Giveaway - My Littlest Pet Shop Blythe

I'm sure that most of you with Children are fed up of looking at toys already but I also know that some of you have birthdays coming up in January!! Even if you don't have Children you may be a collector of the Blythe dolls so really everyone can be a winner ;-)

The set that I'm giving away is the Autumn Glam version. It comes with the Blythe doll, pet, doll stand and other accessories. Chick really likes this set but she has had so many toys just recently that we have no room left for anymore!!! It would be great either on it's own or used with the other Littlest Petshop sets.

To enter you need to 'like' either Toys R Us or myself on Facebook and leave a comment on the page stating that you would like to win.  Available to buy from Toys R Us at £12.97

Closing date is Friday, 6th January 2011.  Good Luck!

Beyblade Stadiums & Tops

Beyblade stadiums and tops are available to buy from Toys R Us. Prices start at £7.97. 

Reviewed as part of the Toys R Us Toyologist programme.

Review - Tipover and Rush Hour

We recently received two ThinkFun games in our Toys R Us Toyologists boxes. The first one is Tipover:

The game comes with different levels of cards from beginner to expert. Using the grid and placing the crates in the positions indicated on the cards, you need to tip the crates over to create a path from start to finish.

We took this away on holiday with us for the girls to play and they struggled to understand what to do without our help. It also took us a while to figure it out!!! Once we had got it the girls were ok with it but Chick didn’t really enjoy playing it and she found it too hard. The Punk was more interested but that didn’t last too long either.

I think that maybe it was too grown up for them and may be better suited to older Children. I honestly don’t believe this is a bad game it’s just not fun enough for my Girl as she has to think about it. It’s aimed at ages 8+ and costs around £12.99

The other game that we were sent is Rush Hour and is based on similar rules to Tipover, with this one however you need to escape the gridlocked traffic.

Chick enjoyed this one much more which I find really odd! I’m not sure if it’s the brightly coloured cars as the principal is exactly the same as Tipover. Again this comes with cards from beginners to expert so is great for the whole Family but is aimed at ages 8+. Available from Toys R Us at £12.99

Remember that you can ‘like’ Toys R Us on Facebook to read all the reviews from the other Toyologists as well as some fabulous Competitions!

Review - Twist & Spin Jewellery Maker and Zubber Band Maker

Twist & Spin 2 in1 Jewellery Maker

Get creative and make funky jewellery with the Twist and Spin Jewellery Maker! Create stylish necklaces, bracelets and hair accessories at the touch of a button with the twisting and spinning motion. Includes over 100 beads to create necklaces, bracelets and hair accessories.

This set comes with a Twist and Spin jewellery maker unit, threader, clamps and fastners as well as plenty of cord and over 100 shaped and coloured beads and of course an instruction leaflet for simple folk like myself.

We found this a little bit fiddly to get started but once we’d made the first one, subsequent necklaces, bracelets and hair accessories were much easier. It’s aimed at children aged 7+ and I think that’s about right as younger children would definitely struggle. Chick needed my help with each thing that she made!!

Available from Toys R Us at £19.99.

Zubber Band Maker

Create cool bracelet bands with this fabulous craft set that includes 100 letter, number, and symbol blocks to choose from, so you can customise your bracelet with your name, or anything you want! Zubber is a great new modelling compound that moulds like dough, and hardens like rubber!

I have to be honest and say that we have really struggled to get along with this. Initially I thought that Chick would really like it so put it away for her birthday.  I’m not sure if it’s toy fatigue on our part or if it’s just because it seems so fiddly.

To make the band you need to measure some of the mixer and activator, put the letters and shapes into the band mould and then add and roll the mixture to the band! It sounds quite simple but we just can’t do it although that may well be laziness on our part!! It’s aimed at children aged 5+ but you would definitely need to help them!!!

Available from Toys R Us at £12.97

Remember that you can join in the Toys R Us fun on Facebook.

*Reviewed as part of the Toys R Us Toyologist programme.

Review - Air Hogs Vectron Wave

Become the master of skill precision racing and stupendous stunts with this amazing Air Hogs Vectron Wave. You’re the driver, the pilot and the master of control. Eliminate the need for a remote with this flyer, the vectron wave uses altitude sensing technology and effortlessly glides over almost anything.

