Tag: gifts for kids

Prsnt Gift Card

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

As Christmas gets closer, time is running out for purchasing that last minute gift. Prsnt have the perfect solution though – a gift card that’s an instant gift.

Unlike store bought gift cards, Prsnt is a personalised gift. It’s not just a monetary amount but you can literally gift a gift through the app to someone and they use the app to purchase that gift. There’s a catalogue on the app which allows you to choose what it is that you want to send and the receiver, once they download the app, can receive the gift whenever they want. We were given access to a Prsnt account which allows you to both send and receive gifts.

First, you need to sign up to the account using your phone number or your Facebook, Apple or Google accounts. Once your account is confirmed, the app brings you to a home screen where you can pick up a gift that’s been sent to you, or you can send a gift to someone in your contacts. They don’t need to already have a Prsnt account to receive it but the do need to download the app once they do. 

We were excited to see that the lovely team at Prsnt had already sent us a gift to try out the app! Under the Received menu, there was a gift waiting to be unwrapped.  You don’t see what it is at first, you just need to click on ‘Unwrap Prsnt’.  The app goes into a lovely display of what the gift is by allowing you to reveal it slowly on your phone by swiping away the ‘wrapping’ to reveal what the gift is. We had a lovely surprise of tea and cake from Costa Coffee waiting for us! 

There are over 200 High Street brands to gift from with presents already picked out.  Some of our favourites include a book at Waterstones, Jo Malone Candle, aftershave from John Lewis, cinema tickets from Odeon and hampers from Marks & Spencer. There’s conventional gift cards as well in case you don’t see anything you like. You can even add a video message or a written message as you send it, using just their mobile number. 

It doesn’t take long to send a gift and it means you can securely send something without having to know their home address or personal details. There’s a range of gifts available with more being added all the time. It’s economically more responsible too with there being no physical aspect to the gift card that can be lost, thrown away easily or forgotten about in a drawer.

Prsnt is a brilliant alternative to gift cards or spending time on sending individual presents and in today’s international market, you can send them to anyone, anywhere in the world!

More details can be found at: www.prsnt.co.uk

Tile Bluetooth Trackers for Back to School

Autumn, Birthday Gifts, Children, Family Life, Home, Home & Garden, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

As September approaches and many children will be starting a new school and indeed, many teenagers will be going off to university for the first time, there is a lot to remember. There is also responsibilities to take care of that weren’t there before. Tile have a range of fancy trackers that can help aid that responsibility and we were sent the Tile Pro and Tile Mate to try out – before school start again!

The Tile products work as trackers linked to an app on your phone (or website or device) whereby you can locate the Tile tracker and hence anything that it’s attached to. This could be a set of keys, car keys, purse or wallet, rucksack, sports equipment or even a car or wandering pet!  Once you have the app and sign up one Tile tracker then the possibilities become endless especially for someone who is always losing something…

The Tile Mate (£19.99) has a range of 250 ft (or 76 metres) which makes it ideal for finding anything in the house, but also for finding something left in the car whilst you’re still in the house, or if you’re at the office and wondering if your house keys are in the car outside.  The battery lasts up to 3 years although it isn’t replaceable but the use of the app is free. You can activate the ring on it from the app so that you can find it in a hurry and it’s water resistant too (which means it can be on the outside of a school bag and still endure the rain). This is great for kids going to school when they can’t find their PE kit or are always losing their house keys before they get home!

The next product up in the Tile range is the Tile Pro (£29.99). This tracker has a range of up to 400 ft or 120 metres, so much further and has more uses. All of the trackers can be used multiple ways thanks to the keyring design where they can be clipped to keys or kept in a pocket. The Tile Pro is especially good for car keys but as it has a larger range, I would use this at the airport to keep tabs on the luggage when it’s in the airport.  The Tile Pro is also great for keeping on toddlers and small children in busy places so that you can track them on your app if you need to. Think about a summer festival or busy park and 120 metres is a large area to be scouring to find a missing small person!  There’s a really loud ring on this Tile Pro too so you can hear it from much further away and it has a reciprocal button on it so if you, or your child press the button, it alerts the app on the phone it’s attached to. If you have a Year 6 child at primary school this year, the Tile Pro is often enough range to track your child to and from school if you live close enough, and ensures you know where they are at all times.

