Labyrinth

When my sister Inside the Wendy House brought this review game round for my girls to try out, for a moment I thought she had a tin of biscuits for us. After my initial disappointment ( I am partial to a bourbon!) I realised that it would be right up their street.

The reason for the game being packaged in a tin (other than to fool me into thinking I had a little something to accompany my coffee) was because it was a 25th anniversary limited edition - and it did make it feel special.

Inside the tin was a playing board, maze tiles, treasure cards and four plastic, coloured playing pieces in the shapes of mystical figures.

The game took a bit of getting used to because instead of moving the pieces around the board in the conventional manner, the board layout itself moves around. The idea is to move the maze to enable yourself to travel around and be the first to collect all your pieces of treasure.  The maze is moved by inserting one maze tile in one of 12 places around the edge of the board thus sliding the whole row of tiles along one position. This one move can have a dramatic effect on the maze which hopefully works to your advantage (and if you're lucky/skillful/evil, to the detriment of opponents!)

Labyrinth is a game for 2-4 players of 7+ years. It certainly kept three teenagers thoroughly entertained and away from their laptops for a good half hour!

Face Painting Marathon

After my early start and full day on Friday at Blog Camp Manchester, I could really have done with a weekend lie in. This was not to be.

A family friend runs a gorgeous little rural nursery. On Saturday, they were having a fund raising Summer Fair and I had volunteered to help.

I was up early cooking Raspberry Ripple Muffins for the cake stall and by 9.30am, we were ready to leave.

My husband was organising a reunion event at work so he was not available to look after our little ones. Thankfully, Ivy and Taylor were ready to step in leaving me free to set up my corner offering Face Painting.

I love face painting and really enjoyed reviewing the Snazaroo face paint sets for Toys R Us  but I prefer to take my time. When faced with a queue of small children all eager to be transformed into butterflies, lions, tigers, superheroes, vampires and werewolves - I did feel a bit under pressure to get on with it quickly.

After the first three or four, I found my rhythm and started really enjoying the challenge. I loved seeing the reaction of my customers when I held the mirror up for them to see themselves and I did manage to raise a few pounds to help the cause.

I barely looked up for the duration of the Fair and when it was time to actually stand up from the tiny nursery chair I had been perched on for two hours, I definitely felt my age.

I slightly regret the fact that it wasn't me that introduced my youngest daughter to the wonders of the Bran Tub, Hook a Duck and Decorate a Biscuit but Ivy did a great job and I got to hear all about it in the enthusiastic but limited vocabulary of a three year old.

It was an exhausting morning but it was lovely to be involved in a community project and I was actually quite proud of my Werewolf face!

Rainy Day Fun with Zubber Bands

Shortly before Christmas last year, I was lucky enough to have a taste of what it was like to be a Toys R Us Toyologist and let me tell you, it was a lot of fun.

Toys R Us are now looking to recruit new families for their 2011 Toyologists Program. To be eligible for selection, all you need to do is review a toy or game based on the theme of Family Fun, Outdoor Fun or Rainy Day Fun and post it on the Toys R Us Facebook page by midnight, Thursday 5th May (full details HERE)

I am reposting one of my reviews from before Xmas as my entry because I would love to be chosen again and have another opportunity to get creative with ideas, videos, photographs and words. This is my Zubber Bands Review for the category Rainy Day Fun:

Zubber Bands

£12.99

"Create cool bracelet bands with this Zubber Band craft set - includes 100 letter, number and symbol blocks to choose from so you can customise your bracelet with anything you want"

I have tried out all sorts of craft sets with my older girls as they were growing up but the Zubber Bands seemed unlike anything I had ever used before. The idea of a material that moulds like clay but sets like rubber was quite intriguing and if the pictures on the box were anything to go by, the result of your crafty endeavours could be unique and quite wearable.

The age recommendation on the box was 5+. Figuring this would be beyond the capability of my 2 year old, I took the set over to my 8 year old niece Kizzy' s house and gave her an early Xmas present (and earned myself the accolade of "favourite auntie" - for the day at least!) She was very eager to get started and the older girls were drawn into the proceedings to help.

