Ready, Steady, Dough Swirly Whirly Sweets Review

Ready, Steady, Dough Swirly Whirly Sweets Review

We had quite a busy half term but at the end we were all struck down with coughs and colds and decided to have a quiet day at home doing Arts and Crafts. This can sometimes be a bit tricky as it can be difficult finding something we can all do together with me being 8, Lottie 5 and Sam being a toddler who is keen on wrecking things.

The Entertainer must have known though because at lunchtime there was a knock on the door and a large parcel arrived- the lovely people there had kindly sent us a big Ready, Steady Dough Swirly, Whirly Sweets set to review.

I hadn't played with this sort of thing for quite a while but Lottie was keen we got started straight away so while Mum put Sam up for his nap I got the instructions out and started putting it together. It was really straightforward to set up and I had it ready in no time so we were soon able to get started using the set.

The main sweet machine allowed you go push the dough through and it turned a thick tube of dough into a neat balls, you can do it as plain or we preferred to mix it togethed make them multi coloured. You can then leave these as ball shaped sweets or use the presser to make them into sweets that are like a box of chocolates.

After this we used the icing piece which made a long straight very thin piece of dough- we like this because if you kept putting dough in before you pulled it off you could make it really long! We used these long pieces to wrap together and stick on the sticks to make lollies. There was also plates and knives in the set so you can make your own design and set them up.

 

I think the set would make great Christmas present for children slightly younger than me- I enjoyed it far more than I expected to and found it quite fun to roll out dough and make shapes, but my sister absolutely loved it. When Sam woke up he joined in too- he was too heavy handed for the sweet machine as we were worried he might break it but he loved rolling the dough and using the icing bit so I think this set is perfect for 3 to 6 year olds but will also be enjoyed by children who are both younger and older.

Thanks The Entertainer, we had a lovely afternoon trying the Ready Steady Dough Swirly Whirly Sweets set and actually all managed to play together without arguing!

More Outdoor Fun with Bigjigs

More Outdoor Fun with Bigjigs

Our garden needs a lot of work but we are slowly starting to get it sorted out and have been enjoying spending much more time outside this year than we have been able to before. We have already had some fun Bigjigs toys to test that were great for using outdoors and were pleased the toys we were sent this month to review were also for getting outside with.

We have been sent the Bigjigs foot walkers which we both really like. They have a jungle design and we both really like these. They are designed for children age three plus and are ideal for children age 3 to 5 but are still just big enough and sturdy enough for me to use and both Lottie and I really like them. They are quite steady and more comfortable than the plastic bucket ones you can get and we have both been using them a lot. I like the jungle design which makes them good fun- especially when I am chasing Sam on them!

We also received the Bigjigs Natural Wooden Quoits set. This was perfect timing as it arrived just before we were due to go camping for a night. As it didn't take up much space I was allowed to take these along and we all enjoyed playing with them.

The Quoits are very easy to put together and everything just twisted in to place making it easy for kids to set up on their own and amazingly it all fits back in the box nicely too which means that you won't be hunting round for all the pieces later on. This is a good game for all the family as you just change the distance each age has to throw from- although I wasn't sure about Sam being allowed to walk up to it and put his hoop on rather than throwing it!

Once again we really liked these garden toys from Bigjigs, I have played with toys similar to both of these before but feel like these are much nicer and will last a lot longer than other ones we have seen. We all had lots of fun with them.

Epic Imaginary Play with Gigi Big Building Blocks!- Bigjigs Play Patrol

Epic Imaginary Play with Gigi Big Building Blocks!

Bigjigs Play Patrol Our Latest Mission!

We were very excited to arrive home from our holiday to find a new delivery from the lovely people at Bigjigs. We opened the packaging box to discover we had been sent a box... full of boxes! Although not just any old boxes, they were the new Gigi Big Building Blocks to be precise. These are basically flat strong cardboard sheets ready for you to make up in to bricks and then you can just get on and play with them however you like.

The blocks were quite tricky to make up to start with and I needed my Dad to help with this but once they were done Lottie and I couldn't wait to get started.

In the set we were sent they came as a mixture of double and single bricks but can be purchased in several different combinations depending on what you want to use them for - this set of bricks has been perfect for everything we have wanted to use them for so far but we might like to add to them in the future.

Gigi Blocks- ready to be turned into amazing creations

The bricks stack up really well and can be used to make almost anything you can imagine- we have made a boat, a fort, a person and a television which we had great fun doing shows behind as well as lots of walls and mazes. The bricks are great fun in themselves just for building and using your imagination but also awesome because you can actually play inside your creation.

Look who's on Kids TV!

