My little Addy has chicken pox which means 5 days away from nursery school. For this reason, I was especially grateful for the parcel of Jungle Junction toys from Flair that I was sent to review. It provided exactly the sort of distraction we needed.
Jungle Junction is Disney Junior's BAFTA nominated pre-school series which features a host of friendly animals on wheels sharing experiences as they zip around the elaborate network of roads in their jungle home. With catchy tunes, problems to solve, fun and adventure, Jungle Junction keeps my little ones thoroughly entertained. My daughter loves all the characters and my son loves anything with wheels!
Jungle Junction lends itself perfectly to great merchandising.
Our review parcel contained:
Ellyvan collectible bath toy
Zooter plush toy with working wheels
Ellyvan pull back toy with moveable trunk
Wheel Around Fun Set with playmat, signs and three characters
The toys were instantly recognisable with lots of appeal.
The video shows the toys in action with demonstrations of the features.
The toys were a huge hit with my two little ones.
My only critisism would be that the playmat in the Wheel Around Fun Set doesn't really serve any great purpose. Its folded cardboard construction doesn't sit flat on the ground and the road design doesn't really go anywhere to inspire a journey. This did not have an adverse effect on my children's enjoyment. Addy used her imagination to create play enviroments, including putting Ellyvan and Zooter to bed in my slippers!
For more information on the Jungle Junction Range from Flair, visit:
My initial thought was that it would be a fun activity for my little Addy (aged nearly 4 years) to do with her older sisters and make a lovely 'surprise' gift to present me with next Sunday when they bring me my breakfast in bed. However, a quick look at the kit made me realise that this kit was about serious crafting and entirely unsuitable for the clumsy, inexperienced hand of a pre-schooler! Instead, I settled her down with a packet of modelling clay to make sausages and spent the time myself with my teenage daughter getting creative with Charm Bracelets.
I can think of no better Mother's Day gift than quality time with my daughter spent doing something a little bit different, a lot of fun and with an end product that was well beyond my expectations.
The kit contained polymer clay with enough eyelets to make 40 beads and a storage box with glitter, craft foil and tools for creating them. The finished beads could then be combined with the charms and dice charms provided to make two bracelets, each with its own velvet effect gift pouch.
The instruction booklet gave clear advice and ideas about how to make the beads. Once the basic technique (simple but a bit fiddly) was mastered, the possibilities were limitless.
The seven different colours of polymer clay could be combined to create new colours or marbled together and the basic beads could be embellished with glitter, foil or clay designs.
The video shows me making a basic, marbled bead (please excuse the black clay under my finger nails - several scrubs later and it is still not completely gone!)
We really enjoyed trying out different ideas and attempting to make the perfect bead. Anyone wishing to get even more creative could model 3D charms using the clay. These could be attached to the bracelet using the split rings provided.
The finished beads were baked in the oven (130ºC, 15 mins). Once baked, they can be painted with clear nail varnish or craft glaze to give them a glassy sheen.
I was impressed by how professional our beads looked and felt after they were baked. All that remained was to select the combination of beads and charms that would make the finished bracelet. I left this part of the creative process to Charis.
Here is what she came up with.
I think these would make a lovely Mother's Day gift provided that you are a slim wristed Mother! The bulk of the beads and charms does not leave a lot of room for your wrist.
Despite the disappointment that I can't actually get the bracelet to do up on my wrist, I love them as a reminder of a perfect afternoon spent crafting and laughing with my daughter. And we have plenty of beads (and clay) left over for another day.
There must be a point in your life when bathtime stops being about splashing and fun and starts being about relaxation and pampering. Sometimes when I give my little ones their bath, I think I am missing a trick with my own routine. As much as I love just lying there in warm, scented water letting my troubles float away, how great would it be just sometimes to recapture a little bit of that wild, youthful abandon that often results in a somewhat wet floor.
Crazy Soap from Kids Stuff very definitely aligns with the fun side of bathing.
We were sent some products from the Crazy Soap range to try out.
The video shows us trying out Bath Goo, Fun Soap and Body Paint.
The Bath Goo was fantastic. It had a very unusual texture that seemed to invite you to plunge your fingers in. It smelled very fruity and bubbled up beautifully in the water to create long lasting bubbles.
The Squirty Fun Soap was amazing. It did leave our water a little bit scummy but was worth putting up with that for the novelty of having soap that could be shaped and bounced!
It was quite difficult to produce artworks with any precision using the Body Paint but for a more general colourful effect, it was great. It washed off very cleanly leaving the skin feeling soft.
We did have a lot of fun with the Crazy Soaps. Will I be tempted to swap my pampering products for a bathtime of silliness and splashing? There is a very good possibility!
For your chance to WIN one of five sets of Crazy Soaps, simply:
follow my blog and leave a comment below with contact details (eg twitter ID)
for two additional entries,
follow @crazysoap_kids on twitter and tweet #WIN Crazy Soap http://qwertymum.blogspot.com/2012/03/want-bit-of-good-clean-fun-win-crazy.html?spref=tw with @crazysoap_kids and @paulahaylock aka QWERTY Mum. Leave a comment below to say that you have done so.
Five winners will be drawn at random from all comments. Each will receive 1 x Bath Goo (RRP £2.99), 1 x Fun Soap (RRP £2.00) and 1x Body Paint (RRP £2.49).
