Fun with Puzzle-A-Round

Time for another toyologist review and it's another hit - the Peppa Pig Puzzle-A-Round.

I'll take that...

My daughter, like a lot of children absolutely loves puzzles. Plus they are just one of those toys that, as a parent, you really don't mind buying for your, or other peoples children. You can plainly see how much children get out of out of them and so I'm always on the look out for new ones! 

I had noticed similar 3D round puzzles in the shops but to be honest I hadn't considered them. I guess I expected them to be just novelty factor, fiddly and unlikely to stay together. The Puzzle-A-Round has proved me wrong! I actually had no idea how they work – they are very robust being made of shaped plastic pieces which are not going to bend and wear away after you have played with them a couple of times, which is what I had feared.

Squiggle was excited and here is our first attempt in pictures and video.  I did have to read the instructions to start off with to make sure I knew what to do. When I first saw all the pieces I did worry it was going to be a bit difficult for my daughter but she picked it up surprisingly quickly. You can see how she got on working it out from our video at the bottom of the post. She is just a few months off turning 3 and actually this puzzle is the perfect age for her – it challenged her (which you want), but completely held her attention and after giving it a go she was able to do it which of course made her very pleased with herself.

After a few attempts she is now pretty speedy at doing it and knows just what to do! It is recommended for ages 3+ which is about right I would say as younger children may find it a little hard to push all the pieces in properly. Still fun with an adults help though!

What she did find a little difficult were the very top and bottom sections where you are basically piecing together logos. It's a shame they couldn't have just taken the pictures all the way round, she seems to have the hang of it now though!! You build the top and bottom sections in two halves and then twist them together to make the ball. This meant the bottom section has to be built upside down. I thought this would baffle her but no, upside down pigs don't seem to be too much of a problem!!

When the ball is finished you can admire it by placing it on the stand... or if you're my daughter roll it around the house laughing and hide your dinosaurs inside pretending it's their egg!

Honestly this isn't a novelty toy. After we had built it 10 times I mentioned to Daddy that she loved it "I know we've just built it 20 times" came his reply!! She also chose it as her toy of choice to take to Nana's house yesterday and it was a big hit there too.

I have loved watching her play with this and see her mind ticking over while she works it all out. It has really held her concentration and brought her lots of fun. I would happily buy it for a birthday gift for another child or as a stocking filler. Peppa Pig Puzzle-A-Round will be available in Toys R Us soon so watch out for it!

Make some noise for the Raa Raa playset

Today was one of those indoor days. We were trapped in by the weather, both feeling under the weather and it seemed the perfect moment to review the Raa Raa the Noisy Lion interactive playset – thank goodness we did! It really did bring some excitement and fun into our house today.

My little girl has watched and enjoyed Raa Raa the Noisy Lion and recognised the show straight away when she saw the box – her little eyes lit up which always make mummy very happy. I could see it was much more than she had expected when I told her we had a new toy to try out.

The set has some great features, it comes with a Raa Raa figure, tree house, car and some little drums. The figure has a little hole underneath which means he fits easily into the car, the sound buttons and the swing. The swing was a particular hit with my little girl!

There are two noise points on the set, when you press RaaRaa down near the door he says various phrases which your little one will recognise. When you press him down near the car canopy it makes the noise of the cubby car starting up and the tree shade zooms up the string. We loved this, I wasn't expecting the palm leaves to move and Squiggle played with this and the cubby car over and over.

The fun sound effects aside, I think the real fun is in the tree house – it's much more than a Raa Raa toy! Very well made and hardy for play it makes a great base for all your child's small toys to climb ladders, play house, go for a swing and have a great time. My daughter's monkey have already been knocking on Raa Raa's door, swinging on the trees and going for sleep overs on Raa Raa's little bed. Her toys have also been having lots of fun playing hide and seek around the tree. 

From the box it looks like you can buy other characters to add to the fun (something my little one quickly spotted!!) which I'm sure would be great for Raa Raa fans. Even though it's based around a television programme it encourages roll play and imagination for stories beyond the animated ones they have already seen.

It has kept my daughter happy all day and I'm sure for a lot longer, I'm surprised by how much I like it too! Everybody that has been to visit has been taken to play with this toy, she is so please with it and it has brought lots of fun. 

You can get a better idea of the interactive features in our video... take a look and see what you think!

