Posts Tagged "Toy Reviews"
Cybermummy, Lego Duplo and YES, I AM SHORT
It’s that time of year again when bloggers of the mother-persuasion (and a few daddies, too) start to wake up in cold sweats worrying that someone has bought the same outfit as them and whether or not there’s a spelling mistake on their business cards. Yep, folks, it’s Cybermummy 2011. Now, I had a blast last year, and was delighted to have spoken on the main panel, met some amazing people, made some useful contacts, AND managed to only accidentally flash my knickers at a handful of strangers. So although not quite in the almighty hysteria-driven hyper-excited state that most on my Twitter timeline seem to have driven themselves into, I am looking forward to it.
Now, although people seem to recognise me fairly quickly, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that one of the first things that almost every blogger that has met me in ‘real life’ points out is that I am much smaller than they expected. I’m not quite sure how I’m managing to exude this virtual aura of height, but you should probably know, in case you’ll be turning up on Saturday expecting to see me towering elegantly over other delegates, that I am a short-arse. I’m 5′ 2″ and fall over in heels so will be in flats, so perhaps look about a foot lower than you’re expecting and towards the back/cake and there you will probably find me. Please come and say hello. I’m quite nice.
This year I’m attending thanks to the lovely people at Lego Duplo, who are paying for my ticket, travel and accommodation, along with other Lego Duplo ‘Experts’ who are lucky enough to receive occasional goodies from Duplo for our kids.
Read MoreOn bin men bothering and a whole lot of WOW
If you happened to be at our house on a Wednesday morning, you would be lucky enough to witness a now familiar part of our routine and an unmatched highlight of Kai’s week. For Wednesday, ladies and gentleman, is BIN DAY.
Kai’s ears pick up the slightest sound of their approach, sometimes from two or three streets away and with an audible gasp, will run to get his little chair from the other room to assume The Position at the front door. Crouched low, peering through the letterbox, Kai waits like the most dedicated twitcher in a hide, until finally the lorry reaches our house, waits until the bin men have disembarked and are JUST by our front door and shouts, either “Eh-oh!” if he’s feeling friendly, “Boo” or, my personal favourite, “RAAAWWWR!”. Now, to start with, this was brilliant as the poor bin men never saw it coming, and watching a grown, burly waste-disposal profession jump half-clean out of his overalls was always a good start to any day. But after a while, of course, they’ve become well used to their little Wednesday Watcher – the friendlier ones now at least feign surprise and give him a little wave…
Anyway, now I’ve set the scene you will finally begin to appreciate something of the excitement when I received an email from Tanya at WOW Toys. Tanya is a reader of my blog and just happens to be the MD’s wife, and after cleverly spotting one of their products in some photos I took a while back, offered to send some more out for Kai for us to review, more specifically a TOY BIN LORRY, (well, recycling truck!) by the name of Flip ‘n’ Tip Fred. Oh YES!
Now, we’re a big fan of WOW toys in this house, with the Robin’s Medical Rescue ambulance in the range being one of Kai’s very favourites, and the arrival of Flip n’ Tip Fred, as a well as Ronnie the space rocket and Harry Copter’s Animal Rescue helicopter went down an absolute storm here, in fact, when I first opened the big box I didn’t hear another peep out of Kai for the next two hours (total parenting WIN there! I got to drink a whole cup of tea! And knit!)
WOW toys are colourful, chunky, interesting and unique, perfect for older babies up to pre-schoolers and beyond, beginning as toys with buttons to press and doors to open for curious little ones, growing into role-play and small-world imaginative toys for older children. My favourite aspect has always been that they require no batteries, running on friction motors, and are really built to last – after 18 months Kai’s ambulance still looks like new despite playing with it almost every day.
Each toy comes with a really cool set of unique features and surprises. With Flip ‘n’ Tip Fred, Kai has literally played for hours making the little people load the recycling bins into the tip-able buckets and emptying them out the clicking door. Ronnie the rocket comes with a brilliant pull-cord countdown, which displays a countdown from 5 to 0 as it vibrates ready for take-off (we especially like the sandwiches on Major Tom’s control panel in the flip-open cockpit). Kai’s had a lot of play-value out of the Animal Rescue helicopter too – it comes with three animals that the helicopter can pick up magnetically before zooming off as you squeeze the motorised trigger to spin the rotor blades, before turning the self-light to deactivate the magnets and deliver the animals to their destination (usually from a great height if you’re Kai).
I can honestly say that Kai has played with these toys every single day since they arrived and I’m confident that these are going to remain firm favourites for a good while to come. I’m hugely grateful for Tanya getting in touch, thanks for making a little boy very happy indeed.
To find out more about WOW toys, each one featuring a great little video of the toys in action, and to find stockists online and in your area, check out the website, and don’t forget to ‘like’ on Facebook to stay up-to-date with new products and competitions.
Thanks for reading.
Christmas at the Great Toy Guide
As most of you know, I deputy edit at the fab new review site ‘Great Toy Guide’, where we provide independent, honest reviews by our team of mummy and daddy bloggers on toys and games for children aged 0-8.
Last week we launched our biggest feature yet, 100 of the best Christmas Toys for under £10.
I’m really proud of this one. We’ve sourced some AMAZING toys: a great mix of familiar names and old classics as well as some toys with a difference, including some gorgeous ethical toys like this Jewellery Making Kit (my absolute fave). I really, really would encourage you to go have a look – toys are organised by age to make it easier and I guarantee you’ll find an idea you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. I want to buy them all! Kai definitely has a few on HIS Christmas list, especially this fun bathtime toy, this giant bubble making kit, and this wonderful personalised memory game.
Personally I think we all tend to go a little overboard at Christmas: it’s so easy to fall into the habit of spending more and more each year. We’re not yet at the age where Kai is going to pressure us to buy the latest toys so we’re making the most of it and keeping it simple this year. I like that here you can get some lovely presents without spending a fortune.
As well our review feature we’re also offering THE best giveaway this Christmas. Four HUGE heaps of presents for your child, in four categories: baby, pre-schooler, girls and boys. We have some brilliant stuff, with vintage toys by Silver Cross and the best Early Learning Centre goodies, as well as your favourite character toys: Thomas and Friends, Ben 10, High School Musical, and loads more.
I am, quite frankly, gutted I can’t enter. But you can, so what are you waiting for!!
Oh, and it’s not to late to find yourself a gorgeous reusable advent calendar that you can bring out year after year as part of your family’s Christmas traditions. See our reviews for some of the best: the Pixie Advent Calendar that we got to test was especially stunning.
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On a more personal note, I am ridiculously proud of this whole thing. Can you tell? So apologies for the gushing commercial post (which I know is a bit of a change from the norm) but this was too good not promote. We all worked so hard on this and seeing it all come together was fabulous. Thanks so much to the team who contributed, and especially to Editor Sally who worked the clock round and kept us all organised xx
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