The other nice thing is that because of the cardboard they are made of you could even paint or draw pictures or patterns on them- we haven't done this yet but we definitely want to - maybe once we have build the perfect house we will decorate it! 

Lottie's new friend!

I really liked these blocks and Lottie loved them too- we did have some little arguments about what we wanted to build but we soon started working as a team and really enjoyed sharing ideas together. My Mum liked the blocks to as she said she liked watching us really use our imaginations and loved how much time we spent playing with just this one set - this really was the perfect toy to spend the last few days of the school holiday enjoying and I can see us using them a lot more in the future too.

Our monster!

Randomise Game- Draw, Act or Describe Your Way to Victory! Your chance to WIN too!

Randomise Game 

Draw, Act or Describe Your Way to Victory!

 

Every Saturday night once our baby brother Sam is in bed we have a 'Game Night'. We get some nice treats in, Lottie and I get to stay up a bit late and we take turns to choose which board or card game we would like to play.
  
We have recently got a new favourite to add to our Saturday night choices- we were sent a new game called Randomise to try out and it is easily the funniest game we have ever played.

You work in teams of at least two and taking turns you announce if you are going to be using the 'EASY' or 'HARD' options and whether you will describe, act or draw before picking 3 cards, one from each set and then your opposite team have to choose option 1, 2 or 3 for each card- you then look at these options to discover what you are going to be. It sounds a bit complicated but you quickly get in to the swing of it and soon find yourself becoming a 'scared hedgehog taking a photo' or an 'attractive Grandma doing a cartwheel' or perhaps even a 'sarcastic orangutan kissing a frog'

Lottie was a bit young for us to play the game properly with scoring and everything because she needed help reading the cards and working out what some of the words meant which made it difficult to be in teams but the game is recommended for age 8 upwards for this reason and we still had loads of fun acting out, describing and drawing for each other without actually crowning a winner at the end. 

I loved playing Randomise with my family- we laughed so much and I think I will always remember my Dad acting out being a 'Spotty Chicken Smashing Plates' but I am looking forward to Easter though when I will be able to play and score using the rules with my friends. I think we all liked the acting option best but we also tried describing and drawing too and these are great choices if you don't want to get up in front of everyone and be a bit silly.

This is a great game for anyone age 8 and over (or age 4 and over with adult help) and is fun for everyone, my parents even suggested we should get it out when our family friends come for dinner over Easter so the grown-ups can join in.

I am going to ask Mum to buy this game for my friend when it is his birthday next month. If you are looking for a family gift for Easter this year and want to give something that lasts longer than chocolate we would definitely recommend Randomise- the person you give it to will still be laughing next Easter! 

If you would like to know more about the game you can visit the website here and if you are looking to buy Randomise it can be purchased here. If you would like to be in with a chance of winning of of three copies then please enter below!

                                     

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Disclaimer- we were sent a copy of Randomise to test and enjoy but all thoughts and opinions are my own

Mini Weekend Box Review

Mini Weekend Box review and a chance to try for FREE!

We were really excited to be asked to review the Mini Weekend Box from the Weekend Box Club. Like most kids I love getting post so was really excited to get home from football and find a package waiting for me!

 

These brightly coloured boxes look like fun right from the moment they arrive through your letter box and we enjoyed opening it up and seeing what was in store for us.

The Mini Boxes contain two activities from a selection of four choices-

* Something to make
* Something to bake
* Something to explore
* Something green

The mini Box was perfect for one child to do the activities with a little help but we used a bit of teamwork and did the activities between the two of us and still really enjoyed it. At just £4.95 a box though it wouldn't be impossible for each of us to have one in the future or we can upgrade to the bumper box which has four different activities for £7.50.

The boxes come with a theme that all the activities follow which means they tie in nicely together and that you learn something new whilst still having fun. Our theme for the weekend was 'The Rainforest' and the box had something to make and something green as well as facts, stickers and colouring.

We had a parrot mask to make and for this project we had all the materials we needed (and enough left over to make a second mask). The people at the Weekend Box Club had literally thought of everything including the glue! The directions were really easy to follow but there was also space for you to add your own individual arty touches which was great when making more than one mask.

              

We then had the chance to plant our own rainforest which I was really looking forward to (normally we don't have much luck with things we grow so this was going to be interesting!) Once again they had covered all bases- we just had to find a small drinks bottle to cut but everything else was supplied. The bottle was where I needed a bit of help as it was quite tricky to cut but the rest was again very easy to follow. We had a little disk of compost which we added water to and watched it expand and then there was a little trick of using a piece of string to suck up the water before we added the seeds! We did have a few days of disappointment thinking nothing was happen and then all of a sudden the seeds have started to grow...we can't wait to see what our rainforest ends up like!

