Ravensburger Puzzles from eTwist

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Fiona Martin

eTwist is an online retailer that sells something for everyone, from toys to watches, home goods and appliances and much more. It isn’t a website I had come across before but after taking a look around, I noticed that there were a lot of recognisable, branded products at very competitive prices, definitely worth a look at before making a purchase.

We were given the chance to try out some Ravensburger puzzles on their website to keep the kids occupied over the holidays. Being familiar with the Ravensburger brand, I could see the prices were really good for these items, and we chose something the kids have longed for, a 3D puzzle. I found one of Big Ben with the Minions on, something I knew that would have the utmost appeal and I can safely say it didn’t disappoint!

Both children were super excited upon seeing the Ravensburger 3D Minions Big Ben, and standing at 41cm tall this is a fantastic looking puzzle that doubles up as model on a shelf. With 216 pieces this was a great puzzle for 8yr old Miss M and just the challenge she needed. The pieces for this are unlike a traditional puzzle, and are numbered on the back to help you construct the pieces in the correct order. We all helped looked for the right numbered pieces but Miss M was chief builder.

We soon saw progress with the puzzle as it rose from the ground, into the shape of Big Ben, and the minion aspect kept 5yr old Mister B amused. He made his mission to put the finishing yellow piece of the tower on the top!

This puzzle is of excellent quality with plastic pieces, many of which are hinged for the corners and angles. These work really well to create the added dimension to the puzzle and in fact a puzzle that has been exceptionally well received by not only my own family but by others that have seen it!

Our second puzzle to complete was this Crazy Cats at the Perfume Shop which I just adored. It is a 500 piece puzzle ideal for families to complete together. We love cats and 5yr old Mister B was my chief corner and edge finder!

We have all had great fun completing this puzzle right down from the children up to the grandparents putting in a few pieces when they pop round. We spent a few days doing this but loved looking for pieces for each of the cats and the children were eager to be the ones putting in the last few pieces.

Puzzles are much loved in this house and are something everyone can join in with. They are a great activity for rainy days and school holidays. Why not check out what eTwist has to offer to keep the kids occupied over the next couple of weeks, puzzles are just one of the things on their site as well as much, much more!

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

My Big Monster Book of Fun – Review

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Fiona Martin

My Big Monster Book of Fun from Parragon books is a jam packed activity book for little ones with over 190 pages of fun things to read and do. It reall

The book is divided into sections, starting first with a 24 page rhyming story ‘Scaredy Boo!’ accompanied by full colour page illustrations to keep little ones entertained. There are then sections for monster activities, colouring, T-Rex Terror, dinosaur activities, dinosaur colouring and an answer section to the puzzles throughout the book.

The activities are so varied from spotting differences, putting monsters in order, finishing drawing some zombies etc that it will keep children interested and motivated to work through the book. It’s also an easy book to pick up and put down as an when you please. My little boy loves this and often picks it up to do a few pages.

As well as having at home this would be great to take away on holiday to keep children entertained or whilst travelling as it’s self contained with loads of things to do, you just need a few pencils!

We love My Big Monster Book of Fun and it has provided many hours of fun.

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

Gold Stars Dinosaurs by Parragon – Review

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Travel Back Through Time to the Land of Dinosaurs is a book by Parragon in their Gold Stars series, meaning it is educational but fun, encouraging young ones to engage in learning, almost without realising it.

With over 100 full colour pages there is so much to learn and do in this action packed book and my 4yr old Mister B was eager to get started. One of his favourite activities in these type of books are mazes, and there were plenty of them in here to keep him occupied.

The pages contain a mixture of facts and activities, plenty to learn and do. What I really like about the facts and information in the book is that it is set out in numerous different ways encouraging interest rather than being paragraphs of information. For example to understand how big dinosaurs were, there are diagrams likening them to the size of buses. There are also things for children to do on the same pages as information, therefore I found that I could read out bits while Mister B enjoyed a bit of colouring or drawing but he also discussed the facts with me. He was rather amused to learn that a Diplodocus made the biggest dinosaur poo, due to the amount that it ate!!

What a fabulous book to use to occupy your child at the weekends or over the summer, knowing that they are having fun but learning at the same time.

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

Disney Planes 2 Puzzles from Ravensburger – Review

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Disney Planes 2 is the perfect theme for some new puzzles from Ravensburger with the new film being released this summer. Young fans of Disney Planes will love creating puzzles out of their favourite plane characters and Mister B is no exception. Being 3yrs old (nearer 4), these puzzles are just the right size for him without him losing too much concentration.

We received a 4 in a box puzzle set with four puzzles of varying sizes. A 12, 16, 20 and 24 piece puzzle was included, each with a picture of a different character. Mister B started on the smallest 12 piece puzzle. This was the most excited I’ve seen him at attempting puzzles and it was really nice to see a smile on his face whilst doing them. I don’t know if it was the pictures that attracted him or the fact that he is a little bit older than when we’ve tried puzzles in the past.

He was really determined to complete each puzzle and with a few pointers from me to find the corners, then the straight edges, he managed to get to the end. I think this is a great little set that we really enjoyed and as his confidence grew completing the smaller puzzles, he happily moved onto the larger ones. My one criticism of this set is that all four puzzles come in one bag, and all the backs of them are the same. It takes a while to sort the pieces out to separate the puzzles which was frustrating for Mister B to wait for me to do. We do have some other Ravensburger puzzles with different designs on the back, spots, stripes etc and I would have liked to see that in this box to aid little ones in finding the right pieces for each puzzle.

Once Mister B had completed the 4 in a box puzzles we moved onto the 35 piece puzzle. Mister B was keen for the challenge but he did need a little help from me. This is great practise for him though and it was fun to sit and guide him through how to put a puzzle together. We finally completed it and he was so proud at putting the last few pieces in all by himself, hopefully he’ll be doing it all on his own before long!

We really enjoyed these puzzles and they’ve been great for Mister B to build on his jigsaw building skills. He loved the Disney Planes 2 theme of the puzzles too and I think he’ll have a lot of fun doing them over and over throughout the next year. We think any little Disney Planes 2 fan would enjoy them too so why not check them out?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the puzzles were sent to us in order 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!!