Control it with a wave of your hand and watch in amazement as it magically hovers above it. Why not grab a friend and play the ultimate game of catch! When your done dock it on the launch pad for easy charging.

As you can see from the video, it took me a while to figure out how this works but the kids got it straight away! We all loved this.....adult and child alike...in fact there was almost a fight over who got to have a go first! Obviously the oldest (ahem......me!) wins!! It is the coolest thing as you control it with just a wave of the hand!

Apart from being a lot of fun what I liked about this was that it was made out of really lightweight material and sooooo easy to charge up......always a bonus when you have kids desperate to play with something. Also if you catch it incorrectly like some ridiculous 34 year olds did (ahem.....again ;-) then it doesn't hurt like I imagine some of these things could, again a bonus when you have younger children. This comes thoroughly recommended by Chick and I as well as After School Club.

Available to buy from Toys R Us at £29.99.

Remember that you can also like Toys R Us or Me on Facebook!!!!

Review - Phineas & Ferb Secret Journal & Sylvanian Families playset

Phineas & Ferb Secret Journal

I have to be honest and say that I've never heard of Phineas & Ferb before but my daughter assures me that they have their very own show over on the Disney channel! This secret journal is right up Chick's street as she loves writing and is constantly scribbling away! The fact that she can keep it a 'secret' from me also amuses her greatly!

The journal comes with a lock and key, a UV pen and a UV reveal torch which means that even if she writes in the diary I can't read it anyway as she has hidden the torch away from me!! I would be more than happy to buy this for her as like I say it's just the kind of thing she is after constantly to keep up with her writing. At £7.99 I think this is a very reasonable price especially as it comes with the 'secret' pen and torch!!

Sylvanian Families - At Home with Brother set

I'm sure that you've all heard of Sylvanian Families and seen the amazing sets that you can buy along with extra sets like this one that you can add to it. The big sets include a windmill and houses. I remember my step-sister being into these years and years ago and not much has changed.

This set is the brother at home playset and the basic premise is that he annoys his little Sister by spending too long in the bathroom. This would be much better if Chick had any of the other sets but I've always been too mean to buy her any :-)

She was so excited when she first got this and initially she played with it all day. Since then it has languished in the Barbie box with the little pieces never to be put together again! I do think that it's a cool toy if your child is into them or dolls houses as the bits would be interchangeable!! Available from Toys R Us at £12.99.

Remember that you can keep tabs on all the Toys R Us updates on Facebook.

Review - Hexbug Nano

This Giveaway is now closed. Please keep checking back for more great giveaways.


We received the HEXBUG nano's a few weeks ago but if I'm honest they look so evil I left them on the side and didn't dare to open them!!!  The little critters look like this:

They are so realistic as they scuttle across the floor that you will want to lift up your feet and run away from them!! It moves along by vibrations, makes a buzzing noise and can flip over by itself. Chick has made mazes for them, watched them flip over and chased them around the kitchen for hours! A word of warning though......they are sneaky little suckers and scuttle into the tiniest little places, hence I've had to retrieve them from under the fridge, down the side of the washing machine and Chick knocked over a whole shelf of CD's trying to get one back from under the TV!!!! Obviously because they are such a menace Chick and her cousin absolutely adore them!!

As well as the single bugs, you can also buy them in collector packs and just in time for Santa coming you can also buy their 'habitat', bridges and cells too! Each bug comes with it's own unique code which you enter online and keep track of your collection. 

The HEXBUG nano's are available to buy online and start at £8.99 for the singles. Courtesy of the lovely people at HEXBUG I have one to giveaway. To win just leave me a comment below! Of course if you'd like to become a follower here or on Facebook that would be quite delightful too :-)

Closing Date is Friday, 17th December at 5pm and I promise to try my best to post it out on the 18th so that you'll have it in time for Christmas!!!

After School Club Reviews - Strawberry Shortcake Cafe Playset

This was another one of the toys that I gave to Chick's After School Club to review although the photos mainly feature Chick as I didn't have permission to take pictures of the other children!

Available to buy from Toys R Us at £34.99. Don't forget to 'like' them on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest reviews and competitions!!!

After School Club Reviews.......Zingo and Jolly Octopus Game

Zingo

Zingo is a completely awesome game!! I donated one each of these to the Nursery and the After School Club. Not only is it a fun game but educational too and great in the above settings as it's colourful, durable and very easy to clean.

