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!

What I used to save for

I was talking to a friend who's 4 year old daughter received so much birthday money, she opened her a bank account and she's now stocking up those savings to use redecorate her bedroom in a years time. I  thought this was such a lovely idea, I still remember opening my first bank account and how much I enjoyed saving those pennies.

This got me reminiscing about all the things I've saved up for along the way. It makes for a lovely list of memories, in particular the memory of the pride and excitement I felt when I reached my goals! Here's my savings memory list:

Ice cream and souvenir money for holidays

A Sindy doll kitchen

Bermuda shorts from the market

Getting my ears pierced

DMs and an army surplus bag for school

Tickets to see REM at my first solo concert with friends

A velvet jacket

Floorboards for my bedroom

An ultra classy holiday with friends to Benidorm (after a long summer working for £2.90 per hour!)

The end of school girl's holiday to Tenerife

University

Inter-railing around Europe

An amazing New York art trip

Glastonbury tickets

My first car (I still have it!)

A deposit on a house with my future husband

Our magical honeymoon

Maternity leave

... And then we hit babies and spending lol, I guess that's a whole other post! Do you remember what you used to save for before every penny started to count for so much? What is the first big thing you remember saving up for?

Please note this is a sponsored post but all the ideas and words are my own

'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!