The box contained:

•  a multitude of little letter/number/symbol blocks and a cute draw string bag to keep them all in
•  a bracelet mould and a small plastic tool to press the Zubber down
•  measuring scoops, and of course
•  Zubber - which came in three bright colours in domed plastic containers with an additional component that needed to be added to the Zubber to activate it.

Kizzy had the job of measuring out the Zubber and the activator and kneading them together. This had to be done quickly before the Zubber set so she did get a little help. Ella (14) placed the letter blocks in the mould while everybody else searched through the pile trying to find the letters she needed.

It was not an easy task. The letters were hard to identify and it was a big jumble to sort through. Also the lid of the mould was difficult to snap on and when the plastic tool seemed to scrape and tear at the Zubber rather than push it into place, they resorted to using fingers instead.

Despite the difficulties, everyone was kept occupied and engaged and we were all quite excited about the 'reveal' of the finished product.

We had a watch to time the 10 minutes needed for the rubberising process to take place (only the deluxe Zubber craft set contains the special Zubber timer) and waited patiently. After half an hour (and several festive snacks) the Zubber did not appear to have changed at all. We poked it and decided to leave it a little longer.

Eventually, we made the decision to just go for it (we were running rapidly out of patience and snacks) and carefully slid our Zubber band from the bracelet mould.

I have to admit it was quite thrilling as the band came away to reveal perfectly imprinted letters, but the thrill was short lived as the zubber stretched and ultimately fell apart. It clearly had begun to set to the rubbery consistency promised because we were unable to re-knead it and try again, but it was a long way from being properly ready. We should have exercised greater patience.

To summarise, it was a bit fiddly and the finished product, this time, was unusable but we did have a lot fun with it (as you will see from the video). Next time, with the benefit of experience, we will leave the Zubber longer and hopefully achieve the desired result.

One final word of caution - take care when positioning the blocks on the bracelet mould. It is very easy to end up with backward facing letters!

Thinkfun Tipover - A Toyologist Review

The Thinkfun brand, for me, has become synonymous with quality, challenging games that the whole family can enjoy.

The Rush Hour game was a big hit in our family and Zingo is frequently enjoyed by my little girl (although not always strictly according to the rules of play!)

Tipover is very similar in design to Rush Hour but rather than manoeuvring a car from gridlocked traffic, you are tipping crates over to create a pathway for a little man (The Tipper) to make his way to the red crate. As with Rush our there are different levels of difficulty to work through which keeps the challenge fresh.

The rules are quite simple once you get the hang of them but the solutions do require a certain amount of thought and an ability to visualise in the three dimensional format of the game.
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The game is set up according to the layout detailed on the challenge card.

It is then time to start tipping over the crates in the correct order and direction to create a continuous pathway to the red crate.

I like to think that my spacial awareness and problem solving skills are reasonably OK but this was quite tricky for me. I felt a great sense of achievement whenever I finished a level. My grown up daughters, as usual, put me to shame but even they found themselves having to backtrack and rethink as the difficulty level increased.

My little ones just liked playing with the crates that were beautifully manufactured, bright and colourful.

In the video, my dad shows that age and experience are no match for youth!

Snazaroo Face Paints - A Toyologist Review for Toys R Us

I love face painting.

I have face painted at parties, at fund raisers, for fancy dress and more recently painted a simple face on my feet for a competition entry.

I only use Snazaroo face paints.

The colours are vibrant, they cover beautifully and stay put, they clean off relatively easily. The paints are water-based, hypoallergenic and non toxic. I have never experienced any problems with skin reactions.

The range of Snazaroo products for serious face painters is amazing but you can't go far wrong with these kits from Toys R Us.

Each kit contains a palette of eight colours, a sponge, a brush and a booklet with simple step by step instructions to some fantastic faces along with some inspiring ideas. The pink kit is aimed at a girlie audience with sparkly and metallic colours whereas the blue kit lends itself to more masculine designs.

At £9.99 for the potential to paint 50 faces, I think this represents excellent value for money.

I prefer to take my time when painting faces and have a practice first. The video shows my first attempt at the butterfly face in the instruction book and a bit of freestyling fun with my ever willing assistant!

