Review: Ravensburger The Snowman & Snowdog 100 pc Puzzle

If you have ever owned a Ravensburger puzzle before you will know how great the quality of their puzzles is. These are not flimsy puzzles that only last one season, these are the kind that you can keep for a few years whilst your child is still enjoying them and then pass them on to a friend or charity shop and they are still in great condition.

It's not just the puzzle though, the box is sturdy too and this is important to me as there is nothing more frustrating than losing pieces as the corners of the box have collapsed!

The Snowman & Snowdog puzzle is fabulous and I think it would appeal to any puzzler. The 100 piece puzzle has XXL pieces to make it more fun for a younger child and they recommend it for children aged 6 years plus.  My twin girls are 8 and one of them in particular loves puzzles and also all things snow, chilly and arctic, so this puzzle will go down a treat when she opens it on Christmas morning.

The Snowman and The Snowdog is a charming film sequel to the Christmas classic The Snowman. Premiered on Channel 4 on the 30th anniversary of the original film n 2012, the sequel brought together The Snowman and his new Snowdog, who has mismatched socks for ears and a satsuma for a nose. I'll have to show my girls the film, as I do not believe they've seen it.

I asked my 12 year old son JJ to make the puzzle up for me and give me his opinion. He said it is a great puzzle, loads of bright colours and not too complex, despite there being a fair amount of white there was enough lines and other colours in there to make it really manageable for a 6 year old child. He also commented on the linen-finished print which gives a nice matt finish and ensures there is no glare even when the winter sun is shining bright. He said the pieces are easy to slot together too.

The finished puzzle measures - 49 x 36 cm and is available for £6.99 on Amazon and I think this is a really good price for a gift that will give hours of enjoyment. I am very happy to recommend this Ravenburger puzzle.

Disclosure: We received this puzzle for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Lego Friends

Lego has been a prominent feature in my house for the last 9 years since JJ was born.  From a very early age he was bought duplo and managed to collect a huge amount to pass on to his little sisters. JJ moved to 'real' Lego or 'little Lego' as it often gets called in our house from about age 3 or 4 years so he was quite young but always keen and able to follow the instructions and get on with making up the sets himself with limited help.

Being the loving brother he is, JJ passed over some of his little Lego to his sisters a couple of years back and we all enjoyed turning it out in the lounge and making a creation together. Early last year when the girls were about 4.5 years Lego Friends was launched and I read much on blogs and in the media about how wrong Lego had got it by stereotyping children and producing a separate girlie and pink brand.  Apparently children are children and we should treat them no different according to their sex.  OK I'll go with that but I do believe that all kids are different and sometimes they just develop in ways you would not have imagined. I have friends who are completely non-girlie and have always encouraged their daughters to play with all types of toys and then when the little one gets to the age of about 5 years they have wanted to explore being a girl - pushing a pram, dressing in a fairy dress and all that comes with it.  As do some boys, in fact for a good while pink was JJ's favourite colour and he had a baby doll and cot but his tastes changed and that's OK.

My twins are chalk and cheese but both of them love the Lego Friends range, from the moment they first saw the boxes in our local Entertainer toy store they wanted to get their hands on it. So some saved pocket money bought them the first small set each and then their birthday in July bought a little more and just this week they have been lucky enough to receive some for review.

Sitting with them yesterday as they unpacked the Lego and started to follow the instructions (or constructions as Miss E quite correctly miscalls them) I recalled just how educational Lego is. I could really see some skills showing in my girls that I had not associated with play through building.  Following instructions, patience, manual dexterity and determination even. It was quite fun to get them to do it all themselves with just minimal help from me and that was just by coaxing. I'm very proud of the creations my little girls made.

So they have made the sets according to the instructions and that is good but the best thing about Lego is that it can be thrown into the big box along with the rest of the Lego and then next time they can make their own creation. The pony grooming set becomes part of a veterinary practise and the tree houses for the squirrels become a much bigger tree house adventure for the Lego friends characters to play in. Lego is a toy that really encourages imagination and helps children to make believe and to think outside their norm and that is excellent.

The girls received two £9.99 sets from the new collection - Emma's Karate club and Olivia's newborn foal as well as a couple of small pocket money sets which retail for the excellent price of £2.99 - Squirrel's tree house.

Disclosure: We received the Lego free of charge for the purposes of this review.  I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Mattel Junior Scrabble Boardgame

It's funny how things work out, a few weeks back JJ played scrabble with his Nan whilst we were at her house for Sunday lunch. It was his first time to play and he had an absolute blast, coming away saying we needed to get him scrabble for his birthday. Grandma, who watched him play tells me he was really very good and far beyond his years - that's my boy!

