What Luke Did Next...: July 2016

Bigjig Toys - Sharing the Fun!

We recently had our latest mission from Bigjigs and were excited to see we had been sent some games to try. We were given the mission of share the fun which was perfect as we always have a family game night on a Saturday and we were ready for some new games to try.

We settled down with our drinks and treats as normal and decided to start with the Bigjigs Stacking Tower Game. The bricks are great- they are brightly coloured and a good weight to build up and move out and the game is really good fun, we liked the fact that you roll a dice to see which colour brick you have to remove as it makes it trickier and more exciting than it would be otherwise. We soon had to move all the treats when we realised how competitive it was going to get and just how far the tower would fall when it tumbled! This is a good game because you can easily play it over and over again and no one really feels like the loser (which is good when playing with my four year old sister who doesn't take well to not winning!) My baby brother loved watching this game from his highchair and clapped every time the bricks tumbled. My top tip would be to find an extra piece of cardboard so you can use it along with the brick box to stack the tower really neatly and make the game last longer. This game is great for anyone age 4 upwards right up to any age.

We then got out the Memory Game which I think is ideal for children age around 3-6 but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it as it is a really good test of your memory and concentration. The pictures on the game are of Mummy animals which have to be matched to the baby animals. Lottie loved this game, the pictures are really nice and it really made her think. I think this would be a really lovely present for a child around my sister's age but because the disks with the pictures on are thick and good quality they would also be easy to hold and not damage for younger children too. Lottie also got this game out when her friend came over the other day and they had great fun, there was no arguing and they even worked together a bit.

We loved sharing the fun with our family and friends and think these games are really good- they are both the high quality we have come to expect from Bigjigs products and were great entertainment.

Mini Mudder - A New Obsession!

I haven't written recently as I have been really busy but I thought it was time to share my day out at the Fruitshoot Mini Mudder with you as that has kick-started a new obsession for both me and my Dad!

We have been going running together a lot since because I have decided I want to do it again and Dad has decided he really wanted to do the adult course next year- it has inspired me to do a family fun run to raise money for charity and we have also been marshals at a charity event over the weekend, I think we will be doing lots more running from now on!

So what was it about the Fruit Shoot Mini Mudder that has made me so keen on running? It was AWESOME! We arrived early in the morning at the beautiful Belvoir Castle in Grantham. I didn't know what to expect but we were greeted, given our Adventure Squad T-shirts and taken over to the right area where we got to meet explorer Ed Stafford who is their ambassador- we had some fab photos with him and he was really good at hanging off the obstacles when all of the children's arms started to ache and we ended up dropping down!

Soon it was time to get warmed up , say our pledge and then we were off. To start with I was a bit worried about falling over and hurting myself but I soon got used to it and ended up having a great time ploughing through the mud! We went round the course four times and some of it was just good fun and other obstacles were a real challenge. I liked the tunnels and swapped between going through head first and feet first, the bars were good too but my absolute nemesis was the ramp we had to run up and climb over-I found it really slippery and difficult but it was great and I loved the feeling when I finally managed to do it!

At the ended we were awarded a celebratory Fruit Shoot and got given our sweat bands. I found out that the adults collect these and get different colours depending on how many courses they have done and I have decided I want to do the same so am planning on trying to do lots of these. It was really good- my friend and I had an amazing time and really enjoyed it- even the showers were funny- we had to go and hose ourselves down before we were allowed to get in the car!