Galt Magic Science Kit

This fun Magic Science set contains 10 Magical activities for the trainee wizard! Make your own mysterious, shimmering magic wand, learn about famous wizards and cast spells as you mix up bubbling, colour changing, glowing potions in your test tube cauldron!

Set Contains:

·         3 test tubes and stand

·         1 clear tube wand

·         2 wand caps

·         Citric acid 20g

·         Bicarbonate of soda 50g

·         Red cabbage juice powder 3g

·         Cross-linked polyacrylamide crystals 28g

·         12 colour tablets

·         Zinc sulphide 2g

·         Pair of goggles

·         Medium and small scoops

·         Pipette

·         Purple paper

·         Star stickers

·         Goldenrod paper

·         Science and activity guide

My little Scientist has had most of the Galt Science sets and they’ve all been a huge hit. As Chick has so many of these sets we gave this one to After School club to review and they came up with the attached video, complete with child falling off his chair in the last 10 seconds!!!

Retails at £12.99 and is aimed at ages 10+. Available from Toys R Us instore and online.

Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Play Doll

The blurb: Girls will love these gorgeous Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Dolls! When their last stitch was sewn they came to life, taking on the personalities that come from the fabrics that made them.

Jewel Sparkles was made from remnants of a real princess' dress. She is very graceful, a little bit bossy, and loves to dance and wear sparkly clothes. She also has a Persian cat.

Chick is probably a little bit too old for this now but it doesn’t change the fact that she loves it!! Our doll is a ‘Jewel Sparkle’ doll and what I love about her is that she looks kind of like a rag doll but is actually really sturdy!! Throw in a cool website and Chick is a massive fan!! The other thing that I like about this is that it encourages kids to use their imagination and in this day and age I think it’s a good thing!

She comes with a brush, hair accessories and a little cat that has a curly tail that matches the doll’s hair.  I much prefer this to the old fashioned styling dolls with the grungy hair that gets all clumpy when you’ve brushed it  few times. Jewel has plastic hair that doesn’t tangle and can be curled or straightened and then twisted back around. Add bows, ribbons or hair jewels for more fun.

Aimed at 4+ years and retailing at around £39.99 (although TRU have £10 off at the moment!!) I think this will be a big hit with girls everywhere this year so get yours now before they sell out. A whole range of extra Lalaloopsy accessories are also on sale. Available from Toys R Us online and instore. Remember to check out the hundreds of brilliant reviews over at the Toybox.

Pumpaloons

The blurb: Race your opponents to pump air into your 3ft tall inflatable characters which bob and weave as the slowly rise up. The first pumpaloon to fully inflate and sound its whistle is the winner! A great game for 2 – 4 players.

This is a brilliant game and should definitely be on Christmas lists across the land. It’s super easy to set up and put away and can be used by all ages. We’ve challenged most people to try and beat us and had some great fun. Chick has also inflated the pumpaloons and dressed them as mini people in a whole variety of fashion outfits!!!

As the blurb says the game is a race to inflate your Pumpaloon first and can be amazingly competitive but in a super fun way. The only downside that we found was that one of the pumps wasn’t great but the manufacturer sent us a replacement for it and it’s been fine since.

We would both highly recommend this and I’m pretty sure we’ll be using it on Christmas day when the whole family is together. It retails at £14.99 which I think is a good price considering how much we’ve used it. Available online and instore from Toys R Us.

Scraperfoil Gift Set

The blurb: The Scraperfoil Gift Set by Reeves includes three Scraperfoil titles, which can be mastered by scraping away the pre-printed outlines and by adding some individual touches of your own. Each pack contains: 3 pre-printed board, 2 scrapertools, 1 practice piece with full set of instructions, all presented in stylish silver packaging to compliment the range.

The idea is that you scrape off the grey print to get to the silver underneath. Once it’s done you get a lovely silver ‘etching’.  The pictures are quite detailed and I found that you had to concentrate but it wasn't too difficult.......Chick unfortunately wasn’t interested in doing this after the first 5 minutes, but to be honest she isn’t a big fan of concentrating!!!

You may remember back in July that we reviewed the ‘RainbowScraper Foil’ kit and were distinctly unimpressed with the scraper as it was plastic and didn’t work very well. Thankfully the scraper that comes with this set is made of metal and it makes a real difference to the detail of the pictures.

