Tag: Learning through play

Galt Card Craft

Children, Easter, Family Life, Gifts for children, Learning, Toys

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

It’s a good job our mini reviewers enjoy crafts, as the weather at the moment is absolutely dreadful and we’re having to spend more time indoors than we normally do in the school holidays. With a couple of family birthdays coming up, a card making session with the Galt Toys Card Craft set kept our mini reviewers occupied and they have made some lovely cards, some of which currently have pride of place on their grandparents mantlepiece!

The set contains 10 cards and envelopes and a variety of patterned and plain papers and stickers, you can either follow the enclosed guide and use their designs or come up with your own creations. Wavy scissors, a heart punch and a couple of stamps allow you to personalise your cards and our mini reviewers especially loved using the heart punch to make lots of mini hearts to put inside the cards which fell like confetti when the envelope was opened, much to the girl’s delight!

The set is aimed at children aged 8+ and our mini reviewers aged 7 and 10 were able to make the cards with minimal assistance. With 10 different cards to make it kept them busy all afternoon and they both really enjoyed making them.

This set is a great introduction to card making and now we have the scissors, heart punch and stamps I’m sure all my family will be getting homemade cards for all future celebrations!

RRP £14.99 available here

Hey Doodle Toot Toot Honk Colouring Mat

Children, Christmas, Easter, eco friendly, Family Life, Gifts for children, REUSABLE, Stocking Fillers, Sustainable, Toys

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

We’re half way through the school holidays and it’s never stopped raining! Luckily our mini reviewers love colouring so have spent a good half hour or so each day quietly colouring in the vehicles on the Toot Toot Honk Hey Doodle MiniMat.  

The reuseable silicone mat comes with three coloured pens and unlike paper it doesn’t move about when you’re colouring it. The pens are lovely to use, they glide smoothly on the silicone and don’t bleed into one another when the colours are used next to each other. All the colours are nice and bright and when the mat is coloured  in it looks quite  impressive. If they do make a mistake it doesn’t matter as they are easily erased by wiping them away with a damp cloth.

 There are 5 different Minimats available – Toot Toot Honk, Dinoroar, Aussie Animals, Sugar & Spice and Into the Wild and each one is printed with illustrations that fit the theme along with either letters from the alphabet or numbers that can be traced over.

Once the mat has been coloured in the ink is easily removed with a damp cloth and you’re ready to start again. I did find you do need to apply a little pressure when removing the ink, especially if it has been left for a couple of days, so you may need to help younger children do this.

As well as being great fun, Hey Doodle colouring mats are better for the environment as they remove the need for endless sheets of paper that get thrown away afterwards.

Aimed at children aged 2- 7 these are a great way to keep the children (and adults) entertained during the school holidays. They also make great birthday gifts too!

RRP £14.99 available here

Hey Doodle Reuseable Silicone Mat – Dinoroar

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

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

If you are looking for last minute stocking fillers for younger children then the Hey Doodle reuseable silicone colouring mats sets are a great choice. Containing an A3 silicone mat and 9 colouring pens they are nicely packaged in a resealable pouch, making them it perfect for travelling or for popping in your bag when out and about. They’re also fantastic for keeping children occupied in restaurants and a much better option than resorting to electronic devices. I also find that our mini reviewers chat a lot more when colouring, which is far better than being glued to a screen and ignoring everyone else.  

The mat sits firmly on a table and is very easy to colour, the pens glide smoothly without smearing and seem to dry instantly so there is no bleeding when colours are used next to each other. All the colours are bright and vibrant and the mat looks very impressive when finished. The illustrations are fun and the A3 sized mat allows a few people to colour at the same time and as the mat is silicone any mistakes can easily be wiped away with a damp cloth.

There are 6 different mats available, Dinoroar, Aussie Animals, World Countries, Toot Toot Honk, Into the Wild and Sugar & Spice and each one is printed with illustrations that fit the theme along with dotted numbers, 1-10 which can be traced over, helping younger children learn their numbers. We received the Dinoroar mat, which as you have probably guessed is full of different dinosaurs and we’ve had lots of interesting questions about dinosaurs including where they lived, what they ate and why they became extinct so as well as enjoying colouring, we’ve learnt a lot about dinosaurs too!