So imagine my delight when I was contacted and asked if we would like to review Junior Scrabble. JJ and I have played this quite a few times so far and I have to admit that I have been enjoying myself. I've never played scrabble before, I did not really think it was my kind of thing, but it seems I am mistaken.  It has been quite fun to stretch myself and increase my vocabulary.

Junior Scrabble is billed as being suitable for 2 - 4 players ages 5 - 10 years, so I did have my reservations before we played as JJ is 9 and very intelligent for his age but I need not have worried, there is enough in this game for him. I also worried that the age range was a bit wide, I know what a struggle it is to get my 9 year old to play with his 5 year old sisters.  Their abilities are just on different spectrum's at the moment but what I did not realise is that Junior Scrabble has a double sided playing board, so there are two games.  How sensible is that?  And how wonderful to be able to buy a board game that grows with your child.

I played the younger game with my 5 year old twin girls, at the moment they are both just learning to read but their abilities are quite different. One of them found it far easier than the other but they both enjoyed working with Mummy to try and figure out the letters and sounds that go in the words and match the pictures on the board.

Game play only lasted us about 15 minutes as their attention span when it involves work is still fairly short but I can imagine that in six months or so they will be much better equipped to be able to do the whole grid in this first game.

The real success for us was the more grown up scrabble board.  It does differ slightly to the adult version in that there are not any scores on the tiles but fundamentally it is the same game with slightly easier rules. A game takes JJ and I anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour depending on how fast we manage to block ourselves!

Here are the plus points of this board game -

• Education dressed up as fun, what more can any parent ask for?
• The board, box and tiles are all well made and look durable, as if they will last a long time.
• There are 2 age appropriate games, so it has longevity.
• A game can be played fairly quickly if need be.
• The game is good value for money at £17.99 on Amazon. It would make a great Christmas gift I am sure.
• The instructions are easy to read and understand and JJ was able to sort it all out and set u the game.

And the cons -

• No major faults or flaws to note to be honest! The only comments that JJ made was that to make the game more fun he would have liked scores on the tiles and a holder for his tiles so I could not see what he had!  Ohh Mr Competitive.

I would happily recommend Junior Scrabble as a great educational board game that is heaps of fun too.


Disclosure:  We received this game free of charge for he purposes of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Guinness World Records Book 2013

At the end of August, just before we took a three hour car journey the postman arrived to deliver an exclusive preview copy of the Guinness World Records 2013 book.  Well I wish I had my camera then, as JJ's face was a treat - he was so excited.  More than anyone should be about a book!

In the summer we attended a Guinness World Records and Thomson event at Whipsande Zoo and JJ attempted to break a world record for the most hats worn at one time.  Sadly during his official adjudicated attempt the hats all fell off his head and we had tears but he still had a great time and we know that he smashed the record, it just was not recorded.

Attendance at this event really increased JJ's interest in Guinness World Records and when he learnt they would send him the book to review he really was jumping for joy. I have to say that the book proved to be an excellent travelling companion for our three hour journey to Norfolk. That day JJ was happy to regale me with astonishing facts and kept trying to show me the glossy pictures but that proved a tad difficult as I was the driver.

Let me share with you some of the facts I learnt during this car journey -

1. Hong Kong is the city with the most skyscrapers. They have an estimated combined height of 205 miles.  Who'd have known?
2. Richard Lecce from the USA has the most video games - 8,068 different titles at the last official count in 2011.
3. Medusa, the python is the longest living snake, she is 25ft 2inches long - ekk!
4. The world heaviest twins had a combined birth weight of 27lb 12oz - mine had a combined birth weight of 11lb 12oz, bit of a difference! lol
5. A man from Argentina has the most pierced face with 280 of them.  Can you even imagine?

All very useful I'm sure you'll agree?  the funny thing is that I have found myself sharing these facts with friends and family in the last few weeks.  Guinness World Records really do get under your skin it seems.

I'd happily recommend the 2013 Guinness World Records book as a great Christmas present for your child or a niece/ nephew.  I think the book is equally suitable for a girl or boy and will probably be most enjoyed by a child aged seven years plus, so they can ably read the book themselves and be big enough to hold it (it is pretty big and heavy). The book is hardback and the pages are glossy and very high quality. All the facts are presented in a visually pleasing way and really engage kids.  This year there is a free download app for your iPhone or iPad which allows you to view some of the pictures in the book in 3D.  It really is a nice extra and quite amazing, you have to see it to believe it.

