Master C is a five year old boy. It's therefore to be expected that he has an obsession with poo at the moment. It's one of his favourite things to shout out at inappropriate moments, and for about six months now he seems to have an obsession with calling me "Professor Poo Poo Pants". I'm trying to follow the parenting course advice of not reacting to the name calling in the hope that he will finally get bored and move on to something else. I'm not sure he ever really will though! I'm therefore not at all sure if agreeing to review the game Poopyhead with the kids was such a good idea. ... read more
Geomag Panels and Geomag Mechanics #geomag
When it comes to toys Master C and Little Miss C do love something that challenges the old grey matter. Master C's teacher has described him as a child who likes to understand how things work and he's always asking "why" questions to find out exactly why things do the things they do. LMC is in credibly good at following detailed instructions to build things or make them work, and then retracing her steps sometimes to identify where she might have gone wrong in an original build so that she can rectify a problem herself. Just this holiday she has been teaching herself to code I'm Scratch ... read more
David Williams The Boy In The Dress Jigsaw Puzzle – Review and Giveaway
As I sit here writing this blog post now St Albans is bathed in sunlight and there is a very, very light sprinkling of overnight snow on the ground. More snow is forecast for later on today, but as a northerner I'm not totally convinced that this isn't just the media getting their knickers in a twist about something and actually it's the kind of weather that all Southerners go to pot about, but Northerners just put on their big coat and get on as usual. The one thing that people do seem to be worried about (or looking forward to, depending on whether you're a child or an adult) is the ... read more
Brio Central Train Station and Bus and Train Station
Master C's love of all things rail just continues to grow and grown. Whilst it was originally limited to the trains themselves and pushing them around simple track layouts he seems to have been inspired by all the model train shows that B and I keep taking him to (and the railway modelling magazines that I find him reading in bed by torchlight!) and at the moment he is fascinated by railway infrastructure. Whether that be stations, points, sidings or "end of the line bits" as he likes to call them. He's started thinking much more about the whole passenger journey. How they get to a station, ... read more
Ravensburger Big Ben with Clock 3D Puzzle
Who doesn't love a puzzle? Well, after the success of the 3D Minions Sneaker puzzle that we reviewed last year for Ravensburger, this time we are going to try our hand at something on a bigger scale. Big Ben, in the form of this Ravensburger Big Ben with Clock 3D puzzle. Big Ben has obviously been in the news a bit lately as it's been silenced during a refurbishment. There's no scaffolding on this version of the London landmark though. This Big Ben with Clock 3D puzzle consists of 216 puzzle pieces and stands 41cm (that's 16 inches) high when complete. As the name suggests it also ... read more
Win Pass The Pigs and Pass The Pigs Party
What is it about pigs that makes then so damn cute? I know that they're animals that love mud and generally look rather dirty, but so many people love pigs, especially kids. As a child I remember being incredibly envious of a friend who had the Pass The Pigs game as it was quite simply so much fun. Pass the Pigs for Xmas! You’ll be snorting with laughter if you play with these piggy games for Christmas. The original party animals, Pass the Pigs, use hilarious pigs for dice. Will you roll a sider or start makin' bacon? Having fun with friends, on the road entertainment, or just chilling ... read more
Great British Sewing Bee Sewing Studio
Since moving house my sewing machine hasn't been out anywhere near enough. I have so many projects that I keep meaning to complete, but as usual there just aren't enough hours in the day. Or enough space on the singe table that we have in our living room. I know that it's only a matter of time though, and then I'll finally be able to crack own with some of the things I want to make. There must be patterns that I bought over a year ago that I haven't even made a start on yet. And the less said about the cot bed quilt that I started a lifetime ago the better. When Little Miss C first came ... read more
Thomas and Friends Smart Tablet
As you will all know by now. Master C is train obsessed. But it's an obsession that I regularly try to use to his advantage when it comes to teaching him things. For ages he wasn't at all interested in holding a pen or doing any sort of "mark making" as it's described in Early Years Foundation Stage documentation. Then he suddenly started wanting to draw trains, in particular drawing on carriage on each separate piece of A4 paper and then sticking them all together. This was swiftly followed by seeing track layout diagrams in some of my OH's model railway magazines and the next thing we knew ... read more
Morphy Richards Toaster and Kettle set
Role play is such a vital part of a child's development. Talk to any Early Years practitioner and they will tell you about what an important stage it is and why pre-schools, nurseries and reception classes all have role play areas and how much the children gain from playing in them. It's part of how they make sense of the world around them and understand their roles within the world. It stimulates their imagination, aids their social development and can also help children understand scenarios that they may have encountered in real life. For most children role playing home situations is ... read more
Ravensburger Despicable Me 3 Sneaker 3D Puzzle
What do you do with a completed jigsaw puzzle? For years I've loved doing jigsaw puzzles but then when you've finished them it's hard to know quite what to do with them. Ages ago I stayed in a little B&B in Brussels where all the walls were decorated with jigsaw puzzles. Massive ones that measured over a meter square. It was quite simply one of the strangest things I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure that normally you finish a puzzle, leave it on the table for up to a week and then pop it back in the box before moving on to another one. Fast forward to now though and jigsaws have moved on a ... read more