Tile Mate and Tile Pro available from the Tile online shop at: https://www.tile.com/en-gb

Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win Board Game

Birthday Gifts, Children, Easter, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Home, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I know Ant & Dec are on our screens more often than not, but for a fan like me, their humour makes game shows and talent shows all the more entertaining. Their latest show, Limitless Win on ITV is already making the news for the amount of money they give away each week. The premise of the game is to answer number based questions as accurately as possible. If you are under the correct answer, you lose lives up to the correct answer and climb the ladder of money. If you are over the correct answer, you lose!

For example, using one of the questions from the game, can you answer: 

How many countries have a land border with Germany?

Answer: 36 (surprisingly!)

If you guessed 10 then you would still be in the game but would lose 16 lives (36-10) but if you guessed 37 your game would be over.  If you guessed 36 correctly though, you would climb the ladder of money and be able to walk away with the sum of money on the board (because you had a correct answer) or you could go on and win more money if you had enough lives – and you can win a limitless amount of money at that!

The board game works in a similar way. There are two teams, each team has a score dial and a score tracker. Place them opposite the money ladder at the gold starting space. There is also a gold cash out button which is placed between the two teams.

You can play with or without the internet – with the internet uses the QR code included with the game otherwise the lifeline question cards are included.  The Limitless Win question cards are divided into 3 piles depending on the number of rounds – it is suggested that you play in 3 rounds using all three colours of cards. As each card is played, the teams race up the money ladder until a team runs out of lives or gives an answer that is more than the exact answer. There is more to the rules which are explained really well with the board game but you get the idea.

The game can take as little as 25-30 minutes if all is running smoothly and you can just two people playing (one on each team) or even up to 3 people on a team is manageable.  There’s over 600 questions and an extra QR code on the box to access more lifeline questions and soundtracks. It is for ages 8+ years but adults will find this really entertaining and easy to play especially if you’ve seen the show.  We really enjoyed having a go at the questions and trying to get the exact answers but with a time limit, it’s just as nerve wrecking as it looks on TV!

Available from £24.99 at: https://www.gingerfox.co.uk/products/ant-decs-limitless-win-board-game

Just Spices DIY Chocolate Kit

Birthday Gifts, Children, chocolate, Easter, Family Life, Gifts for children

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Easter is now synonymous with chocolate, or at least it is in our house! It’s also the end of Lent, which often is a time for giving up chocolate in most households.  This Easter, you can indulge in chocolate as well as keep the children happy during the holidays with this alternative to an Easter Egg – the Just Spices DIY Chocolate Kit.

The kit contains two chocolate silicone moulds, clear wrappers and cardboard packaging, a booklet on how to make chocolate bars and 11 spice sachets.  The spice sachets, which Just Spices are famous for, include Peppermint, Pink Pepper, Ceylon Cinnamon and more unusual flavours like carrot and Anise. If you’re into gourmet chocolate, you’ll know that all the big chocolate houses are now doing flavoured chocolate bars as well as boxes of your favourite flavours, so these spices will go down a treat with the whole family!

The handy booklet that’s contained in the kit talks you through everything that’s needed and how to make the chocolate. It’s worth noting at this point though, that the kit doesn’t have the chocolate included – you have to purchase that yourself. You also need a saucepan and heat-proof bowl, kitchen scales, a spatula and a kitchen thermometer. The booklet calls it ‘The Ultimate Guide’ to getting started making chocolate and takes you on easy to follow steps through the process. The first step is to heat the chocolate you’ve bought and make sure that it doesn’t overheat otherwise it spoils! Taking the chocolate to the right temperature is crucial and make sure that that the chocolate doesn’t come in contact with the water.

Once you read up about getting the temperature right (I had no idea that was an art in itself!) then you can add the spices. There is an art to this as well, making sure that the spices are added before the chocolate gets too cold and placing it in the silicone mould. It needs to harden at room temperature before it goes into the fridge to set completely. The chocolate is best eaten at room temperature but you can keep it in the fridge or a pantry cupboard.

