Category: Kids

Positivity for 2020

I started this post with a bit of a negative vibe. I was going to talk about being close to the anniversary of my mom’s passing. Of how different things are, yet still so the same. I was going to go on about how much I miss her still and how I wish she was here. But I have had enough of the negativity of the last year. I’ve promised myself I will bring more positivity into my life in this new year.

Grade R, Grade 1, Grade 3

The school year started today. Matthew surprised me with his confidence and bravery. When he started Grade R, he was this timid little mouse, scared of his teacher, was always walking around with his head down. He told me he was a bit nervous this morning (but I suspect that was normal back to school jitters). When I chatted to him earlier today, he said “school was lekker Mommy”. He strutted into his class like he owned the place. Chatted to his desk buddy like he’s always known her. I’m so proud of that big, little guy.

Ethan started Grade R today. Although, he’s doing this through the educare/creche. It makes financial and logistical sense for us to do it this way. That boy has confidence by the bucket-load and I’m sure will give his teacher grief this year (Lord help us).

Harper is a mischievous little miss. She loves pretty dresses and shoes. She loves brushing her own hair and putting in bows and hair slides. She also loves running outside barefoot, chasing after her brothers, playing in the mud and dirt, and getting down and dirty. I am excited to see her personality develop as she grows.

I started this year with a word. But I’ve since added a few more words.I asked myself why I should define my whole year by just one word, when I feel that a combination of a few words will have more impact. My chosen words are a combination of things I want for myself and how I’d like the rest of my life to go.  

Do you have a word(s) for 2020? Care to share?

I also have a list of goals I’d like to accomplish this year. Not resolutions as they never work for me. I’m not going to share my list but it’s there. And I’m hoping I can tick off a lot of those goals this year. I’ll think about sharing that list at the end of the year.

 

 

 

KidsCon – The first Kid focused festival

Whether you’re a geek/comic nerd, love your movies, or into Disney, we have all heard of Comic Con (especially those Big Bang Theory fans). I’ve always wanted to attend a Comic Con but I either miss the dates or I can’t attend because of my kids. Well now, I have some amazing news for you. Comic Con Africa 2019 is hosting a spectacular four day event. For kids! It’s a family friendly, kids oriented convention. KidsCon is taking the term ‘fun and games’ to the next level by empowering kids to be expressive and embrace their individuality. It’s the first and entirely kid focused convention in Africa and will be hosted at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand between the 21st and 24th of September 2019. The interactive four-day convention is geared to celebrating and inspiring all kids to embrace the superhero within and to cosplay along with the those who are older, but still kids at heart.

To make sure that the kids rule the playground, KidsCon is designed by Kids for Kids, which is why the KidsCon Board of Little Experts was established. As a board of 14 diverse children (ages 5 to 10) the KidsCon experts shared their insights on various trends and products. Their input was used to create an unforgettable, dynamic and modern experience that’ll have parents itching to join in on the fun.

Children attending the festival will be stimulated as they engage with different interactive areas. Their creative flair will be sparked by the BIC Artist Corner then their imagination will surely run wild as they create new worlds while immersed in the Play-Doh Creations space. Visitors can also team up and face-off as they show off their blasting skills in the Hasbro Nerf Zone, and experience the Nerf Fornite blaster range, or play it safe by challenging mom to a game of Monopoly or taking a photo with dad at the Nintendo selfie wall and win wonderful prizes.

Visitors are in for a number of treats like meeting some of their favourite characters like, Mario Karts’ Mario and Luigi, your favourite My Little Pony and many more. Other activities include building a RC Car with Nintendo Labo and competing at the Transformers Speed Station to see who takes home the prize for transforming a Transformer in the least amount of time, and a chance to take a pic with Transformer Bumblebee. Besides the Mario Kart and Ultimate Dance competitions., there are numerous other giveaways at KidsCon. Families can shop, learn and play to their hearts content while enjoying the ultimate kids experience. Hosting the best fashion, the newest merchandise, a digital universe, and a gaming corner is only the tip of the iceberg. The awe-inspiring exhibitors will keep the whole family on their toes and occupied for hours.