Once the mat is coloured in it can of course be admired by everyone and then all you need to do is remove the ink with a damp cloth and you’re ready to start again. You do need to rub a little when removing the ink, especially if it has been left for a few days, so you may need to give little ones a little help with this.

Although there’s only images on one side of the mat, the reverse side can be used for drawing or games like hangman and noughts and crosses.

As well as being great fun, Hey Doodle colouring mats are better for the environment as you don’t need an endless supply of paper, simply wipe the colour off and start again.  

Aimed at children aged 2- 7 these are a great way to keep the children (and adults) entertained this Christmas

RRP £21.99

Modimi Paco the Pony Toy

Baby, Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, eco friendly, Gifts for children, Stocking Fillers, Toys

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

It’s almost November and with a large family to buy for I’ve already made a start on my Christmas shopping. I’m trying very hard to be more sustainable so I was really pleased to discover Modimi which are an eco-conscious modular toy system made from durable recycled plastic.

With six cute animals to choose from – Ellie the Elephant, Dexter the Dog, Paco the Pony, Ginny the Giraffe, Donny the Dinosaur and Dash the Dinosaur the toys are made from 100% recycled plastic and are packaged in a cardboard box with none of those annoying plastic ties that parents hate.

The heads are all a similar size and the legs are the same height meaning they can easily be interchanged to create new creatures. I especially liked the feet which squeak when you press down on them, bringing delighted squeals and giggles from our mini reviewers as we walked them across the wooden floor.

Modimi toys are designed to grow with your child so babies will enjoy the textures, colours and squeaks and older children will begin learning the animals, colours and shapes. Toddlers will have the most fun as once they work out how to pull the animals apart they can begin creating new creatures to play with.

I especially like how the joints are articulated, meaning you can turn the heads and bodies, allowing children to bring the animals to life when playing with them. The pieces snap together easily and our mini reviewers soon got the hang of pulling them apart and putting them back together. Each body part is brightly coloured and the textured raised shapes and crinkly fabric ears and manes are great for sensory play.

I’m really impressed with Modimi toys, they are not only great fun they are educational too, helping with fine motor skills, dexterity and encouraging role play and they will make great gifts for babies and toddlers this Christmas.

RRP: from £9.99 and available from Tesco

Suitable for ages: 10m – 3years

ToucanBox Halloween Crafts

Autumn, Birthday Gifts, Children, Gifts for children, Halloween, Learning, Subscription Boxes

Disclaimer: We received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review but all thoughts an opinions are our own

October half term can be quite cold and wet so it’s good to have a few rainy-day activities up your sleeve to keep the children occupied. With Halloween at the end of the month these Halloween craft packs from ToucanBox are a great idea to keep the children entertained and away from the electronic devices!

If you haven’t heard of ToucanBox before they are a flexible art and craft subscription box aimed at children aged 3-8 years old. The boxes are inspired by the school curriculum to develop cognitive, social and motor skills and each box contains all the materials and inspiration you need for 2 different craft projects, as well as instructions, stickers and a great magazine that has even more puzzles and activities to enjoy. The step by step illustrated instructions are very easy for younger children to follow and depending on the age of your child, require minimal assistance.

WACKY SCIENTIST’S GHASTLY LAB

This pack contains everything you need to construct a wacky scientist’s lab which can be decorated with ghastly specimen stickers. 

FACE FLIPPIN PHANTOM GLOWING GHOST LANTERN

This pack contains everything you need to make a ghostly lantern which makes a great Halloween decoration.

Both packs contain the Halloween magazine and the activities inside cover STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Maths). Children will enjoy creating a bubbling cauldron and making paper mâché pumpkins as well as baking some Scrummy Mummies biscuits along with other Halloween themed activities.

I was really impressed by the contents of the packs and the fact that they contain everything you need for the craft – a real winner for busy parents! Take a look at their website for more Halloween crafts ideas to keep the little monsters occupied over half term!

