Tag: Creativity

Geomag

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Easter, Games, Gifts for children, Learning, Toys

Disclaimer: We received these products free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own

It’s not long until the Easter holidays and I have been thinking of ideas to keep my children occupied and to keep them off electronic gadgets. They love construction toys so I was really pleased to receive a couple of sets from Geomag which will certainly keep them out of mischief this Easter. Geomag is a popular construction toy which uses the power of magnets to build amazing structures using metal rods, spheres and plastic panels and it is so easy (and addictive) to do – the only limitation is your imagination!

Geomag is a great toy as the sets not only encourage hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills but are a fantastic way to encourage creativity and spark imagination, helping to form a love of science, puzzles and construction.

The E-Motion set  has all the parts needed to create a spinner – metal rods, spheres and square,  pentagon and triangular shaped panels. The instructions are simple to follow, and it didn’t take long to assemble the spinner. I was quite surprised at how long they spun for and we had great fun seeing whose design would spin for the longest. It was really easy to incorporate our existing Geomag sets with this to create different styles of spinners which really got the boys thinking about design and how to create the ultimate spinner. This is a great STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) toy as it combines harnessing the power of magnets in construction alongside the concept of movement.  

RRP £22

For little ones the Magic Cube Shapes Recycled Wheels set is the perfect construction toy. Consisting of magnetic shapes that are easy for little hands to hold, they attach to each other on all six sides. By using the invisible and magical properties of magnetism, children can create amazing models – one day we made dinosaurs, another day it was tractors and tomorrow will be something completely different!   

RRP £22.49

The Mechanics Gravity Loops & Turns is for older children and fits numerous STEM elements. The set contains 130 pieces that connect together enabling you to make a circuit for the spheres to be propelled around. The set uses the power of magnetism and gravity to move the spheres around the circuit and helps children learn about science. It took my 10 year old around an hour to build with a little bit of help from Dad and was surprisingly sturdy when finished. There are no batteries  which is always a bonus!

There are other circuits in the range so if you have a budding engineer in your midst then I can highly recommend this range.

£34.99

As well as being great toys I also love that everything is made from 100% recycled plastic. It’s great to see a big toy company being environmentally friendly.

Crayola Colours of Kindness

Birthday Gifts, Children, Easter, Family Life, Gifts for children, Learning, Spring, Stocking Fillers, Toys

Disclaimer: We received these products free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own

With Easter coming up I have been thinking about how to keep my children occupied in the school holidays. They really enjoy drawing and colouring so they will love these new Colours of Kindness products from Crayola.

The Colours of Kindness range are designed to inspire kindness, creativity and memories – each one has inspirational words on the barrel, perfect for the little personalities who are holding them.

The coloured pencils come in a box of 12 and the words of kindness are written in gold on the side of the pencil, the words include “Hello Sunshine” and “A Warm Hug” and are great for any budding artist.  The pencils are excellent quality, and they colour in very evenly, the leads seem nice and strong so perfect for heavier handed children.  

The washable markers have a fine tip and the ink flows beautifully, without being too wet, so they don’t bleed when colouring. There are 10 markers in the set in a lovely selection of spring colours, Crayola always have such lovely names for their colours and I love the green “Granny Smith Apple” and the purple “Wisteria”

The special edition 24 pack of crayons contains a fantastic array of colours which are perfect for any budding artist. Crayola always have lots of fantastic colours and there is a lovely selection of oranges, purples, pinks, greens and blues in this box.

The Colours of Kindness Colouring book is packed full of inspiring words and pictures to colour. I especially liked how the book has perforations so you can easily remove the picture, either to colour or to display once the picture is finished.

I really love the positive messages on these products, my eldest’s new favourite colour is powder blue with “sky’s the limit” whilst the youngest who loves purple is drawn to orchid with the “nurture nature” message

Colouring in is always a fantastic rainy day activity and Crayola have made it even better by embossing these wonderful and positive messages on the side of the pens, pencils and crayons. The children are loving them and they are the perfect way to keep them occupied in the Easter holidays