'Baby Annabell doll' and 'Baby Annabell Bed with Lullaby' Toyologist reviews

Why we've been going gaga for her!

We have been busy playing again... This time with baby Annabell and the baby Annabell bed with Lullaby.

When I pulled these toys out of the box Squiggle was very excited, the pressure was on me to get them out of their packaging as she stood over me demanding I do it faster!!

We got the cot out first and she absolutely loved helping me put it together. It's really easy to assemble - no screwing needed! She loved the little bedding set which consists of a blanket, sheet and pillow, and she was giggling that everything had sheep on. She was most excited though by the fact the cot had it's own mobile (you will need a screwdriver here to add the batteries). She was over the moon pushing the button and playing the little tune on it (which has sheep baaing through it!).

Then we got Baby Annabelle out, I was really interested to see how she'd go down with my little girl as she's never really shown much interest in her baby dolls. She has always refused to put them in her pram, opting to take penguin or giraffe for a walk instead! Straight away she was a lot more taken by this doll and I think it's mainly down to the interactivity of it. I find some dolls slightly freaky but she's actually got a really nice little face!

She's a very clever little doll, when you give her the dummy or her sheep bottle (both included in the set) her cheeks actually move along with the sounds so it really looks like she is sucking or drinking. My little girl loved this, she spent a long time running back and forward to the cloakroom sink to fill the bottle with water and give her another drink. It was very cute to watch, she was tucking her up in her cot, giving her a bottle and then turning the mobile on to get her off to sleep. Baby Annabell laughs, cries and sleeps and I have spotted my little girl singing her little lullabies along with the music to help her drift of to lullaby land.

I have four nieces who are all older than my little girl and have all gone through phases of baby Annabell obsession. I think from this I was a bit of an Annabell sceptic and wasn't sure why she was any different from any other dolls... but now we know! She is well made, lovable, has features that bring out the caring side of my little girl, and most of all she is actually getting played with! She had a 4 year old friend round to play recently and she absolutely fell in love with both the cot and the doll and kept wishing she had one herself. It's great that it's suitable for older children and so will hopefully stand the test of time!

If you are on the look out for a baby doll for your little one to love and take care of I would really recommend this toy. Have a little look at our video to get an idea of some of the features and see the smile on my daughter's face!

No messing, just fun! Princess Aquadoodle review

So we've opened possibly the most exciting box to ever land on our doorstep and it's time to start our Toyologist reviews!

I was delighted to be sent an Aquadoodle to review, and what could be even better, a Cinderella one! My little girl does have a very girly streak in her and loves a princess so I knew this would go down well. In her own words when I showed it to her she said... "my new toy is magnificent"... that's a bit of a tongue twister for a toddler. 

The set comes with an Aquadoodle mat, a Cinderella print maker and a water pen. You simply fill the pen with water and place Cinderella under the tap to get going, so simple! If you add water to the mat it turns pink, just like magic. Squiggle loved drawing her pictures and then watching them dry in the sun, ready to start again. She overloaded Cinderella with water the first time but when we got used to it you roll her along and she makes a little heart pattern.

The box says 'no mess' so I was interested to see if it was true. I've tried no mess arty options before and tried leaving her with a water colouring book once – it was a disaster as there was blue water everywhere. This is not the case with the Princess Aquadoodle, I can honestly say it is 100% mess free, hurrah, perfect for silly mums like me who have cream carpets! It also requires no batteries or assembling and won't run out, you just add more water... this is the kind of easy toy I love.

The fun continued with the Aquadoodle today – the sun was shining so we had the paddling pool out  – my little artist was dipping her toys in the water and then using them to make prints on the mat, this soon turned into footprints and was great fun. I think the only thing for us that could have made it even more fun would have been a larger mat, but saying that this smaller size makes it really neat to fold away and store.

My little girl loves her new Aquadoodle and very sweetly asked if she could keep it, it's a fantastic addition to the toy box. It also makes a great guilt free gift as you know your not sending any mess and chaos into anyone's house!

If you'd like to see the Aquadoodle at work take a look at our little video. I am so sorry it is on it's side but you get the idea... I promise future videos will be the right way up!!

Cranking up the fun with my little monkey

Squiggle and I are putting together our plea to become Toyologists... we love playing with toys... and talking about playing with toys... and so we would love the chance to review for Toys R Us for a few months! Here's our review for our application.

