Tots to Teens: Cork on a Fork Festival is a recipe for a good time

Irish Examiner

19 hours ago

Have fun with food in Cork City from Wednesday, August 13, to Sunday, August 17. That's when Cork on a Fork Fest will take place, and its programme of more than 100 events and activities promises to serve up something for all ages.
The hands-on cooking classes will teach children how to make pizza, pasta, and sweet treats, like carrot cake balls, apple doughnuts, and smoothies.
Little ones will get their faces painted and get to try new foods at the Meet the Makers event hosted by local food producers. Elizabeth Fort will be the setting for outdoor family games and all sorts of street food.
There will be a garden party in Knocknaheeny Community Gardens, a honey-themed picnic in the Urban Pantry, culinary walking tours, and free cookery demonstrations, live music, family-friendly games, and a food market on Emmet Pl.
That's just a taster of what you can expect.
Visit corkonaforkfest.ie or follow @corkonaforkfest on social media for the full line-up.
Baby keepsakes
Packing away clothes that no longer fit your growing baby can pull at the heartstrings. It can be sad to think they will never again be so little.
Vicky Crawford, from Leitrim, knows this particular heartbreak. It's what inspired her to set up patches.ie and create her unique memory bears.
There are personalised bears that are made to order from a carefully chosen selection of baby clothes that parents send to Crawford.
She cuts those clothes, sews them together, and stuffs them until she has a colourful and characterful bear.
Then, she sews on eyes, noses and smiles, attaches ribbons and ties, and embroiders a name and date of birth on to the sole of one of the bear's feet. She even attaches a patch pocket for future visits from the Tooth Fairy.
The bears cost €110 and can be ordered directly from patches.ie.
Mystery story
Solve It! The Case of the Missing Irish Crown Jewels, the latest book by the Navan children's writer and primary school teacher Kieran Fanning
If your child fancies themselves as an amateur sleuth, treat them to Solve It! The Case of the Missing Irish Crown Jewels. This is the latest book by the Navan children's writer and primary school teacher Kieran Fanning, and it features Detective O'Malley and his sidekick, a seagull called Twist.
O'Malley and Twist are trying to figure out who stole the Irish crown jewels from Dublin Castle. But they need help. All of the suspects who were filmed fleeing the scene on CCTV have now scattered across Ireland.
Readers must assist the detectives in uncovering clues and solving puzzles so they can capture the crafty crook.
The book is published by Gill Books and costs €11.99.
High expectations
Djeco Sealife height chart
Keep track of your children's growth spurts with this colourful Djeco Sealife height chart.
This numbered chart allows you to start when they are mere babies, measuring from 60cm tall, and continuing to when they are 1.4m-high teenagers.
It comes with stickers on which you can write children's names, dates and ages, and makes for a gorgeous gift or decorative item to hang in a child's bedroom or playroom.
It also comes with a pretty box to store it as a keepsake once the children are grown up.
It costs €19.95 and is available from www.littleones.ie, a traditional wooden toy and children's gift store run by mother of three Fiona Ryan in Ennis.
Medical advice
Looking for no-nonsense, evidence-based information about child development, health, and safety? That's exactly what you will find on the Instagram account of Cork paediatrician and mother of two Dr Niamh Lynch.
At @dr_niamh_lynch, she posts on topics such as the recent listeria outbreak in Ireland, sun safety, febrile convulsions, choking hazards, and how to avoid them, eczema and developmental milestones.
Her tone is calm, and she presents information in a way that is reassuring and easy to understand.