#doyoucatan with your friends and family? We have been playing Catan for over 20 years now, in fact we had the honour of meeting the incredible creator of this award-winning boardgame, the late Klaus Teuber, many years ago. Catan will see players guiding their settlers to victory by trading resources and building roads, settlements and cities. The interchangeable board setup means no two games are the same! At this year’s Comic Con Africa, Unplug Yourself will be hosting the 2023 Nationals event where the winner will be jetting off to the 2024 Catan World Championships. Join us Unplug Yourself ..read more

The one thing that has stood out to me on my own journey of motherhood has been change. As your child grows so do you as their mother and while entering different seasons of their childhood and your own motherhood may at first seem scary you will soon realise that the only constant in being a mom is change. As I enter my twelfth year of being married I found myself surprised that I was shopping for valentines presents, not for my husband, but rather for my two children, their teachers and a few of their special friends. I find myself buying food for a special breakfast not for myself and my si ..read more

Pokémon Scarlet gives you the opportunity to explore a new open-world adventure, journeying through the vast Paldea region that encompasses lakes, mountain ranges and even peaks. You’ll be able to choose between Sprigatito, Fuecoco or Quaxly as your first partner Pokémon. But there are plenty of Pokémon to discover and add to your Pokédex, an encyclopedic record of Pokémon, along the way. We enjoyed being able to study at the academy located in the region, meeting friends and teachers along the way to aid our studies. If customization is your thing you’ll be able to tweak your Trainer’s eyes ..read more

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe is new to the Nintendo Switch, and we’ve been having such fun with this platformer! Magalor’s spaceship has crashed on Planet Popstar, it’s up to Kirby and his friends to help recover all the ship’s parts all over Dream Land. There are various energy spheres to collect across each level, and the opportunity to replay it any time if you missed one and want to go back to try again. Kirby’s biggest drawcard is that he can inhale enemies to absorb their powers, and these copy abilities are where the game shines. From blowing enemies away with tornado to shifting ..read more

We’ve followed this little ladybird’s adventure on the farm, on holiday and even to the seaside, but now it’s finally time to find out What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas. The What the Ladybird Heard books have been one of our favourite picture book series to read together, always delightful to read aloud at storytime and often recited when we see a ladybird out and about! Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len are back, this time the troublesome duo is plotting to steal the children’s presents. But the ladybird has a good idea to stop the two thieves, and this time is helped out by a mouse, hamster ..read more

Splatoon 3 is a fast-paced shooter for the Nintendo Switch that features competitive online multiplayer battles as well as a story mode and horde-based co-op mode. We have spent most of our time with the game online, teaming up with other players in a squad of 4 in turf wars with another team of 4. You’ll need to shoot or paint to ink as much of your own and the competing team’s turf during short three-minute battles, with the team who has the most territory painted at the end of the round winning. This mode is lots of fun to play, it’s quite easy to pick up and play and won’t take long to mas ..read more

The Measure is a compelling and thought-provoking read from Nikki Erlick. The world as we know it has changed, the swift changes brought about by the arrival of very mysterious boxes which have been delivered to every person around the globe. Inside the box is a piece of string, showing the number of years that person has left to live. Some people choose to open theirs, others decide not to. But whichever choice is made, the ripples of that effect are felt. The lucky ones whose lives extend into old age are soon referred to as the long-stringers, and the unfortunate ones whose days on this Ear ..read more

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a fun new strategy game for the Nintendo Switch. We’ve loved exploring this new adventure with Mario, Rabbid Peach and their friends. We set out on a galactic journey to help defeat Cursa and save the galaxy. This mysterious entity is moving through the galaxy attempting to consume all the energy of the Sparks, powerful creatures formed by the fusion of Lumas and Rabbids. It’s a large game to explore (don’t worry you do unlock a teleport option), in addition to the main quest story there are lots of side quests that will keep you busy for a long time. The open ..read more

The Elephants of Thula Thula by Françoise Malby-Anthony is a rich, detailed account of the hardships experienced while running the Thula Thula game reserve. But despite the seriousness of the subjects highlighted within the pages, such as poaching and the red tapes of acquiring wildlife permits, you will find yourself laughing out loud at the funny antics of the animals in the reserve too (here’s looking at you Thabo!). I found myself giggling on more than one occasion as I read about the personalities of the different animals, and my children delighted in the re-telling of these stories on ou ..read more

If your children enjoy reading stories about animals then be sure to check out the new picture book Under the Baobab Tree from local author Roslynne Toerien and illustrator Julie Smith-Belton. Under the Baobab Tree tells the story of the many wild animals who call the bushveld home, each looking for a tree to help them with their specific needs. From elephants to owls, from leopards to ants, the animals discover that the large Baobab tree is the best. The rhyming tale then moves on to discuss why the animals love the tree, and with wonderful illustrations for little readers to pour over this b ..read more