As a family we've not really played with robotic Artificial Intelligence pets before. I've seen the original Teksta puppy being demonstrated, but being sent one of the new generation of Micro Pets was my first change to get my hands on one of these little cuties and try it out for myself. We were sent Raccoon variant of the new Teksta Micro Pets Adventure Park and what you get inside the box is the interactive pet raccoon, plus several pieces of track that can be fitted together, and a ball for your new pet to play with. Now, let's start with the track. This is made of plastic and ... read more
Review: Ravensburger Thomas Giant Floor Puzzle
Master C is absolutely train mad at the moment. One of his favourite things to do when out is pretend to be a train and make everyone with him be his "carriages" and run behind him from station to station. Every night I tuck him upon bed under his Thomas the Tank Engine duvet and most nights we're reading Thomas books as bedtime stories. It's therefore no surprise at all that he was delighted to sent this Thomas Giant Floor Puzzle to review by Ravensburger. With 24 pieces this puzzle is just about the right size of puzzle for Master C to tackle on his own now. He's had some jigsaws ... read more
Review: Brio Fire Station and Rescue Helicopter
In some ways Master C is such a stereo-typical boy. I never really got the boy / girl difference thing until I had one of each and the first time I found Master C crawling around the kitchen floor pushing a car in a way that I'd never seen Little Miss C play. It was really strange and almost a light bulb moment about the fact that boys and girls do indeed have something different inside their brains which means that they play in different ways. When it comes to emergency vehicles Master C is obsessed. If something goes past us on the walk to school with a siren or flashing lights then ... read more
Review: Ravensburger’s My First Clock
It's not just Master C that I've been trying to do educational stuff with this summer. Little Miss C hasn't escaped my attempts to be a good parent, so I've had her helping me to review Ravensburger's My First Clock which also comes from their Play & Learn range. The game consists of a clock with movable hands and 27 clock cards. Each off these shows a time on an analogue clock on one side and then on the reverse there is the same time shown on a digital clock. Now, what I find a tad strange about this is that the digital side shows the time twice, one for morning and once for ... read more
Meeting Num Noms at Bella Italia
My kids really love nothing more than coming on one of Mummy's work trip - mainly because they usually seem to involve food and getting to play with toys! I often wonder how they describe what I do to their friends and what sort of a warped version of events their teachers get. Thing is that the recent Num Noms Party at Bella Italia involved lots of food, activities and the biggest pile of Num Noms you have ever seen. Now I'll be honest and say that Num Noms had completely passed me by until now, but Little Miss C is no where near as ignorant as I am and instantly started jumping up and ... read more
Review: Opening Fairy Doors
Every since the tooth fairy came to visit Little Miss C for the first time she's been somewhat obsessed with fairies and in particular the idea of them appearing whilst she's asleep and leaving her notes to read when she wakes up. Opening Fairy Doors therefore seemed the perfect thing for her to kick off the school summer holidays with and she wasn't disappointed. The idea behind Opening Fairy Doors is that the set (there are three to choose from with different colours and different fairies) provides a miniature door, window, fence and mailbox and you can you can easily attach all these ... read more
Review: Clangers Squeeze and Whistle Tiny
Being woken up in the early hours of the morning to the noise of a swanee whistle coming over the baby monitor is a bit of a strange experience. That's the risk you have though when you get your little one a Clangers Squeeze and Whistle Plush - or at least it is with my son! Master C was super excited to unwrap a Squeeze 'n' Whistle Tiny and she has soon become a firm friend. After three years of just being attached to his favourite cuddly toy dog he's now started taking a huge interest in other toys and treating them like friends. Tiny Clanger was one of the first and certainly the ... read more
Review and Competition: GoldieBlox and The Spinning Machine
GoldieBlox has been a firm favourite toy in our household ever since we first got to play with it when it was launched in the UK last summer. Being the first real engineering toy aimed mainly at girls I was always going to take a keen interest in it and I've been very impressed with what I've seen so far. We were delighted therefore to be asked to specifically review GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine as it's probably my favourite GoldieBlox set. The main concept behind GoldieBlox is that girls learn slightly differently from boys and as such GoldieBox features a unique story approach to ... read more
Review: Wicked Uncle – Brilliant Children’s Presents
I was absolutely delighted when an email came through from Wicked Uncle asking if I'd be interested in reviewing some of their products. You see Little Miss C and Master C have three uncles in total - all of whom consider themselves to be wicked - and they've actually received a few gifts bought on the Wicked Uncle site before. I've always been impressed by them and when I spoke to one of the Uncles involved he was really pleased with them too, so I thought I'd give them a whirl myself. I was sent £40 to spend on the site and I have to be honest and say that at first I kind of assumed it ... read more
Review: Nick Baker’s Bug Safari from Interplay
We love all things nature based in this household, so when we were asked to review the Nick Baker's Bug Safari from Interplay I just knew that it would be perfect for Little Miss C. Her dad writes at UK Nature Blog and is forever finding interesting bugs and other creatures in the garden so this was a perfect opportunity for her to do similar. So, first of all here's what you get when you unbox it: Bug tongs Tweezers Field lens Viewing pot with magnifier lid Brush Instruction booklet with insect identification details in it LMC rushed out int the garden with it all ... read more