Leapster Explorer - Toyologist Review for Toys R Us

The Leapster Explorer Green Console and Penguins of Madagascar Software

The Leapster Explorer Green Console is an amazing learning experience that encourages children to discover something new every day. There are endless ways to play and learn - from games, e-books, videos and online play to customisable learning skills and more!

Leapster Explorer Penguins of Madagascar sees Skipper suspect that Private is getting soft, so he has created four training missions, each with a different plush toy to rescue. Rise to the challenge and sharpen your mathematical skills while Private hones his elite commando skills.

I would never have thought about buying the Leapster Explorer for my not-quite-three year old but  as we had it available to do a Toyologist review and she seemed very interested in it, there was nothing to lose by letting her have a go. Although recommended for children aged 4-9 years, the way she has responded to it has been nothing short of astonishing.

The Leapster Explorer is a hand held electronic educational game with touch screen technology. An attached stylus tucks neatly away into its own little slot when not in use. It is supplied with a pet game that enables you to create your own pet and a Leaplet learning application download card. A range of games is available as downloadable aps and to purchase on cartridge.

We had the cartridge game 'The Penguins of Madagascar'.

Children never cease to amaze me with their intuitive grasp of technology. My daughter needed very little help to get started. She was quickly navigating her way around and getting to grips with the controls.

I was impressed by how robust the Leapster Explorer was (it would need to be in the hands of an enthusiastic pre-schooler!). I was also impressed by the lovely big screen and clear graphics.

The games all have a strong educational content but were such fun that I doubt the child would even realise they were learning.

The 'Penguins of Madagascar' game involved a lot the gaming essentials of jumping and bashing and collecting interspersed with mini mathematical challenges. There was plenty of guidance and help available to prevent the child becoming frustrated. One of the mini challenges involves dragging different shapes across the screen with the stylus and dropping them onto the corresponding shapes forming part of a simple picture. I was amazed to hear my little girl, who is is still in the fairly early stages of language acquisition, repeating after the voice of the game "isosceles triangle'!! I was even more amazed to see her playing a more advanced level of this mini game where the shapes needed to be rotated to the correct orientation before being dropped, with some precision, in their proper place. As well as learning some basic geometry, she is developing a strong spatial awareness and hand eye co-ordination... and she only thinks she is playing!

We have barely scratched the surface of what the Leapster can do. There is the online Leapworld that children can connect to (and being a 'walled garden' can do so in complete safety). If parents don't want to be left out, they can connect online to the Leapfrog Learning Path to monitor and guide their children's learning. 

This really is a game that can grow with and support the child's developing needs.

My daughter totally loves this game and spends a good deal of time playing with it (so much so that I have already invested in some rechargeable batteries). It is brilliant for car journeys, especially when it is dark because the screen has its own illumination. It is discreet and portable so you could take it anywhere, which is exactly what I do now (restaurants, hotel rooms, visiting grandma...)

My latest use for this Godsend of a game is an incentive to encourage my 'Reluctant Potty Trainee' to sit on her potty. She will happily sit and play. Now if only the Leapster console would instruct her to do her business, we might be nappy free in no time!

I really cannot praise this game enough.

Cute Cupcakes - a Toyologist review

Galt Cute Cup Cakes Kit 

£5.99

"This pretty plaster moulding kit lets you mould and decorate 4 mini cupcakes and a cake stand to display them on. Add sparkle with glitter glue. They almost look good enough to eat!"

I misunderstood what this was at first. I thought we were making real cupcakes... to eat. After the initial disappointment, I remembered the Plaster of Paris kits I had as a child and felt a warm flood of nostalgia.

The kit said that it was not for children under 5 years. My 2 year old (who could actually add "and three quarters" after the 2) is not aware that she is under 5 years!! Obviously she was heavily supervised but  I think that she actually did a pretty good job. She has certainly learned a lot of new vocabulary in the course of the craft project. 

Unpacking the kit I was surprised at how tiny the models were but this was a good thing for me because I have a slightly out of character love of miniatures.