Basically it's a game of Bingo. You slide the red dispenser and out pop two counters which you then have to try and match with your card:

What surprised me about this game was that it was the boys that swarmed towards it and all played together. It's aimed at 4+ but I think that younger ones could play as well. It was great to see that the older boys enjoyed teaching the younger ones how to play and I was amazed that they all played nicely together!!

I thoroughly recommend this and at £12.99 it's definitely affordable and great value! These also appear on my Top Ten for Christmas List!

Jolly Octopus Game

Another brilliant game and for the same reasons above it's fabulous in an After School Club setting. The idea is that the Octopus is sitting on a rock and is sheltering the little crabs underneath. You each need to take a turn picking up the crabs with the tweezers and without being caught by the tentacles.  It was very easy to put together:

If you are caught by the tentacles then the Octopus stops spinning and sits and laughs at you!!!

A bright colourful toy which the children really liked playing with. The only downside that I can think of with this is that the crabs are very small and (at least in our household) are likely to be lost the more they play with it!!

Available to buy from Toys R Us at £11.99

Review - Sticky Mosaics Dinosaurs & Harry Potter Quidditch Match

Sticky Mosaics – Dinosaurs £14.99 - This cool mosaics by numbers playset contains everything you need to make awesome dinosaur works of art. Includes 4 scary dinosaur designs, or create your own designs!

I’m sure that you all remember just how much we loved the Unicorns and Ponies version of these and the dinosaur ones are just as good. My 8 year old cousin tested these but he wasn’t at all convinced that he was going to like them as they look ‘like they are for girls’!!! I’m pleased though that his Mum reported back that he had played with them all afternoon and made some great pictures.

Harry Potter Lego Quidditch Match - £19.97 - Have some construction fun with this Lego Harry Potter Quidditch Match set. Catch the Golden Snitch and win the match for Gryffindor!

Now I love Lego as much as the next person but I tend to think that it’s quite overpriced for what it is. As Sherod said when he reviewed the Lego City Passenger Train, when we were kids Lego just came in a big bag and you used your imagination! When I first saw this I was rather sceptical but actually we had loads of fun with it. 

It includes 5 minifigures - Harry Potter, Oliver Wood, Draco Malfoy, Marcus Flint and Madam Hooch. Spectator stands feature seating for Madam Hooch and a hole for Quidditch players to fly through!  Lots of accessories including brooms, Quaffleand Bludgers, Golden Snitch, chest, three goal posts, catapults and a Quidditch trophy.

As fun as it was I wouldn’t spend £20 on it but only because Chick isn’t really into it. If your child is then I’m sure it’s worth the money and brilliant if you can add it to the other sets and the Hogwarts Castle which really does look amazing.

Both the toys above are available from Toys R Us in store. You can also like them on Facebook to find out about special offers and competitions!!!

Review - Twister, Liv Doll & Monster High Doll

Twister –  Who doesn’t love Twister? It’s a fabulous game that all the family can play and we have spent the last week being contorted into various shapes with our bottoms stuck up in the air!!! Obviously it’s more fun if there are more of you but Chick seems to find it amusing enough to spin the board and watch her Dad and I fall over a lot! All the pictures that she took of us playing this are quite horrific so I’m not sharing!!! Another one that we’ll be using with the rest of the family on Christmas day although may be not straight after dinner. Available from Toys R Us at £11.97.

Liv Doll –  Chick loves pretty much any doll of any description so this was always going to get a thumbs up from her. What I liked about this was that this was rather cool. She’s called Katie and is a skater girl who likes the outdoors and her friends are pretty similar. Katie comes with cool clothes, a hat, helmet, skateboard and a wig for hairstyling. I’d be quite happy to buy this as a change from the normal endless pink dolls that Chick likes. It also comes with free membership to the Liv dolls website which Chick was very impressed with. Even better they are in the half price sale at the moment for only £9.97

Monster Doll High – As with the Liv doll above Chick and The Punk both loved this. These are ultra modern dolls and although they are aimed at 6+ personally I think that’s probably too young. We got Lagoona Blue who is apparently the daughter of a Sea Monster!!! Her clothes are very grown up being fish nets and cropped shorts with super high heels and also came with a diary and a pet Piranha. The language on the box is very teenage so I would recommend from 8+. Available from Toys R Us at £14.97

These were reviewed as part of the Toys R Us Toyologist programme. You can find out about special offers and competitions on their Facebook page.