The Guinness World records 2013 book has hardly been put own since JJ received it.  I even noticed the other day that it was going to school with him most days.  Apparently a few of them read it at break time. It is certainly pretty common to walk in his room and find him on his bed like this -

Do you think this makes him a nerd?  A very nice nerd though surely?

The Guinness World Records 2013 book has an RRP of £20 but I notice it is currently just £9 on Amazon and that is a complete bargain!

Disclosure:  We received this book free of charge for the purposes of this review.  I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom Lotto Game

What does £7.99 buy you nowadays?  Not a lot really, it hardly buys one entry to the cinema. So when I was offered a game to review which could last for loads of plays and engage both of my 4 year old twin girls I could hardly say no. Especially when I saw it was a Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom game.  My girls are crazy abut the TV show and I have to be honest Nanny Plum has me chuckling too!

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom lotto game is a fun memory game featuring Ben and Holly plus other favorite characters from the TV Show.  Holly has accidentally mixed up all the things in the Little Kingdom whilst practising her magic spells. The task set is 'can you help her put them all back where they belong?' I have to be honest and say we have had a few lotto games in our house in my time.  All the kids are big board game fans and I was a little fearful that this game may be a bit young for the girls but actually it is slightly different in that there is a picture scene and the child has to spot if the card they have picked up features something from the scene on their collector card rather than just matching a picture card to the exact same picture.

My girls loved this and they have even suggested that we buy the game for their cousin for Christmas too. We have enjoyed many good games so far.  There can be 2 - 4 players and the game is aged at children aged 3 upwards with the object being to fill up your 6 slots on your collector card first. Miss E has shown herself to be a bit of  a star at this game, which is perfect as there are many things that Miss M tends to beat her on.

I am happy to recommend this game, it is good quality with both the box and cards being a good durable thick cardboard. I think the play value is great and the game will last a long time and children will come back to it again and again. The RRP of £7.99 is great value and you can buy this game from all good retailers, such as ELC.

If you have little Ben & Holly fans like I do then you might find the official Facebook page of interest, go and take a peek.

Disclosure:  Thanks to Entertain One for providing the game to me free of charge for the purposes of an honest and independent review.

Review: Photobox Personalised Calendars

I have to say that I am fully in 'Operation Christmas' mode already and I am enjoying myself.  I know that some people say it all starts too early nowadays and that it can take the joy out of it but for me as a frugal type it helps to start shopping early and spreading the cost.

I have been musing recently about what to buy people and indeed whether to keep buying for some people as I hate the way that celebrations like Christmas can just become a bit 'tit for tat'. I also begrudge buying things for people that they may want but that I do not particularly agree with such as cigarettes or alcohol so when Photobox approached me to try out some of their personalised gifts I was thrilled.

I am known for my love of photos and have bought photo gifts before - mousemats, coasters, mugs etc and this year, thanks to Photobox I have made calendars for all the grandparents and great grandparents. Calendars are something that have always been a popular Christmas gift for the ladies in our family and even better that they can now be customised with family pictures and appropriate captions.  I just know that these will go down a storm.  I kid you not when I say that I was over the moon when these arrived on my door.  If I am honest I did not expect them to be half as good as they are but having received a superb canvas print form Photobox before I should have known that the quality of their work is excellent.

Firstly I made the calendar by uploading photos to my personal account online, this was simple and fairly quick.  Then came the hard task of deciding which photos to use.  I loved the software which allowed me to zoom in and out and move the photo around so that I could get the best fit.  I was able to add captions to the photos and edit those to suit my taste.  The personalised message I added to the front will make it clear to the recipient that this is a present from the kids and when I received the calendars today I was pleased to see they come with a wipe-clean plastic cover, both front and back.  The paper is good quality and you can tell by the feel of the calendar that it is a premium product.

There are loads of different styles to choose from.  I chose the slimline as I know my family use their calendars to record what is going on, like the dentist and such. These retail at £17.99 each or they become cheaper with the more you buy.  At the moment there is a 2 for 1 deal on all the calendars and diaries and I used this to create mine.  My bill ended up being just short of £55 for 5 slimline calendars including postage.  I was very pleased with this and now having received the calendars I feel they are great value.

Since I used Photobox the first time I now receive emails with special offers and there are loads of great baragins to be had.  When you first join you will receive 50 prints for free as an opening offer.

I am very happy to recommend Photobox and the service I have received on the 3 times I have used them has been excellent. The online system is easy to use, the products are excellent and the postage and packing is reasonable in price and quick in time.

Disclosure:  My account my credited so I could purchase the calendars for review.  I was not instructed what to write and I remain honest.