arts and crafts Archives - Mummy's Little StarsMummy's Little Stars

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.

Djeco Princess Create a Story Stamp & Stencil Set is a beautiful creative kit for girls allowing them to produce elegant pictures, story scenes and many other creative pieces. This set from French brand Djeco is presented in a high quality box, perfect for storing all the pieces in.

Inside the box you get 10 sheets of high quality paper in a lovely selection of background designs as well as 3 stencil sheets, 10 stamps and a pink ink pad.

Miss M’s eyes lit up when she saw the box and being of an art and crafty nature, she couldn’t wait to get stuck in. The french designs are elegant and feminine and Miss M immediately took up the challenge of creating a princess scene on the included background papers. She loved both the stamps and the stencils and sat in deep concentration drawing inside the stencil lines.

This has kept Miss M entertained for long periods of time, with her keen to create her own little storyboards. The designs feel grown up and different from other similar types of activity kits making it a good step up for Miss M and made it more interesting for her. It really encourages children to be creative using various methods such as stamping, stenciling and their own free hand. Miss M has also enjoyed colouring the stenciled pictures to finish them off.

This is a lovely set presented in a beautiful sturdy box that is great for storing little crafty things in. There is plenty to do and the included background papers really make your child’s pictures come to life. Miss M has loved using this set and will continue for a long time yet. We recommend this and think it’d make a lovely gift for any young girl who enjoys drawing and art.

The Djeco Princess Create a Story Stamp & Stencil Set is available from the family run company Butterflies and Dragons. They have a wide range of other wonderful children’s toys and activities which all come with free delivery within the UK!! There are many beautiful wooden and traditional style toys – well worth a look especially on the run up to Christmas.

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.