Mothers & Baby Play & Learn Toyologist Review

The Ravensburger Mothers & Babies learning game is a lovely, well made and well illustrated puzzle game which will help children learn while they play. There are 12 sets of mother animals and 12 sets of babies. You simply have to match the parent to their babies (for example the sheep to the lambs) to fit the tight pieces together. It's a lovely way for little ones to learn their animals and all the different baby names. 

My daughter really enjoyed playing it but the matching of the animal pieces was very easy for her. She is approaching 3 and so knows all the babies names and had no problem matching the animals and fitting the puzzles together. She wasn't all the happy about my suggestion we give it to her younger cousin though, "but I really like it" she protested!!

Then we decided to have a look at the games – there are four suggested games to go with it and this is where it becomes more suitable for my daughters age group.

We decided to play swaps where you deal the cards out, see how many pairs you already have, and then take turns to swap cards with each other to see who can match all their pairs first. This was much harder for her to get the idea of but she's catching on and it's good fun and great for her to learn! I think when other friends her age or a little older come round to play we will really enjoy playing the games together.

I think if I was buying it as a gift I would buy for roughly a 2 year old. That way they can get full enjoyment from the puzzle and learning the animals first, and then get even more fun from the games and start learning to play them as they get older. The game will be available soon from Toys R Us., have a look at our photos, they illustrations really are lovely for children aren't they?!

Melissa & Doug Doorbell House Toyologist Review

My eyes lit up when I saw this one, it's a great idea - basically a little street rolled up into one little box! And it's a pretty little wooden toy, us parents seem to have a thing for wooden toys don't we? Probably more so than the kids!!

It is basically a wooden box done up like a house with four doors and four working doorbells on each door. Each door bell makes a different sound and you will need to get some batteries to get them going! The feature that really sets this aside is that each little door has it's own dainty lock and key. They aren't chunky ones for little fingers and it has taken a little time for my almost 3 year old to get to grips with them. It is fantastic for her coordination though and although she wanted me to do the locks at first she is now learning that with a bit of patience she can do it herself. It is really good for her I think! I like the fact that the keys are more realistic to real keys rather than chunky plastic ones, I'm just worried she will get a bit too good at it and master our front door!! The keys have a subtle number engraved on them which match the numbers on the door and she picked this up straight away and they are attached to the handle of the house so they can't get lost!!

I would say children under 3 would struggle with the locks but you can leave them open and they will happily play with the dolls, doors and doorbells.

You get four dolls with the house, 2 girls and 2 boys which fit neatly behind the doors. I had thought there might be some decoration behind the doors but it's just plain wood. This didn't cause my little girl any disappointment though, she is happy playing house with the dolls. The general story line to her play being they all go round and ring on each others door bells to see if they want to play, they all announce they are too busy sleeping / playing / eating / watching telly, so they all have to go home again... then finally they all decide to go for a sleepover at one of the houses.

I love the imaginative play this little toy encourages, and I love the details in the pictures on the front if the houses. It's a great toy to take along with you if you are going away, you can lock all the dolls in their houses and then carry it easily by the handle. I took it as a surprise toy for my little girl on our camping trip and it worked a treat. We called it her doll's holiday home and she sat and played happily with it while we got things ready.

I would love to be able to buy this for friend's children as a gift as I don't think it's a toy people will have seen and it's such a great idea. It's a bit over my usual gift budget though from what I can gather so that would be my only area for improvement! Otherwise a fab toy and mummy's favourite from the toyologist box!

Watch out for it on Toys R Us shelves as it is coming to stores soon!

Ding dong! Hear a doorbell in action:

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!