Mel in a box Children’s Entertainment is proud to present a collection of children’s stories read aloud on You Tube. These videos have been produced with the aim of spreading joy to children all over the world. We would all agree that most toddlers and children love to sit down for story time with mummy or daddy and most little ones love fairies. We would all also agree that most mums have moments in their day when they just need 5 or 10 minutes time out to themselves! There is no shame in it, in fact, grabbing those 5 minutes could mean the difference between you being a loving, attentive mummy or a grumpy, short tempered mummy.

Now you can take the 5 minutes and trust the Mel in a box Children’s Entertainment Channel on you tube to provide your child with an educational experience that promotes happiness and aims to assist with their overall well being. You can sit back, relax and let Fairy Mel read them a children’s story aloud. All of the stories selected are written by the best children’s authors and illustrated beautifully with lovely story lines that teach children about feelings & how loved and special they are. I try to select books that take children on a wonderful journey into the world of their own unique and magical imaginations.

I hope that you enjoy Story Time with Fairy Mel and that it becomes a saviour for you in your time of need and a beautiful opportunity for your children to enjoy the magic and wonder of books read aloud by a fairy. You can watch now by clicking on this link Mel in a box Children’s Entertainment on You Tube

You tube channel containing story time with Fairy Mel videosMel in a box Children’s Entertainment You Tube Channel

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As a little girl growing up in the 70’s my favourite playtime activity was dress up play and pretending to be someone I admired. I had hardly any hair until I was 3 years old and when it grew it was white blonde, short and curly. I was desperate to have long hair like my nan back then….she used to wear it coiled up on top of her head in a very fashionable beehive and when she took out all of the pins it was so long and straight….the exact opposite of the tight curls that covered my scalp. 

One day nan indulged my desire for long hair by making me a big long plait out of a pair of her panty hose. I put it on and was immediately overjoyed by the sensation of having long hair! I swished it, flicked it and spun it around like a propeller with my arms out wide and I felt so excited, elated even and so so free! It was a totally new sensation and I loved it! My imagination went wild as I played out different characters (all with long hair) and got hours of entertainment out of a pair of pantyhose and my own world of make believe. I call this process accessing the ‘magic’.

Writing this I am able to remember and reenact the sensations I felt as a 3 year old playing this dress up game! How amazing is that?  As we grow up and leave childhood behind us there are still millions of opportunities for dress up play and role play. As a mother and a business woman and someone who loves fitness, meditation, socialising and nature, I am constantly changing my clothes, my hair, my attitude and my tone of voice to match the occassion.  I wear many costumes and probably indulge the fantasy side of my creative self more so than many people I know, as my business today requires me to dress up in costumes and entertain children. 

What my life has taught me is that it is so important to explore other characters and view life from different perspectives in our quest to really understand and know ourselves. It’s so important to connect with our own inner magic, listen to and know ourselves and use the creative imaginations we are born with and that we use in play naturally as children, at any age and stage of life. Children are naturally connected to the magic we all have inside us. They haven’t yet been tarnished by life. They are pure, creative and free little beings. I want to help them understand how wonderful it is to be themselves. To teach them how wonderful it is to dress up as something else, explore their imagination and then come back to the realisation that it’s also just as wonderful to be me. 

I am Fairy Mel the Mumpreneur Marketer and Children’s Entertainer and I am on a mission to cultivate creativity, imagination and healthy self-esteem in as many children as possible. My desire is to entertain, delight, make people smile, empower children to be themselves, spread the magic, foster belief in make believe, heal through happiness, spread joy and love.

I have created Kids Dress Up Box Program to allow as many young kids as possible connect with their own inner magic and I am offering a free trial in local day care centres, kindergartens and preschools in the Sutherland Shire. If you enjoyed this article and know a child in a child care centre who might enjoy this please visit www.melinabox.wix.com/kidsdressupbox and let your centre know they can book online or call 0402794130.

Kids Dress Up Play

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Party Preparations

I am feeling on top of the party preparations and so far its all looking like coming together nicely! Here are the steps I have taken to plan the event in true Mel in a box style:

1. Created a vision board with interesting tips for beach parties on Pinterest. Check this out at Melinabox on Pinterest
2. Made a list of games that we will play on the beach with my daughter. Knowing what you are going to play up front means you can shop for the necessary items needed for the games.
   
3. Spoke to my mother in law – the worlds best cupcake maker – for some tips on cakes. Traditionally we work as a team, she does the cupcakes and I make the birthday cake. I couldn’t do it without her though as she usually provides the cake toppers and decorations that she makes for the cupcakes and I pop them on my cake! Stay tuned…..photos to come after Sunday!
4. Went shopping for the decorative elements I need to theme this event. The first shop was a 5 hour session! I find I get my best inspiration whilst wandering around shops and browsing. The 2nd shop was for food and only took 2 hours!
5. Sat down with Lola on a rainy day last week and painted the shells for our first game The Shell Hunt. We popped on an uplifting movie….Mamma Mia….one of my favourites, and sang as we painted the shells all sorts of bright colours. This will make them easy to spot on the beach. Once the children collect these shells in the buckets and spades they will each be given at the start of the party, they will use them to decorate their sand castles in the next game which is….you guessed it a sand castle competition. I am definitely excited to post these photos after the event so make sure to come back and check them out after Sunday!
6. A quick consultation with my mother in law and picked up the ingredients for my cake.
7. Made a list of all of the things I need to pick up to make the event work like tressel tables and chairs, beach umbrella’s etc and gave it to the husband! One of the key things in planning an event like this is to allocate where possible and reduce your stress levels.