The whole process takes an hour or so if you’re following the instructions and can be completed by children, especially young teenagers who are supervised around the hot saucepan. Smaller children will need to be brought in at a later stage when the heating is done, but they will enjoy mixing in the spices and smoothing off with a spatula. It will depend on your children’s patience as to how long they are willing to wait for the chocolate to set, but you can guarantee they will love licking the chocolate off of their fingers when they’re finished!

The silicone mould can be used again and again and the spices are available on the Just Spices website if you need more. The packaging is a nice edition but you don’t need it for every time you make the chocolate, only if you’re giving the bars as a gift.

This is a nice way to spend an afternoon with the family or as a give to a family at Easter. Those who are particularly good at crafting will enjoy this starter kit and how the chocolate process works, especially if you go on to make more varieties of flavoured chocolates in the future using the Just Spices ingredients!

£29.99 at: https://www.justspices.co.uk/diy-chocolate-kit.html

Host Your Own Family Quiz Night

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Home, Learning, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Christmas is the time of year when we not only give and receive board games, but old games are brought out, new plays are established and memories are made in families.  The cold days where children can’t play outside as much and dark weekend evenings when Nan and Grandad come round for dinner also help foster the fun at family time.  Along with all the old favourites, Cheatwell have the Host Your Own Family Quiz Night board game – a variation on the typical ‘pub quiz’ type games but in the form of a board game.

For ages 8+ years and at least 2 players, the question cards are divided so that there is one multiple choice question for younger children and one challenging question for older adults and children to answer. The questions aren’t related either, so the topics are also aimed at the different audiences. The topic include People, Science and Nature, History, Movies, TV, Geography and Pot Luck.  Each player rolls the die to move along the board and lands on a square with a question topic. The aim is to get to the end of the board and answer as many questions as possible first to be the winner.

The game takes longer with fewer people taking part but you find that there are a lot of discussions with younger children when it comes to answering their questions. Some of the questions, especially about TV are Britain-centred so if there is anyone in your family who didn’t grow up here or isn’t familiar with some aspects of British life, then they are going to be at a disadvantage. Maybe that’s a good thing in some families!  It is great fun though and I thought the questions were really well pitched for children and adults alike.

Available for £18.49 at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheatwell-Games-Family-Quiz-Night/dp/B08TXWBRBT

Host Your Own Race Night Board Game

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Father's Day, Games, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I had heard of Host Your Own Race Night from friends who have played it before and explained what a fun idea it was and how it worked, so when I was given the opportunity to test it, it seemed like the perfect Saturday night in with the family!

Host Your Own Race Night is a board game based on betting on horse races. Instead of having to go to a race meeting, the game is hosted at home with the use of 2 DVDs of 32 races. As a team, you choose which race you want to play, then you are given a Race Form Guide to study the form of each horse and then you place your bets using the race cards provided. At the end of the race, check the results and the winner collects their winnings in the form of (albeit fake!) ‘cash’! At the end of the game, the person with the highest amount of cash wins!

The races are hosted on a dry-wipe board and the pen is included so you can use the board and the race cards over and over. I would have a rag or something similar handy so that you can clean the board between races easily.  You might not have a DVD player any longer so hunt one down before you invite others to come over and play, but some laptops with CD/DVD drives can still play them.

The game instructions are easy to understand and it’s a game for the whole family from teenagers up to grandparents.  Kids will love the fake money too! The game is set for more than 2 players and I would say that this is great for about 6 players ideally.  It is a betting game though, and you probably shouldn’t encourage smaller children to play so the starting age of 14+ years makes sense. You can play just a couple of races or all the 32 races and make a night of it, plus the races are reasonably short so you can stop and start the game for interruptions. This would be a good game for New Year’s Eve for instance, where you might not want to watch TV but you do want to switch it on and off for different celebrations etc. 

It’s great fun, and some family members get really involved in it whilst others are more passive and play for the game rather than the amount of winnings. It’s how much you bet on each horse in each game that makes the game different each time. You don’t need to be a horse racing expert to know how to play or be able to enjoy it, but horse race followers will love it!

