Online and in the shops: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

Colonel Chris Hadfield will be making a special appearance at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition tomorrow to sign copies of his new book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.

FAR OUT: Colonel Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut made famous by his interstellar rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, will be making a special appearance at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition tomorrow to sign copies of his new book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the exhibition, which opened yesterday, Dr Who’s Dalek and Star Wars R2D2 go head to head in a battle of the robots, a 3D Theatre is showing ‘50 years of space exploration’ and there are 550 projects from Ireland’s brightest young minds. Tickets are available at the door. www.btyoungscientist.com or call 1800 924 362

THINK BIG: To further inspire young minds, how about designing a music player for a giant, or a cooking utensil for a fairy. Having already fired the imagination with the award-winning Rory’s Story Cubes, Creativity Hub design duo Rory O’Connor and Anita Murphy’s new game is designed to inspire creative thinkers aged eight to 108. The Extraordinaires Design Studio, €34.95, featured on The Late Late Toy Show, can be played in single, or multi-player modes. Players role-play being designers, inventing products for the Extraordinaires characters who are drawn by some of Ireland’s top illustrators like Niamh Sharkey. www.extraordinaires.com www.littleones.ie

PLAY CREATIVELY: The Leigh Tucker Willow creative play range allows children explore their imagination through colour-in place mats and mobiles, play kitchens and doll’s houses and includes this sturdy spaceship which can be customised with crayons, markers, pencils and paint. Leigh Tucker Willow Cardboard Space Shuttle, €45, age 3+, is available in selected Dunnes Stores and www.dunnesstores.com

IT D-ELIVERS: Vitamin D’s most important role is maintaining blood levels of calcium, which it accomplishes by increasing absorption of calcium from food and reducing urinary calcium loss says Wholefoods nutritionist Nicola Murphy. She recommends Higher Nature 500iu for mums-to-be and new mums, as well as a good multi-vitamin for breastfeeding mums. Higher Nature Advanced Nutrition Complex, €6.20, for 30 caps and Higher Nature Vitamin D 500iu, €7.03 are available from health stores and pharmacies.