Anyone who knows me will know that I love everything vintage that relates to children. Especially books and toys. I therefore love this infographic from what2buy4kids. It's fascinating to see how things have changed over the years. But, at the same time, it's great to see how some firm favourites that are still played with regularly here. Master C is especially fond of his Hornby trains and Little Miss C still plays with My Little Pony dolls on a frequent basis. Which of these vintage (or more modern) favourites do you have in your home? ... read more
Review: Craft Time Mosaics
A recent house move combined with some grotty weather means I've been looking out for some small craft projects to keep the kids entertained on wet days at home. It was therefore perfect timing when I was sent a couple of Craft Time Mosaic kits to review. Little Miss C always loves anything crafty, and Master C's fine motor skills have been coming on in leaps and bounds recently, meaning that he too is actually now enjoying sitting down and completing something like this. We were sent two small kits to review - the kitten and the dragon. With the glittery mosaic stickers LMC wanted to ... read more
Brio Police Transport Set
It goes without saying that Master C loves trains and as I've said before, there's little that he loves more than being sent trains, or train related things, to help me review. Back in January I attended the Toy Fair in London and came home with a load of photos for him of the new Brio Police range that was due out later in the year. Ever since he's been asking about when he will get some "police trains" to review, and so I was delighted to recently be able to give him the new Brio Police Transport Set to test out. The concept of the set is that a baddie is trying to steal the gold on a ... read more
MOKURU – the latest trend hits the UK
When I was at school there was a girl in my A-level maths group who used to amaze me on a daily basis with her ability to twirl a pen on her fingers whenever she was thinking. In a way it was annoying, but it was just what Y did without even being conscious of it. She always use to tell me that it was something that everyone did back in Hong Kong, and strangely I'd forgotten all about it until a couple of weeks ago when I was sent a MOKURU to try out. This amazing wooden toy is perfect for anyone who has had enough of fidget spinners and wants to move on to the next craze that's sweeping ... read more
Ravensburger Bugs in the Kitchen #GoGadgetFree for National Unplugging Day
This Sunday (27 June 2017) sees us celebrating National Unplugging Day. A day on which parents are pledging to #GoGadgetFree and spend from sun-up to sun-down without technology. It's like a return to a previous time; a time when children weren't glued to screens all day long and played together either using their own imagination or playing a board game together. As part of National Unplugging Day we were asked to review Ravensburger's fantastic game Bugs In The Kitchen. Now I first saw this game when I visited the Toy Fair in London back in January. At the time I was blown away by how ... read more
Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Mystery Puzzle
Back before Christmas I was one of those parents desperately trying to get my hands on a Hatchimal without having to remortgage the house to do so. Unfortunately Father Christmas didn't come up trumps on this one and Little Miss C hasn't let me forget it. That's why, for her recent birthday, I made sure that I bought her a pack of Hatchimals CollEGGtibles which she loved. She was beyond thrilled when a few days later I produced a brand new Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Mystery Puzzle for her to help me review. The way these Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Mystery Puzzles work is that you get a 48 ... read more
Animating with StikBot #StikBot
Things were different when I was a kid... I know that is such a cliche, but as I come to write a review of StikBot Zanimation Studio it's a phrase that keeps going over and over in my head. When I was a child animation was those little flick books that you drew and Morph on the telly. That's as sophisticated as it got. And the though of ever managing to do something yourself that was anywhere near as good as Morph was just unimaginable. Fast forward twenty plus years and my kids now have StikBot to take their animations to a whole new level. Now I've been aware of StikBot for a while, ... read more
Discovery Kids Digital Walkie Talkies
With a year's family camping experience under our belt now we've learnt quite a bit about what sorts of things we should take with us on camping trips. Everything from a dust pan and brush to washing pegs. We've also learnt a fair bit about camping with children and in particular how the kids want to go and explore as much of the campsite as possible, yet it can at times be a bit hard to keep tabs on where they are, especially if on a large campsite. What we had spotted was lots of children having walkie talkies, either to talk to each other, or for their parents to be able to summon them back ... read more
How to buy toys cheaply with The Amazing Mystery Box
As a parent I'm always looking at thrifty ways to live life and provide for my kids. The truth is that family life is expensive and there always seem to be things that need buying. One area where I try really hard to save money though is when it comes to gifts - both for my own kids and for others - and hence I'm always after ways to buy toys cheaply. I'm often trying to pick up things that I know my kids wants for birthday and Christmas in advance when I see them in a sale or promotion, and I also have a "present cupboard" where I pop things that I pick up over the year that can then be used ... read more
Ravensburger Despicable Me 3 Jigsaw Puzzles
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only parent that is quite excited about the the new Despicable Me 3 film coming out this summer. The trailer seems to have been playing in the cinema for ages now, but you know the release must be approaching soon when you start seeing all the film merchandise in the shops. Little Miss C and Master C have been busy this last couple of weeks helping me review these Ravensuburger Despicable Me 3 Jigsaw puzzles. Like many Ravensburger puzzles this Despicable Me 3 one contains four separate puzzles: one with 12 pieces, one with 16, one with 20 and one with 24 pieces. ... read more