We mixed the plaster (the 2 year old thoroughly enjoyed this part) and filled the moulds. It was difficult to get the tops level and smooth, especially as by the time we had finished blobbing and dolloping, the plaster was already beginning to harden. The controlling perfectionist part of me really wanted to take over and make sure everything was exactly right but I forced myself to allow the kit to remain in the hands of the intended users.

The dried models slipped easily out of the moulds (which is more than can be said for the latex moulds I used as a kid - I lost count of the number of headless Donald Ducks I made because the model separated at the neck as I tried to ease the mould off the last few millimetres of the sailor's hat).

Both the cupcakes and the stand are constructed from two separate pieces that need to be glued together with the PVA glue provided. The bumpy surfaces didn't really fit together very easily but with enough glue they held and didn't look too terrible. Again, the perfectionist in me wanted to sand the surfaces smooth to make a perfect fit but that would have been horribly messy and not an appropriate task for a little one. I satisfied myself by picking the rough edges off with my fingernail! The 2 year old loved to squeeze the glue out of the tube but was not too impressed at having to wait for it to dry.

The instructions suggest that the models should be painted before glueing but putting them together so they actually looked like cupcakes before painting made it more exciting for the 2 year old and they were easier to handle.

Overpainting!

The painting part was great fun. I was concerned that the paintbrush provided was too fine - good for detailed work but frustratingly slow for larger areas. This did not prove to be true. The acrylic paints were lovely and thick so the paintbrush could be well loaded (a fact my daughter tested to the limit!). I painted one cupcake myself (just for purposes of this review you understand - nothing to do with the fact that I was getting far too into this!) The paint, in invitingly lovely pastel shades, covered beautifully with one coat.

The 2 year old was totally absorbed and did not consider herself "finished" until every drop of paint was used up! This of course meant that the models were somewhat "overpainted". Everything ended up a rather homogenous nondescript shade of yuk but did go through some beautiful marbled pastel stages in the process. She got paint everywhere but it all cleaned up easily with a damp cloth.

Lots of mess

Every drop of paint used up 

Then came the glitter phase. A bit of sparkle was just what our cupcakes needed and the 2 year old was happy to oblige.

Before I started this review I imagined that I would conclude with something like "I'd rather spend the money and time making edible cupcakes" but my opinion has changed. As you can probably see from the video, the 2 year old got a lot out of the project and the finished product is small and discreet enough to not be a monstrous eyesore. As much as I would have liked eating the real cupcakes, at least this way is calorie free!

Five Family Fun Games (review)

In the post-Christmas lull before school resumed, we have had plenty of time for family games.

Five such games that we have played are:

• Pass the Bomb Junior £12.99
• Pirate Snakes and Ladders and Ludo £8.99
• Ravensburger Jolly Octopus Game £16.99
• Pig Goes Pop Action Game £16.99
• Timmy Time Pop Up Game £9.99

£12.99

Pass the bomb was great fun. Press the button on the cartoon style fused 'bomb' and it starts to tick. The illustrated cards give you a location such as: at the beach, camping, in space. The aim is to name something that could be found at the location and pass the bomb to the next player before it 'explodes'. The timer on the bomb is random to make it unpredictable, adding to the excitement and pace of the game. The bomb exploding signals the end of play and whoever is left holding it loses that round.

Some of our suggestions for things that could be found at any given location became quite bizarre as the game progressed although still grounded in logic and therefore permissible by our adjudication. It started to be a new challenge to give the whackiest acceptable answer.

And then, of course, there is that horrible moment when your mind just goes blank and the ticking bomb is in your hands and will you be able to come up with an answer quickly enough so you can pass the bomb to the next pla .....kabooom!!!

£8.99

There is something delightfully wholesome about playing a good old-fashioned game like snakes & ladders and ludo. This set has a pirate twist for extra appeal. The double sided playing board is good quality and colourfully illustrated.

From an educational point of view, it teaches turn taking, number and counting skills and in the case of ludo, a certain amount of strategy.

I do feel that the manufacturers missed a trick though by failing to extend the pirate theme to the counters. 'Pieces of eight' would have been a lovely touch or maybe dressing up props to create a total immersion pirate experience.

