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JoJo Gnome’s Christmas Story Fun

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Festive Fun with JoJo Gnome at Mugdock

I am delighted to be able to share with you that JoJo Gnome’s Christmas Story Fun will be happening again this year at Mugdock Country Park just on the outskirts of Glasgow. This is ideal for 3-6’s and includes storytelling, joining in with stories, a listening quiz and a smelling quiz and meeting JoJo Gnome (the puppet) and take a selfie! There will also be a chance to make your own paper puppet cup cake and have it dance in a film with JoJo! The film will be available on line for parents to enjoy at no extra cost.  All packed into an exciting 45 minutes. So lots of fun for the family.

Saturday 16th December at 1.30pm

Saturday 16th December at 3.30pm

Saturday 23rd December at 1.30pm

Saturday 23rd December at 3.30pm

This year there are 4 different shows to choose from. There are only 25 tickets for each show so book early to avoid missing out. Having smaller numbers means it isn’t so overwhelming for young ones and there is much more of a chance to get involved.

There is a special show on 16th of December at 1.30pm £5.50 from each of the tickets sold will go to Starthcarron Hospice …which is local to us. So please get behind this as it is a great cause.

Tickets for all the shows can be booked from Mugdock Country Park (0141-965-6100). The ticket are £6.50 for both children and adults. A paying adult has to be present and stay with the children during the performance.

If you want to find out more please email jojognome@gmail.com.

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The new JoJo Gnome book ‘JoJo Gnome and the Cake Contest’ will be on sale. There will be special show offers on JoJo Gnome goodies including the JoJo Gnome Mega pack for only £10 (book, colouring book & badge).

If you can’t get along to the show check out the online shop ‘All things JoJo Gnome’ on Etsy.

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Skye Book Festival 2017

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I was in Skye this year as part of the school programme at the Skye Book Festival with JoJo Gnome. I have been to this lovely island a couple of times before, but this time struck gold with the weather and was actually able to see the Cullins. The week before going to the school to visit , the pupils and I worked on a twitter story together which was amazing. I love working on these with the younger children as you can never predict where the story will go tweet to tweet. 12 tweets later we had the story of the Sad Monster.

As it turns out they are no strangers to a giant creature in Skye as it was used as a location for the BFG film recently and The Transformers Film – The Last Knight. The younger class at Macdairmid Primary P1-3 (all 12 of them) made me feel most welcome. On the Friday we finished the story and had lots of other JoJo Gnome sound fun. This included reading from JoJo Gnome and the Sound Machine, making up some dance moves and animating some monsters we had made. Have a look and enjoy!

 

It was really fun getting the local community to join in the fun on twitter and on the local police community twitter feed they ran a breaking news story about a child being chased by a monster on Skye.

 

Jo Blog 2If you have never been to the island of Skye I suggest you remedy that and make a visit sometime soon…or if you can’t make soon then wait for next year’s Skye Book festival and combine the scenery and the literary. It is a beautiful island and next year the Skye Book Festival is on again in September. It has the added bonus that if you get seasick… there is a bridge over from the mainland.

JoJo Gnome’s Fun Chatty Starters! (or learning prompts!)

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This month I have been posting on Facebook (@jojognomefun) on Instagram (@jojognome) and on Twitter (@jojognome) JoJo Gnome Challenges, questions, prompts, small games for parents and teachers to use. The idea is that these will stimulate a bit of fun time and give lots of chances to chat and share ideas. Nothing too long or in-depth …. no big projects or lots of prep. Short, sweet and fun!

Here’s a selection of what’s been happening. Please follow us on twitter and instagram… also like our JoJoGnome page on Facebook . The Facebook page also shares lots of fun projects and ideas for early years.

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Lookout of a fun interactive twitter story coming up soon. Also JoJo Gnome is off to Skye soon as part of the Skye Book festival.

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JoJo Gnome Questions & Challenges

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It’s holiday time and there’s lots to do … or not. So I’ve decided to come up with a mixture of JoJo Gnome summer challenges and questions just for a bit of fun. There will be a mix of physical, creative, indoor, outdoor and just plain bonkers!. So look out for them on this blog, Also catch up with JoJo Gnome on twitter @jojognome & @jojognomefun. Why not go onto Facebook and catch up with what JoJo is doing there too. On Facebook I try to share as many toddler and young children’s crafts as I can too from lots of different people. If pictures are your pleasure pop over and follow jojognome on instagram.

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Don’t forget to check out JoJo Gnome’s summer fun page.

 

JoJo Gnome Loves Tiree

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Where I go JoJo Gnome follows and this year we were once again on the beautiful Scottish Island of Tiree. This wee jewel is the perfect place for walking, writing and unwinding. It was also the place where I was convinced I should go on a bike again for the first time in over a year. The island is inspirational in so many ways and I always come away with lots of ideas. This year I have decided to have a summer fun page with some activities which the under 5’s ( and over 5’s too) might like to have a go at. These will include quizzes, sand drawing (check out video here), making your own postcards and videos to watch on rainy indoor days.

