little ones

Every Tuesday, Bright Beginnings Children Centre in St Sampson's hosts a free stay-and-play session for parents at a loose end as to what to do with their little ones.

"It's amazing that this immunisation will now be offered to young babies around the country. I hope we will see fewer little ones in our hospital this winter."

But with the messy, strained “Smurfs” on offer this weekend, a tired parent may want to bail early and find a last-minute sleepaway camp to shove the little ones off to instead, because this latest big-screen version of the cute-culture behemoth may test your tolerance for all things wee and cerulean.

"We got to pay off some debts and stock up the fridges and the cupboards, food for our little ones, especially with the economy and stuff like that here in New Zealand. Nothing's cheap these days."

"When you're looking for those very big dinosaurs, sometimes it's easy to overlook the smaller ones living alongside them. But now I hope people will keep their eyes close to the ground looking for these little ones," says Prof Barrett.