Having said that, there is nothing stopping you delving into your own dressing up box for a 'Pirate Games Tournament'. As ideas go, that's not bad. I might just organise it and let you know how we get on!

£16.99

The Jolly Octopus game was my least favourite of the five games. It required batteries and a small amount of assembly, which when done meant it did not fit back into the box. 

The jolly octopus himself is vibrantly coloured and friendly looking. Press his head and music plays as his tentacles wave up and down and round.  The aim of the game is to take it in turns to grab the little coloured crabs nestling in the crevices of the rock on which the octopus is perched with the tweezers provided, without touching the tentacles.

If the tentacles are touched, the ticklish octopus stops moving and giggles signalling the end of your turn. 

The things I did not like about this game are:

• the fact that it does not fit back inside the box once assembled is a 'tidy away' issue
• the head sits quite loosely on the body and is prone to being knocked off and potentially lost
• the little crabs are a fiddle to position in their crevices and would need some sort of storage bag to prevent them from getting lost
• it is frustratingly difficult to play

The thing I did like about this game was watching my two year old deliberately touching the tentacles to hear the octopus giggle and imitating it!

£16.99

Like Jolly Octopus, Pig Goes Pop is another game based on a lovely, friendly, cartoon-style character. The roll of a special dice determines which coloured burger you are to feed the open mouthed, expectant porcine mammal with the big appetite. On the base of the burger is a number which corresponds to the number of times you must then 'pump' piggy's head. The pumping action inflates the belly of our rotund friend to the point that his jacket pops undone and his arms fly into the air in protest, signalling the end of the game.

I loved the simplicity of the concept of this game. The dice throwing part was a good learning experience for the two year old, along with matching the colour thrown on the dice to the burgers.

The two year old enjoyed posting the burgers into the pig's mouth but the pumping part proved a bit tricky. I was never quite sure if we were doing it right.

As for the 'popping' part, it never really seemed to happen all at once in the dramatic fashion that, for example, the Buckaroo horse would kick off its weighty burden. The coat would gradually loosen and the arms would half pop up either before or after the belt buckle finally popped open. It tended to be a bit anti-climactic.

The most satisfying part, for me, was twisting the tail to release the air pressure of the inflated belly before the game could begin again.

£9.99

The Timmy Time character from this game was instantly recognisable to the two year old from the TV. The sheep needed to be slotted onto the base and some stickers applied before play could commence. 

 It is basically Buckaroo for beginners. Timmy is clicked down into the base which raises his arms and a leg onto which you must carefully hang his accessories. The ears are also suitable for hanging or balancing on.

The most difficult of the accessories to place was Timmy's bib that can really only be placed in one position.

It was challenging, but not impossible, to load Timmy with all his accessories. If you are not careful, he springs loose from his base, arms and leg relax, he drops his load and you must start again.

The two year old thought it was hilarious every time Timmy dropped his load and it became the outcome she sought in favour of actually completing the challenge.

I thought Timmy himself was gorgeous and I loved all his little accessories but I was bit disappointed in the mechanism for setting the game up ready to begin loading. It took quite a few attempts to get him to click into position, with all the players thinking they had the technique or the magic touch.

Apart from that, it was fun little game with lots of appeal.

In order of merit, as decided by my family, the best game is:

**PASS THE BOMB JUNIOR**

followed by:

TIMMY TIME

PIRATE SNAKES & LADDERS/ LUDO

PIG GOES POP

JOLLY OCTOPUS

Mess Free Doodling (review)

The two year old loves to draw...

... but she can be a bit indiscriminate when it comes to with what and on what.

The last thing I want to do is discourage her creative exploration (even if it is with baked beans on my kitchen work surface) but if I can encourage an activity that she enjoys that also means I won't have to scrub colourful ink splodges out of my living room rug, then that is a wining solution.

The Tomy Aquadoodle Desk retails at £29.99.

It comes flat packed as seven thick foam board pieces that slot satisfyingly together without the need for tools or screws. The finish on the foam board is a wood grain effect that reminds me of the mad decorating and room makeovers I used to enjoy doing, inspired by such TV shows as 'Changing Rooms' with the flamboyant Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen.