We really enjoyed trialing the Mini Weekend Box and would definitely look at ordering them again- the great thing is you can choose how often you have them and also stop them if you want a break or if you are going on holiday. I would love to try one with a baking activity next time as I would like to see how that comes delivered and what you can make but I really liked the activities we had and would recommend this for children age 4 upwards with adult help or 6 upwards to do more independently- although part of the fun for us was doing the activities together as a family.

If you would like to try one of these fun boxes for FREE visit the Weekend Box Club here and enter code CATHERINE311 to receive your first box free.

Note from Mum

I was impressed with the boxes and found them to be very well organised, good fun and a really nice way to spend some time with the kids at the weekend- having the activities ready planned encourages you to make sure you set aside the time to enjoy them with the children rather than just vaguely planning to and then realising the weekend has slipped away yet again. Surprisingly -considering the fact that I am being especially frugal at the moment I do feel these are good value for money and will be looking to sign up for our own delivery which I know the kids will love.

Awesome Toy Cars for Big Kids!

Awesome Toy Cars for Big Kids- Modarri Kit Cars Review

I love cars and always have done. When I was little I played with mine all the time- having races, creating traffic jams and causing smashes but as I have got older I don't really get them out much now unless Lottie wants to play but I have recently been sent some new cars that are going to change that.

Trends UK have added the amazing Modarri Kit Cars to their range. These cars were developed in the USA and are customisable to build any way you want. All the parts are included to make an awesome car from start to finish with real steering, suspension and rubber tyres. They don't take batteries and the tool is included which works with special screws that you can't lose.

There are three types of car- dirt, street and track and they all come with the chassis, suspension, hood and tyres - even better they are all interchangeable so you can have great fun swapping the parts around and building then rebuilding them over and over again.

Once you have built them you can then get on with playing with them but unlike normal children's cars you can actually 'drive' these by placing your fingers in the seats which allows you to spin, jump, do wheelies and just drive the vehicles before starting again.

I have really loved playing with these- they are for age 8 plus and I have found them to be relatively straightforward to put together but they took long enough and made you think enough that it feels like a proper activity just to build them. I love the way if you have a couple of the cars you don't have to exactly follow the instructions you can just see where your imagination takes you- in fact I saw thereare over 13 billion combinations of Modarri cars you can create- which is pretty amazing.

I have spent quite a lot of time playing with these over the half term- they are good fun to build and also great to play with. The cars are very responsive and I have created a track with a bundle of packaging that we had to recycle which gave them loads of obstacles to get round and over and we spent ages racing around.

I am looking forward to playing with these with my car mad friend who will absolutely love them and would I recommend then for any child who enjoys building, taking things apart or just playing with vehicles.

They have a RRP of £19.99 and my Mum is planning on using the idea for several people's birthday presents as we have never seen anything else like this and we know they will be really popular.

My recycling car track with jumps and obstacles!

Disclaimer: We were lucky enough to be sent the Modarri Cars from Trends UK to test but all views and opinions are my own. Thank you

Mister Cleghorn's Seal by Judith Kerr

A review of Mister Cleghorn's Seal by Judith Kerr

The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a firm favourite in our house so we were thrilled when we were asked if we would like to review the new book by Judith Kerr. Mister Cleghorn's Seal is Judith Kerr's first book in 37 years- which means she hasn't written any new books since before my Mum was born! Yet despite long break it was still just as good as I expected.

In our house we have quite a long bedtime process- after baths and getting ready for bed we play with Sam for a bit and then while Dad is giving him a bottle and putting him to bed Mum reads to me and Lottie. We start with a bit of something non-fiction or a fact book, then move on to a chapter of a fiction book or a short story either that Lottie chooses or that we can both enjoy and then finally Daddy puts Lottie to bed and Mum and I settle down for a chapter of something for me (normally Harry Potter!)

I was initially surprised to learn it was recommended for age 7+ but we decided to see how we got on and Mr Cleghorn's Seal was the perfect option for the three of us to enjoy together. It was a gentle book with some funny bits (imagine trying to do a long journey with a baby seal) but I think the reason it was recommended for age 7 plus is because it lightly touches on the death of animals and how humans sometimes treat them which could be upsetting for children that don't know about this. It really is just a mention though and my sister, Lottie (just turned 4) understood it, asked a couple of questions and then settled back into the story so I don't think it is too frightening.

We all really enjoyed the book which Mum read to in short bursts over three bedtimes and by the end we were very excited to hear how things turned out- although I worked out the ending I was still happy it ended the way it did as for a little while it looked like it could go another way.

I found the note from the author really interesting- Judith Kerr talks about how the story was inspired by her Father's story and this definitely adds something to the story.