Join the first Kid focused festival from the 21 September and be a part of the excitement of the first annual KidsCon. Tickets to Comic Con Africa are R160 with free access for children under 6 years of age and gives you access to the dedicated KidsCon Hall. Get your Comic Con Africa tickets now at  http://bit.ly/CCA_KidsCon or www.computicket.co.za

Not a supermom

I often get asked how I do it. How do I juggle working full time, raising 3 kids, and still have time to blog? My answer is always that I’m not a supermom. I just do what needs to be done.

So here are my tips to juggling life with 3 kids.

      1. Routine – having a set routine is key. Our routine is the kids eat, then it’s bathtime, and then bedtime. Bedtime is at 8pm latest, even weekends.
      2. Bag packing – I pack all bags the night before. A change for clothing for Harper daily, then the lunches boxes get prepped with yoghurts and sandwiches being added first thing in the morning.
      3. Clothing – we ensure school clothes are set out the night before and Matthew packs his aftercare bag himself. He can do this because I’ve managed to pack his clothing in nice little sets so he can just reach in and get what he needs. Mark gets Ethan and Harper ready in the morning while I finish off the lunches and bag packing.
      4. Teamwork – Mark and I work together to make it work. One of us will either bath both kids while the other dresses them or we each do bath and dress of one child each. Matthew is old enough to wash and dress himself, we just check that he’s washed the essentials.https://www.instagram.com/p/BxK7lM8Jnib/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
      5. Meals – we only cook 1 meal for everyone to eat. If someone doesn’t like the food and doesn’t want to eat, they either go without or they get a peanut butter sandwich. There’s no time to cook 3 different meals each night.
      6. Screen time – Don’t be scared of putting the tv on and sitting them in front of it while you get a load of washing done.
      7. Play – my 3 are all 3 years apart, Matthew is 8, Ethan will be 5 and Harper will be 2. They can certainly entertain themselves for a little bit while you can a 10 minute breather.
      8. Sanity – I struggle with this one. My children don’t always listen and it tends to drive me a little crazy when I have to say the same thing 8 times over. I don’t have any working tips for this one but calling in the cavalry normally helps for me (the cavalry being Mark lol).
      9. Take a break – I’m guilty of not doing this. However, we all need breaks from our kids. We all need a little timeout away from the craziness and noise. Get your partner to take the kids one morning while you focus on you. Or when the kids have gone to bed, take that long, warm bubble bath (yes I hear you, Cape Town has water restrictions in place still but maybe do this once every other week or so).
      10. Let go of the mom guilt – it’s going to be there every single day. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, the guilt will always be there. Be kind to yourself and try to let it go. Try to get through the day and tomorrow it will be better.

        11. There you go, that’s how I am able to be a supermom. With a lot of help and planning. If you have anything to add to this list, please let me know below and maybe you can help some other moms out.

Rhodes Squish Review plus WIN

Have you ever celebrated a toddler eating just 1 spoonful of food? Or jumped up and down, made weird noises or stand on your head and do 100 cartwheels just to get that toddler to taste something new? Well, you’re not alone. I’ve done that and more 3 times over and I was so relieved when I discovered Rhodes Squish (and even more so when Harper tried it and loved it).

Convenience
The Rhodes Squish pouches are convenient and easy to use. Harper can now suck the puree straight from the pouch but before then, I just used to squeeze a little bit into a spoon and feed her. They are 100% natural and contain no nasties. There is no added sugar, salt, colorants, maize starch and flavorings.

Yoghurt Squish


Rhodes Squish has now added exciting new fruit and veg yoghurt purees and ready-to-eat jellies, adding to its popular 100% fruit and vegetable puree and 100% fruit and veg pressed juice ranges. The Squish yoghurts are made from 100% fruit and vegetables with double cream yoghurt, not yoghurt powder.

I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly


There’s more, Rhodes Squish has introduced four new ready-to-eat jellies. The jellies are free from gelatine, colourants, flavourings and preservatives, and are made with fruit puree. Harper loves the Mango and Rooibos jelly and gobbles it up within minutes. You won’t go wrong with Squish for a fuss-free, easy to use snack for your baby and toddler.

WIN
Do you want to stop stressing over meal times or cleaning up bowls of food that was thrown by your toddler? You can win a Squish hamper with a Zoku slushie maker for some awesome slushies, milkshakes, and smoothies.

How to enter
Follow Rhodes Squish on Instagram here
Follow me on Instagram here
Leave a comment telling me what lengths you’ve gone to to get your baby/toddler to eat.