The doodling surface is double sided giving two choices of colour and fits into a recess in the desk top. There is also a nice little recess to house the Aquadoodle pen when not in use.

The pen is simply filled with water and mess free doodling can commence.

I don't expect the Aquadoodle Desk to completely take the place of traditional drawing materials (or her more experimental choice of art working) but it is a very handy, instantly accessible, mess free outlet for her creative urges.

The doodles do not last for very long. They disappear leaving a clean surface ready for more mess free fun!

Collections and Collectibles (review)

As a child I had a collection of key rings. It was all a bit pointless because I had not a single key, but I suppose that pointlessness is actually a defining element of most collections.

As an adult, I had a yearning to collect novelty teapots. I imagined them displayed on a country style welsh dresser in a cosy kitchen and selecting different pots to brew for different occasions. In reality, my collection consisted of a grand total of one completely hideous, tacky teapot that was supposed to look like a table set for tea, but didn't. It also carried the warning 'not suitable for boiling liquids' which rendered it somewhat useless as a teapot. Apart from a cup of green tea first thing in the morning, my hot drink consumption consists entirely of coffee these days so my unfulfilled novelty teapot phase does now belong to another life.

I'm not sure what part of the human psyche lends us a pre-disposition to collect but it does appear to be an urge present in some form in us all. Toy manufacturers are certainly aware of this.

My children were big collectors of Pokemon figures (first time round). The marketing was brilliant from the "Gotta Catch 'em all" tag line to the giant posters displaying all 150 Pokemon with check boxes to monitor your progress towards completion. Years later, my girls can still name all 150 Pokemon and tell you that a Wartortle is an evolved form of a Squirtle. We do still have some of the original collectibles but the whole Pokemon franchise has developed beyond my comprehension with the new generations since added.

Other collections included Pogs and Tazos and Puppies and Kitties in my Pocket but none were ever quite as popular or as influential as Pokemon.

Collectibles never seem to go out of fashion.

From a manufacturers point of view they are a winner - why sell a child one toy when you can sell them a whole collection? From a parent's point of view, it makes it easy when Auntie Jane and Granny ask "What does Johnny want for Christmas this year?" From a child's point of view, clever advertising and packaging can create a huge desire and how nice it is to be able to fulfil your child's wants with a simple purchase.

For me personally, I would prefer my children to satisfy their need to collect with something more individual and possibly harder to come by but we are a society that enjoys instant gratification and peer acceptance so the mass produced, easily recognisable, instant collections fit the mood of the moment.

Ocean in my Pocket and Littlest Pet Shop are two Collectible ranges currently enjoying popularity. They are designed to be played with as well as collected, available with a range of play sets additional to the collectible figures.

Ocean in My Pocket Coral Playset - £19.99
Ocean in My Pocket Newborn Pack - £3.99

Littlest Petshop Vehicle - £14.99
Littlest Pet Shop Blythe Set - £12.99

I am already familiar with the Puppy and Kitty in my pocket from years ago and we did just touch on Ponies in my Pocket before my girls outgrew the whole idea. I was quite surprised to see that you can now get Jungle, Snow, Forest and Farm as well as Ocean in my Pocket. To me that is an overwhelming amount of choice and I hope for the sake of parental finances, little girls fixate on one category only or mix and match without the need to "collect them all" as the words on the packaging demand.

Thanks to the likes of Spongebob Square Pants, Finding Nemo and a Shark's Tale, undersea creatures are probably as familiar as pets and farm animals to our youngsters. The Ocean in my Pocket figures are adorable and the playset (although the sort of plastic monstrosity that normally makes me cringe) is intriguing, just inviting you to explore.

I didn't find much to redeem the Littlest Playshop. I  thought the pets themselves were trying too hard to be cute and were actually quite hideous. The packaging includes lots of cardboard cut outs of pets and accessories which just seemed a bit empty and sad and the Pet Vehicle did not look like it was built to withstand much in the way of play. The tag line "How big is your littlest pet shop?" somehow implies that however big it is, it will never really be big enough. The whole thing was just a bit uncomfortable by my set of values.

