Mysteries in Time History Subscription Box for Kids

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Mysteries in Time is a brand new history subscription box aimed at 7-11 year olds, so who better to try it out other than my very own 8yr old, Miss M. The box is delivered in a time machine style box which looks inviting and we couldn’t wait to step inside!

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This month’s box is all about Ancient Egypt and is packed full of educational facts, activities and fun. After having sat and completed this box with my daughter I can honestly say she found the whole thing fun and interesting, not really thinking that she was learning at the same time which is really what kids activities should all be about.

The box consists of a booklet full of facts and activities, colouring sheets, a world map, stickers, a book to read, bookmarks, a bag of craft goodies, a history related gift and instruction guide.

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We had a look through the booklet together, learning lots of facts and pieces of information about the Egyptians. It is set out in bitesize pieces so there isn’t too much reading and with lots of pictures it keeps children interested. The back few pages contain activities such as a wordsearch, spot the difference, anagrams, quiz, maze and a rather fun hieroglyphs quiz to work out words using a hieroglyphs chart.

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Miss M was fascinated by it all and without any hesitation got started on the puzzles at the back. She also enjoyed the colouring sheets and reading the book which she started downstairs and took up to bed with her!

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A world map is included in your first box, which is a high quality poster to put up on the wall. Underneath the map is a timeline and each box contains a sticker related to the period of time the box covers, that you can place upon the line. Miss M was really drawn to the map and couldn’t wait to spot Egypt on it. She then looked for England and started comparing the size of it to other countries. The size of Russia really surprised her. It was really lovely listening to her comment on places on the map and show an interest in something on her own accord.

mysteries in time 8 Our special gift in this box was a golden canopic jar, which I have to say does look rather impressive. Miss M was enthralled with her gift and has had much pleasure in standing the coloured pencils within the jar while she did her colouring sheet and now the pot takes pride of place in her bedroom!

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The favourite activity for Miss M was the clay craft. Within the craft bag is a sachet of air drying clay, paints and gem stickers, the girl was in art heaven! She couldn’t wait to get her fingers into the clay and make some egyptian amulets. She took inspiration from the booklet but also got a bit creative and made her own heart shaped one too. I have to say the clay went a lot further than we initially thought it would and the paints were generous too, with a good variety of colours meaning we had plenty of materials to get creative with.

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We had to wait a day for the clay to fully dry, but then Miss M happily sat painting her creations. She is very pleased with them and I think they look great too!

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Overall we’ve had a lot of fun with our Mysteries in Time box, both learning new things and carrying out the activities. It was nice to spend quality time with my daughter and great to see her engaged in the activities. The box is of an excellent quality, all the content is well produced and set out and the craft materials are of a good standard. It’s always lovely when a child is keen to do something with educational value, although they see it as a box of fun!

Why not pop over to the Mysteries in Time website and find out how to subscribe, a perfect activity to keep the children occupied over the Summer!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

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Numberbundle Maths Activity Box – Review

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Numberbundle are a new range of activity subscription boxes aimed at ages 3-7 years and support the Early Years foundation stage and National Curriculum. The boxes are themed each month and we received the ‘Number’ themed box aimed at reception age children for 5yr old Mister B to try out.

Each box contains activities involving:

Cookery
Arts and Crafts
Active games
Solo puzzles
Cross stitch
Outdoor activities
Science
Narrative

Each activity is clearly set out in it’s own individual leaflet, making it easy to follow and clear to see what extra things you may need such as colouring pencils, scissors etc. All extra’s are just basic items you would have at home anyway.

Mister B was keen to start with an activity that he saw used an egg box, one of his favourite junk modeling items so he eagerly started cutting out some numbers for his ‘Random Number Shake’ and numbering inside the sections of the egg box.

He then stuck the numbers into the lid of the box and a couple of spare one’s on top. We then put a button inside which he loved shaking about to see what number it landed on. There are many options for games and activities with this from getting the child to write down the number they land on, write the correct number of dots corresponding to the number or taking turns to see who can land on all the numbers first.

