Elsie Button Reviews....

Book a Theatre Break with Show and Stay and get your hotel stay FREE

2012-01-20T06:42:00.000-08:00

Show and Stay, the London theatre break provider, is currently running an incredible Free Hotel Offer for a limited time only.

Book two tickets to one of their selected West End shows and get an overnight stay at one of our 3-star London hotels absolutely FREE.

The offer includes 13 of the West End's blockbuster shows, including family classics like Shrek The Musical and The Wizard of Oz, plus long-running favourites like Chicago and Les Miserables.

Packages start from just £47.50 per person, and if you feel like a bit of extra luxury, you can upgrade your hotel from just £10 per person. Plus, if you're travelling by train, you can save up to 50% on the cost of your rail travel. You can even add a visit to one of on London's top attractions to make the most of your time in the capital.

So why not take the kids on a fun-packed cultural adventure to the capital that they'll never forget, or treat yourself to an indulgent overnight break with tickets to your favourite play or musical. And if you want to transform your break into something truly special, you can add an extra night from just £45 per person.

Book your exciting theatre break before mid-February to take advantage of this fantastic offer.

This is a sponsored post, supplied by Show and Stay

Giant pouffe from Vertbaudet

2012-01-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

We recently received this fabulous giant pink pouffe from Vertbaudet.

This is an inflatable cushion, 145 x 100 cm in size, and one side is coloured (they come in either pink, green or blue) and the other side is grey. And as my kids pointed out it quite closely resembles an elaborate air bed, so with that in mind my five year old insisted on sleeping on it the other night!

The kids have had great fun with this cushion, and it is great for providing additional seating in the sitting room - it looks good too!

This product is wipe clean, and takes up no room at all when deflated, and costs £49.99.

Shutters for a child’s bedroom

2012-01-18T03:35:00.000-08:00

Shutters are often over looked when choosing a window dressing for a children’s bedroom but they have a number of practical benefits that can actually make them ideal.

Shutters can help control the amount of noise and light that you allow into the room. This is particularly useful if you live in a city where traffic noises and car head lamps can interfere with the sleep of many children. Outside of busy cities it is still very useful for parents to be able to control light and sound levels within the bedrooms of a young child as it can help you to regulate your child’s sleeping routine. This is particularly useful in the summer months when you might want your children to go to bed whilst it is still light outside and they can here other children playing. It can also help your children to sleep later during these months ensuring they get the rest they need and you get the time to yourself that you deserve.

Shutters are also a very safe window dressing, whilst many blinds and blackout curtains can be equally as effective when it comes to blocking out sunlight, the chords that dangle from these window treatments can prove a significant strangulation risk for younger children who can become entangled in the mechanisms. Adjusting the slats on shutters can also allow you to let air and light in whilst blocking the window as an entry or exit point helping to give you peace of mind that your child’s bedroom window is not a source of danger.

Children’s tastes change regularly so it’s important that you decorate a child’s bedroom in a style that will not lose its popularity. Most shutters can be easily painted so once you have shutters this is one area of your child’s bedroom décor that can be changed cheaply and easily with their tastes.

Shutters are a fantastic window dressing option worth considering for your child’s bedroom.

This is a guest post (sponsored) written by Shutters Direct

Air Total Home Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner by Vax

2012-01-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

I recently received a new vacuum cleaner from the lovely people at Vax - their most powerful compact multi-cyclonic cylinder.

And WOW, what a vacuum cleaner it is! I cannot believe I have been struggling with my other vacuum cleaner for so long, because this little beauty is incredible!

I unpacked it on New Year's Day and let it loose on the bedroom carpets. The carpets now look new - they have never been so clean! This vacuum cleaner picks up everything - bits that have been stuck to the carpet for years - it is incredibly powerful, and it is so light and easy to use it practically does it itself. And it gets under chairs and other low objects with great ease.

It comes with a a range of accessories for every cleaning task including a hard floor tool, TurboTool and Turbobrush for removing stubborn pet hairs from carpets, stairs, furniture and car seats. An extra long stretch hose lets you clean right to the top of your stairs, leaving the machine safely at the bottom.

And as it uses multi-cyclonic force, the filters don't get blocked so you always have constant, powerful suction as you clean. Multiple cyclones separate dirt from the air path so it collects in the container, not the filter.

I cannot sing its praises enough - it has revolutionised the whole cleaning experience. (I never ever thought I would get so excited about a vacuum cleaner)

It retails at £249.99 but Vax currently have it on offer at £179.99!

ELC Great Book Exchange

2012-01-09T02:07:00.000-08:00

For me, the best part of the day is snuggling up with my girls and reading them their bedtime stories.

On 4th January 2012, Early Learning Centre launched The Great Book Exchange, a campaign to encourage parents to bring the books their children have outgrown, into local stores for them to redistribute to local children and charities who need them.

In return parents will be able buy new books for their children with a 50% discount voucher so their children will be able to benefit as much from The Great Book Exchange as the local children's causes that will receive the donated books.

The Great Book Exchange is a great way to recycle books for other children to enjoy - all children should have the chance to enjoy books - I think this really is a fantastic campaign.

Four easy steps to the Great Book Exchange:
1. Go to a participating ELC or Mothercare with an ELC shop-in-shop.

2. Bring in up to ten of your children's old books.

3. Receive a 50% discount voucher to spend on books in store.

4. Go home happy with the knowledge that your old books are going to children who need them.

To find out more about The Great Book Exchange please visit http://www.elc.co.uk/

Campaign ends on 31st January 2012

KidCam - keeping tabs on the kids

2012-01-08T12:40:00.000-08:00

This is a product I wish I'd had when Betty was born five years ago. We always had a standard baby monitor, but being the neurotic person that I am I never really had peace of mind - I would have loved to have been able to see what my babies were getting up.

Storage Options very kindly sent this KidCam to me just before Christmas - it comes with two cameras and a split screen monitor which means you can view two parts of the house or garden at once, and is ideal for slightly older children.

My children are now two and five and they share a bedroom which is situated quite a long way from our sitting room. Often when we leave their bedroom at bedtime, it can get pretty wild in there. We hear banging, and jumping, and yelling, and both blame each other for keeping the other awake. With this product I can now keep a very close eye on them and see exactly what is going on - in fact they have taken to performing for the camera! The cameras have the added bonus of having a night vision feature too.

The cameras are wireless and can be placed anywhere in the house and garden (they can even be used in the car). It has a 100 metre range, and no interference.

I think that this is a really useful device, particularly if you are neurotic like me and like to know what is going on - it gives you total peace of mind,

The KidCam retails at £159,99 which may sound like quite a lot of money, but for what you get, I think that it is definitely worth it.

Ask Italian

2011-12-15T02:06:00.000-08:00

Ask Italian very kindly sent us some vouchers to go and spend in one of their restaurants with a view to writing about our experiences.

So yesterday evening we headed for the Ask in Hereford and were greeted at the door by a waiter called Elliot. Elliot was cheery, attentive and very friendly, and the first thing he did was bring the kids some paper and crayons.

Both girls had a child's set menu (£5.95), which included a starter of veg sticks and garlic bread, followed by a pepperoni pizza, and then chocolate ice-cream. And Tom and I went for the three courses set menu at £16.95 each.

All four of us had three courses and the bill came to under £50. The menu is extensive, and the staff very helpful. Oh, and my five year old said she loved the music that was playing and that it made her feel happy!

“ASK Italian have launched a new menu with Theo Randall, one of the UK’s most celebrated chefs.

ASK Italian is ‘Calling all Italian Lovers’ to come and enjoy a very different restaurant experience. Inspired by Italy’s style, warmth and obsession with great food, it is transforming its 123 restaurants bringing a fresh, bold and authentic dining experience to the high street.

With over one million changes made to date – from the menus to the uniforms, music and Milanese-inspired decor – customers will experience the ‘cuore’ (heart) and ‘spirito’ (soul) of Italian food and culture from teams who are knowledgeable, genuine and passionate about making ASK Italian amazing every time.”

Vistaprint - personalised photo calendar

2011-12-15T01:42:00.000-08:00

Vistaprint have very kindly just sent me a personalised photo calendar. In order to get the calendar made, I went onto their website, chose a theme from many different choices, and uploaded 13 (including the front cover) of my favourite pictures of my children.

The whole process was incredibly quick and easy to do, and literally within 10 minutes the calendar had been created.

It arrived yesterday, and I am really thrilled with it. I decided to give it to my mum for her birthday (which coincidentally was yesterday) and it appeared to be her favourite present by far.

I was really impressed with the service, the straight-forwardness, and the end product itself. The original price for this calendar was £9.99, but I see now it has been reduced to £4.99 which is an absolute bargain!

Vistaprint also do many other personalised products such as photo books and mugs. Please do go and check out their website!

Expert phone advice for parents

2011-12-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

Greatvine is a company that brings together experts on parenting as well as health, business and writing. You can read articles, buy downloads or speak directly to an expert by phone. The max call cost per minute is £1.53 and the average call cost is around £20. Here’s some really good feedback on Greatvine from people who have used the confidential telephone service.

Apparently Greatvine’s most common subjects relating to parenting are anxiety and depression, including post-natal depression, child behaviour, baby sleep, relationships and bullying.

I haven’t used the service myself (not yet anyway) but I can see that it could save a lot of time and stress – I remember when Tom spent hours driving Betty around the countryside in an attempt to get her off to sleep at night, for at least the first 5 weeks of her life – I’m sure Greatvine and their sleep expert Chireal Shallow would have offered some more rational approaches to the problem…

The 100+ experts (ie highly qualified people with decades of professional experience) aren’t just childcare specialists but can offer help on a really wide range of subjects from self-esteem and costume design to small business investment and fixing problems with your computer. I even found an article called ‘the 10 commandments of karaoke leadership’ – not sure what that’s all about, but there’s clearly something for everyone here!

Bingo - something for the whole family?

2011-12-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

Maybe it’s just me and other people have grown up differently, but I feel like Bingo has skipped a generation. My parents and grandparents both have fond memories of spending time during seaside holidays or even just regular Saturday afternoons going out to bingo halls. I don’t think it was ever the bingo itself that was really the appeal but more the social occasion, a chance to meet new people and see old friends, like a social club but with the added excitement of being able to win some prizes.

I was never taken to the bingo halls growing up, I guess a lot of bingo halls nowadays see it as less socially acceptable to have children there, moving away from the family feel of the game towards a more trendy bar feel often banning under 18s from even coming in. I can’t say this has ever caused me much personal disappointment, I’ve only played bingo once and although I did actually leave the game £5 up, I can’t claim it was really my thing.

However I can’t help but feel it’s a little sad that an activity that could really bring families together is dying. So many other family activities seem more geared towards the children with the enjoyment for parents really only coming from watching the children have fun. Bingo however is different, it’s really designed for the adults but yet there’s something about the simple concept of spotting your numbers that kids really love as well.

I spend my summers working with children at a summer camp, one of the most popular rainy day activities we have is Power Bingo. The kids really love it, they play for small prizes and we run many different variations of the game to keep it interesting, sometimes you have to make different patterns with the numbers, sometimes everyone stands up and the last person to get any number is the winner. You can see how excited the children get as they come close to winning, they love it!

So maybe my generation will be the exception, could Bingo regain its popularity? Online Bingo is currently the fastest growing of any online game. The internet obviously offers a lot of choices, meaning those who want the trendy night club feel bingo can get it, but there is also space for family friendly bingo too. With online bingo you can once again get the whole family involved, spotting numbers and hoping for prizes. So many activities on computers currently seem to be taking away from family togetherness time, but with Bingo I think there is a chance to bring a little bit of it back.

This is a guest post (sponsored) written by Ewan Cambell MacDougall, on behalf of Tombola

Argos clothing range for kids

2011-12-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

Argos have brought out a new children's clothing range, which is exclusive to them and includes footwear and accessories. And they very kindly sent us a couple of items each for Betty and Dolly to try out and review.

Dolly received a Peppa Pig umbrella and rucksack set which is currently on offer for £9.99 (was £14.99), and Betty received the same but in Ben and Holly.

My kids love umbrellas and rucksacks anyway, so to have both adorned with their favourite TV characters is pretty exciting for them both!

They also received a pyjama set, with dressing gown and slippers, again in Peppa Pig style and at very reasonable prices!

Do go and check out this new range from Argos, there are a lot on offer at the moment and if your kiddies are into TV characters and the like (Mickey/Minnie Mouse, Barbie, Cars etc) then they will love these clothes and accessories!

Fancy dress for all!

2011-12-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

The Mega Fancy Dress shop have very kindly sent us some fab costumes; a Bumbling Bee for Dolly and a Tinkerbell costume for Betty. Oh, and a fabulous pink wig for me!

While browsing through the hundreds of different costumes for kids, men and women (everything from animals, to Christmas, to 1960s to fairytale costumes) I was struck not only by the choice, but also by the really reasonable prices. The Bumbling Bee costume for example only costs £8.99, and the quality and detail of the costume is great.

Betty is of course absolutely thrilled with her Tinkerbell costume, and I love my new wig - I have always wanted a wig but have never had the courage to buy one!

I wore it to a 40th birthday party on Saturday night where the dress code was Pink/70s, so it was perfect and went down a storm! Again the quality is great and it only costs £8.99!

I would really recommend taking a look at this website if you are after a fancy dress costume or a fun outfit for yourself or your kiddies, perhaps for Christmas?!

Pleaes note: That is not me in the picture unfortunately - didn't quite have the courage to post the one up of me taken on Saturday night :)

Fairy Princess Play Tent

2011-11-25T07:01:00.000-08:00

A fabulous and gorgeous fairy princess tent arrived on our doorstep yesterday. This is any little girls' (well my girls anyway) dream tent.

The actual tent is made from a thick fabric which comes in soft colours and is beautifully decorated with flowers and butterflies, and the inner poles are wooden.

It can be used inside or outside, as it has a waterproof coating on it. It seems bigger in real-life than it does in this picture too.

It is relatively quick to assemble, and is a hexagonal turret shaped tent with a flag on the top and three windows. The tent slots together and is joined with connectors for easy installation.

My kids adore this new tent, and I am pretty taken with it too! It costs £74.99 and is available from www.playhouses.co.uk.

WoodenToyShop.co.uk - fabulous stocking fillers

2011-11-25T06:39:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for inspiration for stocking fillers, go check out the WoodenToyShop.co.uk website, where there are tons of toys to choose from, from arty crafty items, to puzzles and games, to role play toys.

I was delighted to receive this BigJigs french knitter doll for Betty which costs just £1.99 - I had one when I was young and found it pretty fascinating and easy to use.

Betty and I also have spent many a happy hour together with her weaving loom and produced some pretty cool blankets for her cuddly friends - and again this is pretty easy to use for a small person. This loom only costs £7.99 which I think is really good value indeed.

