Ravensburger Cinderella Carriage 3D Puzzle

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Fiona Martin

Ravensburger Cinderella Carriage 3D Puzzle is a really beautiful puzzle when finished and would take pride of place in any little girls bedroom on the shelf once complete. With 72 pieces and aimed at 6-10 year old’s this puzzle is a delight to do and a pleasure to look at once finished in it’s 3D glory.

The puzzle comes with the really sturdy 3D pieces, some cardboard pieces to build the carriage and a guide in case you haven’t attempted a 3D puzzle before.

The puzzle pieces are cleverly numbered on the back and you need to find each piece in number order in order to assemble easily and enable the curves to form simply as you build. Both my children age 6 and 9 are fascinated by 3D puzzles and eagerly worked together searching for the pieces and helped each other build the finished creation.

With a bit of teamwork it wasn’t long before the entire puzzle came together and a complete spherical ball shape had formed. It looks fabulous and is really sturdy as the pieces are plastic and strong. The whole structure stays together perfectly and looks lovely sitting upon the carriage. The ball can be turned around with Cinderella on one side and the fairy godmother on the other.

The Ravensburger Cinderella Carriage 3D Puzzle is a beautiful 3D puzzle that the children loved building and one that looks lovely and can be kept as a decorative piece to admire on a shelf or broken up and done time and time again. We love Ravensburger puzzles in general and the 3D ones give an extra dimension that brings them to life so if you have a Disney Cinderella fan in your house, this is well worth checking out as it’s sure to be loved by all!

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

Soreen Disney Mini Loaves in Toffee and Chocolate

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Fiona Martin

Soreen a household name in malt loaf products have brought out Disney themed mini loaves in both Toffee and Chocolate flavours. How could they not be a winner with kids? With Pixar images on the chocolate flavour and Frozen images on the toffee flavour I couldn’t wait to share these with my children for a full verdict!

Soreen is a popular snack in our household, the larger loaves with the adults and the mini loaves with the kids as they are absolutely ideal for snacks, especially when out and about. Not only do they come individually wrapped, they aren’t messy, can’t melt and provide a fairly healthy bite to eat.

We kind of knew what the Chocolate flavour would taste like as we’ve had the large Chocolate loaves before and we all love them. The Toffee flavour was new to us but proved to be a hit and was enjoyed by both children. I have to say that the Disney packaging didn’t go unnoticed either and they loved picking out which character they were going to have before eating one.

I love Soreen products, not only do they taste great, they are low in fat. The mini loaves all come in at 100 calories or less, are individually wrapped and loved by both children and adults. Great for days out or snacks on the go – I know I use them for a multitude of occasions such as after school trips to the park, a snack after swimming/sports lessons, family days out, picnics etc Also watch out for special edition Soreen flavours in various sizes such as the Winter Spice edition large loaf that is available over the festive season – with every new flavour that Soreen release, be it chocolate, toffee or Winter Spice, they’ve never failed the taste test with us!

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

Disney Frozen Race to the Palace Board Game

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Disney Frozen Race to the Palace board game from Ravensburger is aimed at 5yrs plus and can be played by 2-4 players. Initially it appears a fairly simple game of climbing places to reach the palace, but it has an interesting combination of three dice and the fact that you don’t just move your own player makes it more complex.

Frozen race to the palace x Inside the box are three pieces that join together to create the playing board, along with a large card that stands up to be the Arendelle palace and five figure cut outs with stands, four tokens and three dice.

The game is easily assembled and then play can commence. The characters used in this game are Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf. There is also Hans although no one own’s him and the aim of the game is to race him to the castle. If he gets there first then he wins, but if another character get’s there first then they win.

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The game starts by each playing selecting a token, they take a look but don’t reveal which character they are playing. You then take turn to roll the dice. You will roll either two colours and a number or one number and two colours. The colour tells you how many spaces to move and the colour determines which character or characters you move. If you roll a white you can pick any character of your choice, which is where tactics come into play and you obviously want to choose the character that’s on your token.