Available on Amazon for £20.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheatwell-Games-23250-Host-Night-2/dp/B07F88XD7Y

Taco Vs Burrito The Card Game

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Home, Learning, secret santa, Stocking Fillers, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’re looking for a different card game to play this Christmas or to give as a gift, Taco vs Burrito ticks all those boxes. A game for 2-4 players, it can be played by any age (although it’s recommended from age 7 years upwards), this strategy game is for all the family. It only takes a few minutes to learn how to play and each round is only about 15 minutes long.

Invented by 7 year old Alex, the game has causes a storm with its whacky but fun cards. The game has won numerous awards including Best Family Fun Tilillywig Award, Winner of Hot Diggity Award 2021, and winner of National Parenting Product Award 2021. There’s been over 500,000 units sold worldwide already and 17,500+ 5-star awards from users. All from the imagination of a small boy whose parents started a Kickstarter appeal for funding for him, to make his dreams come true.

How to play: each player is given either a Taco or a Burrito (hence the name) as a basis of the game. Using the 5 cards dealt to you, each player either adds a weird ingredient card from their hand (such as fresh brains or chocolate covered shrimp) or an action card. The aim of the game is to build up a disgusting meal with ingredients cards that have different point values, then use the action cards to either increase the points value of your meal, or smash the value of your opponent’s meal. There’s also the Hot Sauce Card which doubles the value or your meal or that of other players when you play it against them.

As the game progresses, there’s other action cards such as the Tummy Ache card, No Bueno card (to stop the action of another player at any time), or the Health Inspector. If you get the Health Inspector card, you have to play it immediately in the game, sending all the ingredients cards in your meal to the discarded pile on the table, never to be used again. That is unless, you have the Trash Panda card, which allows you to take any of the cards from the discarded pile and add it back to your hand.

The different variation of action cards to use against the ingredients cards are what make the game fun for everyone. The cards are colourful and easy to read and for little ones, it helps develop their reading skills as well as taking turns in play.  The different type of action cards take a little while to get used to so I would have an adult sit and play until they all get hang of the game rules.  It’s great fun though, and everyone understood how to play with each consecutive game, so this is perfect for Christmas time board games!

Available on Amazon from £24.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taco-Burrito-Popular-Surprisingly-Strategic/dp/B07JZTBV9C/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2CBW8R4GRTDFZ&keywords=taco+vs+burrito+card+game&qid=1694957554&sprefix=taco+vs%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-5

Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Home, Stocking Fillers, Winter

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Are you the type of family who open advent calendars in the morning before school? When coming in after school? Or do you wait until after dinner to indulge in the daily Christmas chocolate? In our house, we always had chocolate after dinner but now that I’m an adult I have to remind myself that I can have chocolate any time of the day, even when it’s not Christmas!

Cadbury make a whole range of different chocolates and this Cadbury Heroes Share Good Times is an ideal adult or teenage gift.  The Heroes range of chocolates include Eclairs, Fudge, Wispa, Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Twirl, Dairy Milk Caramel, Double Decker and Crème Egg Twist.  These are all the miniature varieties of the bigger bars but just as delicious and probably better for your health overall! They’re individually wrapped behind 24 windows and make up 230 grams in total of chocolate inside.

Probably aimed at older children, teenagers and adults, the variety of chocolate bars appeals to anyone who loves chocolate. Even if there’s one or two you don’t like, there are 9 different bars to choose from so you can guarantee there’ll be another one the next day that you will.  If like me you don’t usually buy chocolate bars throughout the year, you’ll be surprised what’s on the market now. I’d never seen Crème Egg Twisted before, and it’s been a long time since I had a Double Decker so these brought back memories!

I really like the idea of having so many different bars in one calendar, and yes, they are much smaller than the full sized bars but they’re just the same taste, and give the same chocolate hit I’m always looking for mid afternoon.  It’s reminded me how much I love a Fudge bar or Twirl and made me look forward to opening the next window in the Cadbury Heroes Advent Calendar throughout Christmas.

