Exploding Kittens is a hilarious and quick paced card game, which is really easy to pick up and was a huge kit with our kids. I had heard a lot about Exploding Kittens (the game was the #1 most backed Kickstarter ever!) so was eager to try it, and was really happy to receive this game via the Asmodee Blogger Board Game Club this year.
Flipazoo World is a fun imaginary world including soft plushes and smaller play sets, each with a quirky and clever twist. Every animal can flip and instantly turn into another one, giving you 2 fun characters in one. We were sent some products from the range to try out, and have had lots of fun with these cute characters.
Cat Crimes from Ravensburger is a great logic game which can be played collaboratively or by a single player. The aim of the game is to deduce which cat is guilty of each mischievous crime, using the clues provided.
The game includes a play board in the shape of a table, along with 6 different cat characters. You get a pack of challenge cards in four difficulty levels ranging from beginner to expert, icons for each crime eg spilt coffee or the bird eaten from the bird cage, and a booklet to help with instructions.
Hape have a brilliant range of educational toys, games and puzzles for young children. Using their level system, you can easily see which products could be the most suitable for your child as they learn and grow.
Hape puzzles ranging from levels 1 to 6 allow children to progress through the levels, encouraging a continuation of age appropriate critical thinking, hand/eye coordination and dexterity with Hape’s ever growing collection of puzzles which combine one of a kind design and characterful illustrations that help fuel a child’s enthusiasm for out of school learning.
The Level 6 range for older children of 5 and above includes some lovely puzzles on topics such as world geography, or the solar system. We were sent the Hape 2 in 1 World Tour Puzzle and Game to try out and it is a really engaging way for young children to develop their familiarity with maps of the world.
Orchard Toys have been one of our favourite toy brands since the boys were young. The games and puzzles are so good for helping children learn and pick up valuable skills while they play, and it’s great to be able to revisit some of the their toddler and preschool range again with N. She is the perfect age at 2.5 to get started with more of these kind of activities, so I was excited to try out some of the new Orchard toys games and puzzles with her.
We were sent a great selection of Orchard Toys products, including newly released game Let’s go Lotto, an alphabet game, and puzzles for the older and younger kids in our family.
Buying presents for kids is not always an easy task, whether that’s for your own child, for young relatives, or for school friends. You don’t want to get something they’d already have, or that will just gather dust lying unused, and if you are buying for a child that’s not your own sometimes it can be hard to decide what will be appropriate especially if the child is the opposite gender to your own, or a different age group.
Wicked Uncle is a great place to browse when you’re stuck for present buying inspiration, as you can buy a good variety of kids toys and gifts and they have handy tools to help you see options by age, gender, or categories like creativity or adventurer if you have some idea of the type of route you want to go down.
One of the brands we tend to return to time and time again is Melissa and Doug. We have so many of their fun and educational toys in our playroom, so I was really happy to be asked to take part in the Melissa and Doug Play Panel and put three of their new toys to the test with my 2 year old, N. The toys we’ve been testing out are all perfect for this age group, and give plenty of opportunities for role play. They are: the Pet Vet Play Set, Wooden Food Groups Play Set and the Wooden Pizza Party Set.
Pet Vet Play Set
This is such a cute play set, encouraging little ones to look after their poorly animal friends. It comes with a stuffed cat and dog, along with so many accessories and a little bag for your mini vet to keep them all organised.
You can’t beat a puzzle for a relaxing activity to keep the brain sharp, and this 500 piece Colourful Chupa Chups puzzle from Jumbo is a great sweet treat that lasts much longer than the chupa chups lollies! We really enjoyed the unique patterned design of this puzzle, and the fun nostalgia of the Chupa Chups theme.
This puzzle is made up of lots of little coloured and patterned squares along with a few bursts of text, rather than one central image, which makes it a bit different to the norm. It suits methodical and logical puzzlers and was very satisfying to put together, with lots of delicious fruity flavours to spot throughout the image.
Little Brain Paint sticks are an amazing craft product. These are something I had heard of, but didn’t try until recently when we were sent a selection of their range to test out for some Easter crafts, and now I’m wondering why I didn’t try them before! The paint sticks are like glue sticks with paint, you twist them up in the same way, and they allow you to paint with vibrant beautiful colours and very little mess. They are just so handy, and are so much fun to use. We have all been enjoying them, from the toddler, through to the tweenagers and even me too.
The Little Brian Paint Sticks range includes metallic and day glow colours in stand alone sets, or larger sets with all of the colours included, in both normal and mini sizes. There are also chalk sticks which can be used on blackboards.
Wooden puzzles are one of the most classic toddler toys, and one of our favourites! They have so many opportunities for learning and development. N (2 years old) has been trying out some beautiful new puzzles from Hape, each of which has something unique and different to offer.
Wild Animal Puzzle & Play, £12.99 from Amazon.
This is a clever twist on the classic wild animal puzzle, with a 2 in 1 format. One side has spaces to match up the animal shapes into the puzzle, while the other has a play scene printed to extend play with the animal figures. We loved this idea, and it definitely kept N’s interest in the puzzle for longer as she had both the structured puzzle activity, and the free play to keep her busy and develop her imagination.
