john adams Archives - Mummy's Little StarsMummy's Little Stars

With British Science Week upon us, John Adam’s Hot Wires Plug & Play Electronics Set is the perfect toy to generate interest in electronics and circuits for children. Miss M age 9 was very excited to try this out as apparently has recently done a similar experiment at school with some wires and a light bulb so she was eager to get started and see what she could create.

The kit contains everything you need to make over 100 experiments along with a full colour instruction booklet that sets out each one clearly. The connector parts are numbered for ease of use and there are many parts such as lightbulbs, speaker, finger sensor, buzzer, switch, LED lights… the list goes on to the extent that once you get the hang of it you can come up with your own creations.

Miss M didn’t waste any time and was straight in the box, creating before I even got a look in and the next thing I knew, she had an invention ready to show me – it’s that simple!

Miss M and her brother had created some sound effects and thought they were hilarious as I don’t think they were expecting to be able to make multiple sounds from what they saw in the box! After calming them down, I managed to record this brief clip of the sounds effects in action:

Next up they decided to make a doorbell. With it having been my birthday the day before they couldn’t believe it when they pressed the finished doorbell, and the tune was that of ‘Happy Birthday’ which none of us were expecting and it was a pleasant surprise.

Overall we absolutely love this Hot Wires set, it’s safe, it’s simple to use and the possibilities are endless. Miss M can use it independently and create some amazing things that both children enjoy looking at and playing with. She’s managed to expand some sets with further pieces to change the pitch of the sound that she made. This really is good to get children thinking, learning and experimenting with electrics in a safe and educational way.

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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Sands Alive play sets from John Adams are a delight to young children who love sand, enjoy using their hands to be creative and like having fun making things. My two children were excited about the idea of playing with sand indoors and I found these sets to be quite well contained and easy to clean up.

We received the Classic and Animal set to try out. They both come with a tray to play in, a bag of sand and various moulds to shape the sand with.

Both children sat quietly playing, enjoying the texture of the soft sand through their fingers. It’s a great product that’s non sticky, really soft, making it great for kids of any age to play with.

Mister B loved the paw tracks roller which led to lots of imaginative play with some of his figure toys over the animal prints. What is quite amazing is how well defined the sand is one you stamp it or mould it. The edges are really smooth and clear to see. The shapes are easy to press out of the moulds with a few light taps.

Miss M was very proud of the sand ball that she made and it did look quite impressive. The animals were good although a little tricky for younger ones to get out of the mould easily, but we are practising and they are getting better as we get to grips with the moulds. We also made lots of towers for the animals to live in.

The children really enjoy playing with Sands Alive, it’s creative fun that they can play with in the house. We just used an art mat underneath and found it simple to hoover up any excess. I think these are great play sets for children, ideal gifts and something they will enjoy time and time again. A different, new texture that is great to explore!