We also received these gorgeous Le Toy Van Honeybake Ice Lollies - they are colourful and fun and look almost irresistible - and the set contains all the old style favourites such as Twisters, Zooms, Fabs and Strawberry Splits, oooh I remember them all very fondly! This lovely set costs just £12.39.

WoodenToyShop.co.uk has lots of wonderful ideas for gifts!

Rubber Duck Snowjoggers for kids

2011-11-25T06:10:00.000-08:00

We have just received a couple of pairs of these fabulous snow boots for Betty and Dolly; we opted for a pink and blue pair - but they come in a variety of colours and styles.

The kids absolutely love their new boots and have been wearing them around the house since they arrived, and wanted to wear them to school. My youngest is a huge Peppa Pig fan - you know, the pig who always jumps in flippin muddy puddles, so she is thrilled that in these new boots she can do just that.

These boots are 100% waterproof and have a thick trainer like sole with lots of grip, just perfect for the snowy icy freezing winter we are about to have.

They are far warmer and more comfortable than the usual wellies.

These fabulous boots, as well as others, are available from www.mrsmarcos.co.uk, a new online footwear store for men, women and children.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom Magic Mirror Wand

2011-11-15T03:47:00.000-08:00

Entertainment One have kindly sent us this fun Magic Wand to review.

My girls are both fairy mad, and love watching Ben and Holly on TV, and I have to say it is one of my preferred kids programmes too!

This wand replicates Holly's wand from the programme, and when you wave the wand it makes magical sounds. And if you need Princess Holly’s help to cast spells press the button and she will appear as a moving picture and she says five different phrases.

It is a fun idea and my girls are really taken with it, and find it pretty exciting! Lots of giggles from both of them!

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom Magic Wand retails at £15.99 and is available at all good retailers.

You can also check out the Ben and Holly website, and their official facebook page.

Our Top Ten Christmas Presents from ELC!

2011-11-15T03:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas is almost upon us, and lots of us will already have started thinking about what to buy for our little darlings. If you have children up to eight years of age, ELC is a great place to start; they have everything from doll's houses, to dressing up outfits, to train sets, cars and musical instruments.

My children (Betty aged 5 and Dolly aged 2) and I have had great fun putting together our fabulous top ten ELC Christmas present suggestions:

HappyLand Zoo Set - from 18 months - £60
For children who love HappyLand and going to the zoo, this is fabulous! It is a substantial set and includes a safari style zoo and train, African land, polar zone, two keepers, and nine fun animals such as penguin, polar bear and lion. Because of the size of this set, my girls have spent literally hours happily playing with it TOGETHER (as opposed to trying to poke each others eyes out).

Rosebud Farm - from 3 years - £50
A beautiful wooden farm set which has stable door, hayloft with lift-off roof and double stable to the side. It comes with a farmer and his wife plus 10 gorgeous animals (all wooden) and a printed wooden farmyard base, and moveable fences. The detail on this farm set is superb, as is the pretty colour scheme. This is a really popular product in our house and Dolly is often seen around the house clutching two wooden cows.

Wooden Dairy Set - from 3 years - £13
A gorgeous play food dairy set made from forest friendly wood. It includes 4 eggs, egg carton, egg cup, 2 chunks of cheese, yoghurt pot, 2 bottles of milk, milk bottle holder and a spoon. Perfect for pretend breakfasts!

Wooden Rescue Station - from 3 years - £140
I have never seen anything quite like this three-storey police and fire station! For me it seems like the perfect alternative to a girly doll's house, and was designed with boys in mind (if I dare say that?) Having said that though, my daughter Dolly absolutely loves this toy, and with this rescue station and her doll's house sitting side by side, she will choose to play with the station every time. This product comes with a helicopter, fire engine, police bike, a policeman and fireman, a pole, a dog and loads of furniture such as bunkbed, treadmill, tables and chairs etc. The station neatly closes up when not in use. It may sound like quite a lot of money, but because it comes with all the furniture, and the wooden recsue vehicles are really rather substantial, I think it is definitely worth it.

Wooden Tea Shop - from 3 years - £100
This fabulous wooden tea shop is a new ELC product! It is double sided - with the tea shop on one side, and an oven to bake the cakes in on the other side. It also comes with a cash register with pull-out till, some cookies and a baking tray. This really is a gorgeous product, with a tasteful design, and my girls just love playing shop and cake baking!

Magnetic Play Centre - from 3 years - now £14.40!
This is a double-sided magnetic and chalk board, and includes 10 magnetic numbers, 40 upper case letters, 40 lower case letters, 7 signs, chalk, eraser, drawing paper and retractable carry handle. It is perfect for children who are just starting out with their reading and for practicing their spelling and leaving sweet little messages for mum. Very popular with my 5 year old!

Rockin Robot - from 2 years - £12
This is a great game - you have to pick a card and then build your robot to match the card - but all this has be done before the timer runs out and pops all the pieces off - there have been a lot of laughs with this game, and it is great for a child's development.

Wooden City Train Set from 3 years - now £32.50!
This is a fantastic all inclusive 120 piece train set - it comes with 3 trains, bridge, airport, heli-pad, crane, construction site, police and fire stations and a construction site. And also includes people, trees, and cones. Everything you need in one box, and it is now half price (was £65)!

Ball Gown outfit - 3-6 years - £20
This a gorgeous and fabulous pretty pink dress, and very durable. It comes with a handbag too. My eldest daughter wears it at every opportunity and recently tried to upstage the bride by wearing it to a wedding!

Giant Keyboard - from 3 years - £40
This keyboard it is 2.5m long, which is huge! It has 24 keys and seven different instrument sounds. You can even download your own music from your MP3 player to suit your child's tastes. This keyboard saves and plays back performances. This keyboard is a lot of fun and great for parties!

To find out more about all these products or to have a look at the hundreds of other products available visit the ELC website.

Wooden Drawers Advent Tree - Party Pieces

2011-11-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

I am a little bit obsessed with Christmas products and so I was thrilled to receive this gorgeous Advent Tree from Party Pieces this morning.

I particularly love advent; the calendars, advent wreaths, carol services, and the whole anticipation of Christmas.

This wooden Advent Tree is made up of 24 drawers, which each have a unique and beautifully painted wooden Christmas tree decoration inside. And the picture painted on the front of each drawer corresponds to what's inside.

I am all for creating our own Christmas traditions, and this will definitely become one of them. Each morning I will get my girls to take it turns to pull open the drawers by their colourful ribbons and hang the decoration on the tree. All children love opening up surprises and decorating trees! I might even pop the odd chocolate treat into the drawers too. This tree will also make a gorgeous and colourful centrepiece - I have ear-marked just the spot for it.

At just £19.99 I think this is a fabulous product, and a really great idea. Visit the Party Pieces website for more information and to see many more Christmas products.

Townsend Glitter Bug bike - ELC

2011-11-09T05:15:00.000-08:00

This fabulous bike, which is available at ELC, is my daughter's dream bike. It is white with lots of pink detail - shiny streamers hang from the handlebars, and there is a doll carrier at the back decorated with flowers - the padded saddle and the chain guard are also decorated.

This bike comes with a bell and stabilisers, but what I really love is the shape of the frame, with its high handlebars. It reminds me a little of a chopper (remember those?!) - far more civilised for a 5 year old.

I haven't yet unleashed this bike on my daughter. It is currently hiding out in the shed til next week when it is her birthday. But I know that she will absolutely LOVE IT!

I have romantic visions of her joyfully riding through the woods with 'Rabbity' strapped to the back, ting-tinging her bell, and stopping every so often so pick up fir cones and pretty leaves - I will keep you posted!

This super bike is available at ELC for just £94.99.

Personalised cards from Minted

2011-11-03T03:48:00.000-07:00

Minted is an online store offering personalised holiday photo cards, wedding invitations, and lots of other personalised stationery and gifts, all designed by indie designers.

This website offers literally hundreds of different designs for every occasion; Christmas cards, Easter, Halloween, Birthday, and anything else you can think of! - all of which can be personalised with your own photo.

We always make our own Christmas cards in this household which usually comprises a family photo, but with such fabulous designs on offer, I am seriously considering using this service this year to take away all the stress and time and effort that goes into it!

Please do go and check out the Minted website and have a look for yourself - I think it is really great, and you are bound to find something you like!

In addition, Minted are offering my readers a 15% discount on all holiday cards!

A lady loves to get flowers...

2011-11-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, I went to stay with my best friend who was at university in Newcastle, to help her celebrate her 18th birthday. I remember on the morning of her birthday, we were sitting on her grotty student sofa, drinking tea and eating fried eggs, when there was a knock at the door. My friend looked worried and thought it might be her 'horrible' landlord. She reluctantly opened the door, but standing there on the doorstep was a lovely smiley lady from a florists in Newcastle holding a huge bouquet of stunning flowers. The look of absolute joy on my friend's face was lovely to see, and I remember feeling a tad envious - no-one (apart from my Dad) had ever sent me flowers. How very grown-up I thought.

A couple of years later, with still no flowers coming my way, I was sitting at my desk on the 9th floor, and playing Solitaire on my computer, when I heard the lift, which was directly in front of me, go ‘ping’ and the doors opened. I looked up and clocked that it was a man from a florists in Fulham with an impressive bunch of flowers, but thought nothing of it and presumed they were for my glamorous boss. My boss also thought they were for her and bounded up to the man and grabbed the flowers from him and squealed ‘Oh how lovely!’ She ordered that I get her a vase, and then waltzed off with them into her office and shut the door. I was just finishing up my game of Solitaire when my boss re-emerged from her office holding the flowers. She skulked up to my desk, slammed them down in front of me and said: ‘They’re for you’. The rest of the office cheered and clapped, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. That was the first and last time my partner sent me flowers.

The next time that I received flowers, the florists in Gloucester (which is where we were now living) turned up on my doorstep about five times – each time with a different bouquet or flower gift from well-meaning friends and relatives. We had just had our first baby, and our house was filled to the brim with all sorts of floral displays, and the house smelt wonderful. I will always remember writing a shopping list for my husband, which comprised of breast pump, nappies, Fruit Pastilles and two new vases. Happy times!

LittleLife daysacks

2011-10-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

LittleLife sell a range of outdoor and travel inspired products for children aged 6 months – 5 years.

They have three new animal toddler daysack designs coming out before Christmas; a giraffe, dinosaur (pictured) and a clownfish, which are aimed at children up to 3 years of age.

These bags are really well designed, with control and safety in mind, and are fun - the kids love wearing them! They have a zipped main compartment for all the random bits and pieces my kids insist on carrying around with them, a grab handle (very useful for parents with a wayward child), and padded back and shoulder sections with chest strap to prevent slipping. They also come with a parent's safety rein and weatherproof hood.

Go and take a look at their website - there are lots of lovely designs to choose from!

Schwartz slow cooker recipes

2011-10-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

This week I was thrilled to receive a Morphy Richards slow cooker and some sachets of new Schwartz slow cooker recipes; sausage and bean casserole, and red wine chicken.

The morning that it all arrived, I immediately dashed out and bought 1lb of sausages for the sausage and bean casserole recipe. I plugged in the slow cooker, worked out how to use it (which is the easiest thing in the world) and literally within 10 minutes, everything was in the pot and bubbling away. To know that you have the evening meal in hand and cooking by midday is very satisfying indeed - and takes away that usual 4pm stress time when I am wondering what the heck to cook.

With the slow cooker you could set this recipe either on 'low' which would take 8 hours, or on 'high' which would take 4 hours - absolutely perfect for people who are at work all day and want to prepare supper in the morning, or for those who are out and about and busy all day. And you can make anything in them, from curries, to soups, to casseroles.

So at 5pm, I served up our sausage and bean casserole with mashed potato, and EVERYONE heartily tucked in and loved it! It was real winter comfort food, and incredibly tasty - an absolute winner in our household - so we can't wait to try the either Schwartz recipes!

I think the slow cooker may revolutionise the way I cook and plan meals!

Brambledale Farm - ELC

2011-10-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

ELC do a fantastic realistic-looking farm, and everything you will need to go with the farm too; farm vehicles, animals, farmers (sold separately).

The farm comes with five buildings (slot-together barn, cowshed, chicken coop, stable, sty and pen) and a farmyard base which can be laid out as a square or an L shape. And the buildings stack inside each other for easy storage.

My 2.5 year old daughter LOVES her farm, and is constantly making up her own intriguing little farming adventures - it is an absolute joy to watch!

If your little one is after a farm toy I would totally recommend Brambledale, it looks the part, has great attention to detail, and at the moment it is in the ELC half price sale and is only £22.50 - which I think is an absolute bargain!

Memo board and toy box from Vertbaudet

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

We recently received a gorgeous memo board and stackable storage box from Vertbaudet.

With Betty, my 5 year old, having just started school, this memo board has come into its own. We get countless letters, pieces of paper, and invitations all with important dates on them, from school, and now we have somewhere to pin them! The memo board is really tasteful - it comes with 10 pretty pegs and 4 rows of cord to pin things from, and it costs £19.00.

The stackable storage box is a really lovely piece of nursery furniture, and makes a great addition to the girls' bedroom. You can use it for anything - my 2 year old puts her teddies to bed in it at the moment. The box has silk-screen printed motifs and a fabric lining which can be washed. This product costs £23.00.

Vertbaudet sell a huge range of lovely products, inlcuding some gorgeous designer baby clothes. Go and check them out!

Happy Hopperz - The Handpicked Collection

2011-10-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

The Handpicked Collection have just sent us a Happy Hopperz (pictured) to review.

I felt that this would be a perfect alternative, for my 2.5 year old, who is too little for a space hopper. She is able to sit safely on the Happy Hopperz and bounce away to her heart's content. And the added excitement for her is that it is in the shape of a cow! It is great fun to watch her jumping up and down the path on her new toy.

The Happy Hopperz can be used inside or outside, it is really easy to inflate and deflate, it is a lot of fun, and it costs £22.95.

To see this product or view many other great gifts ideas for everyone, visit The Handpicked Collection website: www.handpickedcollection.com or call them on 0844 482 9707.

Rapide Ultra 2 Carpet Washer by Vax

2011-10-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud owner of a Rapide Ultra 2 Carpet Washer.

After five years of children, our carpets were in a pretty sorry state, so when my new carpet washer arrived on the doorstep I couldn't wait to get started.

At first I was a little scared of this brand new monster machine, having never owned such a thing. But once I had read the very simple instruction manual I realised that it was actually extremely easy to use.

I performed a pre-wash with the pre-treatment kit and wand on the wine stains (ok, can't blame the kids for that), and other unidentifiable stains, and then whizzed across the carpet with the washer. After going over the carpet just once the water that it collected turned black. While this was rather satisfying to see it working so thoroughly I was also a bit disturbed at how dirty our carpets actually were.