We then moved onto making an abacus using the box that all the bits came in and some included string and beads. Mister B absolutely loved sitting threading the beads on each piece of string and sat in deep concentration until he had finished and I attached the ends to each side of the box.

I think this was a brilliant activity and we have spent much time over the last week playing with the finished abacus. Mister B loves working out little sums for me and has been adding and taking away from ten quite confidently! Even big sister Miss M has been joining in.

We’ve also been doing some science experiments turning dirty old coins into shiny new looking ones and laying them in sequences. Another of Mister B’s favourites was homemade play doh which he used to make the correct number of spots on ladybirds. A game we had lots of giggles in is ‘Don’t roll as six’ as when you do, you have to do 10 seconds of exercise such as running on the spot or star jumps. Mister B loved this and now wants to play it all the time!

As you can see we’ve had non stop activities and fun from this subscription box and there are still more activities on top of what I have mentioned. I think the value in the boxes is up to you to make the most of them with your child, but if you do there really is hours of things to do and you can play certain things again and again.

I think what’s most important here is that the child is having everyday fun, but learning at the same time without really realising it. Mister B just thought it was a box of fun things to do when he got home from school each night and asked to try a different thing each day.

If you’d like to try one of these Numberbundle boxes, which will of course be appropriate to your childs age, then I am able to offer one of my readers a chance to win a box by simply filling in the Gleam form below:

Numberbundle

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.

My Big Monster Book of Fun – Review

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Fiona Martin

My Big Monster Book of Fun from Parragon books is a jam packed activity book for little ones with over 190 pages of fun things to read and do. It reall

The book is divided into sections, starting first with a 24 page rhyming story ‘Scaredy Boo!’ accompanied by full colour page illustrations to keep little ones entertained. There are then sections for monster activities, colouring, T-Rex Terror, dinosaur activities, dinosaur colouring and an answer section to the puzzles throughout the book.

The activities are so varied from spotting differences, putting monsters in order, finishing drawing some zombies etc that it will keep children interested and motivated to work through the book. It’s also an easy book to pick up and put down as an when you please. My little boy loves this and often picks it up to do a few pages.

As well as having at home this would be great to take away on holiday to keep children entertained or whilst travelling as it’s self contained with loads of things to do, you just need a few pencils!

We love My Big Monster Book of Fun and it has provided many hours of fun.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the book in order to write an honest review.

Mad About Ponies Craft Party – Review

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Mad About Ponies Party Box is a party kit in a box for up to six children full of activities and fun! Aimed at lasting for approximately one and half hours, it should keep a group of children occupied and entertained, whist having fun and games.

The set comprises of

6 Resin-cast ponies
Double sided foam sticky tabs
Pots of paint (5 colours)
Pre-printed card jumps
Paint brushes
Dice
Pencils
Score sheets
Pre-printed card rosettes

All children seem to love horses and the sight of paint pots is always a winner. They couldn’t wait to get started and you can see my children below happily painting!

I was really surprised at how much all the children loved getting artistic with their horses, really paying attention to detail with the colours. They were all totally engrossed in their painting and produced some wonderfully painted horses!

We then had some food while the paint dried on the horses. Also supplied in the Mad About Ponies set were some cardboard fences, rosettes, sticky pads and a large dice. We folded the fences in half and set them up in a star like shape as a course for the horses to jump around.

Included in the party set are three game ideas along with six score cards and pencils. The children were eager to mark down the names of their horses along with the scores. We had lots of names such as Daisy, Patch and Spotty!

The games were fun to play with the number you roll on the die determing whether you can jump a fence or not. The children loved moving the horses around making cute noises and saying “giddy up”.

I think a really nice finishing touch for the end of the games is the rosettes for first and second place. There are some little sticky squares included which can be stuck to the back of a rosette and then placed on the horses. The children really loved these and they added to the fun.