Review - Lego City Passenger Train Set

This is a lovely review from Chick’s best friend Miss.C. and her Dad!!!

You will need:

Cross Head Screwdriver

2 hours creating time

9 AAA batteries  -  Yes , that is not a mistake – 9 !!!!

I was very surprised with the number of batteries this takes. There are 3 batteries in the remote control and 6 more in the train itself – but this really is my only negative point.

You get 7 bags of lego and 4 instruction books that make up the main battery powered train, the passenger carriage and the end loco/carriage train as well as a station platform.  There are a couple of passengers and the train driver to make as well.

Being used to playing and making wooden train tracks recently, I was pleased to see that the track has a lot of flexibility to it, even though this set is a basic oval shape, it would be very easy to connect other lego train tracks to it make it longer and more interesting.

One good point is that the people at lego have kindly supplied a few spare parts with the kit.  At first I thought that I had assembled it wrong and missed a few little pieces off, but on further examination I find that they have given extra small pieces (such as single piece plastic lights) as they probably know from their years of experience that these are the bits that will get lost first.

Being a big fan of lego since I was a kid, I have been disappointed in recent years as all the lego boxes I see in the shops come in a lot of ready to make items (such as the train and city sets) – whereas I was from the 80’s group of kids that just got a huge bag of all shapes and sizes of the stuff and let my imagination run riot. With that in mind I wasn’t sure I would be that enthused with the project, but I soon got into it.

The only problem was not finishing it quick enough for Miss.C to play with it, (She got bored after the first hour and watched Angelina Ballerina) and all I got for the next hour was “are you nearly finished, I want to play with the train!)

All in all – a worthwhile endeavour to build and to play.

Available from Toys R Us at £94.97

Ila Security Personal Alarms

I remember (years ago!!) when I was a teenager I had a personal alarm that was huge and mainly ineffective as it was always stuck in the bottom of my bag, so last week when I had an e-mail asking me if I would be interested in reviewing an Ila product I was a little unsure! However in a recent survey by YouGov, 68% of women expressed a concern about their own personal safety so I figured I'd better have a look at their on-line brochure and soon discovered that they have some fabulous products.

There is a handbag charm that acts as a personal alarm and shrieks when you pull the chain. The hook is a compact mirror that unravels and can be hooked around your handbag to keep it safe or the Ila Sport which is the product I chose for them to send to me.  What I like about all the products is that they are fashionable and don't look like your traditional safety alarm. The compact mirror and the handbag charm come in a variety of patterns and colours including stars, flowers and black leopard print. What a refreshing change from the usual clunky tradition.

So as I said above, I was sent the Ila Sport. Not only is it a personal safety alarm but it also a pedometer which can count steps or distance travelled. It has a clock and a backlight on it as well and is perfect for running.  One thing that I always disliked when I was marathon training was running in the dark but I went for a run wearing this and did feel much safer. It's not only for joggers but would also be fab on these dark nights whilst walking the dog.

The alarm is LOUD, holy cow is it loud which is exactly what you need to scare an attacker away but I wouldn't recommend trying it at home! You can turn the alarm off as well when you are warming up or cooling down so that it doesn't go off unnecessarily. The Ila Sport retails at around £19.99.

For more information on the products please check out their website at www.ilasecurity.com Their products are available worldwide.  Look out for an Ila giveaway later this week :-)

Review - Tomica Big City Set, Aquadoodle Animal Sounds, Old McDonald Lotto and Crayola Mess Free Colour Wonder

As well as the box of toys that I donated to the hospital, Toy R Us were kind enough to give me two other boxes, one for Chick’s after school club and one for a local nursery.  This is me handing over the two boxes of toys to the Deputy Nursery Manager:

It also appeared with an article in the local paper.....cheesy, I know!

Here are their reviews:

Tomica Big City Set £39.99 - We felt it would be better suited for 1-2 children at a time, for in the home not really a large nursery group.  Disappointing that it only included 1 truck and 1 man that was really quite small.  It was fun to watch the tram go round the track and the children all really enjoyed playing with it.

