LinkIt – the fun family fast paced Card Game

LinkIt is one in a series of card games aimed at ages 6+ and for between 2 and 8 players.  The fast paced games consists of a series of cards covered in pictures and you have to find a link between two of the pictures.  The unique game has been designed to help children sharpen visual perception and language skills in a fun and competitive atmosphere.

The cards in LinkIt are circular making them a bit different but user friendly and I really like the storage tin that they come in.  This is brilliant and makes it great for storage and an ideal travel game.  With two children aged 9 and 7 I couldn’t wait to have a play and see how they found it.

There are two sets of cards, orange and blue backed which need separating, the orange go in the centre of the table and the blue are dealt out between the players.  All the cards have colour images on and the idea is to find a matching image between your top card and the top card in the central deck.  As easy as it sounds, it can be tricky to find one as the images vary in size across the cards and it takes a bit of quick thinking to find a pair.

The sort of pairs you need to find are things like a baby and bottle, football and goal, camel and desert, rabbit and carrot, mouse and cheese etc.  The first couple of rounds took a little getting used to the pairs but we soon all got the hang of it and everyone was eager to find a match with their card. We found it fast paced, competitive but fun and a game the children wanted to play again and again.  Although they find it fun it really does help sharpen their perception and learn to spot things quickly and I found my 7yr was as able as the adults in this game with his eagerness to win.  Over the last few weeks we have played this multiple times and being quite a quick game, you can fit in a round anytime.

The LinkIt game is great fun, in particular my 7yr old thought it was the brilliant and is now one of his favourite games.  I love it because it’s quick, light hearted fun for all the family and being compact and in a tin makes it a top travel game – we’ll definitely be taking this on our 4 hour train trip next week!

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

i-SPY Books for Kids

i-SPY books for kids from Collins are a great way to entertain children especially when out and about, on long journeys or visiting new places. Pocket sized and packed with over sixty colour pages of things to spot along with useful facts, they are sure to keep children entertained.

With a lot of long journeys for us at this time of year I knew the children would love to try out the i-SPY On a car journey and i-SPY On a road trip books.  We will also be going on a ferry in a couple of months so I knew that the i-SPY On a ferry would be a hit with them then and keep them occupied.  They already been checking out the pages and seeing what they remember from the ferry last time and can’t wait to take it with them on our trip.

The books come with true to life photos of things to spot relevant to the theme of each book so it’s really easy to tell what you are looking for and tick it off once you’ve found it.   There’s even a points system where by each picture is worth a certain number of points which you can add up and apply online for a certificate when you reach 1000 points.  They’ll also send you a badge through the post – a nice little touch that gives that added bit of motivation to keep finding things!

My two children were excited when they caught sight of the new i-SPY books having been fans after using them several times previously and before we had even left the house they were flicking through deciding which things they really wanted to spot when we were out and about.  Just a few days later we embarked on a 260 mile round journey to visit their cousins so this was the perfect road trip to check the books out on.  One had On a car journey, the other had On a road trip and it proved great fun listening to them spotting things and helping each other out along with describing signs for me to look out for in order to help them.

The i-SPY range of books have always been popular with us and we’ve had a combination of both travel and nature themed books which always create a buzz with the children that not only encourages them to learn but they have great fun at the same time.

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

Bellz Magnetic Pickup Game

Bellz is a fun magnetic pick up game from Spin Master that all the family can join in with and is also great to take away with you as it comes with it’s own handy travel pouch that stores all the pieces and doubles up as the game board.  Aimed at ages 6+, my 8 and 6yr olds were keen to give it a try!

The game comprises of the following parts:

  • A zip up travel pouch/game board
  • A double ended magnet

Lots of colourful bells in various sizes and 4 colours

bellzThe idea of the came is to collect all of the bells in one colour.  The colour you collect is determined by the first colour you pick up that no one else is already collecting.  The magnetic wand is used to pick up the bells and has a bigger stronger magnet at one end and a less powerful one on the smaller end. It’s up to you which end you choose but we found the big end really strong so tended to play with the smaller side.

You can pick up as many bells as you want in each turn, as long as they are all of the same colour otherwise play passes to the next person.  With the strength of the magnet you can make a chain of bells which adds to the excitement.

bellz-2My children loved this game, the jingle of the bells kept them excited and the thrill of what they could collect on the magnet.  It is tricky, not as easy as it looks at all, but we did have our own rules to simplify it a little.  For such a simple game, it has been played many times over the last few weeks and it’s always lovely to see both concentration and smiles on their faces. I also love the travel pouch, a round neoprene zip up case that holds all of the bells and magnetic wand so the game is completely self contained. bellz-3 A fun family game that everyone can enjoy and is great to take on holidays, weekends away for a bit of healthy competition and fun!

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

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Sonic Chic Travel Toothbrush – Review

Sonic Chic toothbrush’s are a welcome addition to the dental market with their funky designed cases, these battery powered brushes are ideal for travelling or using on the go.  With the majority of us using electric toothbrushes these days, they are quite bulky to carry out of the house and there’s always that fear they’ll run out of charge.

sonic chic toothbrushThe Sonic Chic brush comes in a wide variety of brightly coloured patterned designs giving it a distinctive look and appeal.  It also means that everyone can have their own recognisable brush and you won’t get them mixed up.  The brush comes with everything you need to get started and can be used away.  It requires one AA battery which is included in the kit along with two brush heads.  The casing not only looks great but is simple to keep clean and having a hygenic cap means it’s great to just throw in your handbag for a quick freshen up.

sonic chic toothbrush 2The brush is quite powerful and certainly perfectly adequate for using out and about.  I used this recently on a trip away and it was great not having to worry about the charge running out and knowing if the battery was to go low I could just pop to a shop for a replacement.  It’s also really compact and just slipped into my toiletry bag and I knew that the brush head was protected.

I think these toothbrushes are a great alternative to electric ones for using away from home, weather it’s a quick freshen up after work before going out, at the gym, away for the weekend or a whole holiday.  Why worry about taking a charger, remembering to plug it in and the unhygenic toothbrush head rolling around in your wash bag.  For me it’s simple, Sonic chic toothbrushes are the answer!

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

 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save