Mad about Ponies is a really great party in a box, it has everything from a fun painting activity to games suggestions to play with the horses and some little accessories with the fences and rosettes. I think all children would enjoy this and it’s nice that each child can take a horse home after that they designed themselves.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the party set in order to write the review.

LEGO Friends Magazine – Review

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Fiona Martin

LEGO Friends magazine is a new monthly title that hit the shops last week aimed for girls around the 7-11 age range. Each magazine features a free LEGO gift, the first one being Charlie the puppy dog set.

The first issue has introductions to some of the LEGO Friends girls such as Olivia, Emma and Mia, giving you little bios about each of them. There are also several comic strip stories, posters, quizs, puzzles and some fabulous LEGO sets to be won in competitions. There is a also a nice craft activity included to make tissue flowers.

My daughter Miss M is 6 and became a fan of LEGO friends at Christmas when she received a few sets and then some more on her birthday. I’d say this is the perfect magazine for her, lots of fun things to do and is totally aimed for someone of her age.

She is a competent reader for her age and happily sat reading through the comic strip stories. She couldn’t wait to get the LEGO pieces off of the front and put them to together, which she did completely unaided. These are cute pieces that easily go alongside any other LEGO that you have. In fact she is incredibly excited about the free gift on the next issue, a cute beach set with a LEGO bucket and flippers for the LEGO friends to wear on their feet!

For me, this is the perfect magazine for my daughter, the content is just right for her and I don’t have to worry about what she might be reading. She’s enjoys sitting reading it in bed before sleeping, played with the LEGO during the day and doing the puzzles during the day.

When I asked what she thought about the magazine, her reply was “I love it!”, and I have to agree, this is just the sort of magazine I’d buy for her with a lovely quality toy attached.

The first issue is in the shops now, so why not grab a copy?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the magazine was sent to us in order to write the review.

Lego Friends Olivia’s Rainbow – Book Review

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Lego Friends Olivia’s Rainbow activity book from The Works is excellent value at £2.99 and comes with a small Lego kit to make to add to your collection. My daughter Miss M who is 6yrs old has become interested in Lego over the last year and already has a collection of Lego Friends sets. She was thrilled to see this book and couldn’t wait to get the little cat out and build it’s bed and milk bowl.

The book is a lovely quality for an activity style book with 32 full colour pages with a multitude of activities inside. The contents have really been thought about and I’m really impressed at all the things there are to do. There is quite a long story called Olivia’s Rainbow which is great for slighter older children to read along with facts about characters in Heartlake City. There’s many puzzles such as spot the difference, sudoku and quizs along with some more unusual activities such as a simple experiment with water and a mirror to make a rainbow, mixing paints to make different colours and a song to add words to and make into a tune.

Miss M has really enjoyed this book, it has given her plenty to do and a story she can read again and again. The little Lego cat fits perfectly in with her other Lego Friend’s sets and has added to her creativity in playing with Lego. I think this is a lovely book for a young Lego fan and the activities are fun and a bit different from others you usually see.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the book was sent to us in order to write the review.

Tractor Ted Easter Activity Book – Review and Giveaway x 5

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Fiona Martin

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Tractor Ted is a cute green tractor that lives in Tractorland and gives children a great insight into tractors and farming life through a series of books, dvd’s, clothing and more. We were exciting to receive Tractor Ted’s Activity Book 2, a special Easter edition of the series of activity books from Tractor Ted.

My first impressions of Tractor Ted’s Activity Book 2 were really good. Firstly I loved the quality of the book, a high gloss cover and thick, durable pages inside covered in brightly coloured illustrations. Also the size of the book is quite handy compared to usual children’s activity books, as it’s easy to carry around and gives younger children just a one activity per page to concentrate on.It’s aimed at Early Years children and I feel that Mister B who’s 3 and a half next month is the perfect age to carry out the activities within the book. I also feel that the activities have been well thought out and put together, giving a great variety but also being of an appropriate level for Mister B to do.