Available from £7.19 at: https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-heroes-advent-calendar.html

Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate and Chocolate Coins

Children, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Who here DIDN’T have chocolate coins for Christmas as a child?  Were they part of your stocking? Perhaps Gran gave you some chocolate as part of your Christmas present along with a few notes when you were a teenager?  I know I used to get a bar of chocolate at Christmas with something monetary sellotaped to it because that’s all I wanted by the time I was that age!

Cadbury have a range of chocolate gifts for every occasion and you’ll be pleased to know that their famous chocolate coins are still going strong.  Available everywhere for the festive season, there’s something nostalgic about getting the coins, then trying to prise open that plastic netting that I swear is stronger than steel… only to have to spend the next half hour delicately peeling off the foil from each of the coins before devour them. I’m not sure they were ever meant to be an exercise in dexterity, but the satisfaction of getting the foil off of a chocolate coin on one go without bending or tearing it is something every child should experience.

The Cadbury Snowballs Chocolate bar and grab bag are relatively new to the range.  Slightly crunchy shells are covered in a light dusting of sugar and filled with milk chocolate to give a contradictory crunch and smooth chocolate sensation.  Deliciously more-ish, they’re perfect for stockings, Secret Santa or as a part present for either adults or children. Whichever Cadbury chocolates you choose, don’t forget they won’t be around for the rest of the year, so snap them up when you can!

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-bar-110g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-mini-snow-balls-chocolate-family-sharing-bag-296g.html

https://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/cadbury-dairy-milk-chocolate-christmas-coins-bag-70g.html

Disney Dixit Board Game

Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Home

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Have you heard of the board game Dixit? I hadn’t until I saw this Disney Edition of Dixit, which is available from September 2023.  Intrigued, it looked like it could be a lovely edition to the household board games or a way of connecting with my Disney inner princess.

Dixit is a board game for 3-6 players. The object of the game is to play to get 30 points using the cards provided. Each player is a ‘Storyteller’ in turn and hands out 6 cards to all the players including themselves.  Using the game board, each player has a game piece and a set of voting tokens. The storyteller chooses one of their cards and describes it, so that the other players try and find one of their cards which fits the same clue. Placing their cards on the game board, they are then shuffled and revealed. Using the tokens, players vote on which card they think is the original Storyteller’s card. Depending on whether they are right or not depends on how many points they score on the board, and hence the game is won on points up to 30.

It sounds complicated when written down but once you play in the different stages (guessing, voting then scoring) it becomes easier, and the instructions are easy to follow and easy to refer to during the game.  The cards and tokens are all beautifully illustrated in Disney scenes from well known movies.  The game pieces are also based on Disney characters such as Tinkerbelle and the Genie from Aladdin. 

As a game, it’s aimed at ages 8 upwards and is describes as being around 30 minutes long. I think it can take a lot longer than 30 minutes per game, depending on how well everyone describes their card, or in certain cases, you might end up with a whole song or scene acted out in order to illustrate!  The Disney Dixit game needs some imagination, perhaps some patience with younger children and crucially a knowledge of Disney and Pixar movies in order to play fully. I’m not familiar with that many newer Disney movies so it was more difficult for me, but children growing up today or with a love of Disney characters will be able to play this game much better. It’s fun, it’s creative and it’s every Disney Princess’ dream Christmas Present that can be played by the whole family.

Available online from £32.99 at: https://www.asmodee.co.uk/products/asmlibdixdis01uk_dixit-disney?_pos=2&_sid=1e6a5a03d&_ss=r

Hey Doodle Reusable Colouring Mat 

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Gifts for children, Home, Learning, REUSABLE, Stocking Fillers, Toys

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Keeping children occupied with quiet toys often resorts to screen time.  It’s not easy to carry around a bag full of toys as well as snacks, change of clothes and any other emergency items you might need, but instead of resorting to your phone, there are other options. Hey Doodle have a range of reusable and educational toys which are lightweight and easy to use, including these Hey Doodle A4 colouring mats.

Included in the tube of this ‘Into The Wild’ scene is a silicone mat, pre-printed with animals of the alphabet with the letters in traceable format. There’s also three colouring pens to be used with the toy, where children can trace the letters and then colour in the animals next to it.  After it has been coloured in, you can wipe clean the mat and start again.