For an extra entry, you can enter on Instagram.

Terms and Conditions

1. Closing date for entries will be 13 March 2019. After this date no further entries will be permitted.
2. You must reside is SA in order to qualify for the prize.
3. Your prize cannot be sold or redeemed for cash.
4. Winners will be drawn via a Random name generator.
5. The winner will be notified via email and has 42 hours to claim their prize. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 2 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
6. Only one entry will be accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
7. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
8. Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Win a Hasbro Hamper

In my last post, I gave some ideas of what to get the kids for Christmas. I touched on some Hasbro Gaming that is available. These games are perfect to keep kids busy this school holiday, whether you’re staying home or going somewhere spectacular. Kids are busy little creatures and get bored so easily, these are sure to be hit to keep the boredom at bay! Here is some more information on those games.

Speak Out
Get ready to be doubled over with laughter with this ridiculous mouthpiece challenge game! The Speak Out game brings friends and family together for laugh-out-loud fun as players try to say different phrases while wearing a mouthpiece that won’t let them shut their mouth. In the Speak Out game, players draw from the deck and read the phrase as best as they can, but it’s not so easy to do when the mouthpiece is hindering them from forming words correctly. The timer counts down as players try to say phrases such as “he’s my stealthy pet ferret name Garrett”, “slow down, you careless clown”, or “pelicans love pollywog falafels.” The laughter continues as players try to decipher what in the world their teammate is trying to say, and must correctly guess the phrase in order to earn the card. The team with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Pie Face Cannon
The Pie Face Cannon game is a real “”blast”” as players take aim and “”pie”” their opponent with a cannon full of whipped cream (whipped cream not included,.) One player puts their chin on the chin rest behind the face mask. The other player aims the cannon and launches the whipped cream (whipped cream not included, additional purchase required). The player behind the mask can try to avoid getting “”pie-faced”” by using the blocking hand. Players earn points by either blocking themselves or by successfully “”pie-ing”” their opponent. The first player to get 5 points wins!

Fantastic Gymnastics
Get into the swing of things with this compelling and unique Fantastic Gymnastics game. Players time their speed and rhythm to gain momentum to flip the gymnast figure around the high bar. At the right moment, hit the release button to let him fly, and try to stick the perfect landing. Get him to land on the mat on his feet for the win! Play solo, head-to-head, or challenge friends to a tournament. Step-by-step instruction sheet also features tips for getting the perfect 100-point score.

Hearing Things
Who knows what’s going to come out of your teammate’s mouth? The Hearing things game, Hasbro’s twist on the online viral “”Whisper Challenge”” sensation has you guessing what you think your teammate is saying by reading their lips. One player puts on the speech-cancelling electronic headphones and the other player says the random phrase shown on the card such as, “”Pigeons like to cuddle”” or “”You’re the champ of the camp “”. The game headphones limit the player‘s ability to hear what their teammate is saying out loud, and the player has to figure it out to earn the card. The player with the most cards wins. The game comes with speech-cancelling electronic game headphones, and 150 cards with 600 phrases.

Don’t Lose Your Cool
Inspired by viral challenges that have gathered billions of views across the Internet, this game tests one’s ability to remain calm under pressure. Players wear the Cool-O-Meter unit that measures heart rate, and the opposing team rolls the dice that will determine how they’ll try to get a player to get flustered. For example, opponents might have to get up close to the player and sniff them, or make pig noises. If the player reacts -laughs, cringes, flinches, etc., their heart rate may go up and the meter will rise. They might think that they can hide their reactions, but the Cool-O-Meter will show what’s really going on! When the meter gets high enough, the lights get to red, the alarm will sound, and the opponent wins that round for making them lose their composure.

Don’t Step In It
Be careful not to poop out while playing this hilarious game with messy consequences! Put on a blindfold, spin the spinner, and then take that many steps across the game mat. But watch out! Little piles of compound, molded in the shape of poop have been strategically placed on the mat. Sometimes players will have to add a poop, remove a poop, or even re-arrange the poops along the mat. Who can avoid the number twos to be number one to win?