RRP £12.95 with 20% off if you buy 2 Halloween packs

Orchard Toys Countdown to Christmas Activity Book

advent calendar, Books, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Stocking Fillers, Toys

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

As thoughts turn to Christmas I’ve been looking out for Christmas themed books to keep our mini reviewers occupied in the lead up to Christmas. We are big fans of Orchard Toys as they make fun educational games so when I saw the Countdown to Christmas Activity Book, I knew it would be perfect for the little ones this year.

With 25 fun activities including pictures to colour, wordsearches and recipes the idea is you do one activity a day from the 1st December meaning the children will have lots of fun counting down the days to Christmas. Once each activity is completed there is a number sticker to add to the page and a sticker to add to the pull out advent scene at the back of the book.

There is also a letter to Santa and if you submit a photo of it to Orchard Toys by the 18th December you are guaranteed a response.

This is a really fun book and a great way to countdown to Christmas with little ones. I would definitely recommend it and will enjoy doing the activities with our little ones this December.

RRP £4

Brainbox Animals

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

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

Younger children tend to have a short attention span so finding games that are simple enough for them to join in, don’t take forever to play and are interesting enough for older children to join in with can be tricky. BrainBox games tick all these boxes and with a huge selection of themes you can pick a version to suit your family’s interests. The games are all memory and observation card games which not only test your eye for detail but are full of interesting facts too and every time I play, I discover a new fact so it’s great for your general knowledge too!

The game is easy to play, there are 54 cards, a 10 second sand timer and a dice and the players take in in turns to draw a card and study it for 10 seconds. Once the timer runs out you roll the dice and the card is passed to the next player who asks the corresponding numbered question from the back of the card. If you get it right, you keep the card but if you get it wrong it goes back into the BrainBox. After ten minutes (or however long you want to play for) the player who has the most cards wins.

As well as memory skills the Brainbox Animals game also helps with observation as there are questions about which way the animals are facing or how many animals there are. It also helps children with their reading, our 8 year old mini reviewer hates sitting down with a book but will happily read the questions on the cards all night discovering interesting information about the animals like where they live, what they eat, how big they are and how long they live.

This is a great game to play with children and with so many themes it is easy to choose a topic that they are interested in. My children have already asked for Dinosaurs, Harry Potter and Nature and I quite fancy the World History and Around the World UK versions. Playing for ten minutes every night will really broaden their knowledge and get those facts stored in their brains in a fun way.

RRP £13 available here

Age group 8+

Bananagrams

camping, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Learning, Stocking Fillers, Toys

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

Now the children are back at school we are trying to limit the amount of time they spend glued to screens so we have started playing a boardgame after tea. This week we have been playing Bananagrams which is perfect for helping children with words and spellings. It’s like Scrabble in that you create crosswords using the lettered tiles, but it is much easier for younger children to play as there’s no board restricting the words you can make and no scores to keep track of either.

To begin you place the 144 lettered tiles (the bunch) face down in the middle of the table and each player takes a certain number of tiles (dependant on the number of players).  Once everyone has their tiles one player shouts “SPLIT” and everyone can turn over their tiles and begin making their crosswords. Once started you can rearrange your tiles at any time to try and use all the tiles.

As soon as you have played your last tile, you shout ‘peel’ which means everyone picks up a new tile from the bunch. It can be tricky to fit all your tiles in a crossword so when you get stuck you have the option of shouting ‘DUMP’ and exchanging one of your tiles for three new ones. This can be really helpful at the beginning of the game but as the game progresses you tend to find that you keep getting the harder letters like Q and Z which everyone is desperately trying to get rid of!

Play continues until there are less tiles in the bunch than the number of players and then the first player to use all their tiles shouts “BANANAS.” The words are then checked by the other players, if they are correct that player wins but any misspelled words, abbreviations or proper nouns means the player is disqualified and the other players shout “ROTTEN BANANA” and return all the tiles to the bunch and play continues.

This is a great game and we have had lots of fun playing it, it’s a lot faster than Scrabble and great for helping children with their spelling without them realising!

The game comes in a small banana-shaped zipped bag which is the perfect size to pop in a bag for holidays or sleepovers at grandparents and it also fits nicely in a stocking so would make a great Christmas gift too.

