Shoulder Buddies

January ended and February began for me in a fog of ill health. Hopefully I am over the worst of it now - just a lingering cough and lost sleep to catch up on.

I have barely been near the computer (preferring instead to adopt a mostly horizontal position beneath a duvet on the sofa) so it feels good to be back in the little world of my blog -  starting with a review.

I was sent one of the range of  Shoulder Buddies from Golden Bear.

Shoulder Buddies are cute collectibles that attach to a child's clothing with a 'magic' coin. What sets this product apart from other collectibles is that it claims to help children learn about confidence and social skills. How exactly does it do this, you may ask.

Aimed at boys and girls aged from 4 to 8 years, Shoulder Buddies come with 'Smarts' collector cards which cover a range of subjects from taking care of yourself to having fun at parties. Our particular Shoulder Buddy was Diva who loves to share his 'Superstar Smarts' so everyone can shine.

We are also lead to believe that by wearing the Shoulder Buddies, our children will feel more confident because of the companionship.  As the marketing spiel goes - Shoulder Buddies are the friends kids wear ... with 'Smarts' to share.

Personally, I'd rather my children had human friends and I would hate to think that their confidence relied upon a collectible, however cute. I would also feel that I was failing as a parent if I was not able guide my offspring in the types of social skills covered by the 'Smarts'. That said, it can't hurt to reinforce these things in a variety of ways and the Shoulder Buddies maybe do have a valuable role in that sense.

Putting to one side the whole social skills and confidence thing - I really liked the little plastic fellow himself. That colourful crazy hair never gets old and begs to be styled and played with. There is a strong magnet inside the Shoulder Buddy which attaches to the magic coin.With the coin placed on the inside of the child's clothes, the Shoulder Buddy forms a good bond and sits securely..... until it doesn't. Once it becomes dislodged for whatever reason (in our case it was usually little brother grabbing it), there then commences a desperate search inside your clothes to find the coin! It was probably the most fun we had - hunt the mysteriously elusive magic coin.

My daughter has a metal framed bed and she loves to stick her Shoulder Buddy to it. She doesn't call it a Shoulder Buddy or use its given name Diva - it's her parrot. There is some logic. Parrots do sit on shoulders and it does have a beak. The Shoulder Buddy has definitely become one of her treasures. She lost the collector card.

The product I have mentioned in this review is from the Wave 1 Launch. The Wave 2 Launch for 2013  features a brand new range of characters including (and I know my daughter would LOVE this) the feline with the very large head - Hello Kitty.