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There is also a space on the board with friendly trolls that allows you to jump ahead two spaces and a giant snow creature which sends you back one space. When a character reaches the castle, it is declared the winner and players can then reveal which character’s token they had.

My children both loved this game, particularly 5yr old Mister B who quickly grasped the game rules, which I think was great and he got really excited during gameplay. I think he was the perfect age for this although he does have a good understanding of things generally.

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This is a really fun game that we’ve all enjoyed and has been well thought out. I thought each game would only last about 5 minutes but we found it lasted a good 15 minutes and all the family joined in.

Disney Frozen Race to the Palace Board Game is a must for any Frozen fan who will love playing with all the familiar characters from the film, it’s also a game we have been playing most days which is great and shows it has long lasting appeal.

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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Disney The Lion Guard Toys – Review

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Disney’s The Lion Guard is an appealing tv series for young children, that has now been turned into an exciting range of fun and high quality toys that provide plenty of play value and encourage imaginative and adventurous play. We were lucky to hold a Lion Guard party last week with a few friends to celebrate the release of the new toy range.

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The Lion Guard follows Kion, leader of the Lion Guard who along with his friends helps protect the Pride Lands. The largest toy in the range is the Defend the Pride Lands playset which really is quite impressive. At first glass it doesn’t look much, but when you have a closer look, there are eight interactive play features, such as traps, a motorised vine lift, boulder launcher, waterfall, hidden tunnel, collapsing rock. It really is good fun for an adventure and my little boy loved it. The set comes with a Kion figure to play with. Further figures are available in smaller sets or a figure set which features each of the main characters.

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Smaller sets available include a figure and accessory such as Bunga’s Coconut Blaster. All of the accessories have a moving part and all of the children found these fun and enjoying using them as part of their adventure play.

After checking out the toys we had lots of The Lion Guard related party games including eating cake which went down well.

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The favourite game had to be Pin the tail on Kion! We had a lion headpiece and fluffy tail to use which the children just loved.

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The party was a great success and the children all went away with a goodie bag which included the new The Lion Guard magazine and also a blind bag containing a mini figure.

Overall I’m really impressed with the toy range, it is all made to a high quality that will be durable in play and withstand little fingers and a few knocks. The toys look lovely as well and have been well thought out. They lend themselves to imaginative minds of little ones which is perfect for my little boy and he has taken the animals on many adventures.

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The Lion Guard toys are available now in most major toys shops now such as Smyths, so why not check them out now!

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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Art Therapy Colouring Books from Parragon

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Disney Art Therapy colouring books from Parragon are simply gorgeous. We received the Frozen and Princess themed books to try and they are both packed full of patterns with plenty to occupy your colouring desire!

WP_20160502_13_41_46_Pro Both books are of a really high quality and quite thick with lots of pages. This means you can easily use coloured pens without the risk of it bleeding through the pages. Alternatively some sharp pencils would work well for a more subtle effect.

The pages are based loosely on the themes of Frozen and Princesses and rather than being packed full of characters and action scenes, meaning these are more grown up and full of patterns inspired by the themes rather than a book aimed at the younger audience. This means they would suit an older child or adult and something I certainly could sit passing the time with. I think the patterns are really pretty and quite detailed with each page taking you on a different set of shapes and designs.

art therapy These would be great for an older child, my daughter 8yr old Miss M was excited to see them and there really is hours worth of colouring in each book. They would be great to take on holidays, long journeys or one of those things to have around when you just want to do nothing and have a doodle – why not colour a page in one of these books instead?

Colouring books for adults have really become fashionable of late and these certainly fit the bill for any Disney loving fan. They are feminine with intricate wallpaper style designs filled with swirls and also some bigger mandala style images, so give one a try now and get creative with colour!