Blindfolded Twister
The game that ties you up in knots now features blindfolds and textured shapes for a touch of mystery and loads of fun! In the Blindfolded Twister game, players still move to spots on the mat, but now they do it wearing blindfolds and play completely by touch and memory. The player chosen as the Spinner calls out the moves on the game spinner, and then the players wearing blindfolds feel around the textured shapes with their hands and feet to move around the mat. Get ready for loads of laughs whether playing the game or just watching! It’s hilarious to see how players can end up in some really funny and awkward positions. Who will be the last player standing to win?

Hasbro has given me a Festive Hamper to giveaway to one lucky winner. All you need to do to win is complete the form below.

Hasbro Festive Hamper Giveaway

Competition closes on Monday at 12pm and winners will be announced on the blog and emailed.

Flying with Children

(written in collaboration with Travelstart)

It’s that time of the year again. As soon as we hit October, it’s like the 3 months just fly by and suddenly it’s Christmas! We start thinking about days at the beach, taking the kids out and about, budget friendly outings in January, annual leave and holidays.

For us, we look at budget friendly outings all the time and spending loads of time at the beach. One day, I want to take my kids on a proper holiday though. One where they get to go to an airport, get on a plane, experience the wonder and joy of being surrounded by clouds and looking down at the city they know. I’ve only ever been on an airplane once in my life, when I was 8 years old. It was to Durban and I was thrilled. I remember the excitement of walking onto the plane, looking out the window, I must have had stars in my eyes. I remember my aunt packed an amazing book for me with little cutouts that you moved around and changed the story. It was the best holiday of my life.

I want my kids to experience that kind of joy at least once in their life. I would love to do Mauritius with them one day. Or island hopping in Thailand, maybe an icy adventure in Austria, or a trip to Disneyland in the USA. I’d even settle with taking them to Sun City or uShaka Marine World. In my 37 years on this planet, I haven’t even been to those places.

My boys are boisterous and loud. So being cooped up in an airplane with them for however many hours, scares me. What will the other passengers say? How many times will we disturb the other passengers going up and down to the loo? How will I make sure Harper doesn’t scream the place down?

I know these are probably most parents’ worries and there are tips and tricks for dealing with these worries. Luckily, Travelstart has shared these 10 tips for flying with children.

For someone that hasn’t flown with children before, these are really helpful. Numbers 2, 5 and 7 will be especially helpful to me. You know your kids and what will and won’t work for them. I honestly can’t wait to take our kids on an adventure, whether it be local or international.

If you could travel anywhere in the world with your kids, where would you go?

Do you have any other tips and tricks to share?

This post was done in collaboration with Travelstart, however the views expressed in this article are my own, unless otherwise specified.

 

 

Catching Up

Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo do,
Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo do….. Anyone else over this song? And now they’re making all these different variations of the same song. OMG people, can we just not? I’ve heard of baby car and baby monkey so far.

Anyway that’s not the point of this post. Actually I don’t think this post has a point. I just missed writing and figured I’d just put pen to paper so to speak.

There’s no news in the Muller world. Nothing new has happened and there’s no big crisis. So this will be a mini catch up I suppose.

We eventually got our car back! 3 months after it went in for repairs. It’s crazy how long it took the panel beaters to find original parts for the car. The best part is that the bumper is starting to come loose now. FML! Can nothing go right in our lives right now?!?!

I am sucking so bad at posting to social media at the moment. I STILL don’t have a good camera phone so I blame it on that. But in reality, my kids are boring and really don’t do anything hilarious or sing and dance for me so that I can show you all. Hopefully, we can remedy this soon.

Harper took a few running steps yesterday evening. On her own! And yes, I know, it didn’t happen if it’s not on SM but you just have to believe me when I tell you this. Also, I have a few weeks left of party planning and I have cut outs coming out of my ears already. I can’t find the supplies I’m looking for and I think I may have bitten off more than I chew with this one.

Some kid tried to fight with Matthew over the weekend. He’s 9 years old and was fighting over a marble or something. We don’t tolerate violence in any form so it’s been a bit hard figuring out how to deal with this, knowing Matthew didn’t start it or fight back.

Oh and I started knitting. Can you believe that? I last knitted when I was in standard 2, which was more than 25 years ago. Starting on something simple, and hoping I can finish it. It would be such an accomplishment and motivation to continue.

I signed up for the Discovery Tough Mudder tomorrow!?!?!?! Well, actually, I won tickets through a radio Station but I’m super amped! I’m also scared and nervous but looking forward to the adventure. Wish me luck and pray that I make it through the course.