This is a great toy for going on holiday and especially for long journeys.  There’s enough to do on the A4 sized mat that will take the average 3-5 year old enough time that they don’t get bored, and if they make a mistake, you can just rub it out and start again. Over time, you can see how well their colouring and letter skills improve if you take a photo of it each time they finish.

The mat is not only for learning about animals, the alphabet and colouring.  Whether blank or drawn on, you can ask questions about the animals, ask children to point to specific letters or work on the mat together to create some bonding time too.  This ‘Into The Wild’ mat is one of a series of topics including Dinosaurs and Aussie Animals which can also be purchased as a bundle for £39.99. If you’re more stationary, there’s also a range of bigger mats which are great for indoor play, but these A4 sized mats, which come in a tube to make them easier to carry with the pens, are fabulous for stockings. They can also be posted easily because of their very light weight.

If you’re conscious about the environment too, the Hey Doodle set of toys are completely re-usable so that not just one child but all the kids can make use of it again and again – no need to repeat buy colouring books or keep printing from the internet! It saves paper and cleaning the mats is super easy with just a household damp cloth. If you want to leave them overnight to soak in a sink of water, it also makes for a fun experiment with little ones the next morning to see how the water has eaten away the colours!

Hey Doodle have some lovely ideas for gifts, especially for Christmas and the A4 Silicone mats are brilliant for children aged 3+, and adults too!

Available from £14.99 at: https://heydoodle.uk/products/intothewild-mm

PLAYin CHOC Christmas Collection

Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Plastic free, Toys, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Organic Chocolate and Surprise Toy!

Decision making time is here when it comes to Christmas presents! It’s always difficult to find toys and treats for children which are more sustainable, have less additives and preservatives and are hopefully healthier than some items in the shops.

PLAYin CHOC are the modern alternative to Kinder Surprises.  They’re boxes of individually wrapped chocolates with a pop-out, make your own toy made of cardboard, and an information card with facts.  Aimed at children aged 3+, they provide a treat as well as an educational toy which they put together themselves.

The PLAYin CHOC chocolate is organic, dairy free, nut free, gluten free and the toys and packaging are all plastic free.  The chocolate is sweetened with coconut sugar (coconut is not a nut but actually a fruit) and the creaminess of the chocolate comes from creamed coconut.  There’s only cacao solids and vanilla pods which make up the rest of the ingredients of the chocolates.  

We were sent a selection box of 6 PLAYin CHOC ToyChoc boxes in a collection for Christmas.  Each box contains two chocolates of 10grams each, individually wrapped in compostable film.  The toy is a 3D puzzle which pops out from the cardboard pressing and is assembled with little hands, and all the toys are on a Christmas theme.  There’s also a fact card with each box which relates to the puzzle your child has made, giving them that extra entertainment.

These are lovely presents for Christmas – either on the Christmas table to keep children entertained, in the car on long trips or even in crackers. As they’re all compostable and recyclable as well, they fulfil the environmental check list too.  These PLAYin CHOC boxes would be great as stocking fillers too, in the knowledge that each box doesn’t contain that much chocolate that it will spoil Christmas lunch, nor will children get hyperactive because there aren’t any additives involved. Christmas morning, making toy puzzles out of cardboard cut outs is much more preferable to the sirens and bells of other toys and games!

Is the chocolate any good? Well, I’ve tried PLAYin CHOC before and even tested the difference between them other High Street chocolates. There is no coconut taste, but PLAYin CHOC is slightly less sweet than other brands, probably because there is no added sugar, just coconut sugar.  There’s still the creamy texture of chocolate, and of course, the cocoa makes sure that you still get your chocolate hit!

Gift sets will be available for £13.50 for 6 at: https://playinchoc.com/collections

Joe & Seph’s Popcorn Ultimate Night In Gift Box

Birthday Gifts, Children, Easter, Family Life, Father's Day, Food & Drink, Gifts for children, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Home, Home & Garden, Lunchbox Fillers, Mother's Day

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Whenever I buy Joe & Seph’s Popcorn, my friend Lisa always asks me, “Have you got any more of that posh popcorn?” so when we were offered the Joe & Seph’s Ultimate Night In Gift Box, I knew we had to review it!