This carpet washer successfully removed the stains and made the rest of the carpet look fresh and clean - and it also smelled really good too. I also couldn't believe how dry the carpet was immediately after use.

I have never used anything like this before, and was really really impressed! And I am excited to see that you can also use this product to clean car seats and upholstery.

This product costs £279.99 and comes with a two year guarantee. For more information please do go and check it out on the Vax website.

LeapPad Explorer - ELC

2011-10-09T01:54:00.000-07:00

ELC stock the much anticipated LeapPad Explorer - and wow, what a fantastic piece of kit this is!

Betty, my four year old, often fights with her granny about who is going to play with granny's iPad. Granny likes to play Scrabble and Betty likes to play some alphabet game.

LeapFrog have just brought out the LeapPad Explorer which is aimed at 4-9 year olds. I personally think it should be aimed at 4- 37 year olds because I love this little gem of a toy. From creating my own personalised stories, by adding my photos, drawings, audio, wallpaper and names, to manipulating photos and videos using the animation studio - it is INCREDIBLE! And with its sleek, lightweight design and high-res colour touch screen, it does bear a resemblance to the iPad.

So when I am not hogging the LeapPad, Betty and granny can now sit side-by-side with their tablets and play away in harmony.

I should point out, in case it appears that we are a disfunctional Pad-addicted family, that time spent on these things are limited, and we do talk to each other, and build nice dens etc.

The LeapPad really is a fantastic product. It comes with four fab apps, and there are over 100 more downloadable apps on the website, from games, e-books, videos and flashcards, which are all geared towards learning. You can also download all your creations onto the computer and show them off to all and sundry, via Facebook and email - how cutting edge is that!

This product costs £79.99 at ELC, which considering the many incredible things that it can do, is definitely worth it.

GIVEAWAY! - Limited Edition Royal Wedding HappyLand set

2011-10-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Were you glued to the TV during the day of the Royal Wedding like we were? My four year old daughter gave a fascinating wedding commentary throughout, and loved the whole thing!

ELC are kindly offering a couple of these special limited edition Royal Wedding sets to give away to two lucky readers!

The sets consists of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (which have been updated to feature colours worn on their wedding day), and they sit in a gold trimmed horse-drawn carriage. The Queen (who is in her primrose yellow outfit) is with Prince Phillip and their favourite Corgi and are protected by a Royal Cavalry soldier in full uniform and a foot soldier wearing a smart red jacket and bearskin helmet. Just think, you could re-enact the whole wonderful day with these figures!

All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning one of these sets is leave a comment at the end of this post telling me what your favourite part of the royal celebrations were, if any? My favourite part was when my daughter genuinely thought that The Queen was her great grandmother on the tv!

The competition will close on Tuesday 18th October at 9pm when all entries will be placed into a draw and two winners picked out. Please remember to leave your contact details (either email or twitter id) so that we can contact you if you win.

Good luck!

UK residents only

Giant keyboard - ELC

2011-10-03T04:38:00.000-07:00

We first saw this keyboard at the ELC Christmas in July event - which showcased loads of exciting new toys that are now available to buy.

This keyboard was a real attraction - at 2.5m long, it is very large! It has 24 keys and seven different instrument sounds.

I fully intend to use this keyboard for my daughter's 5th birthday party next month - I think it will go down a treat. You can even download your own music from your MP3 player to suit your child's tastes. To my husband's horror, our daughter has followed in my footsteps and loves all eighties music - the girl has taste.

This keyboard saves and plays back performances - which means we can replay our version of Jive Bunny to my husband over and over again! (I caught him having a sneaky go the other day - tapping up and down the keyboard to Davie Bowie).

This keyboard requires 4 x AA batteries, costs £40, and is a lot of fun!

The Little Theatre Box - party drama packs

2011-09-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Little Theatre Box recently sent us a fabulous Pirates and Fairies drama pack which we intend to use for Betty's fifth birthday party in November.

'A gang of unruly pirates is searching in vain for lost treasure. Eventually, they have to resort to using their secret weapon to help them grow rich – their Fairy Godmothers! This is a lovely, simple story with plenty of scope for humour and opportunities for the children to create individual characters.

Suitable for: any number of girls and boys aged between 4 and 7 years old. There can be any number of Pirates and/or Fairies, provided there is at least one of each'.

The drama pack comes in a beautifully packaged box with all you need for your party, including:

a fully annotated Pirates and Fairies script for the director/narrator
a guide booklet for parents with instructions on how to host the party, stage the play and organise props and costumes
12 themed party invitations
12 thank you letters for you to personalise with photographs and send out to the guests after the event
12 blank treasure maps for your guests to personalise
A game of ‘Pin the Patch on the Pirate’
Two sheets of cardboard pop out gold coins to use either for a treasure hunt or as a prop in the performance
Suggestions for other themed games to play at the party
a sheet of Little Theatre Box stickers to distribute to your cast after the play

Other packs include: The Princess and the Dragon, and The Dancing Princesses, and there are more in the making!

These packs look absolutely fantastic - a perfect way to throw a kids birthday party with a difference!

Safety swimwear from Splash About

2011-09-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Splash About recently sent us a couple of gorgeous FloatSuits from their limited edition 'Dotty' range.

They are pretty swimming costumes with floats sewn into the middle.

Although we haven't had a chance to go swimming in them yet, this hasn't stopped my girls from stripping off and parading around in them whenever the mood takes them.

They love them, and cannot wait to try them out in water!

Splash About offer a whole range of stylish and fun safety swimming aids and suits - please do go and check out their website!

Skip Hop Zoo BackPacks from Nubie

2011-09-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

We recently received a couple of gorgeous backpacks, one dog (pictured) and one bumblebee, from Nubie - a cool and contemporary boutique for kids.

My kids absolutely love their new backpacks - they are fun, colourful and functional. They have a roomy main compartment with an insulated pouch for snacks, adjustable mesh bottle pocket, padded adjustable straps, a write-on name-tag inside, and easy to clean lining. They retail at £21.00.

Kidoo.co.uk is a new family group buying site and they are offering a £30 voucher to spend on Nubie products for just £15. Go check it out!

You can follow Kidoo on Twitter and on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news.

Canvas print, from Print My Image

2011-09-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

I saw the postman through our window, trudging up our driveway carrying a huge flat parcel - and I knew that it must be the much anticipated canvas print very kindly sent by Print My Image.

I sent in a black and white picture of the four of us (me, my husbsand and our two girls) sitting in a Bluebell field, taken a few months ago.

As I opened up the parcel I was slightly nervous about what my face would look like blown up to A1 size - which is HUGE!

But I was absolutely thrilled with the canvas, and bearing in mind it had been blown up to such a large size, the quality is just incredible. And it had the added bonus of having the hanging wire already attached to the back, all ready to hang! So it now hangs proudly in our office and boldly faces us every time we enter the room. I cannot wait to show it off to friends and visitors!

Print My Image offer high quality canvas prints, acrylics and photo blocks. For an A1 canvas it costs £95, which I think is very reasonable indeed.

My First Ladybird Dictionary and other books

2011-09-21T06:10:00.000-07:00

We recently recieved a lovely collection of Ladybird books for Betty, my four year old.
Included in the collection was My First Ladybird Dictionary, Read it Yourself The Enormous Turnip (level 1), and Wipe Clean First Numbers, and First Writing with Topsy and Tim.

All four of these books came at the perfect time, as Betty has just started school and is desperate to practice her reading and writing.

The Numbers and Writing books are colourful and clear, with fun pictures, and Betty will sit happily for ages and trace the letters and do the counting exercises.

The Dictionary is really great too, with its colourful and fun illustrations, and clear easy-to-understand meanings of over 1000 words - sometimes I find it really hard to answer Betty's questions on what such and such means - so I too have a good reference to use now! There are also some lovely sections in the back of the book with pages dedicated to fruit, vegetables, the body, animals, opposites, shapes, colours, seasons, months, compass points, to name but a few!

I am really impressed with these books, but more importantly Betty really enjoys using them.

Visit http://www.ladybird.com/ to find out more about the Ladybird collection.

Happyland Zoo and Ferris Wheel - ELC

2011-09-21T05:02:00.000-07:00

We have always been big fans of Happyland, and so when this new Musical Ferris Wheel came to us we were pretty excited. It plays traditional fairground music, which is rather soothing, and even my husband doesn't mind listening to it. The girls love loading up the carriages with their vast array of Happyland figures, and being all about fair rides and candy floss and goldfish (in real life) they love playing fairgrounds. This product comes with three figures and an icecream cart, and costs £22.00.

We were also lucky enough to receive the Happyland Zoo, which is pretty substantial, and fabulous! It includes a safari style zoo and train, African land, polar zone, nine animals and two keepers. Happyland have got it so right, because (like most children) my kids are all about zoos too. My girls have spent literally hours happily playing with this set TOGETHER (as opposed to trying to poke each others eyes out) and it has been a big hit in this house. It retails at £60.

Our Happyland collection just gets bigger and bigger, and as new items get added to old favourites, whole new adventures emerge.

Wooden Rescue Station by ELC

2011-09-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

I have never seen anything quite like this three-storey police and fire station! For me it seems like the perfect alternative to a girly doll's house, and was designed with boys in mind (if I dare say that?)

Having said that though, my daughter Dolly absolutely loves this toy, and with this rescue station and her doll's house sitting side by side, she will choose to play with the station every time.

The product comes with a helicopter, fire engine, police bike, a policeman and fireman, a pole, a dog and loads of furniture such as bunkbed, treadmill, tables and chairs etc.

Dolly is obsessed with fire engines and so she is often seen with this fabulous wooden fire engine nee-nah-ing off into the distance with the helicopter in hot pursuit. She impressively put out a fire in the doll's house yesterday aternoon. The helicopter has a landing pad on top of the station which has also brought much entertainment.

The station neatly closes up when not in use. It costs £140 - this may sound like quite a lot of money, but because it comes with all the furniture, and the recsue vehicles are really rather substantial, I think it is definitely worth it.

Shelves from Vertbaudet

2011-09-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

We recently received this set of shelves from Vertbaudet's nursery furniture department.

I opted for light blue (pictured) but these shelves also come in white, pink or green. They were easy to assemble, and once up they feel very solid and stable. They are well made and look really good in the kids bedroom. All the cuddly toys, that once littered my kids bedroom floor, now live on these shelves. They could be used for anything, such as toys and books etc. You can also place wooden or fabric boxes (which are sold separately) onto fixed shelves.

They are a lovely design, and cost £39, which I think is reasonable.

Vertbaudet specialise in gorgeous baby and children’s clothing, but also stock a great range of maternity clothes.

Car booster seat from Mamas and Papas

2011-08-30T04:19:00.000-07:00

Mamas and Papas very kindly sent us a Cybex car booster seat to review. They sent it to me quite some time ago, but unfortunately not long after we received it, our car was involved in a freak accident (no-one was in the car at the time, so thankfully no-one was hurt) but I was pretty traumatised and too upset to write about a seat that we could no longer use!

However, a month down the line, here is my review (and thank you to Mamas and Papas PR for being so patient):

The seat arrived quickly from Mamas and Papas, and was very easy to put together - by simply clicking the back rest into the base. And having gone through all the safety information (below) I felt more than happy that this seat was a very safe, and great choice. Betty loved the seat, and found it very comfortable indeed. She also commented on its softness! This seat costs £125 and comes in a variety of colours.

Product details:

The award winning Solution X is one of the best in its class, taking your child from 4 years onwards. Its key features ensure this seat offers your baby the best protection for every journey. The reclining headrest shifts the balance point of the back of your child's head keeping it within the safety zone when asleep, while the linear side impact protection ensures the head and shoulder area is also protected.

Why Buy Me:

- Side impact protection keeps the sensitive head and shoulder area in the safety zone
- Three position headrest recline stops your child?s head falling forward when asleep
- Eleven position height adjustable headrest

Features & Benefits:

- Linear side impact protection locks the sensitive head and shoulder area protectively in the safety zone of the child seat
- Eleven position height adjustable headrest
- Reclining backrest
- Storage drawer
- Machine washable covers at 30 degrees
- Weight 5.4kg

Group 2 & 3
Age guideline: From 4 years - 11 years approx.
Weight of your baby: 15 to 36kg approx.
Weight of car seat: 5.4kg approx.

All car seats are covered by our 2 year commitment

Johnson's: How to do - a good night's sleep...

2011-08-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

Johnson's have just launched a new Baby Bedtime Routine campaign - see video below.

When I watched this video clip it brought back so many memories of when my girls were babies, and I have to say that I used to pretty much to do this exact routine every single night with both my children: bath, massage and then stories/songs. And watching it being played out again, made me feel very very broody.

I have always used Johnson's baby bath, and we now have many of the empty bottles littered all around the bathroom as the girls insist on using them as bath toys and squirting each other with water out of them. Betty, my eldest, played a mean trick the other day when she filled up a bottle, left it on the side of the bath over night, and the following night, water inside bottle obviously now cold, she squirted it at her poor unsuspecting little sister. Oh for them to be cute little babies again!

I think that this is a lovely campaign, specially if the bedtime routine goes according to plan, as obviously sometimes it certainly doesn't!

Discover the 3 easy steps of the JOHNSON'S® Baby Bedtime Routine, clinically proven to help your baby sleep better (tested on babies 7 months+).

Funky Giraffe Bibs

2011-08-16T04:18:00.000-07:00

Funky Giraffe is small, green and ethical company, who design and sell gorgeous, good quality, competitively priced bibs, and other baby products.

Not only do I love the name 'Funky Giraffe' but I also love these bibs. For me it is a little frustrating as my kids were both real dribblers when they were babies, and I searched high and low for a product like this - there were lovely bibs out there but they were all so expensive. Funky Giraffe offers 3 bibs for just £8.50, or 10 bibs for £19.50, and with free UK delivery!

I have a confession to make. When Yasmin from Funky Giraffe contacted me and asked if I wanted to review a couple of these bibs, I explained that my children were no longer babies but I would be happy to pass on the bibs to a couple of friends with babies. However, the bibs arrived and my kids caught sight of them, and before I knew it there they were both proudly donning a bib each. But on a two year old and four year old they don't look like bibs, they just look like rather cool neckerchiefs, so we kept them, and we love them!

The bibs are incredibly soft, and well made. There are many fabulous different designs to choose from on the website, and they come highly recommended from us, as a bib or a neckerchief!

To look at the full range of bibs and to find out more, visit their website: http://funkygiraffebibs.co.uk/

New Disney Princess Magic Wand game, from Jumbo

2011-08-03T03:10:00.000-07:00

This is a board game with a difference; firstly, instead of rolling the dice to move around the board, you get to wave a speaking wand (which tells the little players how many steps they have to take). Secondly, the board is 3D, where entering the pop-up enchanted castle at the end marks the winner.

I think that Jumbo have got it spot on with this game. I have tried playing other board games with Betty recently, but she quickly becomes bored. However with this new take on a board game, it kept her interested until the end!

And an added bonus is that you can choose to be either Snow White, Cinderella, Belle or Sleeping Beauty, all popular characters for kids. Betty, of course, went for Snow White.

It is a game for up to four players and is for aged 4 plus. It retails at £14.99 and is now available in Argos, Toys R Us, Tesco, Smyths, Entertainer and Mothercare.

I think that it is a refreshing take on a traditional board game - specially if you have a child that is into all things princesses.

John Crane High Tea Shape Matching, by Tidlo

2011-07-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

WOW! - this is a product I am totally bowled over by, as are my kids. It is absolutely gorgeous!

It is a wooden cake stand with 15 beautifully made wooden cakes that fit into their numbered shape slot. Each unique cake is wonderful in its design - they are colourful, intricate, and very pretty.

Dolly, my two year old, has spent hours playing with this new toy, since it arrived last week. The fact that it is a beautiful cake stand combined with the educational element of matching numbers and shapes, is genius.

I would thoroughly recommend this product to anyone - it is very very special. For more information visit the John Crane website

Persil 2 in 1 with Comfort

2011-07-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

Persil have teamed up with Comfort and come up with a new 2 in 1 detergent - so it has the cleaning performance of Persil and the softeness of Comfort.

They sent me a bottle at the end of last week to try out - washing was put on hold over the weekend (it was my birthday so I had a good excuse!) but this morning I have already done three loads using my new detergent.

The washed clothes do indeed look sparkly clean, are soft, and smell fabulous!

Visit their website for more information: www.persil.co.uk

Persil Pass on the Love Picnics come to Camp Bestival

Thursday 28 – Sunday 31 July

This year Persil with be at Camp Bestival, launching ‘Persil Pass on the Love Picnics’ with a little help from celebrity mum Jo Whiley. They are inviting families to wash their old toys in new Persil 2in1 with Comfort and bring them to our picnic at Camp Bestival, where they can be swapped or donated to Oxfam. It’s the perfect opportunity to give long-forgotten toys the chance to find a new home – so they can be loved again. But that’s not all. As well as a large picnic area they will have snacks, games, puppet shows and Mums will have a chance to pick up a free bottle of new Persil 2in1 with Comfort for the post-festival laundry!

For more information and to buy tickets please visit www.campbestival.net

A Lego palace next time, please Daddy

2011-07-13T01:36:00.000-07:00

When we go away on holiday, I usually pack the Lego for the girls to play with. The pink plastic Lego box is relatively small and compact, but holds their large collection; figures, flowers, windows, wheels, roof tiles, and copious amounts of bricks in all shapes and sizes.

My brother and I used to play with Lego all the time as kids, and my brother still has a huge chest of drawers full of his childhood Lego, that he will not let anyone go anywhere near. Thirty years ago the colours were quite boring - but now there are pink, purple, and lilac bricks in abundance.

We have just got back from a weekend away, and of course, the Lego came along too. On Friday evening, I set Tom the challenge of making a pink house for Betty - he was only allowed to use the dark pink bricks. Rising to the challenge, he got to work, and two hours, no talking, and a few beers later he produced his masterpiece. Meanwhile I had gathered all the tiny 'one-hole' square bricks and made a two metre 'skyscraper'. We both proudly left our creations for Betty and Dolly to discover the following morning.

It was not long after breakfast when I heard the crash. I heard Tom's anguished voice from the next room and ran into the sitting room to discover Dolly with a big grin on her face and bits of tower and pink house, smashed all around the room. With Tom visibly upset, we silently cleared up, having banished Dolly into the garden. Heartbreakingly, Betty helped us clear it up, telling Tom that she thought that the house had been very nice, but next time could he make her a palace. For the rest of the weekend Tom and I found one-hole bricks all around the house, while Dolly snickered in the background like a cartoon villain.

4 in 1 Pram - by Chad Valley

2011-06-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

This brand new playset, created by Chad valley, converts from a doll's pram to a carry cradle, to a high chair and to a cradle swing.

A lot of thought has obviously gone into this product - to come up with a design that can be four different items in one. I have to admit I was expecting this product to be a little easier to transform from one thing to the next ie. without having to remove wheels, poles, and bolts etc. But of course, I was expecting the nigh-on impossible!

I actually haven't told Dolly (my two year old) that her new doll's pram cleverly transforms into other items because if she clocks that things come apart she will start doing exactly that, pulling it apart, and losing bits from it. So the way I would like to use this product is have it as a pram for a few weeks, then when she is not around I will change the pram into the baby swing, as if by magic (to her anyway). I think that to have it rotating like this will work really well, and keep her interested. The other drawback with her knowing that it turns into other things is that she likes to keep me on my toes and will constantly be demanding that I change it for her.

So what does my darling daughter think of the pram? Well, she has really enjoyed playing with it, so much so that she insisted on taking it away with us last weekend. The pram has a lovely pink gingham lining, and an adjustable handle, which can be adjusted according to the child's height. The product is very pink, very plastic, and thus very appealing to a little girl. I would love my child to prefer her handmade wicker cradle, but alas it's not the case - manufacturers seem to know what kids like.

This product will be available from 30th July 2011, and will retail at around £35, and is suitable for children aged 18 months +.

Tag Interactive World Map - by LeapFrog

2011-06-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

This interactive map is a perfect example of how toys have progressed in recent years, and while this excites me, and I look at this map in absolute wonder and awe and try to work out how the heck it works, it fills my husband with fear for the future.

This jumbo map, which is aimed at 4-8 year olds, is double-sided, and is used in conjunction with the Tag pen, and it has many different educational games and activities to choose from.

Tom and I spent a whole evening competing against each other to see who could find countries and continents the fastest in the race game. And with my geography not being that great, I found that I learnt an awful lot in that couple of hours.

I was excited about unleashing this product on Betty (my four year old) the following morning, and she too was slightly in awe of what this map could do. She had been learning about Africa at pre-school, and so spent her time in Africa picking up all sorts of useful information and facts.

The map enables you to find distances and travel times between major cities and learn about children around the world, including how they say 'hello' and what they have for breakfast. It also talks you through major landmarks, seas, rivers, mountains and desserts.

The games on this map include:

Map racer - this timed quiz tests your knowledge of the world's countries with three different levels

Treasure hunt- follow the clues to locate the "mystery country"

Continents and countries - this timed quiz tests your continents and countries knowledge

Let's explore - go on exciting expeditions with your hosts Reggie Rover and Sara Sahara

Travel time - touch any two children on the map to find out how far apart they are and how long it takes to travel between them

Kids like me - learn about where children live, what they eat for breakfast and how to say "hello" in their language!

Children can earn online rewards and parents can connect the Tag Reader to the online LeapFrog Learning Path to see what their child is learning.

This product retails at £14.99, which I think is fantastic value for money - as it provides hours of educational fun - we love it!

The Mumsnet Rules book review

2011-06-24T10:15:00.001-07:00

The Mumsnet Rules is a big purple book (Tom commented that it looked a bit like the Bible), full of loads of parenting advice, tips, and anecdotes taken from postings on the site.

I have never been onto the Mumsnet website, I feel blogging has always given me everything I've needed in terms of an online parenting release/therapy. So I must admit that I felt irritated at the patronising and unnecessary jibe at blogging mums on the first page: '...when do they find the time and how bored must they be to write these blogs? Why do they never post about their bad days? But let them blog - we all have to get through the day somehow' - I personally don't see that there is a whole lot of difference between a mum who posts on a blog and a mum who posts on Mumsnet. As for never posting about bad days... well, I thought that's what mum blogs were for, to let off steam about the horrors of parenthood.

Having said that, I did think that on the whole the book was well-observed, funny, refreshing, and at times informative. The general vibe of this book is: don't beat yourself up about not being the perfect cake-baking parent, don't sweat the small stuff like whether your baby has reached her 6-week smiling milestone, do what you want to do, and don't worry about what other parents think - as they quite rightly point out: 'you are not six'.

The following sections (for example) struck a chord and I found myself nodding in agreement wholeheartedly:

You don't have to go to baby groups - I forced myself to go to baby groups when Betty was a baby; mums and tots, baby yoga, water babies etc, and hated every minute of it. I came to my senses with the arrival of Dolly, who is now two, and consciously made the decision to never put myself through the same pain again - she has never been to a group in her life.

It's OK to do controlled crying - I have always been a believer in controlled crying, and children thriving on routine - as a way of keeping everyone in the household happy and sane. I used to be embarrassed to admit this, but again, when Dolly was born, I sang it from the roof-tops.

Avoid loud (otherwise known as performance) parenting - this made me laugh, because as much as I hate it, I often catch myself doing it 'Yes Betty, you are absolutely right, that leaf HAS fallen from an Oak tree... and WHAT ELSE falls from an Oak tree?'. And I know a few people, one in particular, who is a fine culprit for performing loudly and relentlessly for their public, and it can be cringeworthy: 'Yes, you can have that one sweetie, as a SPECIAL TREAT. Then you will be having lots of lovely free-range organic brocolli later for supper, won't you?' And so on.

And the section 'You don't have to have family meals' almost changed my view on this. I have always believed that it is important for a family to all sit down and have lunch or supper together, as a social thing, and as a time to share stories of the day etc. Yeah right. This rarely happens, specially with small kids. Mealtimes can be excruciatingly painful, with arguments, tears, telling-offs, and food not being eaten. So as the book points out, why bother?

I would have found this book much more useful about four years ago, when Betty was a baby - the things discussed in this book would have felt more current and relevant, in what was then a crazy, sleep-deprived, daunting baby existence. By the time you have had two (or more) children, through bitter experience, you learn, or work out most of this stuff for yourself, and you naturally stop caring so much, thus making you a far more relaxed and seasoned parent. Having said that, I have a child who is about to start school, and so I found the section on starting school informative and helpful - and to avoid the whole school gates bitchiness and the fear of being pointed at for being too fat and not driving a 4x4, I shall send Betty on the bus.

The book is packed full of rules and advice, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't. As with all these guide books, what is right for one child/parent isn't necessarily right for another. However, this book has the advantage of being laugh-out-loud funny, unsentimental, and it keeps it real.

Magic Belles - a fabulous new website for little girls

2011-06-17T02:58:00.000-07:00

When I was contacted by Maxine, one of the creators of the Magic Belles website, I was immediately drawn in by her friendliness, warmth and sincerity. I promptly went to have a look at her new creation - Magic Belles - a website specially for little girls aged 3-7 years.

The Magic Belles are tiny, jingly beings who live in the colourful valley of Bellevue, and are each named and look after life's special wonders: rainbows, flowers, cupcakes, butterflies, stars, and love. I think that this is inspired, because Betty (my four year old) will often tell anyone who will listen that her favourite things, are indeed, all of the above - so when being presented with this website she literally did not know what to do with herself - it was lovely to watch her wide-eyed excitement. It was as if the whole thing had been personally designed for her!

There is so much to do on this website: you can make music with each of the Belle's individual jingles, you can colour them in either online or by using the printables, you can join the Flutterbud club where you can hear their latest news, or send in your own photos and drawings to be published on the blog. You can download goodies such as pretty screensavers, or bunting, and you can learn more about each special wonder in more detail, and download your own Spotter's guide and tick each wonder off as you find them.

I have spent many an hour trawling through websites looking for a suitable one for Betty to use, and often it is a fruitless exercise. I am genuinely thrilled to have been given the opportunity to discover and review this fabulous, well thought-out, magical, and wholesome website.

If you have little girls aged 3-7 years, please do go and discover the Magic Belles for yourself.

You could also print off this colouring sheet of the Magic Belles which has been created specially for my readers (Betty will be colouring her sheet in soon, and sending it into the Flutterbud club!)

Butterfly habitat and feeder

2011-06-06T05:55:00.000-07:00

This butterfly house and feeder is such a lovely idea, specially if you have a child fascinated with butterflies.

The house provides butterflies with a place to feed and roost, and it also may help bumblebees survive in early Spring. The feed tray is painted with special ultraviolet paint which attracts the butterflies, and inserted within the tray are four little feed cups around the outside, which you fill with a water/sugar solution, and then a larger feed cup in the middle which can be used for nectar or pieces of fruit. The cups are easily removable so that they can be washed, and you can access the house through a little side window. The house is made from solid naturally durable FSC timber and is obviously designed to be kept outside.

The house is really tastefully made, and looks really attractive (to me and my kids, let alone the butterflies!) and we are really looking forward to seeing it in action.

It retails at £19.99, and came from Find me a gift.co.uk which is a website full of great gifts for everyone, and for all occasions.

WoodenToyShop.co.uk - traditional wooden toys

2011-06-03T01:07:00.000-07:00

We recently received some toys from a fabulous online shop selling all sorts of fantastic traditional wooden toys from doll's houses, to easels, to train sets, to play food (to name but a few). If there is a wooden toy that you are after, they are sure to have it!

We have been after a traditional flower press for quite some time and oddly could not find one anywhere, so I was delighted to find a choice of two flower presses on their website - we went for the John Crane one - it is very well made and is a lovely design, with a red flower painted on the front and red wooden flowers acting as the four bolts that hold it all together. Betty (my four year old) was thrilled with it, and has had such fun finding different flowers to put in it. This particular flower press costs £10.79.

We also received a traditional wooden Jack in a Box, and they come in either pink or blue; we obviously went for pink. It is a wooden pink box with a big latch - when the latch is unhooked out pops the wonderfully bright and cheerful clown. I have always had a bit of thing about Jack in a boxes, and so I absolutely adore this product - I would even go as far as to say it is actually the most tasteful one I have seen, and it sure does beat the flashing, plastic variety I have seen in the past. It is gorgeous, and costs £13.49. I think this is something I will definitely go on to buy as birthday presents, for all and sundry.

A weaving loom is also something I have been on the look out for, for quite some time - and again WoodenToyShop.co.uk delivered! This BigJigs loom costs just £7.99 and is exactly what I was looking for.

Betty loves arts and crafts, and is desperate to learn to knit, but with her being just four, and me not being that good at knitting, I thought weaving would be the perfect thing for her (and me) - it is relatively easy and she gets a lovely finished piece at the end of it. We haven't yet finished our fabric, but will keep you posted. Betty is really enjoying this little project, and it gives me much welcomed peace! This weaving set comes with everything needed to create your piece; a wooden frame, bobbins and needles, coloured thread and a fabric comb.

All these toys would make lovely gifts - they are tasteful, well made, and fun, and my girls have thoroughly enjoyed playing with them. Please do go and check out the website where there is a wide selection of traditional wooden toys. There is so much to see on there!