RRP £15.99

Age group 7+

Teeter Rocker

Children, Family Life, Gifts for children, Toys

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

Children need lots of stimulation and the best way to do this is through play. Rockers are great for children as they encourage children to be active and they also help their balance and movement,  especially when they discover that they can rock it by themselves. We’ve had our fair share of rocking toys over the years and the Teeter Rocker has to be the most unusual of them all. Created by the Fat Brain Toy Co the Teeter Rocker is a solid plastic toy and is suitable for children aged 3 to 10 years, with a maximum weight of 50kg. It is nice and solid and measures approximately 28 inches x 11.5 inches with a depth of 7.5inches. The thing that is different with this rocker is it has suckers on the bottom so when you play with it on a hard surface, like a wooden floor or patio, the suction from the suckers grips and releases as the child moves, creating a fun popping sound which our mini reviewers loved. The base is rounded meaning you can move it many different ways – forwards and backwards, side to side and even spin round on it too.

The toy has really captured our mini reviewers attention and they keep going back to it. Whilst it has been wet they have played with it indoors, it pops really well on our tiled kitchen floor and  when it stopped raining they have taken it outside to play with on the patio and grass.  Our 3 year old is small enough to sit in it and enjoys being gently rocked but is also learning that by moving his body he can rock it himself, it’s great to see his face light up when he spins round in it. Our 7 year old is more adventurous and has been trying keeping his balance whilst standing on it.

I have loved hearing the children playing with it this week, there’s been lots of shrieks and giggles as they discover new ways to play with it and it has been great seeing them play together with it and seeing who can do the most daring trick with it! It’s incredibly sturdy and is a great toy for helping their development and it is already a firm favourite with them.  

RRP: £29.99

Stockists include: Happy Puzzle Company, Amazon and Smyths

TOMY Megasketcher

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

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

We’re half way through the school holidays and the weather has been absolutely dreadful, with a lot more rainy days than dry ones, meaning we’ve had to spend more time indoors than I would have liked. Luckily our mini reviewers enjoy drawing, so they have been busy creating plenty of masterpieces with the Megasketcher from TOMY.

The Megasketcher measures 35cm x 45cm and has a handle at the top, allowing it to be easily carried around by children. It can be used on a desk, the floor or on their knee allowing them to draw wherever they prefer to be. The great thing about it is you don’t need pens or paper so there’s none of the mess or waste that art sessions in our house normally bring!  

With a magnetic pencil (attached to the board with a cord so no chance of losing it) and four shape stampers, the only thing they need is a bit of imagination! They can draw or write on the board and the shapes are great for adding extra detail to the pictures. Once they have finished, simply move the orange knob up to magically erase the picture and then they are ready to start again.  

As well as being great fun and encouraging creativity, it has really helped our mini reviewers learn how to hold a pen properly and has helped their hand-eye co ordination.

Megasketcher has been the best in the field of magnetic drawing boards for almost 30 years, I remember having one as a child and it’s just as fascinating using one now as it was all those years ago!  I’m not sure who is having the most fun with it – me or them!!

RRP: £18.99

Suitable for ages 3+

Available from Smyths, Argos, Amazon, Very, Littlewoods, John Lewis and Independent Toy Retailers

Wheelybug Ride on Cow

Baby, Birthday Gifts, Children, Gifts for children, Summer, Toys

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

Yes Bebe are a family run online retailer who specialise in babies and children’s products and accessories. Founded in 2016, following the birth of their daughter, husband-and-wife team Charlotte and Ken Kong initially began selling cloth nappies and organic clothing, but quickly expanded into sustainable, hand-crafted wooden toys.

They recently sent us a fantastic Wheelybug Ride on Cow for our mini reviewers to try – one of our mini reviewers is just taking a few tentative steps so it’s the perfect time to introduce a ride on toy, which is not only great fun to play with but offers plenty of exciting new learning opportunities including

Gross motor skills – balance and co-ordination skills are learnt when working out initially how to stay on the toy and then how to scoot about on it.