The box is priced at £12.50 with three different flavours of popcorn; Salted Caramel, Caramel & Belgian Chocolate Popcorn and the slightly different Milk Chocolate Popcorn Bites. The Bites are different because they are cups of chocolate with a piece of popcorn set in them. These were particularly nice because the chocolate and popcorn worked together well, and we had them in the fridge as little snacks to eat throughout the day!  The chocolate was particularly good quality too which made them more of a treat. 

The Salted Caramel and Caramel & Belgium Chocolate Popcorn were for us to enjoy after dinner on a Friday.  Both of the flavours are favourites of mine so I was keen to try them.  The Salted Caramel is not as ‘salted’ as you might think, but more caramel. I love Joe & Seph’s popcorn because it’s not sticky at all, and the Salted Caramel flavour is no exception. You can pick it up and hold the popcorn without it melting in your hand or feeling sticky which makes it much easier to handle as well as easier to share.  The quality of the popcorn itself is much better than your cinema popcorn because there are minimal kernels and unbaked pieces of corn.  In fact, there’s no un-popped corn pieces at the bottom of the bag, so all you get is proper, fluffy popcorn!

The Caramel & Belgium Chocolate Popcorn was my favourite of all the flavours.  Layered in a light coat of chocolate, you can taste the Belgium chocolate straight away, and the second flavour is the delicate caramel.  The see-through grab bags are easy to share, but just as easily pour into a bowl due to the shape of the bag.  

The Joe & Seph’s Popcorn Ultimate Night In Gift Box arrives in a presentation box to your doorstep, after being handmade and packed in London, but the boxes can be sent to anywhere in the country. Ordering on the website, you can also add a 60 character message, which makes it a great gift for anyone who loves popcorn, chocolate or snacks in general. I think this Ultimate Night In Gift Box works as either a Girls’ night in with some Prosecco, a movie and a bit of gossip, or as a gift for a teenager’s birthday, along with the Amazon gift card they all crave!

Joe & Seph’s Ultimate Night In Gift Box costs £12.50: https://www.joeandsephs.co.uk/gifts/gift-box-ultimate-night-in

Oclean Flow Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, health, REUSABLE, Tech

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’re looking for an electric toothbrush, you will be astounded at both the range available and the price of them! Oclean have launched a reasonably priced toothbrush at less than £25 which is both rechargeable by USB and sonic.  They sent us one this week to try out.

The Oclean Flow toothbrush has everything you would expect but at that surprising price.  It has Sonic Technology, so that’s sonic speed to the brush oscillation which is 38,000 strokes per minute. It has 5 easy to use brush modes (Morning, Night, Standard, Whitening and General) with a 2-minute smart timer. Flicking through each of the modes is just at the touch of the one on/off button so there isn’t anything complicated to learn or read up about in order to get your routine. You can even do two of the modes back-to-back if you want to go the extra mile.

The toothbrush comes with one brush head which is made of DuPont bristles. I liked the bright orange bristles, which make it much easier to see in the dark mornings! They also act as an indicator to let you know when the brush head needs replacing.

Charging is easy with the USB Type-C lead which comes with the toothbrush. The Type-C port is at the base of the toothbrush which is accessible from a lid which flips open. You know when there is 10% or less charge left in the toothbrush because the round button flashes red to indicate it needs charging. One single charge can last up to 25 weeks though with morning and evening brushing.

When using it, the instructions give you a warning that it may make your gums tingle if you haven’t used an electric toothbrush before, but as I usually do, it wasn’t a problem for me. I liked the firmness of the bristles and how easy it is to use especially with just one control button and nothing too complicated for late at night or early in the morning. The same goes with the 2-minute timer so you don’t have to think much. My teeth were left clean and fresh afterwards, as you would expect!

It is surprising that this brush is so cheap and that it’s aimed at adults and teenagers because it’s rather sophisticated for what it can do, but easy to use. I think most children would be able to use it easily, and the white look and packaging makes it universal for everyone.  Perhaps good for taking on holiday, especially with such a long charge amount and the ability to charge from a USB outlet? It’s a fabulous present for anyone and looks like it’s a lot more expensive than it is!

Available for £21.10 at: