The Children's University is a wonderful trust which aims to provide children with opportunities for low-cost, accessible extra-curricular activities across the UK. I'm an avid fan of this wonderful scheme which has enabled Princess to enjoy many free and low-cost activities which we may otherwise not have been able to afford.

A powerful quote on motherhood by Shannon L. Adler.

Original photograph by Nathan O'Nions

As children are reported to spend more and more time indoors in front of a screen, the need for physical outdoor play becomes increasingly more important. In addition to the obvious physical benefits, we must consider the positive social and emotional improvements our children can experience by playing outside.

According to The Guardian, only 21% of children regularly play outside compared to 71% of their parents. We can blame this decrease on concern for the safety of our children, the lure of television and video-games, or the even time spent on after-school activities and classes. But the fact remains that our children don't get nearly as much time for unrestricted outdoor play as we did as children, and this can have consequences for their overall health.

Here are six important reasons why outdoor play helps us raise happier, healthier children.

Bananas are the one fruit I know my children will happily eat. They're a staple item for our weekly online shop, great both as a snack or served as a quick dessert with squirty cream and sprinkles.

Unfortunately I often buy more bananas than we can eat, or they ripen too quickly and are left in the fruit bowl with their skins growing blacker. While overripe bananas are incredibly sweet, their appearance is a great put-off - after all, children far prefer their fruits to be brightly coloured and fun!

Feeling frugal, I dug out an old recipe for banana bread yesterday to use up those unwanted fruits. It went down so well I deliberately ordered more bananas than we need for this week's shop so I can make it again at the weekend.

Here follows our fabulous frugal recipe for sweet banana bread, which tastes wonderful on it's own or can be served for dessert with a generous dollop of crème fraiche.

As your baby grows to a walking talking little person, she may well become develop fussy choices about what, when and how much she wants to eat. Rather than sit quietly in the high chair, she'll likely want to feed herself and make choices about what she will - or won't - put into her mouth.

We live in a media driven world. Children are likely to be exposed to television (and even the Internet) long before they even start their formal education.

In moderation, "screen time" can be both entertaining and educational, but too much can have detrimental effects on children's physical and intellectual development. It's easy to suggest throwing out the TV and permitting only educational sites on the home computer, but in practise very difficult to maintain - particularly as media outlets provide children with the means for much social discussion.

By making considered choices about the amount and quality of time our children spend in front of a screen, we can limit the negative effects to ensure they enjoy the more positive aspects of media exposure.

A fantastic quote about motherhood by Ambrose Bierce:

Sweater, n.: a garment worn by a child when its mother is feeling chilly.

Original photo by mikebaird, via Flickr.

Sharing books with your baby is an ideal way to introduce literacy skills and provide a sound basis for learning to read as they grow older. Babies are soothed by familiar voices and are adept at learning new skills even though we may not realise it.

Much of a child's capacity to learn is developed in the first three years of life. Studies have shown that children who experience reading aloud from infancy are far more likely to be successful readers as they grow older. And of course, reading with baby allows for enjoyable cuddle time!

In this post I'll explain some tried and tested tips for reading with babies and toddlers which can help nurture their future enjoyment of the written and spoken word.

As compulsory food technology lessons have been phased out of the compulsory curriculum, more and more teenagers leave school unable to cook a simple meal.

To encourage children to learn these basic skills, Leon Restaurants have set up the Cook5 campaign to challenge school-aged children to cook five simple savoury meals and share their experiences on the website.

Through these Easter holidays the weather has been as lousy as our finances: many rainy days, the temperature too cold to play out, and not enough spare cash to fund excursions to brighten the mood.

Then Princess had a wonderful idea: "We could have a tea party" she said. Since I always keep a stock of baking supplies in the cupboard, I realised it would be a wonderful idea. We spent the morning baking treats and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon having a picnic-style tea party spread across a blanket on the floor in our lounge.

In this post I'll share three recipes for delicious treats which we made for our tea party, all of which were so cheap to make with more than enough left (even after guests) to enjoy for the rest of the week.

As the old saying goes, "you never forget how to ride a bike". This assumes, of course, that you have previously learned how to ride a bike, and if you're reading this article I imagine you have a child in need of learning this lifelong skill.

Learning how to ride a bike without stabilisers can be very intimidating to children. There are so many things to consider at once: how to balance, when to brake, how to steer... and how to avoid that fast approaching lamppost!

Here is some advice to make the transition from four wheels to two a little less intimidating for both you and your child, so they may learn this important skill and begin to enjoy the thrill of riding a bike unaided.

Family outings to the cinema can be very expensive affairs! The cost of tickets alone can mount to around £30 for a family of four, possibly even more if you're watching a movie in 3d!

To celebrate National Poetry Month, I've compiled an anthology of classic poetry for children which you can download absolutely free!

Rollicking Rhyme features classic verse by Lewis Carrol, Christina Rosetti, Abbie Farwell-Brown and many more authors, chosen specifically for their appeal to younger readers. From nursery rhymes to mischief-making, cautionary tales and flights of fancy, there are poems to suit everyone.

This eBook is available in PDF, ePub and .mobi formats so you can enjoy it on any device you like! What's more, it's available under the CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license, so feel free to download, share and distribute Rollicking Rhyme any way you like!

Download Rollicking Rhyme (.zip file, includes PDF, ePub and Mobi)

Read on to preview and learn more about this free anthology of poetry.