Spatial awareness – as they ride around and navigate obstacles – will they fit through that gap and  can they avoid the bricks on the floor?

Problem solving skills – learning how to get on and off the toy.

Being in charge of a toy that moves is a massive confidence boost for children and offers plenty of fun and excitement. They can decide how fast to go and which way to scoot around the house and if you have the space, you can even have races – my house has a very long hallway which is frequently used for this purpose!

Ride on toys also stimulate your child’s imagination – one day they might be going to the shops, another working on the farm or perhaps driving to Grandma’s or the beach.

Made with a sturdy wooden base with 4x 360 degree rotating castors, the Wheelybug has a padded body, handle bar and comes in a variety of different animal designs. We picked a cow as we live on a farm but there is also a pig, tiger, mouse, ladybird, bee, hedgehog, panda, lion, dog or even a unicorn to choose from. It’s lightweight, nippy and incredibly easy to manoevure and is small enough to pop in the car when visiting friends or family. The castors enable the Wheelybug to go backwards, forwards, sideways and round in circles and the cute little bug is low enough to the ground for little legs to scoot around or push. It’s good on carpet but even better on tiled or wooden floors and our mini reviewers have been having lots of fun with it.

One great thing about the Wheelybug is it comes ready to ride – there is nothing worse than getting a toy and then having to fit parts to it before it can be played with – let’s face it we’ve all been there on Christmas Day!

The Cow Wheelybug is a fantastic toy and whilst it’s small enough to fit in a cupboard it’s one of those toys that you want to have on display!

RRP small £69.95 & £79.95 for the larger version

Yes Bebe have a fantastic selection of children’s toys and accessories on their website and I know this is one website that I will be visiting again and again for birthday and Christmas presents over the coming months.

Best of the Royals

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, coronation, Family Life, Games, Gifts for children, Learning, Stocking Fillers, Toys

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

Whilst the Coronation is still fresh in our minds it’s the perfect time to introduce a new game from Drumond Park. Best of The Royals is part of the popular LOGO brand and the theme of this version of the game is the Royal family, who are probably the most well-known family in the world.  

With 200+ Royal-themed questions it is not only a fun and entertaining game for all the family it is also a history lesson too!

Played with 2 teams (age 12+) rather than a traditional playing board, the players race to complete a royal themed jigsaw puzzle. Setting up the game is very simple, all you do is take the cards and jigsaw pieces out of the box, place the cards in the middle of the table and give each team their 22 jigsaw pieces.

Game play is nice and easy, the team with the youngest player starts first and the oldest player from the other team becomes Question Master. He takes the top card and asks the question or shows the picture to the other team (whilst hiding the answers from his own team as they might be able to win a bonus jigsaw piece if the other team answer incorrectly). If the team get the answer right, they select a corner piece and place it on the table, if they are wrong the other team have the opportunity to answer and win an extra piece. Play continues with the same team answering the remaining three questions on the card before play is passed to the other team. One jigsaw piece is awarded for every correct answer and the winner is the first team to finish the jigsaw with the large centre piece.

This is a great game to play at family parties, the questions are varied with the classic LOGO picture, theme and pot luck question cards. The questions cover the present day and life during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II and we learnt quite a lot when playing. I do wonder how many times we can play it without remembering the answers but with 200+ cards and different players I don’t think it will be too much of a problem just yet.

RRP £20 and available from The Entertainer, Selfridges, The Range, or Amazon

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.

Sylvanian Families Easter Celebration Set

Birthday Gifts, Children, Easter, Gifts for children, Spring, Toys

Disclaimer: we received this product free of charge for the purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Our mini reviewers had an early Easter treat this week when we received the Easter Celebration Set from Sylvanian Families. Presented in a beautiful Easter themed pastel coloured box the set includes two bunnies called Serena & Romeo Marguerite who are both dressed in beautiful Easter outfits complete with matching marguerite brooches and Easter bonnets. The set also includes a selection of Easter accessories, eggs and sweets so the bunnies can have a festive Easter egg hunt.