Pacapod - baby changing bags

2011-05-28T00:29:00.000-07:00

This Pacapod bag conveniently arrived the day before we left for our holiday. Never really sure what a product will look like in the flesh, having only viewed it online, I was slightly nervous as I opened up the package.

However this bag did not disappoint - in fact it is fabulous. It is of very high quality, well made, and looks great, and is highly functional, keeping you very organised. For the last four and half years I have had a totally chaotic bag, with nappies, Hula Hoops, crayons, old bananas and spare vests all mingling together haphazardly. My mum has often commented on the 'disgusting' state of my bag.

I opted for the Almora print changing bag in Sand - I love the colour and the design. It has two pods within it - one for all the nappy changing stuff like wipes, nappy bags (it comes with a special little pull-string bag to keep these in), little pockets for the Sudocrem and handwash, and a segment to keep the nappies secure - totally fabulous! The other pod is for snacks and food, and is insulated. There is then a section at the top to keep miscellaneous items such as toys, magazines etc - this section is deceptively big - a lady sitting next to us in a cafe remarked that 'every mum should have a bag like that - it seems to be bottomless', as I piled yet more kiddie paraphernalia inside it. This bag stands upright, is wipe-clean, and is the total business. Not really being a bag person myself, I LOVE IT!

Pacapod have a whole range of bags in different styles, colours and designs - go take a look at their website and see what you think. I would have absolutely no hesitation is recommending these bags. This bag has so many features I have probably forgotten to mention a lot of them, so here is what Pacapod say about this particular bag (the technical bits too):

Baby changing bag features:

All bags come as a 3-in-1 organising system, with changer pod, feeder pod and changing mat included in your purchase
Durable Cotton coated canvas print with hardwearing wipe clean finish
Pebble leather trims
Chunky silver hardwear and ribbon labels
Adjustable over the shoulder strap that can be worn across the body to distribute weight
3 parent pockets, one with key fob and mobile dividing pockets, one top pocket full length of bag
Inner cargo hold, which stores the unique feeder and changer pods keeps hygienically separate
Changer Pod includes 5 pockets, separate clothes bag and much more.
Padded baby changing mat.
Feeder Pod - Fully insulated cool bag, holds up to 4 bottles and keeps warm for up to 3 hours, plus additional detachable insulated bottle cover (perfect for twins too!)
Wipe clean inner and phthalates free, tested to EC & BS food standards
All 3 bags clip onto the pram handle or can be used on their own
Remove pods and can use bag on it’s own, most lap tops fit inside cargo area
This is a baby changing bag, cool bag and nappy bag styled as a tote all rolled into one

Wooden Teatime Set - ELC

2011-05-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

Play food is always a winner with my girls - I find I get rather excited about it too - there are such wonderful things available now. And this wooden teatime set by ELC is gorgeous!

Included in the set is a teapot, cups, sugar pot, tea jar, tea spoons, cookies, tea bags and sugar lumps - and they are all wooden - even the tea bags!

Kids always want to imitate their parents, and obviously the ritual of making tea is witnessed A LOT by the little darlings - so Dolly's sheer joy at having her own tea-making set was lovely to see. She was a little perplexed by the sugar lumps, having never seen a real-life sugar lump, but she was undeterred, and pretended they were sweets instead, and all was happy.

This set costs £15. There are also many other wooden food sets available at ELC like their Breakfast Set and their Dairy Set - go check them out too!

United Styles - design your own clothes!

2011-05-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

United Styles is a new company offering rather a unique product: Your children get to design their own clothes, from dresses to hoodies to tops, on their website www.unitedstyles.com. I thought this sounded like a really great idea and so was more than happy to give it a go with Betty (my four year old).

Betty, was of course, pretty amazed that she got to choose what themes, colours and patterns she wanted on her new dress. At the time we tested this service there was only one style of dress available, but I now see there are three different styles to choose from. We liked the look of the the one available, which was a hoodie dress. I also loved the fact that you could personalise the label on the inside of the garment - I thought that was a nice touch.

We found the website easy to navigate, and both Betty and I found the whole process really rather exciting.

Once we had designed her dress and put the order in, the product arrived pretty promptly. And the dress itself really didn't disappoint - it was of excellent quality and very well made and Betty was thrilled about wearing a dress that she had designed herself. The hoodie dress we went for is pretty versatile too - it can be worn either as a summer/beach dress or as a winter dress with tights/leggings.

As I have said before, this company are offering a really unique and fun service - go and check our their website and see what you think: http://www.unitedstyles.com

United Styles are also offering my readers a discount until 31st May 2011 - the discount code is: USUKBlog1 which you will need to quote when ordering.

BubbleBum inflatable car booster seat

2011-04-06T06:45:00.000-07:00

Cheeky Rascals recently sent us this BubbleBum inflatable booster seat to try out for Betty (four year old).

This seat was invented by a mum called Grainne Kelly who had to travel a lot to see family and got frustrated about the difficulty in carrying bulky booster seats or hiring decent ones.

It came at an apt time because Betty and I will be going to London soon on the train for a few days and I was worried about what I was going to do about a car seat while we were there - problem solved! It is easy to inflate and Betty has been showing it to anyone and everyone who enters our house. For occasional use, I think it is great, and it folds up very neatly, taking up hardly any space at all.

This is what Cheeky Rascals say:

It is safety approved for groups 2 and 3 (age 4 +) and is great for taking on holidays, car sharing, playdates, rental cars, relatives and generally just to have as a spare car seat in the car for when you need to pick up an extra child. It is deflatable and folds flat to put in your bag (or the child’s bag) or just to store. It’s also great at fitting 3 kids across the backseat of a car.

It has passed all the relevant safety tests and crash tests both inflated and completely deflated. The key point about booster seats is not actually the boost (that just makes the child more comfortable) it is where the seatbelt goes across their lap, the seat belt guides on the BubbleBum ensure that the seatbelt sits over the child’s lap and not their stomach which helps to avoid nasty internal injuries in the event of a crash.

My All Grow’d Up Cup

2011-04-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Hollydaisy has just brought out a new drinking beaker for toddlers aged 18 months plus.

This actually came to us at the perfect time - Dolly is two in a couple of weeks, and so I have been gearing up to replace her milk bottle with a cup, and what better than a fun cup such as this one to excite her and make her forget all about her beloved baby bottle.

My All Grow'd Up Cup is a drinking beaker that comes with its own holder that can be fixed (with suction pads) onto the fridge, car window etc. When the cup is placed into the holder by the child, it makes an elephant sound, causing much delight to Dolly (and Betty!).

I casually presented this cup to Dolly last Saturday evening with her warm milk in it, and she seemed thrilled with it and excitedly kept saying 'my phant [elephant] cup' over and over, and guzzled all her milk from it, and we haven't looked back since!

It requires 2 x AAA batteries (which are included) and is available in pink, blue, orange and lime green.

The cup has just won its first industry award, which was presented by the Baby Products Association, and it won best feeding product in the Baby and Nursery Trade Awards

They are currently available from Tesco Direct, Amazon, Letterbox, Halfords, Party Pieces, and Parent Supermarket and cost £12.99.

Angelina Ballerina - new toys from Mattel

2011-04-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

We were kindly sent a couple of Mattel's new Angelina Ballerina products, which included this Chipping Cheddar Sweets and Dance Shop Mini Playset.

If I am totally honest, when I opened up this product and had a look, I didn't think Betty, my four year old, would be that interested in it. She loves Angelina but isn't really one for plastic toys of this nature - she is more of a mud and stones and digging holes kind of girl. So I was a little bit floored that when I presented this Sweet and Dance shop to her, she played happily with it for two hours (and then it was time for bed) and then continued with it the next day. Now, when she gets home from pre-school this is what she wants to play with! I think perhaps the smallness of it may be the appeal - the little mice come with removable dresses/trousers and tiny shoes - and Betty is so careful with each little item and carefully places them inside the dance studio all lined up neatly. It is very sweet. This set also comes with removable counter with register, dining booth with removable umbrella stand and a dressing table. The whole set folds up neatly and has a little carry handle.

It certainly wouldn't have been anything I would have picked out for Betty, but it seems to have really hit the spot with her. So thank you very much! This product retails at around £20, and there are also many other new Angelina products out there, which I am sure would be just as appealing to a four year old girl (or boy?).

A 'real-life' Angelina is doing a tour in April - she's visiting various John Lewis stores around the country to give dance tips and hand out free goodies - it sounds like fun for any Angelina fans out there! Here are the dates:

Saturday 9 April - John Lewis, Oxford Street; appearances between 10am -4pm
Sunday 10 April - John Lewis, Blue water; appearances between 10am -4pm
Tuesday 12 April - John Lewis, High Wycombe; appearances between 11am -4pm
Saturday 16 April - John Lewis, Peter Jones store, Sloan Square; appearances between 10am -4pm
Saturday 17 April - John Lewis, West Quay, Southampton; appearances between 11am -4pm
Saturday 23 April - John Lewis, Cheadle; appearances between 10am

Pink Heaven - gifts for girls

2011-03-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

We were recently sent a pair of dressing-up sequin kitten heel mules (pictured left) for Betty from Pink Heaven - a website dedicated to pretty gifts for girls - mainly in pink.

These shoes (which retail at £11.99 and come in different sizes), are very well-made and are pretty and sparkly. Having said this I do think that perhaps the kitten heel is a little too grown-up for a 4 year old, even if it is just for a dressing-up box.

However, Pink Heaven stock many lovely gifts and products for girls, from bedroom accessories, to dressing-up, to partyware.

If you have girls, or are looking for a gift for a girl, definitely go take a look at their website http://www.pinkheaven.co.uk/

NEW Superfruity Shredded Wheat

2011-03-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

I am always on the lookout for new cereals for my kids - I find they get so bored being given the same thing for breakfast every day - if I had my way it would be porridge all the way, but often I don't get my way.

So when these two new Nestle Shredded Wheat cereals came in the post for us to trial, I though great. And they didn't disappoint - the girls loved them, and for some reason insisted on eating them without milk - which I think is a good endorsement. I tried them too and they do indeed taste very fruity. Shredded Wheat is an old favourite and this combined with the fruit and berries inside is really rather lovely.

I will definitely be going out and buying some more boxes - the two boxes sent lasted about three days, again a good endorsement.

There are two Superfruity combinations available: Blackberry, Blackcurrant and Blueberry, and Raspberry, Strawberry and Cranberry. This new cereal is available from retailers nationwide and retails at around £2.79.

ELC's wooden Country Kitchen

2011-03-08T05:18:00.000-08:00

This is a review about ELC's wooden Country Kitchen (pictured left). I am a little bit obsessed with childrens' play kitchens and have been trying to find the perfect one for my little darlings for quite some time now.

Once assembled (which I have to say did take rather a long time, because it comes in many pieces, BUT the instructions are brilliant and very easy to follow, so all is forgiven!) I placed it in the corner of our sitting room and could not stop staring at it in total awe. The toys that are available to kids these days are unbelievable. I would have LOVED this kitchen when I was little.

It's features include a sink with taps (which is indeed Dolly's favourite feature), a drainer, two hobs, hooks, an oven, a cupboard, a drawer, and shelving for storage and shelving for display. The oven knobs are very realistic to a child because they click when turned. The colour scheme is tasteful, and the overall look and feel of this kitchen is gorgeous.

Dolly now spends all her time standing at this kitchen, either washing up, or with head over shoulder, saying 'Mummy, more tea?' 'Daddy, more toast?' 'Betty, more ice-cream?' She absolutely loves it.

I have found the perfect kitchen! And ELC currently have £50 off this product and it is now going for £90, which I think is an absolute bargain!

Hue HD Animation Studio - our first animation

2011-02-13T00:54:00.000-08:00

We were recently sent this animation studio to try out and review, and today we made our first animation.

It is the simplest thing in the world to set up and use - it is a webcam-based animation kit which is automatically installed when you connect it to the computer. The software with which you create your animation is user-friendly, and to get to your finished animation is incredibly easy:

create the backdrop for your animation (we used a sheet of white A4 paper)
point the webcam at your clay models, or whatever else you are using
take a photo of your clay model
move your clay model slightly
take another photo
continue in this vein until you come to the end of your short film

You can then edit your animation using the software on the computer. You can add text and sound and remove or re-arrange frames in the timeline.

We had such fun with this kit, and once you start, it becomes very addictive. We put together several short animations, some we did together, some Betty did on her own, and now I am itching to get to work on my own masterpiece once the kids are in bed.

The kit comes in several different colours and is compatible with both PCs and Macs. I would totally recommend this product to anyone who might be interested in creating their own animations - check out the product in more detail by clicking HERE

Below is one of the animations we created:

Dressing-up party

2011-02-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last week, Betty (4), Dolly (1) and I held a dressing-up party - for no reason other than we thought it would be fun, after a pretty gruelling January. The idea of a party came about because I have recently put together a dressing up box for my girls. I have been collecting fun and quirky items of clothing from charity shops, and cutting up old clothes of mine and sewing sequins and feathers onto them. In addition to this ELC sent me some fabulous costumes from their range, from fairies, to princessess, to vets, to ballerinas. So there the box proudly sat, awaiting our little guests...

A dressing up party is always going to be a winner with kids, well, most kids anyway. We had vets performing operations on toy dogs to remove their nits, we had a garden fairy, Snow White and a ballerina having a tea party, a witch and a nurse tearing around on a hobby horse, and two boys one dressed as a fairy and one as a princess. It was a lot of fun, if very chaotic, and there were hardly any fights!

Needless to say, the ELC costumes were the most popular with the kids, as they looked great, fitted properly, and were the biz, as opposed to some of the costumes I had fashioned together myself. There was an ELC ball gown which I would have absolutely loved when I was a little girl - magical.

ELC offer a huge choice of different costumes for every occasion, and the prices range from £12 to £22.

LOMSK Swivel Armchair by IKEA kids range

2011-01-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

I have always been a fan of IKEA, and when we moved from London I really missed having it on our doorstep. The only times I get to visit an IKEA now is on my birthday, where I can request, guilt-free, that Tom takes me on the 150 mile round trip as my birthday treat.

So when Daniel, working on behalf of IKEA, emailed me asking if I would like to review a product from their kids range I jumped at the chance. And yesterday this fabulous blue and white swivel armchair arrived at our door - a product that Betty always loves playing on when we visit the store.

IKEA have got it spot-on with this chair - most children love spinning and hiding, and with this product they can do both at the same time! The hood can be pulled down, or left up, and the chair can either be used as a stationery chair or a spinning one. There is no danger of the chair tipping with over-excitable children (as tested by Betty and Dolly) as the base is heavey, wide and completely sturdy.

Betty and Dolly, four and nearly two, spent hours playing together with this chair yesterday afternoon, laughing and squealing, and making it cosy with cushions and blankets, and when things calmed down a little Betty then went on to watch Peppa Pig from her new seat.