I really enjoyed this book and think it will be one we go back to again and again. I would personally recommend it for children age 5-8 although many children younger will also enjoy it but perhaps their parents should read it first to make sure they don't feel parts of it would upset them before they get to the nice bits.

If you would like to read this lovely book you can order your copy here from Amazon

Timmy Failure Review and a Giveaway

Timmy Failure Review and Giveaway

I was lucky enough to be sent two books from the Timmy Failure series to review so I have recently been enjoying Timmy Failure: Mistakes were Made and Timmy Failure: Now Look What You Have Done.

I had never read any of the Timmy Failure books before but have really liked both of them. Timmy is the founder of the 'Best Detective Agency in Town' and has great plans for World domination- if only he can defeat 'The One Who Cannot Be Named' or 'The WEDGIE' (Corrina Corrina). My favourite character is Total, Timmy's business partner. Total also happens to be a polar bear, he is very funny, he loves chicken nuggets and will do anything for a cake treat.
Timmy is in his own world, has some very mad ideas and lots of cases to solve, the books are so funny and the drawings are great.



I definitely recommend these books to children of my age and older. They are very easy to read, with short chapters, plenty of funny illustrations and good stories. I can't wait to read the next one when it comes out later this year.

Total, Timmy's Business Partner

If you would like to have the chance to own your own copy of Timmy Failure- Look What You've Done don't miss out on our competition. 

If you can't wait to read this great book you can purchase it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Timmy-Failure-Look-What-Youve/dp/1406360724/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=







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FunKids Radio Review- Fun for kids of all ages!

FunKids Radio Review- Fun for kids of all ages!     

I have been asked to tune in to FunKids Radio and report back on what I thought, so here goes...

Dad found the station for me on Friday evening and the first song that came was 'Let It Go'-as you can imagine my little sister Lottie was thrilled. Fortunately for me all the songs that came on after that were ones that I liked and were not from Princess films! I listened to FunKids radio several times over the next few days and am pleased to say that with the exception of 'Let It Go' I liked all the songs I heard.

On Sunday night we listened to the story of The War through the Eyes of a London Child- it was really interesting and gave me lots of questions to ask. The whole family enjoyed listening to the story and will be listening out for the rest of the series.

I also heard adverts for magazine reviews which I think is a great idea to help you know what magazines you might like to buy.

They do lots of competitions too which I liked the sound of.

FunKids Radio have a great website https://www.funkidslive.com/ which has lots of activities including a book club, learning Polish and learning about Chemistry.

I really liked FunKids Radio and will definitely be listening again.

A word from Mum...

We enjoyed listening to FunKids with Luke, the presenters were entertaining and enthusiastic without being excessive and irritating. There were plenty of educational aspects as well as lots of fun for the listener. 

The music was nicely varied- and unlike some radio stations it didn't feel like you heard the same three songs every time you turned it on!

For more information visit FunKids website on https://www.funkidslive.com/ 

Follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/funkidsradio 

Twitter https://twitter.com/funkids

What's it all about?

What's It All About?

My name is Luke and I am 7 years old. I have a little sister, Charlotte who is 3, sometimes she is lovely and sometimes she is a pain but mostly we have lots of fun together. We also have a new baby brother, Samuel, who is 6 weeks old. He is so cute and I have lots of cuddles with him. He mainly just drinks milk, sleeps and fills his nappy but he loves his bath time and likes watching me and Lottie when we are playing, Mummy promises me he will soon be wanting to play with us. We live in the countryside in the East of England with Mummy and Daddy and spend lots of time playing with our friends.

I am a normal seven year old- I love football, LEGO, drawing, baking, Harry Potter books and arts and crafts. Liverpool are my favourite team.

Unlike a lot of my friends I also love entering competitions (and winning them if I can!!) My Mum has enjoyed competitions for as long as I can remember and I have picked up the bug from her so we look for 'arty' ones and I have great fun making and drawing things to enter- sometimes I even win!

Mummy and I were talking about writing and she told me that when she was young she kept a diary. This seemed like fun but I wanted to be able to do it on the computer (I like to try and get my hands on her laptop when I can but she doesn't often let me!!) so she was telling me about blogs, she reads a lot of different ones by people and says some of them are really good. I thought I could do that too so I am going to write a blog about things that I do, great places I go, competitions I enter and things I like that Mummy has been sent for us to review- although probably things like children's books, which we sometimes get, and perhaps not the coffee and toothpaste she has just tested! 

I will be writing most of the posts and coming up with ideas for them but Mummy will help me to make sure they are ok to put on the internet and will do the publishing, as well as checking any comments as she says I have to make sure I stay safe if I am going to use the internet and can only do it with her help.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog if you stumble across it and if you have any suggestions of things you would like me to write about please let me know and I will see what I can do!