The Games on the Beach

1. Shell Hunt – we will give each child a bucket and spade to use and then take home. This makes a lovely alternative to toys in the lolly bag. Coloured shells will be scattered around waiting to be found.

2. Sand castle competition – using their buckets the children will be given 10 minutes to make their own sandcastle and decorate it with the shells they found.

3. Make me a Mermaid Tail – partner up and make your friend a mermaid! We will take photos of each of the children and send them to them after the party as a thankyou!

4. Shells in a Jar Guessing Competition – fill it up and let them guess how many!

5. Tunnel Ball – we bought some bright coloured Barbie Beach balls and we will make two teams and have a race!

6. Crab Race – Draw a start and finish line and get all of the children to pretend to be crabs in a race to the finish!

7. Fill the Bucket – Fill one bucket up with water and get the children to use their spades to transfer the water to the other end where an empty bucket is waiting. We can do this as a race in teams or maybe in two’s.

8. Musical Surfers- No party is complete without some music and dancing and how lovely to kick off the shoes and dance in the sand! We will be playing all of the usual games to music like musical statues but instead of freezing as you are we will get the kids to freeze like they are rinding a surf board!

9. Musical Towels – pop the towels around instead of chairs and take one away each time!

10. The Limbo – Line them up and watch them go under the rope as it gets lower and lower!

The Beach Party Food

This year the party is from 10am till 12pm so we are keeping it simple:

1. Beach Balls – Cheese and bacon balls

2. Coral Bread – Use a starshaped cutter to cut the bread and decorate with the longer hundreds and thousands

3. Watermelon – Fresh, summery and healthy for a mid morning snack

4. The Sandcastle Birthday Cake and Beach and Sand Cupcakes – This is the main feature so lets pray it works out!

5. Beach Jelly’s – Blue Jelly with some cake sand and a beach umbrella

6. Water! – They don’t need juice or soft drinks….what do we drink at the beach? Water!

The Props 

We found everything to theme it up on our 5 hour shopping trip to Miranda Westfield:

Check out the before photo and then come back to see it all work together after Sunday!

The Beach Themed Party Props

I absolutely can’t wait to see the whole thing come together on Sunday! I live for this! The planning, the shopping, the set up and most of all the smile on my daughters face on her birthday!

If you don’t enjoy this type of event planning…why not let me do it for you! I offer an event planning service so check it out here or call me on 0402 794 130.

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That is why every year since my daughter was born I have tried my hardest to produce a spectacular cake that would ignite that excitement in her. I want her to feel so special as the song is sung and the children try to stick their fingers in the icing and all eyes are on the birthday cake and the birthday girl.

For her first birthday I made a butterfly, for her third a tribute to Dora and well I have to say that they are never without their flaws and always contain an element of the night before stress of icing everywhere and lumpy and things not going quite the way I want them to. But this year for her 5th birthday I would like to applaud myself on the success of my 7 layered rainbow cake! It was a sight to behold both inside and out and it tasted absolutely amazing! I found the inspiration and the recipe and method on pinterest and oh how proud I felt as every single crumb was eaten up by both adults and children at the party!

If you want to impress I would definitely attempt this at least once! The Rainbow Cake is my greatest cake creation to date and I think if you follow the recipe it is achievable even if you are a beginner. Thank you Rainbow Cake, you photographed well, tasted great and made my little girls eyes light up for her moment in the spotlight.

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Join the Mel in a box Birthday Club today

Join the Mel in a box Birthday Club and let us make the planning easier and help you spoil your little one/s on their next birthday. All parents want to give their children the best birthday ever but let’s face it…birthday parties can be expensive! Especially if you have more than 1 child. Trying to think up new and exciting ideas for parties a couple of times a year can be tricky too. Each year the parties get bigger and the friends become more demanding and planning parties becomes more and more stressful. We understand children at every age and we know that as they grow so do the demands and standards that are placed on their birthday events. That’s why we have created a birthday club that exists only to support our parent members.

To launch the Mel in a box Birthday Club all memberships are free! You can become a member by filling in your email address on the pop up on this website and providing your email address as well as a little information about how we may be able to help you. Straight off the batt we reward you with $25 off your first ever party booking with us just for becoming a member of our Birthday Club. You will then receive a monthly newsletter with tips and goodies to help you with ideas for parties or children’s entertainment.

You can expect the following from your free birthday club membership to start with and we are sure to grow this as we go on:

• Monthly newsletters
• Special offers and discounts
• Tips and ideas for parties
• Entertainment ideas
• Interesting stories
• Games ideas
• Food ideas
• Location ideas

Birthdays come around too slowly for kids and too quickly for parents! To make sure you are prepared and the planning is easy join the Mel in a box Birthday Club Today!

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