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

Disney Frozen Shaker Maker Elsa and Anna – Review

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Disney Frozen Shaker Maker Elsa and Anna is a children’s sculpture kit that is really easy to do and makes minimal mess. With several variants available, the Frozen set is adored by most young girls and Miss M couldn’t wait to try it out.

The kit comes with a unique ‘shaker maker’, 2 moulds, 2 packs of powdered plaster, 2 stands a set of paints and a paintbrush.

First it’s time to create the plaster models in their moulds which I think gives really impressive results for minimal effort, perfect for children. You need to add one of the moulds into one half of the Shaker Maker then you simply pour some warm water into the other half, add the powder, screw the two halves together and give it a shake!

Then simply unscrew the unit, making sure the half with the mould is underneath and then leave for 90 minutes to dry. You can then tap the plaster statuette out of the mould and I have to say I think the results are brilliant. You get a really detailed model that is perfectly smooth, they look really good. It’s then time to bring them to live with some colour using the paints provided. Miss M found the colours of the paints a little frustrating as they were primary colours, but I did help her to mix some to make more recognisable colours for the frozen themed characters. She did also use a couple of other paints she already had. I have to say the paintbrush is fantastic, unlike a lot of kids brushes. This one is really pointed helping to get some detail and fine brush strokes onto the characters.

Miss M worked really hard on her painting and I just love her finished results. The plaster moulds simply sit in the little pink stands and can be displayed wherever you fancy. Miss M has these now on her bedroom windowsill which look lovely.

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

Shaker Maker Disney Princess Cinderella and Rapunzel

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Shaker Maker Disney Princess Cinderella and Rapunzel from Cool Create is a fun, simple plaster kit for children that allows them to create decorative pieces that they can enjoy on the shelves in their bedroom.

The shaker maker consists of a Shaker Maker pod, 2 princess moulds, 2 packs of plaster, 2 stands and a paint set, everything you need to complete this kit.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the Shaker Maker and how messy it would be but I have to say I was really impressed – so simple for a child to use and completely mess free!

All you have to do is add some warm tap water into one half of the shaker pod up to a certain line then tip the bag of plaster in. In the lid, insert one of the princess moulds then screw the lid on to the base. Shake well and then tip so that the mould is at the bottom and the plaster mixture sits perfectly in the mould, no mess, no touching it, all the hard work is done for you.

Then gently tap the sides to remove air bubbles and leave to stand for at least an hour to dry out.

My daughter couldn’t wait to start painting them which is a part she really enjoyed. The paint brush that is included is really fine, much better than the usual brushes you get with kids kits, which enabled my daughter to try and add some detail.

I think the finished results look great and this is a great kit for kids to get crafty with, experiencing plaster moulding and painting. This would make a great gift anytime, something they can enjoy doing and something that they can keep after. The moulds are also reusable so if you buy some more plaster you can make some more princesses!

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

Disney Cinderella 100 piece Puzzle from Ravensburger

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Fiona Martin

The Disney Cinderella puzzle from Ravensburger is a beautiful puzzle depicting the various outfits of Cinderella along with her fairy godmother and ugly sisters, aimed at children 6+.

Miss M’s eyes lit up when she saw the puzzle and couldn’t wait to give it a try. Having turned 7yrs old at the start of the year I was keen to see how well she could do this puzzle herself. She began and with a few prompts from me to search for the edges and corners first, I let her do the entire puzzle herself which gave her a great sense of achievement on completion.

The puzzle pieces are nicely cut and a good size for her age. With different characters and outfits to look for, it helped make the puzzle a little easier to do. She soon got into the swing of it and started finding the pieces she needed and getting excited when she recognised what area of the puzzle pieces came from.

The finished Cinderella puzzle looked beautiful and coincides perfectly with the film Cinderella that has just been released. The puzzle has lots of detail but is perfectly suitable to the age group suggested.

Miss M really enjoyed sitting, completing the puzzle and with a little determination, did it all by herself!

