Obviously this has resulted in quite a few chicken and frog races, like this one:

Our eldest doesn’t find this amusing, but I do, so there!
I have been very busy planning all sorts of plans with the lovely Mark from the Brentwood Theatre.. As a result of scheming we will be collaborating with the theatre during the Christmas period, focusing on the theme of the brothers Grimm. And of course, the Brents are coming up in September for which we are proudly supporting the best actor under the age of 18.
What else? We’ve run some really great sessions in the past week, including a delicious cookery course,

Another art class with Russell Newton, where the children refined their lettering skills,

And the second of our Summer Holiday Lego challenges,

What else? Well, we are planning a collaboration with Talking Tots (Brentwood) in October. They are launching a Back to Books campaign and we are delighted to be able to support them in this. Details for the event will follow in the very near future, although we can say that there will be a party involved and a 10% discount voucher for all Talking Tots parents involved.
Last thing. I am now a regular on the educational visits page for Essex Mums, as well as a teacher for their ‘ask the expert’ panel. Told you I’d been busy.
I think I’ll go and curl up with a good book now and get an early night, ready for Steven Lenton’s visit in the morning.

Can you believe that we’re already into the second week of the school holidays? Time flies and all that. We have a very busy schedule of events for children, ranging from drama workshops to science. as well as the fee paying sessions, we pride ourselves on providing activities and events which are completely free of charge. This may not be particularly business savvy, but we strive to create a sense of community here at Chicken and Frog and feel that one of the ways that we can achieve this is through activities which are accessible to all.
This morning we held a Gruffalo make and take activity. Children popped in throughout the morning to create their own Gruffalo faces. Needless to say, there was plenty of glue involved and one or two over excited parents! Yes, parents. What is it about crafty things with our children that makes us so…childlike? I include myself in this. Maybe it’s the freedom of heartening back to our youth or an unfulfilled dream to be a Blue Peter presenter…
Here are some lovely pics of today:

Look out for our next free event, the Lego challenge. I think it’s going to be super busy!

Good morning all. Wowsers it looks like we’re in for a hot one today! I’m going to say it out loud, ready? Summer is finally here. Mr Frog is not a fan, but I am.

Our day is going to be crazy busy. We’ll start with Bring Daddy to Story time at 9:45. Of course if you want to bring mummy that’s fine too, but it’s a good way to earn some brownie points for dads.
10:30 sees the last of our Family Learning Projects until the next academic year rolls around. For those of you who don’t know, the FLP is a project funded by the Brentwood Share Fund, which enables us to deliver free tuition to local families. Here’s our groovy logo, courtesy of the supremely talented Russell Newton:

We are delighted to say that Russell will be running his art club for children from our little shop, every Saturday during term time, starting from TODAY, 13:00-14:30. The club costs £8 and is suitable from age 5. And don’t forget, he’ll also be running workshops during the holidays.
From 15:00-15:45 we have Creative Writing Club for ages 5-7, followed by Creative Writing for ages 7+, 16:00-17:30. The sessions are drop in, for £5 each. This week we are taking our inspiration from music. Should be fun! If it’s anything like last week, this may happen too:

Ooh, we’re going to sell lots of gorgeous books today too, so get yourselves down here pronto! (Well, from 9:30).