I wanted to host a birthday giveaway ahead of Harper’s birthday. But not sure what to offer you guys. So, what would you like to win?

This one’s for the dads – trust your way

*written in collaboration with Baby Dove

So your wife/partner just peed on a stick and you realise that your life is about to change in ways you would never think possible. You guys reach the 12 week mark and think now is the time to tell the world (if you could contain your excitement before telling everyone).

Advice
Suddenly, everyone has some type of advice for your wife/partner. Don’t eat this, don’t drink that, use this for the aches, use that to sleep better. She’s frustrated and emotional, advice overload, and you have no idea how to make things better for her. But you chop on and you get to a point that you don’t say or do the wrong thing for a few hours and you can make your wife/partner relatively comfortable.

Matthew

Baby’s here!
Then your beautiful bouncing baby arrives. You’re enthralled, overwhelmed, ecstatic, nervous and maybe even a little scared. You take baby out for the first time, you need diapers and your wife/partner needs some fresh air, to get out of the house for a bit. You’re standing in the queue, baby is in the pram covered up (or in the baby carrier) and the aunty standing behind you in the queue starts chatting to you. “ooh I’m sure that cry means she’s hungry”, “have you tried using this product for his skin”, “she seems jaundiced, have you taken her for a checkup”, and it just goes on and on and you want to tell the lady you just shut her trap and keep her comments to herself. But you’re nice and hate confrontation so you keep quiet, nod your head and say thank you, you’ll try it when you get home.

Ethan

Time passes but you still doubt yourself
Your baby is now a few months old and you’ve heard all the advice you can handle. You and your wife/partner are both overwhelmed with all the information you’ve been reading up on or been given by friends and family (and the odd aunty in the queue). You start to doubt yourself because one person said you should try the cry it out method, another person said you must chuck the diapers and start potty training from when your baby is 6 months old, but you haven’t even figured out yet how to put the grower on with getting his arms stuck.

Harper

TRUST
I’ve been down this road 3 times now and I too, have heard it all. So now, I’m going to give you some advice. Only you and your wife/partner know your baby. You can read every single parenting book out there but each child is unique. Your baby is unique. You’ve been around this little person for his entire life, held her when she cried at 3am because she woke up and wouldn’t go back to sleep, bathed his little body and used the special bum cream when she got a bad nappy rash. You know when he’s hungry, or crying because she needs a diaper change. You know how warm she likes her formula bottle or how he likes to sleep.

Don’t let anyone’s advice and well-meaning comments cause you to doubt yourself. Thank the person, smile and say you will take their advice into consideration. At the end of the day, you can listen to everything everyone tells you. It’s up to you to take that advice and then use what you think might work for you and your baby.

Mark and the boys

TRUST that you know what’s best for YOUR baby. TRUST that you’re strong enough to do what is right for YOUR baby. TRUST that you have the patience and the knowledge to raise your baby the best way you know how. TRUST that you can give your wife/partner the support and trust that she needs.

Just love your baby. And Trust Your Way!

 

Ethan at 4 years old

I hardly ever do those birthday posts for any of my kids. I do a little shoutout on Instagram and Facebook but that’s about it. Does that make me a bad mom/blogger? Does it mean I love my kids any less? No, it doesn’t. It just means that instead of going all googly eyed and talking about all my hopes and dreams for my kid, I get to tell you like it is. So what can I say about Ethan….

Fighting
Even though he and Matthew have loving moments, where they’ll hug each other and be best buds, those moments are fleeting. They fight like crazy. And it’s normally Ethan that starts it. Granted there are times when Matthew teases him and he retaliates but mostly, it’s him. He wants something Matthew has, can’t get it, then starts scream crying. Only to stop mid scream when Matthew gives it to him. He’ll hit Matthew if he can’t get his way and has a bit of a temper.

Bathtime
For someone who loves to “swim” in the bath, he sure does hate having his hair washed. I thought we had gotten over this for the most part but just this weekend, Mark washed his hair and he screamed through the entire process. You would swear Mark was physically attacking him the way he went on. I’m sure my neighbours worry about what we do with our kids.

That said, we use the Baby Dove shampoo on him. Not only is it gentle on his eczema prone skin, but it smells amazing and makes his hair soft and shiny. I’ve had to trust that using this shampoo (and their bath wash) wouldn’t mess with his eczema and I think we’ve been lucky that he took to it so well.