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Filming on the beach

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JoJo Gnome on Gott Bay, Tiree

For the sand drawing videos I decided to do some stop frame animation on Gott Bay, which is a wonderful 4km long stretch of beach. With a bit of help I managed to finish the video just before the tide came in (phew) and washed away all of the art work.

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Chocolates and Charms Tiree

I was delighted that the lovely gift shop in Tiree ‘Chocolates and Charms’ will now be stocking JoJo Gnome books and badges. Drop in for a wee look if you are on the island. Rebecca who owns the shop also make her own lovely silver jewellery and delicious hand made chocolates. There are lots of other treats there too including ‘soor plooms’ (a very Scottish wersh sweetie) and pocket kites (who can resist!).

JoJo Gnome visits Blackford Primary School

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I had a lovely time this week visiting the pupils at Blackford Primary School. I shared the book JoJo Gnome and the Sound Machine with the P1/2 class and in return they shared, with JoJo and I, their ‘soon to be’ butterflies….how exciting, looking forward to getting some pictures of them before they are released into the wild.

 

The fairies have moved under ground!

The fairies have moved under ground!

 

JoJo Gnome with a broom made of ... broom!

JoJo Gnome with a broom made of … broom!

The main reason for my visit was the catch up with their ‘Guardians of Garden’ group who look after the school’s fantastic wee garden along with Nicki Nightingale. She has worked with the children over several years to make this a very special place. Their garden includes a sound area, lots of herbs, a throne, a secret underground ‘fairy’ bit and a book cupboard. JoJo put a copy of The Sound Machine book into the their outdoor library so they can enjoy a quick story after the planting and digging.

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The exciting reason for the visit at this time is that the children are starting to get ideas together for their JoJo Gnome inspired planter which they will be entering at Gardening Scotland schools competition this June..It will feature their own characters Blackford Bob and Blackford Bailey… great fun. They have been successful in past years with their gardens, so JoJo and I have fingers crossed for you for 2017. I’ll let you know how they get on.

If you want to read the book, JoJo Gnome & the Sound Machine, which inspired the children then you can buy it here.

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Sow & Grow with JoJo Gnome

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Even though it was pouring down today we had great fun planting seeds at our local charity plant sale. Mia, Lucy and Millie were three budding gardeners who rose to the challenge. Seeds were planted and laminated plant labels made. Looking forward to seeing how big those sunflowers grow! Remember there is a Sow and Grow with JoJo Gnome ebook!

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Looking back on Easter

There was a lovely round up of pictures taken by the Milingavie and Bearsden Herald of our Easter Story Fun Event. Can you spot anyone you know?

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JoJo Gnome’s Easter Story Fun

 

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We had such a lot of fun at JoJo Gnome’s Easter Story Fun this Easter Weekend. Lots of stories were told, we all climbed the magic Easter Egg plant and of course made Ester Egg puppets and had them dance. We even had a visit from the local paper.  Enjoy the photos from the event and the children’s film below.

 

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If your looking for more Springtime JoJo Fun check out our activities page.You’ll find films, a sound hunt and colouring.

Springtime Fun

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JoJo Gnome’s Easter Story Fun

There’s still time to get tickets for JoJo Gnome’s Easter Story Fun at Mugdock Country Park on 15th April. Lots of fun and stories guaranteed. Join in the spring sound quiz, listen to JoJo Gnome’s Sound Machine and find out what happens when we all plant JoJo Gnome’s magic beans! Round off the session by making an Easter Egg puppet and having it dance in a film with JoJo Gnome. I will let the parents have a link to where the film will sit so they can enjoy that special Easter treat. JoJo Gnome books and badges will be on sale at the event. Tickets are £5.50 and can be booked in advance from Mugdock Country Park on 0141-956-6100. There are a limited amount of tickets on sale on the day.

Springtime Fun

JoJo Loves Spring

If you are looking for some fun activities then check out our Spring Fun page packed with films, things to make and do and even colour in.

Skye Book Festival

I am so excited to be able to tell you that JoJo Gnome and myself will be taking part in the Skye Book Festival in September this year. Will let you know more about what we are up to later …but you will be able to follow the twitter story we write with the children in Skye. Exciting times!

 

Amazing Aviemore Authors!

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What a great time I had last week when I visited the Primary 1 classes at Aviemore Primary School. The weather was an almost tropical 12 degrees and there was no sign of snow except right at the top of the Cairngorms. Mrs Dallas’s class had been writing all week on twitter with me, a story called ‘Learning is Fun!” It is all about what happens when 3 aliens visit their school. On the day I visited we finished off the story together.

What amazing imaginations these young people have. I learned Mrs Dallas is very keen on stories and the class are always coming up with new and exciting ideas.

JoJo Gnome & I enjoyed visiting Aviemore Primary school and sharing the animated film ‘JoJo Gnome and the Cake Contest‘. Primary 1 still had enough creative juice flowing at the end of our session to do some cake animations of their own.

Thanks again for having me at the school…it was great fun!

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Easter Storytelling Eggstravaganza

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I am delighted to be able to tell you we are doing 2 Easter themed storytelling sessions at Mugdock Country Park (near Glasgow) on Saturday 15th April. There will be lots of stories, quizzes and making easter eggs dance! More information on JoJo’s Event page.