Tomy Aquadoodle Animal Sounds £29.99 - Children enjoyed playing with it and liked how it made noises when you drew on it.

Old McDonald Lotto £8.99 – What a brilliant game, colourful and simple.  Children enjoyed playing it, fun and easy.  It also sparked conversation about the different things on the board.

Crayola Mess Free Colour Wonder Magic Light Brush £19.99- Needed one to one supervision, as needed to wipe brush after using each colour.  Couldn’t really leave child to play on own, more suited to 7/8 plus age.  They did enjoy seeing the colour appear though. 

All of the items above are available from Toys R Us. Don't forget to enter my competition to win a Remote Controlled Helicopter open until Friday, 3rd December.

GIVEAWAY - Radio Controlled Helicopter

This Giveaway is now closed. Please keep checking back for more great giveaways.

Seeing as it's nearly Christmas as well as the fact that our time being Toyologists in nearly finished, I thought I'd offer a lovely prize for one lucky reader. I'm sure that it would be loved not just by children but by many Partners too ;-)

This Silverlit I/R Z-Century is a four channelled radio controlled helicopter that apparently has superb stability. Not only can it fly up and down but can also hover and fly sideways!! Other info:

Superbly styled durable helicopter body design

Can be operated indoors in the smallest of spaces

Infrared 4 channel control

Authentic side flying

Gyro direction stabiliser 

Integral Lithium Polymer battery

Flight time: 10 minutes, Charge time: 15 - 30 minutes

Supplied ready to fly

Interested in entering? All you need to do is 'Like' Toys R Us on Facebook and leave a comment on their wall saying

'Adventures of an English Mum sent me and I would like to win her Silverlit Radio Controlled Helicopter Giveaway'

Simple huh?!?

This product is available to buy from Toys R Us at £39.99

* Closing Date is Friday, 3rd December 2010 at 5pm and I'm happy to send anywhere in the world!!

Dodo Pad Diary

I’m sure that most of you remember how much I loved the academic year planner from Dodo-pad!! In fact, I loved it so much that I have a worn copy full of scribbles hanging on my kitchen wall and one by my desk at work. Well, now I have discovered the 2011 Dodo-Pad Diary or as Lord Dodo describes it.....a combined memo-doodle-engage-diary-message-ment book.

It’s the same bright colourful design with each A5 page being a week and the opposite side of the page being for doodling, pictures, quotes, phone numbers and any other info you may need. Each page is decorated with a different theme and pictures. For instance July 5^th in 1686 was the publication of Isaac Newton’s Principal of Mathematics and the quote by Magnus Pyke is:

If it squirms, it’s biology;

If it stinks, it’s chemistry;

If it doesn’t work, it’s physics;

If you can’t understand it, it’s mathematics

My favourite quote is from TE Lawrence on reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover:

“Surely the sex business isn’t worth all this damned fuss? I’ve met only a handful of people who care a biscuit for it”

Obviously not a major part of the swinging sixties there huh?!

If you are looking for a different Christmas present this year instead of the same dull old diaries I thoroughly recommend that you check out the Dodo website and look through their ranges! I’ll be buying these for my cousins who are at Uni.

The diary retails around £11.50 and is available from the Dodo website, John Lewis, Waterstones and WH Smith.

Play That Tune

This game is just so much fun!!! It comes with a plastic musical piano floor mat and we were fighting over who would get the first turn!! You get 50 'tune' cards with it and I really like the mix of music.....nursery rhymes, pop songs and classics like 'Happy Birthday'. It was good as it meant that both Chick and I knew some songs!  The cards are really clear so could be used by any age and it's pretty simple to pick up.

You are supposed to use the timer and play the notes actually in a tune but seeing as we are both tone deaf we didn't bother with the timer. There are also score cards which would work better in a family group! As there are just the two of us and Chick can't co-ordinate between looking at the cards and playing the notes it doesn't look like so much fun in the video but we are taking it to my Mum's at Christmas for the whole family to play!! I look forward to watching my 81 year old Grandma play Lionel Richie ;-)

I would definitely recommend this and Chick likes it too but it would be better with more players! Available from Toys R Us for £19.99

Reviewed as part of the Toys R Us Toyologist programme.