I gave both playsets to my 2 year old to road test.

She played with Littlest Pet Shop Blythe for a long time, mostly trying to put the sunglasses on her (without success) and saying "silly dolly" every time her shoes fell off (which was often). I know that my daughter is younger than the target market for Littlest Pet Shop but whatever age group is doing the playing, those tiny, ill fitting shoes are going to be lost before long.

Her play with the Ocean figures was much more imaginative, whizzing the baby sea creatures down the slide and animating them with a life beyond their static fuzzy coated plastic bodies. (While I think of it, the fuzzy coating was already starting to attract a lot of fluff and dust which made them look a bit grubby). The figures didn't actually sit too well on the seesaw or seats (in the same way that a real whale/shark/lobster/seahorse probably wouldn't), but it didn't seem to be a problem for the two year old nor an impairment to her enjoyment.

Of the two, I definitely favour the In My Pocket brand but it is ultimately for the parent to decide whether it represents value for money and constructive play opportunities. Perhaps our children would be better served being encouraged to collect key rings, retro Pokemon or even novelty teapots!

Warrior Girls (Review)

It is always good to see manufacturer's efforts to reduce the impact on the environment by minimising packaging and using recyclable materials whenever possible. This concept seems to be something that toy manufacturers are exempt from.

I have to agree that from a successful marketing point of view, it makes sense.

I would be more likely to part with my £3.99 for this..

 .. than this..

.. but this does seem like an extravagant waste.

One item that my children found in their stockings on Christmas morning cannot be accused of wastefulness. This was the Reeve's Painting by Numbers set.

Ordinarily, I dislike painting by numbers. It strikes me as a lot of hard work to produce a fundamentally bad picture. The dolphin set (above) served to remind me of this. The Manga sets, however,  were a different matter entirely.

My girls love the Japanese comic book art style and are big fans of Pokemon, Anime and Studio Ghibli films (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke etc). The Manga Painting by Numbers images were fresh, vibrant and exciting and a million miles away from this drab Van Gogh 'Sunflowers' that took Taylor many, many hours to complete some years ago. (Posting this old photo has brought back memories for her that were best forgotten!)

The girls couldn't wait to get started and what better time than a lazy Boxing day.

The cardboard packaging cunningly converted into an easel of sorts and a holder for the paint pots.

Ivy got in a bit of a pickle when she put her paints into the holder which meant she started painting the flesh tone on her picture a rather alarming shade of orange usually reserved for competitive ballroom dancers. Taylor pointed out the error and with a little bit of overpainting, it was as though it had never happened.

It was lovely to see the girls involved in such a simple pleasure as applying colour to a pre-drawn image and their happy chatter whilst they were doing it was a delight. Our attempt at time lapse photography charts their progress.

My girls were so engrossed in finishing their paintings that they nearly missed their boxing day leftovers tea (or perhaps the lure of cold brussel sprouts simply wasn't that enticing!)

Zubber Bands - Review

Zubber Bands

£12.99

"Create cool bracelet bands with this Zubber Band craft set, includes 100 letter, number and symbol blocks to choose from so you can customise your bracelet with anything you want"

I'd been quite excited about reviewing Zubber Bands. As my older girls were growing up, we tried out all sorts of craft sets but this seemed unlike anything I had ever used before. The idea of a material that moulds like clay and dries like rubber was quite intriguing and if the pictures on the box were anything to go by, the result of your crafty endeavours could be unique and really quite wearable.

The age recommendation on the box was 5+ so figuring this would be beyond the capability of my 2 year old, I took the set over to my 8 year old niece Kizzy' s house and gave her an early Xmas present. She was very eager to get started and the older girls were drawn into the proceedings to help.

The box contained a multitude of little letter/number/symbol blocks and a cute draw string bag to keep them all in, a bracelet mould and a small plastic tool to press the Zubber down, measuring scoops and of course, the Zubber which came in three bright colours in domed plastic containers with an additional component that needed to be added to the Zubber to activate it.

The girls quickly got to grips with the instructions, decided on a colour and a design and started work. 