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

Happy 7th Birthday Miss M and Frozen party game ideas

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Fiona Martin

New Year’s Day is my daughter Miss M’s birthday so we always start the New Year with birthday celebrations. This year we had a quiet, relaxed day, spending time with family for lunch, birthday cake and Miss M opening her presents. I really can’t believe where the last seven years have gone!

She was insistent on having a Frozen themed birthday party this year, in particular she wanted to wear the Frozen dress up costume that we reviewed a couple of months ago.

We played the usual party games, pass the parcel, musical statues etc but I wanted to find a few different games and after having a google, I came up with these variations on games to which I put a frozen twist.

Musical Icebergs – I cut the edges off of sheets of white paper to make them look a bit more geometrically shaped and these were the icebergs. When the music played the children had to dance around. When the music stopped each child had to stand on one of the icebergs. Then remove an iceberg so that in the next round one child is out until you get down to just one child left who is the winner.

Ice Jewels – For this I had a toy princess ring for each child which I froze in heart shaped silicon cake moulds to create ice shaped hearts with treasure trapped inside. To rescue the treasure, each child had to melt the ice with their hands until they found their ring. This could be variated and I put a little Squinkie car in one for my son.

Dress up as Olaf – I put the children into two teams and each team have to turn one member into Olaf. I bought some value toilet roll which they used to wrap one team member up in, and also add a woolly hat and scarf to them. You could judge one team to be the winner but I decided to let this just be a bit of fun which they loved and then turned the room into a snowball fight afterwards!

Dressing up as Olaf was great fun, there were lots of giggles and excitement throughout. Mister B has now asked to play this game at his next party!

The ice jewels also proved very popular, I wasn’t sure everyone would want to sit melting ice between their hands but they loved it, and it kept them quiet and occupied for a while. I gave them trays to melt the ice over and handed towels out so they could dry their hands during it. They got quite competitive towards the end as their blocks got smaller seeing who could finish first. I’d definitely use this game again.

Overall the party was a great success and all the children seemed to enjoy themselves. I think the small effort in trying some games that were a bit different kept the girls occupied and they were intrigued to find out what we were playing next.

Miss M had a fabulous birthday and party and now it’s all over until next year. She has become so grown up over the last year, I’ve really noticed a difference in her behaviour and mannerisms. She’s also had an amazing year at school. I hope 2015 is another fabulous year for her and she succeeds in all she wants to do!

Disney Frozen Readybed from Worlds Apart – Review

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Fiona Martin

The Disney Frozen Junior Readybed from World’s Apart has to be every little Frozen fan’s dream bed. It certainly was Miss M’s when she saw it, in fact she wanted to sleep in it every night as opposed to her own bed!

The readybed is a fantastic idea, a sleeping bag, matress and pillow all rolled into one, perfect for nights away, sleepovers with friends, camping etc. I love the way that it all folds up into it’s own bag, complete with carry handle and simple enough for my daugher Miss M to carry around.

The design on the the top is Disney Frozen and depicts the main characters, Princess Elsa, Anna and Olaf the Snowman. With lilac and turquoise colourings for the base and inside, it is pretty and perfectly compliments the picture on top.

A simple plastic foot pump and tube is included to pump the bed up although this wasn’t great, we had a similar, slightly larger one at home that pumped the bed up in double the time! But regardless it does only take 5 minutes to turn this bed into comfy matress ready to sleep on.

Miss M didn’t hesitate to get inside the second we had finished pumping the readybed up, in fact she didn’t want to get out! She’s slept in it for the last couple of nights and has no complaints at all so I’m guessing it’s suitably comfortable.

It is suitable for ages 3+ and is 150cm long and with Miss M being a tall 6yr old she fitted very comfortably inside.

The Disney Frozen Junior Readybed has been a huge hit with my daughter and I can forsee lots of use out of it therefore I would definitely recommend it, just a shame the pump wasn’t a little better.

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