Review - Kids Stuff Crazy Soap Products

I was very pleased to be sent some Kids Stuff Crazy Soap products for review as my children have had the shake and sparkle bath foam before and really liked the smell and sparkle in the bottle.

This time the big hit was the green crazy soap foaming soap.  It comes in a 225ml can which seemed to last a really long time and squirts out just like hair mouse but it has a much better consistency than hair mouse for playing with. Squirt it out, leave it to solidify for about 30 seconds and then as long as you keep it out the water you can mould the foam and change its shape, of course you are not going to be able to make anything intricate but it was easy to make a ball or cube. Once in the water it starts to break down and if you use lots it will make the bath water green too, another reason for the kids to squeal with delight. I really liked the apple smell too, very fresh and not at all sickly like some.

The foam is available for £2.00 currently on Boots and I think that is a fabulous price.

The girls especially also liked the red body paint that we received. I was a little worried about this as it is very bright and I thought the grout in the tiles might get discoloured but I need not have worried as it went on easily with the sponge and then washed off well. There can be a bit of residue in the bath but nothing a good old wash does not get rid of. The body paints come in a 150ml tube and this really does go far, literally dozens of baths and that was with the girls painting each other.

All the Crazy soap products are designed for children and are thus gentle on the skin with a PH balanced formula, they are also paraben and SLES free.  My daughter Miss E sometimes suffers with eczema and there has been no signs after using these products.

We also received a pack of 3 fizzy bath tints and we have not used these as yet.  I have put them away as a Christmas present for Miss E as I know she will love them.  You drop one in the bath and they fizz up, smell fruity and tint the bath colour. I have enough trust in the Crazy soap brand to know they will perform wonderfully.

You can find Kids Stuff Crazy Soap on both Facebook and Twitter, so you can keep up to date with all their latest news and I'd highly recommend these products as great stocking fillers for your kids.

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

Club Chic Girls - Review

My 7 year old twin girls are very lucky as they get a number of great things to review. The latest item they have received has only just launched and both girls love their Club Chic doll.

With five to collect there is something for everyone. We were lucky enough to receive the whole set but I asked the girls which one each they would like to keep and we will pass the other three to friends of theirs, as it is always good to share!

Based in Bear Valley Hills, the Club Chic girls are totes the trendiest, coolest bears around! Each Club Chic doll has their own individual style and comes complete with personalised fabric outfits and a super-styling hand bag that your little one can use too! It explans on the box who each girl is and what their style/ personality says about them.

These are who my girls choose -

Miss M - Candy, as she would love to have pink hair like her and she is really into fashion, which apparently Miss M tells me Candy is too. her name also sounds American which is something Miss M would love.

Miss E - Pippa, truth be told Miss E did not strongly identify with any of them, I suspect this is because she is still figuring out who she is as an individual. She liked Violet as she is arty but she didn't like her Goth look so she opted for Pippa in the end as she wears glasses like Miss E does and she blogs like Mummy,

The dolls retail for £16.99 and you can pick them up from most good toy retailers like Smyths Toys. So what do you get for your money? Take a look and see -

I found the dolls a bit odd as they have such big heads and small bodies and I had wondered if they would stand up unassisted but they do and my girls think the big head, big eyes look is cute and I suppose they are what matters. The actual doll itself seems well made and all the parts move, the hair is the same as any doll like this and the painted face is well done. I really liked the fact that the dolls have a childs body and there is no emphasis towards perky boobs and slim hips!

The dress on Crystal is literally just a piece of fabric with a velcro fastening, so not much to it but it fits the theme and looks good on her. The purse that comes with it is very cute and again velcro fastens and my daughters will enjoy using these for their pocket money.

I think these make a nice Christmas present idea and my girls are certainly happy with their dolls.

If you like what you see you can check out more of Vivid Toys brands on their website, it is always good to find a British brand.

Disclosure: We were sent these dolls free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Baby Annabell Rocking Cradle & Nightlight

Of course what every child wants for their doll is somewhere cosy and beautiful for them to sleep at night and Miss E is over the moon that her doll is now by her bed in a cradle rather than a cardboard box (which is where she had been the last couple of months).

The rocking cradle is very cute and is was super easy to assemble, I didn't even look at the instructions. The good news is it also comes apart easily if you need to move or store it. The little lamb that hangs above baby's face plays a sweet lullaby and projects lights onto babes face and Miss E thought this was very special. She also particularly likes the gold plastic sheep end to the cradle leg, as it looks like the bed is for a princess (so I'm told!).

The cradle basket itself is two hard wires and a sort of fabric covered cardboard bottom so it can fold flat and then expand when the weight of the baby is in it. You can remove the fabric so it would just be sponge clean if it got dirty. You get a little padded satin pillow and soft sheet for the cradle and these are nice and fit well.

The rocking cradle and nightlight has an RRP of £44.99 and the cheapest I found it was £40.90 on Amazon  It does not appear that genuine Baby Annabell dolls or accessories get reduced anywhere as I could not find any particularly great deals on them.

Disclosure: We received this toy free of charge. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review: OMY Colouring Posters

At the end of August a press release dropped into my inbox to advise me about some beautiful colouring products available from OMY Design and Play. After a browse on their website I realised that my children would like these products especially Miss E (aged 7 years) and my boy JJ (aged 10 years) and I said yes to a couple of products for review.

