Nickelodeon Experimake Superb Sea Shaped Soaps by Addo Play is a fun science based craft kit aimed at children aged 8-10 years. Available from The Entertainer toy shop it is part of a bigger range of craft kits all containing various experiment type projects. This one consists of making sea shaped soaps using included moulds, colourings and fragrances.
When opening the box the contents are displayed in two cardboard trays covered in science images which was rather fun but also helped us keep all the bits neatly together.
Included are:
- 3 sea related moulds
- red and blue colouring
- vanilla fragrance
- 3 pipettes
- stirring sticks
- soap base
- gloves
- gift bags
- gift labels
The children couldn’t wait to get started and set about making their own sea life soaps. I gave them each a microwaveable plastic pot to which they added the soap base cubes. They put these in the microwave for short bursts until the soap had melted and then loved donning a glove each to add their chosen colours. They quickly worked out that they could mix the colours to create new ones so by adding a couple of drops of red and a couple of blue which created purple. They also noted that the yellow vanilla fragrance added to the blue created a green colour. They thoroughly enjoyed using the pipettes and creating their own little liquid soap ready to pour into the seashaped moulds.
The instructions also suggest additional ingredients you can add to the soaps to give different properties such as salt for exfolitating, oats for an oatmeal soap, dried flowers for a rose petal soap or herbs for an aromatic soap – all things you may already have at home and can add to make more inventive style soaps.
We popped the moulds into the fridge for half an hour to set and then we found them easy to pop out, although you do need to press evenly across the shape to ensure it comes out whole and doesn’t break. The children were thrilled with the finished results and really proud of the soaps they made. They can’t wait to use them at bedtime!
A really nice touch with this set are the included three little organza gift bags and sticky labels that you can use to give the soaps as gifts. This really finishes off the set and makes a lovely handmade gift for your child to give. My two are currently decided who they are going to gift a soap too and which ones to keep for their own use.
Overall I think the Nickelodeon Experimake Superb Sea Shaped Soaps is a really lovely set for children to create with and it’s relatively simple to do. Obviously due to the high heat of the melted soap pieces it is best placed with slightly older children but it’s great to bring the science element into play at home with liquids/solids, adding liquids with a pipette and colour mixing. A great set that would make a lovely gift for boy or girl!
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.
My 9yr old daughter was excited to try this and although it looks a little complex, it’s aimed at ages 8+ so we were keen to give it a try. I helped her to set it up which was basically just assembling the pegs alternate ways in the loom base and then cutting pieces of wool for the warp strands and clipping them into the top of each peg.
It really then is just a simple case of slipping a strand of wool across the top and pulling it down between the pegs. Then turn the lever at the bottom which spins the pegs around and put the yarn across the other way down the center of the pegs. This method is incredibly fast and so easy Miss M picked it up instantly and couldn’t wait to get stuck in creating her piece independently.
Every morning before school and every evening in her pyjamas she could be found with the loom adding another batch of rows. I even had a go myself and found it really relaxing and enjoyable especially when you can see progress in your work so quickly. When the pegs are filled with rows of weaving I couldn’t believe how easy it was to extend the piece by simply lifting out each peg, sliding down the weft (horizontal strands) until they go further down the warp (vertical) strands and then put the peg back into place. It literally took a couple of minutes and off you go again, no messing around with any ends of wool, and you can continue like this until you have covered the entire length of the warp strands.
Before long Miss M had a wonderful piece to show us – it looks amazing and feels so soft and thick. Because it was her first attempt at using the Loopdeloom she hadn’t really planned what to make as we weren’t sure how it would turn out but we are really impressed with the results. She has decided to use this first piece as a mat on her bedside table but can’t wait to try out something else soon.
The set contains:
I think the finished results look really effective, better than we expected when we first started. The set includes some gems and glitter to jazz up your items and make them even prettier.
We were quite impressed with the results we got on some of the gift labels above, particularly the brightly coloured one.
A great selection of handmade goodies that you can keep yourself or give away as gifts. You can also use any objects of your own to dip and make other tie dyed items. There is plenty of dye included in the set and we only used a small amount to do the above objects so the craft set can be used several times over with other objects. 
The set consists of 4 3D drawing pens in various colours, 1 light attachment, a few plastic accessories and an instruction sheet.
The kit is aimed at children aged 6+, so my 8yr old had go by tracing one of the templates from the instructional sheet. There is a clear sheet of plastic that you lay on top of this for the gel to sit on until dry. At first my daughter tried to use the pen with the light switched on but we found that the gel was drying instantly and she ended up with a row of little hard lumps of gel rather than clean lines, so we found it easier to draw the design with the pen and then go over it with the light afterwards to set it.
Once the gel has set, you can easily lift it from the plastic sheet and you can join creations together using the gel like you would glue then using the light to set it. As you can see Miss M really had a good go at trying lots of designs. 
The pens are quite hard to press and you do need to give your fingers a rest after a while. Mister B who is 5 (6 in 2 weeks time) tried it out but found it too hard and gave up. I did help him make a smiley face though which he was rather pleased with. 
Miss M found it a bit little fiddly to assemble things as everything was a bit tacky along with our fingers so I did help her with this. We also found it tricky to get any intricate detail like it shows on the box but I do think we had a good go and ended up with a pair of funky glasses and a little trinket basket. 
My two children were keen to get started so helped me set things out ready to show our guests when they arrived. To keep everyone happy we gave everyone an Aquabeads mini playset and a few demo packs to do as we had enough of these for everyone. I have to say I was really impressed with the mini packs as they are small and compact but once you open them up, there is a good choice of beads and you can make quite a few mini creations with the set. My little boy couldn’t resist making the turtle as this is his favourite animal.
We really loved the bead pen that comes with this. Although you can easily do the designs with your fingers, the pen makes it a whole lot easier and the children loved using it. My children spent the rest of the day after the party making designs with the beginners studio and I’d definitely recommend it as a great kit for anyone interested in Aquabeads.
This set includes four sheets of designs although you can of course make your own up. The beads in this set are also a mix of plain solid coloured round beads and translucent jewel beads which gives a really nice mix and finish to the creations. All the finished pieces are brightly coloured and really give children a sense of achievement.
This is a really fun craft that helps with fine motor skills and following a pattern. It also covers a range of ages too, as the designs can range from simple to complex, anything goes with Aquabeads! The other parents of children that came to try Aquabeads were really impressed and loved the little creations their children made and took home so they were an all round hit with everyone.
My daughter has really enjoyed making the Cool Cardz and has started making some for her school friends. This is a fun, different kit that she’s really found enjoyable. Refill kits are available which is a great idea and ou can also get ones based on different themes.
What’s great about this kinetic sand is that once you made something, you can break it up again and start again, which makes this playset great value for money as I know it is something my children will come back to again and again!
The Fairy Garden comes with the pot, all the accessories and grass seeds, you just need to add a small amount of soil. It is designed to be kept inside so you can watch it everyday, water it as necessary and cut the grass if desired.
Miss M really enjoyed putting the garden together, there are also some plastic flowers on stems to push into the soil and the last job is to sprinkle the uncovered soil in grass seed. As a twinkly final touch there are some glittery stars to make your garden sparkle.
With this set aimed at age 4+, you would need parental assistance to put this together. Miss M is 8 and enjoyed it but did need me to guide her and assist in a few small areas like assembling the house and putting the washing line together.