 

Mealtimes
Mealtimes is another struggle. Ethan will eat most things. He’s also not shy to taste new foods (unlike Matthew). But unless it’s one of his favourite meals, you can forget about him finishing his food. He’ll mostly just eat the meat/chicken and leave the rice. He’s very fond of my mince pasta and most stew type dishes. He can devour sweets and biscuits in the time it takes me to finish a cup of coffee but food? I guess he must be in the mood or something lol

Other
Otherwise, he’s a neat kid who I don’t mind being around most of the time. He is loving and caring, loves to play by himself and watch Blaze and the Monster Machines, Paw Patrol, and Thomas and Friends. He loves construction vehicles, especially excavators (which he calls “esca-bator“). He sometimes thinks he’s Captain America and gets upset when we tell him he’s not. He loves holding Harper and making her squirm because he’s holding on too tight. He loves to help me when I’m baking, wanting to hold the mixer and throw the ingredients in. He’s a very independent 4 year old with abundant energy and the most contagious laugh. He loves the beach and throwing sand in his hair. He loves to crawl into our bed at 4am and kick me in the back. He loves to use his dad as a jungle gym and thinks he’s some famous gymnast. He loves great sneakers, looking smart and won’t wear anything if he’s not feeling it (probably gets it from his dad lol). He loves nature and being outdoors, he will crawl after a wriggly worm, run after a butterfly and spend hours playing with his construction vehicles in the sand. He can be gentle, boisterous, energetic, stubborn, independent, feisty, and a handful. We love him and wouldn’t have it any other way.

See, there I went all soft and googly eyed.

Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie

I introduced Ethan to Thomas and Friends a few months ago and my child is in love with that little tank engine. When I found out that there is a new movie being released in October, I knew that I had to ensure that I take Ethan to see it.

The movie is called Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie and is launching in Ster Kinekor theatres on 5 October 2018. The new movie features new friends along the way including first Kenyan tank engine Nia, guest-voiced by Nairobi born voice-over artist, Yvonne Grundy and racing car Ace, guest-voiced by Australian singer Peter Andre. Bobby van Jaarsveld, is a South African Afrikaans-language pop singer-songwriter and actor will sing the local version of the theme song.

Yvonne Grundy – voice of Nia
Peter Andre – voice of Ace
Bobby van Jaarsveld

The Big World Adventures theme song shares the message that we should be open to exploration; to traversing the globe, seeking out adventures, engaging with new and different people, and making new friends along the way.

This is the thirteenth feature-length film to be produced by the word-famous franchise and the first to hit screens following a major refresh to its content including: a new theme tune and narrator, new characters and locations and a revolutionized Steam Team with a greater representation of girl engines. The movie features a fun-packed plot full of wonder and curiosity, plus tons of animals and several musical songs that will captivate the imagination of young Thomas fans and parents alike. This is the biggest and best Thomas movie to date and one not to be missed!

Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie sees Thomas undertake his most epic journey ever as he leaves Sodor to fulfill his dream of seeing the world! The action-packed adventure begins when a mischievous little racing car called Ace comes to Sodor and inspires Thomas to embark on an ambitious trip-without the Fat Controller’s/Sir Topham Hatt’s permission!

This heroic quest takes Thomas across deserts, through jungles and over dangerous mountains as he travels across five continents seeing sights he has never seen before! On his journey to discover new places and cultures, Thomas visits Africa and makes friends with an adventurous, inspiring and fun tank engine from Kenya called Nia. But with so much for Thomas to learn about the world, will Nia be successful in teaching him a lesson about the true meaning of friendship?

“Thomas & Friends™: Big World! Big Adventures!” is introducing the first tank engine from Africa – Nia, an adventurous and fun character who teaches Thomas a lesson about the meaning of friendship.

Thomas the Tank Engine™ was created over 70 years ago and that story quickly grew through content to become the award-winning global brand franchise it is today, with multiple touch-points and formats, including apps; toy consumer products; publishing; live attractions and much more with over 1 engine sold per second. Watched in over 160 territories, in over 50 languages with over 1.16 billion lifetime views on YouTube, Thomas & Friends offers more than 80 hours of original content produced from 500 episodes and 12 specials.