Toy Reviews

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.

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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.

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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.

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Camel Up is an award winning family game all about camel racing. This is another great game that we are reviewing via the Asmodee Blogger Board game club, and it has gone down very well with our kids.

In Camel Up, you race the camels around the dessert, making bets on which of the camels you think will win each round, and which will be the overall winner. Each time you bet correctly, you can gain gold and silver coins and at the end of the game, the winner is the player with the most money earned.

While racing, watch out for the crazy camels (the black and the white) who will pull your camels backwards if you land on top of them! This adds an element of suspense and unpredictability to the game, adding to the fun.

The board is beautifully designed, with the camel racing dice hidden inside the pyramid in the centre of the camel race track. You press the doorway of the pyramid, to release the dice from the bottom. Each camel has it’s own die in corresponding colours, to let you know how many spaces to move each one.

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Gardening World is a beautiful 1000 piece puzzle from Ravensburger which is really relaxing to do, with a colourful and uplifting Spring time garden image and lots of detail.

This puzzle comes with seasonal tips and planting ideas from Pippa Greenwood, of TV’s Gardener’s World and BBC4’s Gardener’s Question Time, which is a lovely idea. I’m not a very skilful gardener myself, but do enjoy listening to Gardener’s Question Time on the radio from time to time, and the tips included in the leaflet seem quite simple and easy to follow, if the beautiful picture of the finished puzzle does give you the nudge you need to get outside and sort the garden out this Spring!

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Ravensburger Mothers and Babies Chunky Shaped Puzzle is a set of 6 two piece puzzles, each made up of one mummy and one baby animal. This is a great early puzzle for toddlers, which helps develop logic and matching skills but is also lots of fun to play with.

As with all of the puzzles in the Ravensburger ‘My First Puzzles range’ the pieces are chunky and very durable to handle lots of play by young children who are not always the most careful They are all bright and colourful, and can’t easily be bent or torn. We found that the pieces are a great size for toddler hands.

The set includes Mummy and baby cats, dogs, ducks, pigs, cows and sheep, with the baby piece nestling into the image of the Mother animal. This makes the puzzle very simple to put together as there is a clear space, and young children can immediately see where to put the piece to complete the picture.

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With the new Dumbo Live Action movie from Disney coming out at the end of the month (March 29th), there are some really cute new Dumbo toys available to buy. I’m really looking forward to checking out the new movie with the kids.

We were sent the Dumbo 15cm Soft Toy with Fireman Outfit which is a great way to introduce my little ones to the Dumbo character.

Dumbo comes with a bright red fireman’s hat, along with his big flappy ears and the feather at the end of his trunk. As well as the Fireman’s Outfit Dumbo, these 15cm plush are also available in as a plain Dumbo, a Dumbo with blue outfit, or Dumbo with a red headdress. They have great attention to detail and are instantly recognisable for fans of the original Dumbo movie, and you can collect them all!

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It’s great when you find toys or activities which are educational but also lots of fun. These National Geographic Dig Kits from their STEM range definitely fit into both of these categories!

Completing the dig kits is a really hands on way to get into the topics of bugs or dinosaurs, and gives the kids a real sense of accomplishment at finding the specimens and cleaning them up nicely. National Geographic have a great range of these kits, and we were sent the real bug, and the dino fossil versions to try out.

Each kit comes with everything you need, including learning guides to help you find out more about the specimens you’ve excavated, and get deeper into the topic.

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