This fabulous chair looks good, is durable, exciting and fun and a perfect hiding place! It retails at £45.96 and also comes in red with an orange hood.

Thank you IKEA!

Classic Churchill Grecian Mens Slippers

2011-01-14T01:06:00.000-08:00

Clifford James sent this pair of slippers just before Christmas for Tom's dad. This is his review:

These handmade fleecy men's slippers arrived in a well packaged box which included a thoughtful shoehorn and two storage bags. After a week of movement around the house they are already flexing into shape. A solid smooth leather sole with a small instep and heel present an unwelcome temptation of outdoor use which should be resisted. Indoor use for decorating is also not recommended owing to the ease with which damp wallpaper adheres to the sole. A similar pair (now over five years old) is still providing good service on the domestic building site.

These slippers fulfil their intended purpose, and many more..

Clifford James are selling these slippers for £29.99 (RRP £60) or offering two pairs for £45!

Handmade hair clips by Lollipop

2010-12-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Lollipop Boutique is owned by a mum (Colette) who started making hair clips for her daughter, and then went on to sell them to the other mums at her daughter's school, and now has her own website! Lollipop specialises in handmade clips for babies, toddlers and big girls.

Colette sent me a set of hair clips for both Betty and Dolly to try out, so that we could let her know what we thought. We opted for some fuzzy flower clips for Dolly (specially for a toddler who doesn't yet have much hair!) and a fuzzy flower, and tutti frutti felt flower for Betty, which were slightly bigger.

The clips are beautifully made and very eye-catching and a welcome and unique change to the clips found in high street shops. My children both love hair clips and were thrilled with these.

To see all the hair accessories available visit Colette's website: http://www.lollipopboutique.co.uk/ where there are many clips to choose from, from flowers, butterflies, cupcakes, bugs etc, as well as other hair accessories such as hairbands.

Thank you Colette, we love them, and good luck with your new venture!

ELC: My First Scalextric set

2010-12-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

Betty and I tried out My First Scalextric today, sent to us by the Early Learning Centre.

Firstly I was embarrassed to note that it is in fact pronounced and spelt 'Scalextric' and not 'Scalectrix' which is what I have always said, ever since my younger brother had a set when we were little.

Anyway, I digress. I was full of anticipation and excitement, because I used to absolutely love playing with the Scalectrix, even more so than my brother I think. And as for poor Betty, she didn't get a look-in for the first few minutes.

Once the figure-of-eight track was set up, which was quick and easy to do, it was ready to go. The thing that I absolutely love about this product is that it DOES NOT NEED BATTERIES!!! It plugs into the mains, which was a welcome change to many of the other battery-operated toys we have in this house.

The two BMW Mini Coopers and hand-controllers are colour coded in red and yellow to match chevrons on the circuit, making this set easy for little people such as Betty to grasp. And my goodness, I was completely blown away at how much Betty loved this product - she was laughing, jumping up and down, and at times getting really rather competitive about the whole racing thing, and beating her cautious-driver mum.

I read a review about this product that said it was difficult for young children to grasp (it is aimed at aged 3 years and up) and needed adult supervision, and that the cars easily flew off the track. I could not disagree with this more. The cars sped round the track at a phenomenal speed without coming off the track (even granny commented on the staying power of these little Mini Coopers). As for the adult supervision - it couldn't be more easy for a young child to pick up.

This product is simple, lots of fun, and is a great introduction into the world of Scalextric.

It retails at £34.99.

Night lights for kids, by Pabobo

2010-12-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

A company based in Paris who design lights specifically for children, called Pabobo, recently sent me two night lights for Betty and Dolly. We were sent the Lumilove Penguin and the Barbapapa chain light (both pictured below).

These lights are fab because they are designed to be handled by children, and so are safe. They are also tasteful to look at, and create a really relaxed atmosphere just before bedtime (which is vital in this household as my kids go into hyper mode at this time).

I would totally recommend these products to anyone looking for a really lovely night light for their little ones. To find out more visit their website: www.pabobo.com where they have lots of other lights to offer too.

Toys R Us: VTech Storio Animated Reading System

2010-11-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

The VTech Storio is a new children’s interactive animated storyteller, with many educational activities, aimed at 3-7 year olds.

I think I must have had my head buried in the sand over the last few years, or perhaps it's because Betty is now old enough to benefit from a toy of this nature - but WOW, I had no idea such toys existed!

Opening up each Toyologist box is always an exciting time in the Button household, specially when we find products like this one. I have to admit I set the Storio up and had a good look at it before I allowed Betty to get her little mitts on it. I wanted to check it's suitability, and having gone through every activity that this Reading System has to offer I was more than happy to hand it over to Betty. My only concern was that it comes with the Toy Story 3 cartridge, and I have written before on my blog about how we had an abortive trip to the cinema to see this film, because Betty didn't like the 'scary baby'. But the fact that it was Toy Story didn't bother her and she casually remarked 'this is what I saw at the cinema and it made me cry' before promptly getting back to listening to the story on screen and then playing the many educational reading games. She was amazed by the touch screen, and I was amazed by the quality on screen.

The VTech Storio encourages your child to read along with the story, whilst developing their understanding of phonics, letters and vowels. This product is perfect for Betty's age (4) as she is so excited about reading anyway, so this is a fabulous additional tool - it is lots of fun and educational too.

Betty loves it so much that she has asked grandparents for some additional cartridges to go with it - in particular, Olivia Takes Ballet - she loves Olivia and she loves ballet! There are many other cartridges that can be purchased: Dora the Explorer, Disney Fairies, Mr Men, Shrek, Scooby Doo - something to suit everyone!

Fantastic! And Toys R Us currently have it on offer for £39.99! (normally retails at £59.99)

Toys R Us: Old MacDonald Lotto game

2010-11-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

This is a great lotto game which the whole family can play. Well, I say the whole family - we made the mistake of trying to involve young Dolly (18 months) but she became a real hindrance and had to be banished to another room with her granny, whilst Betty, Tom and I continued the game in a civilised manner.

Betty loves this game. It is a very simple idea, but very effective and lots of fun, and easy to grasp for little people.

The game comes with four picture boards and you have to match the pictures on your playing board to the farm cards. It's great for exercising memory, observation, and matching skills.

This gets a big thumbs up from us. The only thing I would say is that I think the boards should be magnetic.

Toys R Us: VTech Kidizoom Video Camera

2010-11-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

This Kidizoom video camera is child-friendly, durable and easy to use. You can record videos, take photos and then edit what you have done with the built-in video editor - and you can add funny stamps and borders to your movies for rather a professional finish. It features face-tracking that allows you to add moving animations to a moving picture - pretty amazing! And to top it all, it comes with 3 built-in games, which allow you to put yourself in the game!

It has a 1.8" colour screen and 256MB internal memory and you are able to connect it to your TV and PC.

I am pretty overwhelmed with this product, and Betty has hardly had a look-in since it arrived! It costs £44.94 (special offer from Toys R Us) and for what it can do I think that it is worth every penny!

Toys R Us: Moon Sand Sweet Delights Shake Maker

2010-11-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

For a child who spends most of her time making pretend food (mainly fairy cakes) from playdough and mud and plastercine and making them look pretty with little pom poms and glitter and stickers etc, this Moon Sand set was absolutely perfect for Betty.

We (me, Betty and Dolly) had such fun, moulding different fruits and chocolate, then placing them in the blender with a scoop of ice-cream, whizzing them around and then making some colourful fruit shakes by placing it in the dessert glasses and decorating with straws and berries and umbrellas.

This set comes with a working blender, moulds, scoops, spoons, straws, umbrellas, dessert glasses, 3 colours of Moon Sand, and a storage box.

We all thought this product was fantastic! - I would recommend this toy for any child who loves pretend cooking and likes to get creative and have lots of fun! Priced at £14.99 I think it is very reasonable.

A Year in Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

2010-11-10T03:36:00.000-08:00

Over the stream and across the field is the world of Brambly Hedge... And they are celebrating 30 years!

When I received an email offering this new series of Brambly Hedge books to review, I was rather excited. I vaguely remembered the Brambly Hedge mice when I was a child but had not seen or heard of them since.

This beautiful box-set consisting of four books (Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring Story) arrived in the post and I had a flick through them, I was immediately catapulted back to my childhood and felt very nostalgic and warm. The illustrations are absolutely magical and beautiful and colourful, and the stories themselves are completely captivating for a child, and adult. They make you yearn for homemade bread and blackberry jam, and big roaring fires, and hot cups of tea. They make you feel very cosy and safe.
These busy mice live in the roots and trunks of trees of Brambly Hedge. They collect berries and nuts and make homemade pickles and jams. And when they are not working hard they have lots of fun and adventures too.

This is an extract from the Winter Story:

When the Toadflax family went down to breakfast, they found the kitchen dark and still. Mrs Toadflax put fresh wood on the fire and set Clover to work with the toasting fork. Soon they were all sitting round the table, eating hot buttered toast, drinking blackberry leaf tea and making plans for the day ahead.

The snow was thicker than the mice had expected. All the downstairs windows along the hedgerow were covered with snow and many of the upper ones, too, were hidden in deep drifts. They leaned out of their bedroom windows to wave and call to their friends. "Enough for a Snow Ball, wouldn't you say?" called Toadflax to Mrs Apple. "A Snow Ball!" echoed the little mice , gleefully.

This collection of books is absolutely adorable and I would recommend to anyone wanting to give a truly lovely present.

Tube Town Pop-Up Playhouses

2010-11-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today we received an inflatable Disney Princess Castle from the Ninja Corporation, as part of their new Tube Town collection.

Coincidentally I had been looking for a playhouse for Betty and Dolly that we could use inside during the cold, wet, dark winter months, and so when an email pinged into my inbox offering up this product for review I was thrilled.

Having studied the dimensions of the castle and looked at the pictures, before its much anticipated arrival, I was really surprised at how small the package was when it did arrive. Once the castle had been unpacked and blown-up, which took just a few minutes, using the speedy hand pump supplied with the product, the castle was huge! - and looks much bigger than it does in the pictures.

I was worried that when erected the inflatable pop-up construction would be a bit flimsy and not that stable, but I was wrong, the castle stood tall and strong and was able to withstand two children, tearing through it, and having a few scraps about who was going to go in which bit. In fact, a big plus point for me is that there are no hard poles, which in past experiences of other play tents, have easily bent or snapped under a little bit of pressure from a toddler.

I was surprised at how much detail there was on the castle (which was difficult to see on the images) - there were rose bushes, birds, princesses etc, which all added to the excitement for Betty and Dolly. I was also surprised at just how quickly the castle deflated - I was expecting it to be like an airbed which seems to take forever, but this product deflated itself in seconds once the valve had been released.

Ok, so this product may look tacky, but I quickly learnt that tacky is what children love, and Betty and Dolly are absolutely thrilled with their new playhouse! And the great thing is that you can pack it away in seconds, put it into the little bag, and pop it in the cupboard, with it hardly taking up any space.

The castle was erected and being played in, when the Tesco delivery man came with our shopping, and even he was rather excited about it and asked me for details of where he can get one for his grandchildren!

Tube Town... a new era in playhouses - this is what it says on their press release:

The sturdy construction relies on unique double tube technology, with a heavy duty outer tube protecting the inner core. Tube Town playhouses are inflated in just a couple of minutes through specially designed valves using the high-volume hand pumped included. Whilst inflation is extremely quick, deflation is even faster thanks to a rapid release valve.

Each Tube Town playhouse comes with its own storage bag for easy carrying between friends, child minders, grandparents and even holidays abroad.

Complete with ground pegs for windy days, Tube Town playhouses are durable and practically puncture proof, ensuring that children have a safe place for their creativity and imagination to thrive. Finally their lightweight design offers immense flexibility when playing outdoors – if it begins to rain, they can simply be deflated and re-inflated indoors or even picked up and brought inside.

The range (to be launched in mid-November) includes a Disney Princess Castle, priced at £79.99 (pictured above) and a Gingerbread House, priced at £49.99 (pictured in the video clip below). More products will be added throughout 2011. Stockists include Amazon.co.uk and Toys R Us.

Night Night Sweet Dreams book by Forever Friends

2010-11-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Forever Friends are launching a new children’s bedtime book called Night, Night Sweet Dreams, and are also running a campaign around children’s sleep habits, looking at the challenges of getting the kids to sleep, particularly around the clocks changing.

We have been sent the book to review, and Betty has asked that it be read to her almost every night since we received it last week. She is enchanted by the fact that when she falls asleep her bed turns into a boat and that she might go off on lots of adventures like the little bear does in the book. It is a lovely, calm, bedtime story and is a winner in this household. And Betty did actually say last night 'I want to go straight off to sleep like the little bear' - so it is obviously having the desired effect!
Forever Friends are holding a live Twitter Q&A with the Channel 4 children's sleep expert, Chireal Shallow, tomorrow on Hallmark's twitter page (www.twitter.com/hallmarkuk) from 11am tomorrow if you are interested in joining in.

ELC: Kidizoom Pink Digital Camera

2010-11-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

Now this may seem a little over the top, but this is seriously the best kids' toy I have ever seen! It is a highly durable 2 mega pixel camera with zoom and built in flash and a dual viewfinder. It has a colour screen, SD card slot and changeable face plates.

Not only does it take pictures but you can also take video clips, and play 5 different games on it! And the best bit, is that you can edit the photos you have taken, on the camera - you can add fun effects (such as face distortion and kaleidoscope effects), stamps and borders. Betty and I have such fun with the edits!

You can then connect the camera (lead is supplied) to a TV and view your photos and video clips on a larger screen. It also comes with a USB cable so that you are able to download the finished photos onto the computer.

This camera is child-friendly and relatively easy for a four year to pick up its functions. I am camera mad anyway so when this arrived for Betty from ELC, I was completely overcome with excitement. And Betty, who has watched Mummy with her camera time and time again, is thrilled to be taking her own photos with her very own bright pink, fabulous camera!

It retails at £49.99 and I think it is worth every penny - it is the best!

Toys R Us: Silver Cross Ranger Dolls Pram

2010-10-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

We love love love this pram! I have to admit that when I saw the flat box that it came in, my heart sank, as I thought it would require loads of assembling. But it doesn't! - It just folds out, pretty much like a real pram does.

I think this pram is tasteful to look at, well made, and very realistic. It comes with a shopping shelf underneath (which Dolly loved placing all her play food on) and a shoulder bag (which Betty loved paraded around with it over her shoulder with some of Dolly's nappies inside).

The girls loved playing with this pram, and of course they fought like chickens over it. It definitely gets the thumbs up from us, and at £34.99 I thought this was very reasonable (and Toys R Us may even have £5 off at the moment I think)

NB: Just to clarify: my 18 month old daughter is called Dolly, which is who I was referring to throughout this post, rather than an actual doll.