At the weekend while I was trying to decide which toy to write about and recommend, my daughter came up with the inspiration. She shouted "lets make a monkey jungle!!!" pretty much as soon as she'd got out of bed. So that is what we did (and why she is still in her pyjamas in the photos).

I thought it was the perfect choice, the monkey jungle she is referring to is 'Gears! Gears! Gears! Movin Monkeys' by Learning Resources. It's a fantastic toy which really has it all – great for fun, imagination, cognitive skills, and has a bit of engineering thrown in. My mother-in-law had an old school version of this (by a different make) which she had kept safe since the 70s and which my daughter had really taken to. Ever since we had all been on the look out for something similar for her, and hurrah we finally found this in Toys R Us.

It is basically a really fun and different construction toy - it comes with various pieces you build up to make your very own twisting, turning jungle. You start with some flat green pieces which slot together a bit like a jigsaw. You then build up from there adding cogs, building trees with the parts, palm trees, monkey vines and cranks. Squiggle finds some of the parts a little hard to put together but she is a good bit younger than the recommended age and it's fun to do together. She is quickly learning and as she gets older she'll keep finding fun from it in different ways.

You can follow the instructions or make up your own jungle, it's great because what she creates is different every time and then brings fun throughout the day. She makes up stories about the monkeys nesting on the trees, getting stuck on vines and being chased by crocodiles. Like most children she seems to really love monkeys, they really bring out her cheeky side when she's playing.

It is great seeing her mind at work as she realises how all the cogs go together, and her imagination in full flow as she decides what game to play.

When we've had people round to play it has been a bug hit with both boys and girls, from ages ranging from 2 to 6 (and some 30 odd year old daddies). I have been asked by so many people where we got it from as it's not something most people have seen - that makes it a great gift idea!!

I think this is a top, great value toy which will really stimulate your little ones, as well as bringing them lots of joy. We've almost had it a year now and it is standing the test of time, getting played with more rather than less as the months roll on! Monkey-tastic!!

Want to know a little more? Why not which our mini movie! x

I'm Not Scared – my perfect summer read

I'm writing this review as part of the Tots 100 summer reading challenge in association with Tesco in which they are rounding up some of our favourite summer reads. I love reading but life is so manic I hardly get a chance to sit down with a book, so I'm going to make sure I pick one from the list and make some time to do so.

I'm delighted to share one of my favourite books with you but I've never reviewed an actual grown up book before so I hope I do it justice!

It took me a while to narrow down my perfect summer read to just one book... I was all ready to write an enthusiastic post on 'The Poisonwood Bible' (an awesome book). It's good and thick and certainly lasted me a summer, but as I know it's not for everyone I decided that didn't really qualify as a summer read... maybe not what people are looking for whilst relaxing on the beach!

The book I have chosen is one I loved and one I think really anyone would enjoy – 'I'm Not Scared' by Niccolo Ammaniti. Set in Italy during a brutal and scorching summer, the story follows 9 year old Michele, his gang of friends, and their childhood antics. The writing sets the scenes so perfectly you feel as though you have been there running through the wheat fields yourself. It captures all the different childhood relationships really well and took me back to my long summers running through fields with all the local kids. All much more innocent, we imagined and invented our dramas and mysteries... Michele's however, soon become all too real.

As Michele tells the story you're with him all the way, and the group's childhood dares and adventures soon lead him to a discovery that sets his world spiralling around him (I don't want to give any more of the story line than that away!). You're soon swept in to a absorbing mystery that will keep you hooked until the end.

I just loved reading this book and as soon as I had finished I tried to get everyone I knew to give it a go! It is so easy to read and completely sucks you in. I didn't want to put it down and, although I'm a pretty slow reader I finished it quickly. It's not too long, so if like me you don't often get time to read, it's not at all daunting to start! Well told, charming, intriguing, exciting and sad, it's a perfect little tale which has it all for a summer's day on the deck chair.

If you do read it I'd love to know what you think... and I'd love to hear from anyone who's read it already? I hope my post tempts you to read it, I'm no great writer myself, which I think is why I love reading what other people have written so much, I just find it amazing!

I'm looking forward to reading the Tots 100 round up and getting some new ideas and inspired for my next read.