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!

Stocking Filler ideas – Review

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Stocking Fillers is a great website full of all those small items, such as games, toys and fun things that are perfect for filling stockings this Christmas. With a wide range to choose from, the site is easy to navigate as it’s broken down into different price points as well as boys, girls, adults etc. There also is something for everyone making it the one stop shop for stocking fillers.

I chose a selection of items for my children that I don’t think will disappoint. The quality on all the items seems good value for the price and it was easy being able to order a box full of goodies from one place.

There were plenty of branded items to choose from such as Corgi diecast cars and Crazy Soap which is always a hit in the bath! I also picked up some coloured Bath Tint tablets to change the colour of the bath which sound like fun.

My daughter enjoys a game of noughts and crosses on paper and I spotted a little wooden set using hearts and flowers which looked quite sweet, games never disappoint my children so I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun for such a simple item.

For Mister B who’s 4, I think the dinosaur stick will be fun, by turning it over it makes a dinosaur “roar”. The Secret Message Pen will be a hit for Miss M as she loves writing little notes and the fact that we can’t see them will turn it into a fun game for her.

I think the Stocking Fillers website is a great place to pick up all those last minute little bits and pieces that fill us with joy each Christmas morning. Why not take a look yourself?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received some stocking fillers in order to write the 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.

Bananagrams Game – Review

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Bananagrams is a fun, quick paced crossword building game that can be enjoyed by both children aged 7+ and adults. The game consists of 144 high quality letter tiles in a handy zip up banana shaped bag.

The object of the game is to use up all your letters by constructing them in a crossword format and the first one to do so is declared the winner! I love the banana associated words used during play such as “split” to start the game, “peel” to pick up another letter, “dump” to change a letter and “bananas” when you have completed your crossword.

Miss M is 6, but a confident reader and writer, and was particularly eager to play the game. We each picked our 21 letters and began to create words. I was really impressed at the words Miss M produced, some not valid, but i saw this as a great educational game for her to boost her learning, in particular spellings. I didn’t play a race game with her but just played with an aim to use up our letters.

Bananagrams has really encouraged Miss M to think of words and how she can join them together. Also her spelling has been tested, although I was impressed with how well she did – her writing isn’t usually so well spelt!

Bananagrams is a compact game when packed away which makes it great for travelling. I also love the fact that anyone can play the game and the rules can be adapted to suit the age range of the player or the situation. For Miss M we just played with the 21 tiles and tried to complete a crossword, but when the chidren were in bed, my husband and I enjoyed a full game of Bananagrams using all the letters from the banana bag!

This is a fun game with durable pieces that I envisage having many years of play from. I think as the children get older they’ll use it to play against each other and we can have family fun playing together.

Bananagrams is a fun little game, simple yet one that you can happily play again and again. There are lots of other fun games in the range too such as Appletters, Fruitominoes as well as jumbo versions of each game which are all being tested out as part of the Rainbow Awards. Why not check them out?

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

Where’s my cupcake? game by Orchard Toys – Review

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Fiona Martin

When we were sent Where’s my cupcake? game by Orchard Toys for izziwizzikids.co.uk to review, Miss M’s face lit up immediately. The girly pink box is covered in cupcakes – she couldn’t wait to play.

The game consists of cupcake shaped cards in 10 different varieties and the object of the game is to match cupcake cards and end up with the biggest pile on your plate!!

Miss M loved the different cupcake cards and when it was her turn always described the cards by the topping whether it be the chocolate one, sprinkles, strawberry, sparkles, lemon etc etc. This in itself proved a very entertaining part of the game that is different and fun compared to usual card type games. It also adds a girly element that is hard to find in games for younger players.

An added learning element to the game was “manners”. During the game if you pick up a card that you are unable to match and keep, you can offer it to other players if they have a matching card on top of their pile. To do this the player with the card is encouraged to ask “Would you like a cupcake?” to which the recipient replies “Yes please” and “Thank you” once given the card. Miss M really enjoyed doing this and it reminded her of manners. Not only did it encourage verbal manners but also the act of sharing and giving the card to someone else – something a lot of young children are reluctant to do.

Also included in the box is a cupcake recipe card which Miss M was really excited by and couldn’t wait to make them so the next day we followed the instructions and had a fun baking session that resulted in some delicious cupcakes.

This is a fun, girly game that we have played over and over again. We’d definitely recommend it and know it would make a lovely gift for any little girl.

Below is a video of Miss M & I playing Where’s my cupcake? compiled by izziwizzikids.co.uk:

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.

Play Fest with special guests Orchard Toys

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Fiona Martin

Every parent wants to do their best for their children and an important part of being a child is playing. They learn and experience so much through play, helping them to engage in the world around them and build up their social and interactive skills. Which is why I love Play Fest – a fun, interactive weekly chat with other parents based on a guided topic along with friendly chat held by izziwizzi. You get to share ideas and pick up lots of tips and activity ideas to do with your children.

You can find izziwizzi on Tuesday evenings on Twitter and Thursday evenings on Facebook from 8.30pm for fun chat – Play Fest.

Next week the wonderful Playfest have a special guest – Orchard Toys!! For those who don’t know, Orchard Toys produce some fabulous board games and puzzles, and next week they are looking for your input into a brand new Orchard Toys product launch – Where’s my cupcake?

The topic will be turn taking and sharing in play, and Orchard Toys will be there to give their views as well as opportunities to talk about new products, get product recommendations and discuss Play Fest Orchard Toys product reviews.

If you register in advance then when you participate in Play Fest you will have the chance to WIN Orchard Toys games including the brand new release Where’s My Cup Cake?. Plus there will be extra give aways in the Twitter party on the evening! And on top of all that you can get a free Tangram on your next order at OrchardToys.com when you register.

So hopefully I’ve inspired you to come along and join in the fun – don’t forget to register and hopefully I catch up with you at Play Fest next week.

Happy playing!!