Toys R Us: Explore N Grow Chase Me Critter, by Playskool

2010-10-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

This toy was sent to us in our latest Toyologist box. On the box it stated that it was for 9 months plus and was useful for encouraging a baby to crawl. Therefore, with both my girls being well past this stage (18 months and 4 years), I was unsure about whether to open it up or not.

In the end, I decided to open it, let them have a play with it and then pass it on. However, bearing in mind that this toy is aimed at a child much younger, they both went nuts for it! They fought over it, squealed with delight, and marveled at its balling popping and moving across the carpet antics, and all whilst playing a tune.

This toy is fun, and colourful, and really attention grabbing. It kept my girls entertained for a long time! It has two modes - one mode keeps the critter still whilst playing tunes and spinning and popping balls out, and the other mode moves the critter along whilst doing all of the above. The only thing I would say is that I would have liked to have seen a few more balls included in the box (it comes with three).

I would definitely recommend this toy for a 9 month old baby, and of course, slightly older children too!

Toys R Us Toyologist Competition Carnival: Dora the Explorer - We did it Dora

2010-10-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

As part of the Toyologist Competition Carnival I am giving away a Dora the Explorer Doll - We Did It Dora (which retails at £39.99).

Do the 'We did it' dance with Dora, which is inspired by 'Dora's Birthday Adventure'. Just press the flower on her left shoe to see Dora spring into action - she does real dancing (moving her arms and legs) and singing and she even helps you learn her dance moves. This doll is about a foot tall and comes with her own hairbrush so that you can brush her locks. On the box it says:

Teach me - learn dance moves and Spanish in this new 'We Did It' dance
We Did It song - Dora sings and dances
Say It Two Ways - play a bilingual dance game
Play Freeze Dance.

For any Dora fans out there this would be a fab gift!

Just leave a comment to enter into the competition and the draw will take place in two weeks time (UK only). Good luck!

These are the dates for the next Toyologist Competition giveaways:

Saturday 30th October The Babbling Mummy
Sunday 31st October A Mother's Ramblings
Tuesday 2nd November Are we nearly there yet, Mummy?
Monday 8th November Sticky Fingers

Toys R Us: Sprayza Studio

2010-10-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

Betty and I got the Sprayza out this morning for the first time, and we had such a fun time with it. It is an airbrushing kit which comes with 15 different coloured pens. You simply place a pen on the end of the airbrusher and then blow through it. The set comes with several different stencils (a lion, unicorn, fish, clown, kingfisher, dragonfly to name but a few) and once you have blown different colours over the stencil it looks really effective. You can also be really imaginative with how you use this set, creating different effects. The pens also double up as felt tips so that you can touch up your creation if you like.

The great thing is it is so so easy to use, and the sort of thing that your child can get on with by themselves. I think Betty surprised herself this morning when she produced a beautiful clown picture all by herself (pictured)

At £9.99 I think this set is a real bargain - it is unique, effective, and lots of fun, and I was very impressed with it. WE LOVE IT!

Toys R Us: My Own Leaptop, by Leapfrog

2010-10-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

When this toy arrived in our latest box from Toys R Us, Tom was horrified. I almost didn't show it to him knowing full well what his reaction would be. He says (and I agree in part) that it is wrong for a 3 year old to be exposed to computers at such a young age. However, although I sort of agree with him, from my own selfish perspective, I was thinking about the long cold dark winter ahead of us, and the fact that this Leaptop may give me a bit of respite.

After a heated conversation, I agreed to give it away. There it sat, on the hallway table waiting for a new home. Every time I walked past it, I became just a little bit more curious about what this toy could do, having already studied the box in great detail. Then this morning I caved. Tom had his head stuck in some report he was writing, Betty was at pre-school, and Dolly was napping. So I made a deal with myself, that I would open it up, set it all up, test it, get Betty to test it, and then give it away.

I have spent the whole morning playing with it and working out every function it has to offer. And this is what I thought:

This Leaptop basically seems to encourage pretend social networking, for a child. It has pretend email, a pretend blog, and a playlist. I was surprised they hadn't gone that one step further and included Facebook and Twitter. I personally think (and this is just my opinion) that at 3 years old you are too young to be subjected to things such as emails and blogs and it isn't really necessary or appropriate for a toy aimed at this age group.

As well as these social networking functions, it also has three other modes - Alphabet (where you press a letter on the keyboard to hear the letter name and sound), Music Maker (which turns the keyboard into a music station with silly sound effects, percussion sounds and piano keys), and Animal (where you press a letter and it comes up with a clue for an animal beginning with that letter). I liked these functions - I think they seem fun, and engaging, and educational too.

I was really rather gobsmacked at the advancement in kids toys these days. This Leaptop (costing £19.99) comes with a USB cable that you plug into your own PC/Mac enabling you to personalise the Leaptop for your child. There is a facility to choose your child's name from a drop-down list so that every time they turn it on they are greeted by name. However, rather upsettingly, my darling daughter's name was not on the list, despite there being really really random and bizarre names on there. I have to admit I was a tiny bit gutted - to see her little face when she turned this new toy on and heard her own name would have been great. You can also select 5 melodies and 2 songs from their list of options to go onto your child's own personal playlist.

When Betty came home I presented her with the Leaptop. She sat on the sofa and was completely engaged with all its functions. She talked back to it, she loved the Alphabet and Animals modes and was intrigued to hear an email message being read out to her from 'mummy' (a setting I had previously made).

So to conclude, Betty was rather taken with this toy, much more so than me or Tom, and when I explained to her that we were going to give it away, she was pretty upset. Although this toy wasn't for us (by that I mean me and Tom), I think it may fit very well into another home, as there is much enjoyment to be had from this product.

Toys R Us: Dressy Upsy Daisy Doll (by Anna)

2010-10-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

As admittedly rather oversubscribed In the Night Garden viewers and fans, my two year old daughter and I were most excited to receive ourDressy Upsy Daisy. Given that we have a number of ITNG toys already including a small plush set of the characters, we have certainly already noted our daughter’s affinity with the character of Upsy Daisy and her charisma!

On opening the doll, Lucy was certainly taken with the idea of UD having a number of accessories which she liked to name as we got them out of the package; flowers, bag, shoes and skirt all got a mention. Despite the main purpose of the doll seeming to be a dressing toy, after this initial assessment, Lucy did not seem to pay much more attention to the accessories and began to play with UD much as she did with her other plush toy. This play also very much reflected her own personality and what she had seen UD do in the TV show: She put UD in her bed and said “Night night”; she woke UD up; she played singing with her; she introduced UD to the other ITNG characters and to her other toys. And, as I type, she has taken UD to her own bed and is chatting to her about her day as she goes to sleep. She has really seen her as a familiar old friend rather than a new toy. Interestingly, however, I noted that when our 8 month old god daughter came to play, she handed her the old,small, Upsy Daisy whilst she kept the largest Dressy Upsy Daisy for herself. Maybe it’s to do with size.

If the idea of Dressy Upsy Daisy is that young begin to use fine motor control to dress a toy, my daughter is not really interested and may still be a little immature for this concept. She remains, however, captivated by her personality and characterisation which has seen her play imaginatively as she continues to develop her language communication skills. Given I have not seen Upsy Daisy dress or undress in the show, it is possible my daughter is only at the stage where she imitates what she has seen in the TV program. I am most certain she will return and use the accessories as she matures in her play. In this respect, the toy has an element of longevity in it, so long as my child remains interested in the character.

As a parent, I have no hesitation in recommending this product to others on the grounds that it is a quality well-made product from a creative and imaginative program. I would certainly recommend it to other ITNG fans.

Anna and Lucy Thorpe (23 months)

ELC: Singalong CD Player

2010-10-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

This portable Singalong CD Player comes with two microphones attached, so that you can play your favourite CDs and sing along to them to your heart's content.

My actress daughter has recently been using hairbrushes (that old favourite) as a microphone and singing her sweet songs into it. So when presented with these real life microphones she was pretty made up, specially as she can sing along with her mum at the same time. Dolly even has a go too, when she is not giving us her withering looks. Meanwhile Tom is no-where to be seen. We are definiately going to get this out for Betty's fourth birthday party in a few weeks time -I think it will be a big hit.

This product is normally £40 but ELC have £8 off at the moment.. It does require 6 x C batteries - I personally would prefer it if it came with an adapter so that we could plug it into the mains, but although it doesn't come with one, you can buy it separately.

This is a fun product and I am loving teaching Betty new songs - at the moment we are on 'Walking on Sunshine' by Katrina and The Waves. And still Tom is no-where to be found.

ELC: Jolly Phonics DVD

2010-10-18T03:32:00.000-07:00

Betty has many DVDs but since this Jolly Phonics DVD arrived about a week ago it is all she wants to watch. The DVD teaches reading and writing, and Betty sits glued to the screen and watches as funny puppets such as Inky Mouse teach her the alphabet, and how to write out the letters properly and how to put the letters together to make words.

The set in which it is all set is not at all glitzy or hi-tech - but this somehow adds to its charm. The DVD comes in 8 parts with different letter sounds taught in each: Lost and Found, A Fright in the Woods, A Rainy Day, The Birthday Party, The Vowel Forest, The Cuckoo Clock, The Cirucs, and Snake Writes a Book. All these different sections keeps Betty interested.

At £20 I first thought this seemed rather a lot of money, but it does run for 2 hours and has another 55 minutes of bonus material too - and most importantly, Betty is hooked and is learning at the same time!

If your child is showing an interest in learning to write then I would highly recommend this DVD.

ELC: Wooden trike 'n trailer

2010-10-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Since being presented with this trike a few days ago, Dolly has barely been apart from it - she loves it. It is her very own little mode of transport, and it has the huge added bonus of a trailer that fits on the back.

Yesterday she merrily rode around all day, proudly dragging an old Chocolate Orange box that she found in the bin, behind her. Today she was transporting Betty's slippers around the place. In my experience most kids love trailers, and loading them up, and pulling them around, so this is a great little product.

The trike was easy to assemble, it looks good, with a fun and tasteful colour scheme, it has already provided much enjoyment to my darling daughter, and it is reasonably priced at £38.

Toys R Us: Playskool Step Start Walk n Ride

2010-10-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

This product was obviously sent to me with Dolly (17 months) in mind. Dolly however, has many ride-on toys, and so we we decided to open up the box, put it all together, test it, and then pass it on to a young deserving child who doesn't have such a thing.

When I casually say that I put it together, it wasn't that easy with Dolly as my helper, and in hindsight I should have done it well away from her watchful eye. We got into little arguements about where she had hidden the bag of screws, and the various other accessories that fit onto the toy. Anyway, finally, the toy was assembled and was good to go.

My Dolly, like most children her age I am sure, loves a ride-on toy and off she went, speeding across the sitting room, and twiddling various knobs and gear sticks and rollers as she went. She had a lot of fun on it, that is until her big sister Betty came home from pre-school and wanted to be part of the action. A fight broke out between them, and so the toy was promptly confiscated.

I think this toy will be very appealing to a baby/toddler - it is colourful, with lots of things to turn and fiddle with. And the great thing is that goes from being a baby walker, encouraging your baby from around 9 months to pull themselves to standing and then eventually walk holding onto the handle, and then with just one push of a red button and a pull, it turns into a ride-on toy - easy peasy! I was rather imnpressed with just how easy the transformation from one to the other was.

Toys R Us: Tomy Aquadoodle desk

2010-09-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

This product comes with one refillable water pen, and a reversible drawing mat (orange on one side and green on the other). The mat then sits on a faux wooden foam desk, which you assemble yourself.

I think the mat on its own is great. It is suitable for18 months plus, so both Dolly and Betty have enjoyed playing with it. You can draw pictures with the water pen, and once you have drawn on one side you can flip it over and draw on the other side, whilst you are waiting for the first picture to dry and start over again. It creates no mess, because it is just water, so you can let your child lose on it pretty much anywhere. I think that it will be ideal for long car journeys or whilst staying at other peoples houses, eliminating the risk of your child drawing on their walls with felt tips.

However, although I like the mat, I really do not like the desk that comes with it. I think that it is a total waste of time, space and money. I just do not see the point in it, when you can just place the mat on your lap or at a proper table or on the floor. I think the desk also looks cheap.

If you could just buy the mat without the desk, I think it would be a much more appealing product, and also it would slash the price of £29.99 quite considerably.

Say it with Celebrations - personalised chooclate

2010-09-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a lovely little surprise package in the post - it was box of chocolates from Celebrations. Just receiving chocolate in the post is in itself pretty exciting for a chocolate fiend such as myself, but when I opened the box there was the added surprise of seeing my blog logo and a photo of Betty and Dolly (taken from my blog), and a personalised message which read 'We wanted to tell you how much we love reading Flower Fairies and Fairy Cakes by sending some yummy Celebrations to enjoy!' Talk about making a girl smile!

They also stated that my readers can order these personalised chocolates and get 2 for 1 if the order is placed before 25th October. If you are interested in surprising someone with these personalised chocolates go to: www.sayitwithcelebrations.co.uk/?promo and enter the promo code: FAIRY.

Thank you Celebrations!

Toys R Us: Disney Princess Go Glow Light

2010-09-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

I am not just saying this, but this product is just what Betty always wanted! I had to confiscate Betty's Peppa Pig torch at bedtime because she kept forgetting to turn the blimin thing off before she went to sleep, thus costing us a fortune in batteries.

Like most children, Betty loves torches, and so when this Go Glow Light arrived from Toys R Us, it seemed like the perfect solution. The torch sits on the rechargeable base and acts as a night-light, giving off a soft glow. When taken off the base, the torch acts as a, well, torch, but without the whole costly inconvenience of batteries running out, because as soon as the torch is placed back on the base it begins recharging.

If I were to be really picky, I personally would have preferred the picture design on the product to be a bit quirkier and more tasteful (perhaps moons and colouful stars, or clouds and rainbows), but that is just my opinion and Betty does not agree, because she is a little girl, and loves all things princesses and fairies. So I will shut up.

This is a night-light and a battery-less torch all in one - and it is a genius idea.

Toys R Us: Moon Dough Playful Puppies

2010-09-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

We have always been all about the Play Doh in this house - it is probably Betty's all time favourite thing to play with. So I was genuinely intrigued to see what she would make of this new Moon Dough - I wasn't sure if she would reject it in disgust or whether she would welcome something slightly different - like me.
This particular set was the playful puppies one - it comes with a kennel which produces puppies, and also a couple of moulds for making bones etc. My initial concerns were that Betty actively does not like dogs and so I was unsure if this would marr her enjoyment. However, Dolly absolutely LOVES dogs and so the play session went something like this:

Betty, Dolly and I are at the kitchen table. I produce the Moon Dough box. Betty inspects it and says: 'What's this mummy?' Dolly says: 'Da'. So far so good. 'It's a bit like Play Doh, but different, and you can make dogs out of it' I say. Betty looks intrigued, if a little sceptical. Dolly excitedly says 'da' at the mention of dogs. We all have a little squidge with the Moon Dough and Betty laughs and says it feels funny. It feels very light, and it isn't as sticky/messy as Play Doh - which for me is always a bonus (although it is a little crumbly). We then produce a dog using the kennel. At which point Dolly is thoroughly delighted, and under close supervision I let her play with it. Betty continues to squidge around with the remaining dough and is really rather taken by it. She then makes a few more dogs and gives them to Dolly (the dogs don't last long under Dolly's care). I think the Moon Dough people should make a toadstool that pops out fairies - Betty would then be their best friend forever and ever.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Betty is given the choice of playing with Play Doh or Moon Dough... I suspect she may opt for the Moon Dough.

