Casdon Chip ‘N’ Pin Till review

#GIFTED

As we love role play toys and champion toys that inspire and support imaginative, role play we are fans of Casdon toys. 

Part of the Casdon Little Shopper range the Casdon Chip ‘n’ Pin Till is a shopping till with loads of features such as a working calculator, card reader plus realistic lights and sounds. 

Blast those aliens! Megableu Alien Mission Evolution review.

Stemming from Bug's fascination and obsession with superheroes and enjoyment of seeing and reading about them defeating villains, Bug loves imagining he is a hero in is own right and is battling and defeating baddies. When off saving the day whilst wearing a totally awesome costume, Bug truly embraces the character of a superhero, with all the actions and sound affects!

As he loves battling baddies I knew he would be excited about trying out the Megableu Alien Mission Evolution game.

The aim of the game is to blast the aliens....blast them all!

Educational and imaginative play with Schleich.

Over the years many of Bug's toys have been outgrown, with only a handful of cherished and durable toys sticking the distance from when he was around 3 to now as a big boy 5 year old. Schleich toys are one of the toys that has been enjoyed for years and are still enjoyed regularly now.

As big fans of Schleich toys we were excited to hear about the 'Educational Play The Schleich Way' campaign. For the campaign Schleich created a 16 page brochure packed full of helpful information all about play in particular imaginative play and the benefits of it for child development. Topics covered in the brochure include different areas of play, encouraging imagination, early language skills and balanced play diet; plus there is fantastic advice from renowned child psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer.

The brochure is also filled with handy tips and ideas for parents on how to help children get the most out of play. Included in the play guide are some fun game ideas, some suited to solely play and others suitable for group play, to encourage play and stimulate imagination. It also highlights way that you can incorporate Schleich's lovely toys into play.

At the moment Bug's favourite game from the brochure is 'Animal Restaurant', to see how to play it and get to know the other brilliant and fun games suggested make sure you take a look and download the brochure!

Along with the brochure, Schleich also kindly sent Bug some Schleich figures to add to his collection.

Being used to seeing giraffe's here in Pembrokeshire in close proximity to farm animals when visiting his favourite place, Folly Farm, Bug was delighted to get a giraffe friend plus a sheep and a donkey to play with.

With the high quality Schleich animal figurines Bug's imaginations has run wild as he has enjoyed playing with his new friends in many different ways.

The superbly realistic looking figures are a lovely addition to his growing collection of Schleich figures and as he loves the giraffe so much he has asked to get some more wild life animals to take part in his fun and creative play.

Schleich figures are the ideal tool for imaginative play and I love that as he enjoys playing with his animal friends he is learning without even realising, learning whilst having lots of fun! 

The figures spark his imagination and are a fantastic way to introduce learning about a variety of topics such as animals, countries, food and so much more.

Not only do we love Schleich toys for their educational value and suitability for sparking imaginative play but also because they are beautifully crafted. Each figurine has been hand painted with care to an exceptional standard. These timeless toys are also so robust that regardless of the amount of love and play they see they last so well, with them lasting Bug many years and still being as good as new for when Jelly Bean wants to let his imagination run wild with them.

The Schleich 'Educational Play The Schleich Way' brochure is a wonderful resource for informing parents of the importance of play for development and for inspiring play thanks to their game ideas. The brochure is free to download here, so take a look and enjoy the wonderful world of imaginative play with Schleich and their toys.

For more information and to view the full range of Schleich figurines and accessories visit the Schleich website. Schleich toys start at just £2.99 and are available on their website or at Smyths Toys Store UK.

* We were kindly sent these Schleich figures for the purpose of this post, but all opinions and images are my own *

Welcoming a fairy into our home.

To add a hint of magic to December and make it a magical and exciting time we got in touch with Santa and arranged for his Elf friends to make regular visits to our house. In place of Elf on the shelf, we had the elves leave letters and little jingle bells to mark their visits. Every time Bug found a shiny, jingly bell his face shone with excitement. As he collected the jingle bells in a special box left by the elves the magic of Christmas, Santa and the Elves truly came alive for him.