Review - National Geographic Land & Sky Telescope

I imagine you've gathered by now that we are Science Geeks in the Brooks household so imagine our joy when this beauty arrived in our last box. The National Geographic land and sky telescope is perfect for Chick's age because it's simple to put together and really lightweight. It also only costs £12.99 which is an absolute bargain!

Chick is quite lucky in the fact that not only does she have one set of Grandparents but we're very close to Nelly's family so we get her Parents too who Chick calls Grandpa and Nanny. They have an awesome cabin on the river so when we went there at the weekend Chick wanted to take this with her and let Grandpa help he find stuff. This is them trying it out....even in the cold and rainy night:

They both had good things to say about the Telescope but because the weather wasn't so good Grandpa is coming around tomorrow night for a star gazing session!! Bless him!!  

If I was being fussy the only downside would be that it didn't come with a star gazing book which of course was the first thing that Chick wanted to do with it but generally this gets a huge thumbs up from the whole family!

Don't forget to check out Toys R Us on Facebook to see all the other Toyologists review and some fabulous ideas for Christmas!!!

Review - Barbie Glitterizer Wardrobe

This Barbie Glitterizer Wardrobe is ideal for budding fashionistas! From the new movie, Barbie A Fashion Fairytale, this fabulous playset adds glitter and sparkle to your doll’s outfits, accessories and your own personal items in 3 simple steps! Basically you put stickers onto the clothes etc, put them in the Glitterizer and hey presto they come out all sparkly!!  In the set there is the wardrobe, a Barbie, a couple of outfits, stickers and of course lots of lovely  glitter!

I gave this to Chick as her main birthday present and she absolutely loves it. We were lucky enough to have been sent lots of Phillips batteries alongside the toys so I didn't need to worry about remembering them!!

The glitter does get absolutely everywhere and we were sparkling more than vampires in the sunlight but I guess that's part of the fun! Chick has added glitter to lots of her Barbie accessories!! It only comes with a small pack of glitter but you can use any kind.

This retails at £49.99 but is still on sale at Toys R Us at the moment. It's quite expensive but I was going to buy this as her main present anyway!

Chick says: I think it's very glittery and Barbie looks really stylish but it needs some more outfits!

Mega Blocks - Dragons Universe

We received the Mega Blocks Dragon Universe Dual-Blast Hunter Dragon and the Universe Egg -Blackheart. I gave these to my lovely Cousin Mr.E to test as Chick wasn't interested because she's 'not a boy'!!! Mr.E's Mum said:

My son Mr.E. (age 7) really enjoyed playing with these, so much so that he's added them on his Christmas list as he would like more!!

I was impressed with how easily Mr.E. could follow the instructions and made them up himself. It was also nice that the batteries were already included and that there is an on and off switch.

I think the are value for money and it's good that you can add to the sets.

Mr.E's description of these:  Brilliant, excellent, fantastic fun to play with, easy to build.......amazing......would like more!!

The Dual-Blast Hunter Dragon is available from Toys R Us at £24.97. The add on sets are available from £9.97.

This is Mr.E and Chick on her birthday:

Review - Micro Pets-i

The Micro Pets-i move, walk, sing, chase the ball and act as if they have a mind of their own. They interact with each other and play games together. Each one has their own 'special' talent! This is Chick & The Punk reviewing them:

My opinion: The first thing that you will want to know about these as a Parent is exactly where the off switch is!!! Within 10 minutes of the kids reviewing them, I was begging them to turn them off because they just don't stop squeaking.  The kids claim to love them but since they first opened them they actually haven't touched them!!

I guess they would make ok stocking fillers if you don't mind the £9.99 price tag. Would I buy these for Chick? No, probably not but then I'm tight and she has far too many toys anyway :-)

Would you like the chance to become a Toyologist from now until Christmas? Them make sure you enter the fab competition that Toys R Us are running until 21st November.

Review - Bop It

Those of you that are friends with me on Facebook or Twitter may have noticed that I was a teeny bit excited to have received this in our latest Toyologist box!!

It's loud, infuriating, completely addictive and we LOVE it and highly recommend it!!! 

Available from Toys R Us at the cool and very reasonable price of £17.97.

Would you like the chance to become a Toyologist from now until Christmas? Them make sure you enter the fab competition that Toys R Us are running until 21st November.