Toys R Us: TRIO building blocks by Fisher-Price

2010-09-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

In one of our Toys R Us boxes we were sent Trio building blocks by Fisher-Price. I have never seen this before but was pretty excited about introducing it to Betty, who loves all things Lego, Mechano, Megabloks etc.

I cunningly chose to unleash this toy onto my girls during a visit to my grandmother's house this afternoon - her house is full of breakable expensive china stuff, which obviously the kids want to bash against walls etc, and so I thought this would be a perfect distraction to at least give me a chance to sit down and drink my tea.

Anyway, my plan worked, and thanks to this new toy, I was not only able to sit down and drink my tea, but I actually managed to have a conversation with my grandmother, and not break out in a sweat every 4 seconds.

The set comes with a manual showing you pictures of things that you can make: robots, helicopters, cars, and various other things, some of which I couldn't identify. With the pieces included and a bit of imagination you could probably pretty much make anything (although probably not a pretty fairy, unfortunately for Betty).

So Betty asked if I would help her make a helicopter. She found all the pieces we needed and I set to work. It took me three attempts of putting together and then pulling apart various pieces before we finally cracked it. I certainly welcomed the challenge, and I know Tom will too when I show him the new toy later. I am not sure how easy a three year old would find trying to make what is in the manual, but is certainly keeps adults on their toes. I guess for a child, the manual can help inspire a creation, which is exactly what a picture of an impressive building did for Betty. After the whole helicopter thing, she then set to work, and spent two hours (TWO HOURS!) making her own constructions, one of which is pictured below.

There are some interesting pieces in this set which sets it apart from other construction toys, and so it was a welcome change from our usual lego and mechano. I asked Betty what she thought of this toy and she said: 'It is very lovely, and very good fun'. And the fact that she played with it for two hours non-stop is in itself a good endorsement. The only thing I would say against it is that sometimes the pieces are really quite hard to pull apart, but other than that it was a success.

Meanwhile Dolly loved playing with the car (that comes in the set, and that comes apart so that you can design your own car) and the little man that sits in the car. She also liked getting in and out of the box.

Toys R Us: Megabloks

2010-09-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

Our first parcel arrived on the morning that we were leaving for our holiday in Pembrokeshire. We were frantically running around, throwing stuff into the car, pacifying a bored Dolly with cheese, and arguing about whether we needed to take the pushchair (Tom couldn't fit it into the car).

Despite the mayhem, I still had to open up the big cardboard box in the hallway and have a look inside. Dolly and Betty were safely out of the way and strapped into their carseats ready for the off. If they had witnessed the box-opening it would have delayed our departure probably by another three hours.

On top lay a bag of Megabloks in pretty colours; pink, purple, pale blue and white. Absolutely perfect I thought, for our holiday - something new to keep the kids entertained whilst we holidayed in wet Wales yet again (this time in a cottage rather than a tent I hasten to add). I threw it to Tom and told him to squeeze it in somewhere. He looked daggers at me.

I was just about to delve further into the box when I heard three Buttons either yelling, squawking or barking at me to hurry up so that we could be on our way. I did however spy some Moon Dough, a Peppa Pig game and a night light/torch before I scarpered out of the house, almost forgetting my handbag.

So I produced the new Megabloks set for my children during the first day of our holiday. I wasn't sure they would be that impressed, as we have always had Megabloks (of the red, blue, green and yellow variety) in the house, but I couldn't have been more wrong. They fought like chickens over the new toy (though they are fighting over pretty much everything at the moment) and seemingly loved the new girlie colours. I thought the novelty of pink and purple may wear off but it hasn't. Dolly is now 16 months and is so so into building towers at the moment and gives herself a clap every time she slots a new piece into place. Betty waits in the wings and when she thinks Dolly has had enough (of her own) claps she promptly comes along and bashes it to the ground.

(Betty's dinosaur)

I personally was a little disappointed that there weren't more different shaped blocks in this set -there is one pointy roof-shaped piece but that is it. I was hoping for some interesting shapes, to set it apart from the set we bought about four years ago. That said, the girls do love it and have been playing with it ALL week - in fact it has been a bit of a life saver. As I said before it is not a new concept to them, so it must be the new colours that have enticed them.

I am now looking forward to unleashing the other items in the big cardboard box onto my kids, when we return from our hols...

Becoming a Toyologist...

2010-09-10T01:02:00.000-07:00

Toys R Us have selected a number of mums from across the UK to increase brand awareness via the internet through a new programme called “Toys R Us Toyologist”. Toyologists are work from home mums, full time mums, full time lawyers and others, all active on social media sites.

We are being given toys to try out with our kids, to review, and have been asked to share our experiences, which hopefully you will enjoy reading about.

I will be hosting a tea party where the kids/parents get to keep the toys they like (in exchange for this I will ask for a small donation to a childlren's charity), and I also intend to donate a number of the toys to the local pre-school, and other places to be decided. I will collect all the feedback and comments from everyone involved and then write about it here.

VoucherCodes.co.uk and Mothercare

2010-09-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

VoucherCodes.co.uk is a money saving website which lists all the best discount and voucher codes to help save you money. To celebrate recently adding a new voucher code to their website offering parents 10% off all orders over £120 (including sale items) at Mothercare, VoucherCodes.co.uk have very kindly sent me a complimentary Mothercare voucher worth £50.

Whilst packing for our recent camping trip, Tom and I realised that we had to leave certain things behind as they just would not fit in the car. I casually said to Tom: 'The pushchair can stay at home, what possible use would we have for it while camping anyway?'

A day into our camping, I quickly realised that having a pushchair would be very useful indeed, and so clutching my voucher for Mothercare I went into their mega superstore in Swansea and found a cheap and cheerful umbrella type pushchair for just £19.99. Having always had a Quinny for my babies, I have secretly hankered after this type of simple pushchair ever since Betty was a baby. I don't know why, but I just have.

After a quick demo on how to fold and unfold my new purchase, we were off, galivanting around Swansea with our new bright yellow mode of transport. I loved the fact that it was yellow, and I loved the pushchair full stop. It was oringinally intended for Dolly, but we found Betty was desperate to be part of the whole excitment too. I pushed Betty in it (who is almost four) along the entire length of Rhossili Bay beach (which is about 2 miles long) to some rockpools she insisted on going to. That pushchair has seriously done some mileage and has served both children. In fact they would fight over who was going to use it and who was going to be carried by daddy - in the past, daddy was always the preferred option. It was even suitable to be used as a seat for Dolly whilst she ate her dinner, al fresco. I feel like this pushchair has been on some real camping adventures with us. (I have attached a photo taken during one of its outings).

But it doesn't stop there. There was a fear that when we returned from our trip the pushchair would get shoved into a corner of the shed, But oh no! - the ever faithful yellow stroller was out and about in our home town just this morning, and at the moment is very much the preferred option over our other rather more expensive other option.

While I was in the Mothercare megastore, with the remaining £30 I managed to get a plastic golf set, some bean bags, 8 bottles of ready mixed paint in vibrant colours (I am now Betty's best friend forever more), and a Cupcake stroller for Dolly.

Thank you VoucherCodes.co.uk and Mothercare - I have two happy children!

Daisy Explores and Jack Nano range from Clarks

2010-09-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Over the last three years or so (since Betty got her first pair of shoes) I have become very familiar with Clarks. I even wrote a post all those years ago called 'In your Clarks, get set, go!' which spoke about our very first encounter with Clarks.

Both Betty and Dolly have always had all their shoes from Clarks (apart from the odd pair of Crocs here and there) and I have always trusted them 100%. They have an excellent fitting service and are always there to offer reassurance if you are unsure if shoes have been outgrown etc. Correctly fitting shoes are so so important to growing feet, and so you can always rely on Clarks.

They have just brought out a fun new range of Daisy Explores and Jack Nano aimed at 3-8 year olds, so Betty and I hot-footed it to our local shop and I let Betty pick a pair out. We are now at that slightly frustrating age where she has an opinion on such things and we don't always agree, but this time her choice was really rather good, and she looked as proud as can be when she marched out of the shop in her new purchase. (A very different story to 3 years ago).

What follows is more in-depth information from Clarks on their new range...

Clarks ingenuity and skill at footwear design and construction has allowed them to incorporate some extra added fun without compromising on fit, comfort or durability. This has resulted in the creation of the Daisy Explores and Jack Nano ranges for Autumn/Winter 2010.

The new Clarks Daisy Explores and Jack Nano shoe ranges, aimed at three to eight year olds, combine proven foot health benefits with the latest fashion trends and added extras ensuring your children’s feet are kept healthy which will contribute to their well being, confidence and happiness.

When it comes to finding the right shoes for your child, you can trust Clarks. Over the last 180 years we’ve learnt a lot about little feet. It’s helped us create an exceptional range of shoes which, in the safe hands of our specially-trained fitters, guarantee the best possible fit for every step of your child’s development.

Shoes for growing feet need to be flexible enough to let their movements develop, but sturdy enough to protect them as they become more active, as at pre-school age they will also be getting to grips with running and walking.

At the age of four, your child will develop a heel to toe walking style and their movements will be smoother although changing speed or direction will still be difficult. The most important aspect when buying shoes is to have growing room within the shoe so they don’t restrict development.

At this development stage, you need to be looking for shoes that have highly flexible fore-parts, shaped and stable back-parts, additional padding to cushion active feet, made from breathable materials such as leather and fully adjustable fastenings.

The Daisy Explores & Jack Nano ranges combine all of these qualities at a range of prices , with the added benefit of a friendly Clarks trained fitter in your local stockist to ensure your child gets the best fit. With lots of fashionable styles to choose from, view and order online at www.clarks.co.uk/kids.

Peter Rabbit Organic Juices

2010-08-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

Peter Rabbit Organics sent me their new range of juices which come in three flavours: Apple & Grape, Apple & Blackcurrant, and Pear.

The mini cartons are a good size for smaller people, and are suitable from 6 months. Both Betty and Dolly have enjoyed trying them, but I would say they are more suited to Dolly's age. They are more watered down than your average carton of juice, which is no bad thing, specially when your baby has only been used to water.

They are made from 100% organic ingredients and are free from any added sugar or artificial ingredientsand are made from a gentle blend of water and organic juice.

They are currently available at Sainsburys, Waitrose, Morrisons, Ocado, Asda and independent stores and cost around 53p each.

Musical steps - ELC

2010-07-16T04:30:00.000-07:00

This is a giant keyboard mat with three different modes (demo, learn, and play) to make music as you walk, hop, or jump.

Betty's favourite mode is 'learn', where colourful lights light up on each note to be played, making a tune - she finds it very exciting to have been able to actually make a recognisable tune all by herself (sort of). It reminds of an arcade game I used to see on visits to the seaside, when I was little, but was always too shy to go on because it attracted a large audience. This mat can withstand my weight (hurrar!), but it did buckle under the weight of a slightly heavier member of the family. (I fully appreciate this product is designed for 3-7 year olds, but thought I would say anyway!)

The 'play' mode is also fun, where you can just freestyle and come up with your own tunes. Baby Dolly (15 months) is thrilled when she toddles across it making her own sweet tunes.

This product is from the Early Leanring Centre and costs £20.

Build It Construction toy - ELC

2010-07-16T04:03:00.000-07:00

We have had this construction toy in our house for quite some time now, but during the times I got it out for Betty to play with I felt that she wasn't really quite ready for it. She would come up with obscure and challenging things for me and Tom to build with it, and whilst we quite enjoyed doing it, Betty would get bored half way through the construction and wander off. Meanwhile Dolly would sit sucking on the nuts and bolts.

However, Betty has now reached a stage where she literally spends hours playing with it on her own, and is completely immersed in what she is building. As I type now, she is making rather an elaborate 'hoover' with it. This morning she made a caterpillar, and before that a 'funny thing'.

This product is great for their imagination and problem solving skills, and I now have high hopes that there will be at least one person in this house that will be good at DIY.

It is from the Early Learning Centre and costs £35.

Polaroid Polarized Sunglasses

2010-07-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

A lovely lady called Laura, working on behalf of Polaroid, very kindly sent me a pair of sunglasses for Betty, and whilst she was at it, sent me a pair too!

Betty has got through her fair share of sunglasses, and whilst she always demands that she has a pair, she will promptly break them and say 'It doesn't matter mummy, we will go to the shop and buy another pair'. This sort of attitude from the little madam is not in keeping with Tom's 'save the world' attitude, so we were getting a little exasperated by the whole thing.

However, Polaroid have come up with a solution - almost indestructible sunglasses for kids. I won't lie, when these lovely vibrant red sunglasses arrived in the post for her, within 5 minutes, she was using them as a sledge for her toy duck, and was bending them this way and that, determined not to be outsmarted. But the sunglasses held out and won and are still going strong. Betty does look the business in them (and very sweet) and they appear to be pretty much indestructible. They have solved all the problems!

The glasses have super bendable frames, come with their own case, have polaroid polarized lenses and 100% UV400 protection

They retail at around £20, which may seem a little expensive for children's sunglasses, but I think it is definitely worth it!

Wooden post box - ELC

2010-01-15T03:11:00.000-08:00

This wooden post box was given to Dolly for Christmas and although she is still too young to be able to post the wooden envelopes through the letter box, she happily chews on them instead and bashes them together. Betty however, enjoys pretending to be a postman and delivering the letters to Dolly. It is wonderful to watch them begin playing together, and for this, the postbox is a winner!

It looks good and is well made.

More on Gaskett's Dream Racer from ELC

2010-01-15T03:05:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to add to the review below that this car has been such a huge success and it is Betty's most favourite toy EVER! She drives everywhere in it; to the bathroom when she needs a wee, to the kitchen when it is lunch-time, and on Christmas day, whilst wearing her butterfly fairy dress, she would drive to the christmas tree to collect each present individually, place it on the parcel shelf behind her and then drive it to the recipient of the present.

The car is on castors so it is really easy to maneavure and turn, and every one of her friends who have visited recently go mad for it. It has got to the point where friends ask to come here to use the car rather than see my darling daughter!