The set came with 3 different pictures and 2 scrapers so could be shared. I think this would make a lovely present for slightly older children and is suggested for ages six years and up. Retails at around £11.99 and available instore from Toys R Us.

Hello Kitty at WHSmith

I'm generally quite picky about what I choose to review, and the majority of things I do say yes to are for Chick. She is one very lucky girl, (as her bursting at the seams bedroom will attest too) but she has one true love in the world which is stationery!! If you tell her that she can roam the aisles in WHSmith just looking at paper, pens, folders and rubbers then she is a very happy girl..... and if you let her move onto the book section or actually buy her stuff then it makes her weekend!!

So when WHSmith asked me if I would like to review some of their 'Hello Kitty' stationery I didn't think about turning it down for a second!! I actually love the 'Hello Kitty' range anyway as their products are perfect for girls of Chick's age. They are useful, bright, pretty and she thinks that they are grown up but I like the fact that the images are all so innocent and lovely, whilst bright and funky. So when this little bundle arrived I was really delighted:

So colourful and lovely!! We got a really cool pen that has some kind of mini slide show on top, a little figurine and a folder.....which will be useful for keeping the reams of paper in that my lovely girl writes on every day!!!

We also got an address book, a notebook and a pot of pencils which I've actually put away for her Christmas stocking but I know that she will be more than thrilled with them on Christmas morning:

May need to buy a couple more of the folders to keep her future masterpieces in though :-)

Monopoly Electronic Banking

The blurb: Monopoly is the classic property trading board game. It’s the game about dealing in big money and getting rich quick! Swipe your bank card to transfer money - it couldn’t be easier!

Starting from the famous “GO” space, move around the board, buying and selling properties, building apartments and hotels as you go. Watch out for players landing on your property – they owe you rent! And don’t forget to collect £2,000,000 every time you pass “GO”! That’s right, £2 Million… on your Bank Card!

The places have changed to reflect the real London of today that we all know and love – from Bishopsgate to Kensington Palace Gardens. Choose from a range of new movers including a mobile phone, roller blade, or even a cheeseburger!

I’m a firm believer that every family should own at least one version of Monopoly. It’s great for some good old family rivalry and also for use during power cuts!!!

What I like about this version:

Updated board so Chick recognises the places in London

Updated counters....I’m all for a bit of moving forward

Being able to collect rent from the properties.....bring it on.

Having high rise buildings

Makes it a much quicker game

Collecting £2 million every time you pass go!!! I like having so much money!

What I don’t like:

There is no cash!!! What?? The fun of Monopoly for me is getting everyone else’s wads of cash! A bank card just doesn’t give you the same thrill!! However that may just be me as Chick doesn’t appear to be unduly bothered!

Updated counters....I’m all for a bit of moving forward but I much prefer the dog and the top hat to the skateboard or mobile phone!

The game includes:

·         1 x Gameboard

·         1 x Banker Unit

·         6 x Movers

·         2 x Dice

·         32 x Green Apartments

·         12 x Red Hotels

·         28 x Title Deed Cards

·         16 x Chance Cards

·         16 x Community Chest Cards

·         6 x Monopoly Bank Cards

·         Game Rules & Instructions

The only extra thing that you need is two AA batteries to make the cash machine work. 

Aimed at ages 8+ which I feel is right. Obviously younger children can play with some help and guidance. Available from Toys R Us at £21.99 and thoroughly recommended for Christmas!

Hello Baby Direct - Jelly Kitten Skidaddle Giraffe

hellobabydirect.co.uk is an online nursery shop selling a wide range of nursery furniture, baby toys, travel and safety products and range of other goods.  Now obviously Chick is a bit old to need any baby toys or nursery furniture but I do have a baby Niece who we love to spoil so hellobabydirect sent us this very cute, soft, stripey Jelly Kitten Skidaddle Giraffe:

Chick has loads of Jelly Kitten stuff from when she was younger and even though it’s been played with a lot it’s all still in great condition.  The giraffe is the sweetest thing and comes with a Velcro loop to hang it from a pushchair or cot. It also has two rings on each foot that make a clinking sound which little  ones will love.

Looking around the website there are hundreds of products to choose from and all the big names are there too including Phillips Avent, Tomy, Little Tikes, Polar Gear, Tutti Bambini and Safety 1^st to name but a few. Even better is that delivery is free on orders over £50 so you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your lounge!