It is now about a 3 weeks after they have arrived and I have to be honest and say they have hardly been used. When they first arrived the kids saw them and 'ohhed' and 'ahhed' about how nice they were and my twin girls sat down to do some colouring straight away - one with pencils and one with felt tips (always different those two). They told me they liked the placements and they seemed to be enjoying themselves but realistically they didn't want to sit at the large dining table (where the placement would sit flat)  they wanted to sit on the floor and use the coffee table so they could watch TV at the same time. This made things a bit harder as the placements are bigger than an average size tray and they always use trays on the coffee table to protect the wood.

The actual placements are each 30 x 42cm and are a good quality thick paper, it is also recycled which is good. There are 24 place mats in a pack and we choose the City Map design, which means we had 6 each of the following - Paris, London, New York, Rio, Tokoyo and Atlas. We also could have chosen the Fantastic design pack. Each pack of 24 placements retails for £13.90 and that makes it about 60p per placement, which I don't think is bad value at all, given the good quality paper, the size and the intricate designs for colouring.

Postage in included in the price of the product and I love that, nothing hidden. That is normally the thing that puts me off buying online. There are also options to pay if you wish for courier service and to receive the product quicker than the standard 2-3 day delivery time.

We also received a London giant colouring poster, this measures 1.14m x 0.8 metres and is designed to go on a wall, the floor or a large table. We have not used this yet as I am saving it for a children's event I'm running in November. I will use masking tape to put it on the tiled floor and then lots of children will be able to colour it at the same time when we have messy church with a theme of love our world, God's special creation. The giant poster retails for £9.90 and again postage is included in that price. It comes folded into a small cardboard case and thus posts easily, you can see the folds when you undo it and that annoys me a little but my kids were not bothered by it when I asked them.

We have found that pencil, crayon and felt tip pens all work well on the OMY colouring products and that gives the child choice to use whatever they fancy. I do think these products are lovely if you want to sit down quietly and companionably with your child and do some colouring together, I can imagine Miss E and my mum doing this on a cold winters day. I think that has been some of the problem in the last few weeks, there has hardly been a spare moment.  The kids have all gone back to school, there has been tons of homework and we have had plans each weekend as well as visitors for a week. I know these products will come into their own when it is too cold or wet to venture out into the wonderful 220 acres that we live in.

You can see below the size of the giant poster and also the intricate detail of the poster.

There are six different designs of the giant poster and that means there is something to suit everyone and if this one is not large enough for you then you might be interested in the giant colouring roll this is 1.8 m x 1 metre and I think it would be fantastic as a centre piece for a birthday party, school holiday club or maybe Sunday club. It retails for £19.90.

In all these are really nice products but because they are so large it means they are not very portable and have not been played with as much as say a smaller colouring book that is easy to take to the car or a restaurant or a day trip out.

Disclosure: We received these colouring products free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Free School Lunch for Every Child in Infant Schools in England

Such a shame that my little girls have moved into Key Stage 2 and won't be eligable for free school meals!

In an attempt to help ease the financial burden on families with young children in England, Nick Clegg has announced free school lunches for every child in state funded infant schools. Influenced by the recommendations of the government commissioned School Food Plan, the new policy entitles every child under 8 to high quality lunches saving parents on average £437 per child over the year.

For years government bodies, health authorities and the media have reiterated the benefits of high quality meals in cognitive development and learning in children. There are numerous reports and studies highlighting the correlation between children eating highly nutritious meals both before and at school leading to an increase in academic performance, healthier eating habits and a reduction in childhood obesity.

Students who were involved in the pilot study in County Durham and Newham provide evidence to support these claims as they were reported to have experienced positive improvements in their health, attainment and social cohesion with the introduction of the universal free school meals. They were found to be on average 2 months ahead of their peers elsewhere in England and were more likely to achieve their target levels at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in Maths and English. The introduction of universal free school meals within these areas reportedly did more to improve literacy levels than the nationwide introduction of the compulsory ‘literacy hour’ in 1998. Interestingly, the pupils whose results improved the most markedly were children from the poorest households who benefited from the removal of social stigma and an improvement in atmosphere.

Even with the unarguable of pupils eating healthily at school, the introduction of the universal free school meals policy still has its objectors. Although head teachers and local authorities have voiced their support for the introduction of the new policy, there is a growing concern with schools preparing for the launch of the new national curriculum and upgrading their dining facilities that the government has over-promised and under-delivered. Nearly 2700 schools will not be ready to serve hot meals by December with students being offered cold meals until facilities can be upgraded or kitchens built.

The government has made just over £170m available to help schools upgrade their dining facilities to the latest high quality stainless steel kitchens to comply with their stringent health and safety guidelines, but this is reportedly not enough. There is a reported short fall of £25m in cash required to provide free school meals with local authorities diverting funds that were originally earmarked to repair school roofs to plug the shortfall.

At £600m, the overall yearly cost of the universal free school meals policy, may seem quite steep, it is a lot less than the £6bn a year it costs the British tax payer for treating illnesses caused by a bad diet. The introduction of the universal free school meals policy highlights the government’s long term commitment to our children’s learning and welfare as well as easing the financial burden on families. As Nick Clegg states: “Universal free school meals will help give every child the chance in life that they deserve, building a stronger economy and fairer society.”

What do you think of the introduction of free school meals for children under 8? Have your children enjoyed the free meals? All comments are welcome below.