Serena is wearing a beautiful yellow and green dress and pink hat and Romeo is wearing a purple suit with a matching hat. The clothes are well made and can easily be removed and our mini reviewers, who already have a collection of Sylvanian family figures, loved swapping the outfits around with their other figures. They also enjoyed having an Easter egg hunt with the bunnies, one would go out of the room whilst the other put the sweets in the three mini Easter eggs and then come back in and look for them.

As a parent, the thing I love about Sylvanian Families is that the toys encourage children to use their imagination and it is lovely watching and hearing the escapades the figures get up to!! I used to love collecting and playing with my Sylvanian Family figures (which I still have ) and it is lovely to see my children enjoying them too.

Our mini reviewers loved this set and gave it a huge thumbs up! It is a great addition to their ever growing Sylvanian families collection and will provide hours of entertainment for them over the Easter holidays.

Aimed at children aged 3 and above this set would make a lovely Easter gift. It is available from the Sylvanian Familes website here

RRP £21.99

Britains Case IH Maxxum 150 Tractor

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Father's Day, Gifts for children, Gifts for Him, Toys, Valentine's Day Gifts

Disclaimer: We received this product for the purpose of this review however all thoughts and opinions are our own

I’m not quite sure who was more excited, myself or my son, when we received a Britains tractor from Tomy Toys !

The Britains brand has been a family favourite for many years, I grew up on a farm and loved playing with his Britains farm with my brother. He had a large farm set which was spread over several rooms (much to my Mum’s frustration) and he used to recreate the jobs my Dad was doing on the real farm with his own models – just like my son. This is working in the snow – although I don’t remember the ploughing. That’s what I love about these toys, children can use real life experiences combined with their imagination and have hours of fun play farming.

My son loves spending time on the farm, the love of tractors and farming has certainly continued through the generations and like his Mum and Uncle he loves playing with tractors. As a toddler he played with the larger Britains Big Farm toys, progressing to the 1:32 scale ones as he got older and we now have a rather impressive collection of them! Case tractors are a favourite so he was thrilled to add the Case IH Maxxum 150 to his collection.

Britains 1:32 die-cast replica models are perfect for children aged 3+ and are great for farm role play and development. The well made tractors are suitable for indoor and outdoor play although I would recommend keeping most of them for indoors use unless you are happy with lots of mud being brought inside! I do appreciate it is a lot of fun loading trailers with mud and sand and driving tractors through the grass (after all I used to enjoy playing with them outside too) so we do have some older tractors that are permanently outdoors and are banned from the house.

The Case Maxxum 150 is just like the real thing and captured every detail including a detachable driver’s cabin, big tread tyres, superb interior detail and working steering wheel. The front wheels turn easily and pivot up and down so they can be driven over uneven ground and it has a front and rear hitch, which is compatible with other 1:32 scale models so you can attach whatever trailer or implement you need.

Britains toys are very well-made and if looked after will last for a long time. My sons play with tractors at both grandparents that are 30+ years old and whilst they might be missing a wing mirror or cab there is still a lot of play left in them and I highly recommend them.

Priced at £29.98 this tractor will be well received by any tractor mad child (or adult). Whilst they are aimed at children I know lots of adults who collect them too and I regularly buy them as gifts for family members.

To view the full range of Britains products take a look at the Britains website, with half term coming up they would make a great gift for any young farmers.

Spiroku

Baby, Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for children, Learning, Stocking Fillers, Toys

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

SpiroKu from Tomy Toys is a brightly coloured toy which instantly caught the eye of our mini reviewers.

Consisting of 9 brightly coloured pieces, at first glance you could be forgiven for thinking it is a set of stacking cups – but there is a lot more to this toy than that!

The rainbow-coloured pieces have a flat edge and a wavy one. You create a tower by simply nesting all the pieces inside the largest piece, pull up the smallest piece to create a colourful tall spiralling tower. The curved edge makes the tower twist slightly as you pull, adding to the excitement and the pieces hold themselves up which is even more impressive.   

The pieces are easy for small hands to hold on to and we had a lot of fun building the tower and it was lovely to hear all the squeals of delight when it was pushed down again. 

Our mini reviewers also discovered it could also be used as a trumpet, be warned it is loud, especially when the adults join in the fun!!