Kizzy had the job of measuring out the Zubber and activator and kneading them together. This had to be done quickly before the Zubber set so she did get a little help. Ella (14) placed the letter blocks in the mould while everybody else searched through the pile trying to find the letters she needed. 

It was all a bit of a mission. The letters were hard to identify and it was a big jumble to sort through, the lid of the mould was difficult to snap on and the plastic tool seemed to scrape and tear at the Zubber rather than push it into place so they resorted to using fingers instead.

Despite our difficulties, we were all quite excited about the 'reveal' of the finished product. We had a watch to time the 10 minutes needed for the rubberising process to take place (only the deluxe Zubber craft set contains the special Zubber timer) and waited patiently. After half an hour (and several festive snacks) the Zubber did not appear to have changed at all. We poked it and decided to leave it a little longer.

Eventually, we made the decision to just go for it (we were running rapidly out of patience and snacks) and carefully slid our Zubber band from the bracelet mould. 

I have to admit it was quite thrilling as the band came away to reveal perfectly imprinted letters, but the thrill was short lived as the zubber stretched and ultimately fell apart. It clearly had begun to set to the rubbery consistency promised because we were unable to re-knead it and try again, but it was a long way from being properly ready.

Perhaps in her excitement to get started, Kizzy had not measured out the correct proportions of Zubber and activator or we had missed something vital in the instructions. Or maybe it does just take much longer than we allowed.

To summarise, it was a bit fiddly and the finished product, this time, was unuseable but we did have fun with it. Perhaps next time, with the benefit of experience, we will have a better result. I do have some concerns, however, about 'next time' as the plastic domed pots containing the modelling materials are insubstantial and would not prevent drying out were that to be an issue. 

One final word of caution - take care when positioning the blocks on the bracelet mould. It is very easy to end up with backward facing letters!

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Cranium Game 2nd Edition - Review

Cranium Game 2nd Edition

£24.99

"New second edition of the successful Cranium game. Includes 600 all new questions across 16 activities including sketching, sculpting, acting and humming that you loved last time. Guaranteed to entertain the whole family!"

Our family is already familiar with (and a fan of) Cranium, having in our games cupboard: the original Cranium, a Booster box and an old set of Cranium 2nd Edition.

The great thing about Cranium is the variety of tasks that need to be performed to progress round the board (and ultimately win) giving everybody a chance to find something they can excel at (or be embarrassingly bad at - Ivy, you know who I'm talking about!)

The only thing I haven't been too keen on is the board design which has a slightly confusing 'fast track' element and does make the game go on for rather a long time. This is something that has now been improved.

The new Cranium 2nd Edition has a three way playing board that allows you to choose the approximate length of play. It has the original design of board which it estimates should take 90 minutes to complete and 2 simplified versions giving approximately 60 and 30 minutes of play. In the spirit of not taking itself too seriously, Cranium states that these times are only a guess - "Actual game times may vary depending on luck, adequate and/or distracting snacks and the overall brilliance of the players."


The game is played in teams who take it in turns to draw cards from one of four different card boxes - Creative Cat, Word Worm, Star Performer and Data Head. The categories are the same as to the old version of 2nd edition but the questions are all new keeping it very current. There are also some new variations within the categories.

The Creative Cat category involves drawing clues or modelling out of Cranium Clay whilst your team members guess the answer on the card. Word Worm cards are (as the name suggests) wordy puzzles such as spelling, anagrams, definitions etc. Star Performer involves humming a tune or acting and Data Head is more of a general knowledge category. Some questions are directed specifically at individual teams and others are for everyone to try at once. It can all get a bit crazy in the second scenario!

The following video gives a taste of the sort of questions one can expect.

The game is recommended for ages 12+, but throwing the 10 sided dice, turning the timer over and poking the Cranium clay kept the 2 year old involved for a while. Baby Boy was happy to just chew on a sheet from one of the Doodle pads provided and observe!

This is definitely a game I would recommend. Our family has enjoyed playing Cranium on many occasions over the years and with the modification to the board of the new 2nd Edition, which allows for the less time consuming versions, I can imagine we will be likely to play even more often.