The book shows children about farming and all things related to Easter time, such as baby animals and Easter themed recipes. There are also counting activities, colours, matching, mazes, recipes, colouring in, writing skills and baby animal recognition. I am really impressed with the variety and quality of this activity book.

Mister B has loved looking through this book, taking in the information from the pictures and really having a good practice of his writing skills. Even big sister Miss M joined in beside him copying the same words on a piece of paper and guiding him through the writing. She’s also keen to try out the recipes at the back of the book, being an eager cook. I can honestly say I’d recommend this book for a 3/4 year old to get to grips with pen skills and learn about animals and farming. Of course Mister B was loving all the tractors and enjoyed picking out his favourite coloured ones.

Tractor Ted have kindly offered 5 copies to give away to my readers, so if you have a little one who’d love to learn more about farming, baby animals and boost their writing skills then why not enter to win one below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UK only
Winners will be selected by Rafflecopter at the end of the giveaway.
Winners will be contacted within 48 hours of the giveaway ending and if I am unable to make contact within 14 days, then I may pick an alternative winner.
Your details will be passed to Tractor Ted who will be responsible for sending out the prize.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the book in order to write the review.

ToucanBox – Arts and Crafts Activities for Kids – Review

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Fiona Martin

Toucanbox’s are themed monthly activity boxes for children delivered to your door suitable for children aged 3-8 years and come packed with all the supplies you need to make the activity ideas included.

My daughter Miss M loves getting crafty and is always busy making things so I knew this would be the ideal box for her. We were sent the Artic box to try filled with polar themed activities to make and do.

When the box arrived we were really impressed with it’s large triangular shape. Miss M couldn’t wait to get inside. The box is cleverly designed to keep the child engaged and excited as they open it. Inside on a shelf were two activity boxes. Underneath the shelf were more goodies and the box itself had things to do on it from a fold out road scene to colour, to finger puppet toucaneers to make.

The kits included all the materials to make the activities inside such as lolly sticks, glitter glue, coloured pens, sequins etc and a really lovely polar activity sticker book, full of educational facts about polar animals and lots of stickers to add to the pages.

The first activity we did was to make an igloo using an upside down bowl and sticking foam peanuts to it to resemble ice bricks. They loved this and carefully worked together to build the igloo. Miss M then coloured some figures which you could stand up beside the igloo.

We then made some snowflakes by sticking lolly sticks together like a star then decorated them with white paint, glitter, sequins and glitter glues. Both my children loved this, Miss M hard at work concentrating on the task and Mister B observing telling Miss M what coloured sequin to use next! Also included is some wool to use to hang the decorations up.The polar activity book was sure to be a hit having stickers to put in place for some of the animals, something my two always find fun. The book was excellent quality and what I like about it was that it was educational with lots of facts to read and learn about the animals. Miss M now keeps this on her bookshelf with other animal books as it’s something to look back at and keep learning from.

For me the toucanBox provided much more fun that I first thought. We sat down one afternoon to do the activities but didn’t finish leaving more to do the next day. For little ones this really will keep them occupied for a few crafty sessions and it’s lovely to see all the things they make. The Artic box is great for this time of year with it’s wintery feel to it.

What makes the toucanBox overall a success is the lovely range of ideas, simple clear instruction cards, an exciting fun box to open and above anything else is that everything is included – all materials that you need to make the crafts. The only thing we had to use from home was a pair of scissors.

The other important aspect for me is whether the children enjoyed the toucanBox and how easy it was for them to follow. I can honestly say that Miss M loved the toucanBox and happily crafted with the contents for hours. She needed minimal guidance to follow the instructions and made all the creations herself. As you can see above, she is proudly standing by her finished decorations that have adorned our fireplace this Christmas.

Here’s a short video showing some of the activities being made:

I think any young child would be happy to receive one of these boxes, subscriptions start from just £9.95 a month and there are a wide range of themed boxes available from birds, ballerinas, pirates to mad scientists – something for everyone, why not check them out?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.