This is a great toy and will help children with hand eye co-ordination, counting and colour recognition.

Suitable for 3+ the pieces are extremely durable and will give hours of fun to children (and adults!!)

Take a look at our Instagram reel here to see it in action

RRP £16.99

Schleich Dinosaurs Advent Calendar

advent calendar, Children, Christmas, Learning, Toys

Disclaimer: We received this calendar free of charge for the purpose of this review, all words and opinions are our own

With only 10 days to go until December you may well be thinking about buying and advent calendar for your children. Advent calendars have certainly become a lot more exciting over the last few years, with a huge selection for both young and old alike.

If your child loves animals, I am sure you will have come across Schleich, who make high quality animal toys. My son is a massive dinosaur fan and we already have a number of their dinosaur toys so he was very excited when the Dinosaurs Advent Calendar arrived.

The calendar is in quite a large cardboard box, decorated with a Christmassy scene showing all the items you will find behind the 24 different sized numbered doors. The first door is quite large and inside you find Luis, one of the 3 dinosaur researchers from Schleich’s dinosaur sets, which is a great starting point for any dinosaur themed play

I am not going to spoil it and give all the contents away, so all I will say is you will find a great mix of dinosaurs and accessories which will delight any dinosaur fan.

The thing I like most about Schleich figures are they really do look authentic and are very robust so will stand up to a lot of play.

It was good to discover that Schleich have used 84% less plastic in their packaging, using a cardboard shell for the calendar, rather than the usual plastic. The toys are still in see through plastic bags which I felt was a little unnecessary as the box is securely fastened but there is certainly a lot less plastic than in other calendars so well done Schleich!

The Schleich Dinosaur advent calendar is a great alternative to chocolate calendars and when all the doors have been opened you will have a great selection of Schleich toys which will give hours of enjoyment to your child.

The calendar is suitable for children aged 4-12 and has a RRP of £29.99 although it is currently on offer at £24.99 so I suggest you get one quick before they sell out!!

Available from good toy shops including Smyths Toys

Geomag Glow

Birthday Gifts, Children, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Him, Toys

Disclaimer: We received this toy free for the purpose of this review but all words and opinions are our own

My sons have always loved construction toys and we have quite a collection of Geomag. We’ve just added the Geomag Glow set to our collection and it’s not just the boys who have been playing with it!

For those who haven’t come across GeoMag before, it’s a fantastic construction toy consisting of magnetic rods, metal spheres and plastic panels which you can use to construct almost anything, the only limitation is your imagination! Simply attach the rods and spheres in whatever configuration you decide and you can build some pretty impressive structures.

The GeoMag Glow set consists of 12 spheres, 12 magnetic rods and 1 plastic base and there is also a handy storage box (made of recycled plastic) to keep everything together. The magnetic rods are made with 100% natural glowing substances and when exposed to light they accumulate energy which they release in the dark giving the glow effect.

With only 25 pieces you can only build basic structures, but it is a great starter set and can easily be added to other GeoMag sets to create bigger construction projects.

The magnets contained in the pieces are really strong and are easy to build with. It encourages hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills and is also a great way to encourage creativity and spark their imagination, helping to create a love for science, puzzles and construction.

 

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

Geomag is suitable for children aged 3 to 99, although younger children will need supervision due to the size of the spheres. This would make a fantastic gift for both young and old this Christmas.

RRP £20

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KIDOKI by Kikkerland

Children, Family Life, Learning, REUSABLE, Summer

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

KIDOKI is a new children’s toy brand that encourages imagination, nurtures personality, and helps develop motor and coordination skills through interactive play.

Kikkerland developed KIDOKI with the help of their new friends at Goodlines, a design group based in England.

This brightly coloured, retro-inspired collection of games, toys, and tools includes a mix of classic twists and innovative new ideas.

Ideal for On-the-go, use the magnetic shapes on the inside of the tin to build the images on the cards and much more!

KIDOKI toys are targeted towards children aged 3+ and utilize fun shapes and textures that provide a tactile experience.

KIDOKI toys are made with only FSC certified wood. FSC certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.