With Bug being enthralled by the notion of magical beings, now seemed the perfect time to move a fairy into our home thanks to The Irish Fairy Door Company.

Thanks to life-long friends Niamh Sherwin Barry and Aoife Lawler who created The Irish Fairy Door Company fairies can relocate into human homes, gardens, woods, and classrooms using the wooden fairy doors.

Water play.

Having always been a little water baby Bug loves nothing more than playing with water….whether that is in the bath, splashing in the sea, going swimming or paddling in the pool in the garden. 

As Bug loves water play he has been enjoying playing with his water play table nearly every day during the summer holidays.  The simple yet fun activity has been a hit with Bug who demands asks for a little play with his water table again and again.

TOMY Dinosaur Train Lights and Sounds and collectable dinosaur characters.

As Bug loves dinosaurs and trains it is no surprise that he loves Jim Henson's TV show Dinosaur Train.  His love of the hit Nick Jr show was sparked after we first climbed aboard the Dinosaur Train to watch a Dinosaur Train DVD and then later on reviewed the Dinosaur Train Spooky Adventures DVD.  Today at the grand old age of 3 the dinotastic show is one of dinosaur mad Bug’s favourite shows and he loves watching the show to see what his favourite Dinosaur Train character are up to and what adventures they embark on when they go on a trip on the magical Dinosaur Train.

Perfect for pre-schoolers fascinated with both dinosaurs and trains, Dinosaur Train with its wonderful world of adventure and fun is aimed at children aged 3-6 years old.  Set in the realistic prehistoric world little viewers get to witness natural history with swamps, jungles, oceans and active volcanoes making for magnificent backgrounds as an array of dinosaur species and other animal life is introduced to them in this colourful animation.  Created with the help of palaeontologists, science teachers and early childhood education experts, the show encourages basic scientific thinking skills as children are introduced to and taught about life science, natural history and palaeontology in a fun way.

SuperFruit!! - Mighty Moments challenge Plum Baby/Tots100.

Bug is a huge fan of Superheroes.  He loves Spiderman, Batman and Superman in particular and loves nothing more than wearing a piece of clothing (or a whole outfit) with one or more Superhero emblazoned on it.  Being a fan of Superheroes he also loves to imagine that he is a Superhero…..flying along to save everyone with his cape flapping in the wind.

As Bug loves Superheroes when I heard about the Plum Baby Mighty Moments competition with Tots100 where little ones are challenged to make a healthy superhero with healthy powers, I knew he would love to get involved and be creative to make his own healthy Superhero.

Little Tikes Pretend Play Toys at Asda.

I am a huge advocate of the importance of imaginative play for a child’s learning and development.  I believe it is important that children are provided environments and toys that allow them to role play and express their imaginations.   

Bug loves role play; he especially loves playing kitchen and house, expressing his imagination as he plays with his wooden kitchen filled with accessories and his playhouse that is home to his baby doll and teddies who love joining him for the tea parties he hosts. 

Even though Bug’s imagination sparks regardless of whether he has a role playing toy to hand as he often pretends objects represents something else, for example pretending the TV remote is a car giving it action and motion as if it was the racing care he imagines it is, we are huge fans of toys that encourage imaginative and pretend play.

As we love pretend play toys I was delighted to hear that Asda stock a large range of Little Tikes pretend play toys.  Asda kindly sent Bug two Little Tikes pretend play toys that would encourage him to bring pretend play to life and express his imagination as he learns whilst playing and having lots of fun.

Little Tikes Popstars Microphone.

Lego Duplo creative play - majestic tunnel (Project 365 - 242/365).

Copying teddies (Project 365 - 227/365).

Herding animals (Project 365 - 140/365).

Look through the peephole.....what do you see? (Project 365 - 119/365).

I love cars! (Project 365 - 113/365).

Brrrmmm......farmer and his tractor (Project 365 - 111/365).

I love playing with boxes (Project 365 - 96/365).

Lego Duplo Farmyard fun (Project 365 - 92/365).

My little caveman (Project 365 - 79/365).

Driving in my car (Project 365 - 71/365).