Review | Kinetic Sand Beach Sand Kingdom

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Summer may be over but we have been trying out Kinetic Beach Sand for the last few weeks and its made us feel like we are back in Cyprus. The Kinetic Sand actually feels like wet beach sand and the set includes a variety of moulds and tools so perfect for making lots of sandcastles.

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Review | Ready 2 Robot

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When we were asked if we wanted to review Ready 2 Robot I said yes straight away as I had already read about the range and knew little J would love them. Ready 2 Robot is a very similar to LOL dolls in where there are lots of different surprises as you unwrap. Little J is really into bling bag type toys and if he's not buying similar toys with his pocket money he's watching kids open them on You Tube Kids.

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Review | Oonies Inflator Starter Pack and Orbeez Wowzer Surprise

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I love this time of year for lots of reasons and one of those reasons is that darker evenings means we 'play' inside a lot more. Little J has already started choosing to play games inside rather than playing in the garden. So we have been swopping football and trampolining for lots of indoor play. The past few weeks we have been playing with the Oonies Inflator Starter Kit and The Orbeez Wow World Wowzer Surprise Magical Pets.

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Review | Schleich Dino Set With Cave

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Little J loves playing with Dinosaurs and why not? They are big, scary and cool and playing dinosaurs gives you the chance to roar loudly, stomp your feet and pretend you are the most powerful creature to ever roam the Earth. When we were sent the Schleich Dino Set With Cave I knew little J would love it. He already has dinosaur figures so adding more to his collection and also a play set would definitely enhance his play.

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Review | We Have Adopted A Fuggler

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Have you ever wanted to open a letter or parcel but you know that you shouldn't because the circumstances could be catastrophic. Well last week a parcel arrived and we were desperate to take a peek inside but the box was clearly marked with a warning. Did we package the parcel back up and return to sender? Nope, however looking back now that could have been the better option. Inside our package was a Fuggler, I don't think I have seen anything as ugly in my life and those teeth... they are  insane. It is quite clear that our Fuggler was sent to us to turn our normal happy home into chaos.

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Review | Schleich Eldrador Creatures, Lava Golem

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One of our favourite things to play with are figures. We have so many and they all stay together in one big box so when it comes to play time they can all get involved. Little J uses his imagination to create a world where all the figures live. Some are goodies and some are baddies and the world usually involves them fighting each other. We were recently sent a new figure to add to our collection. Lava Golem is an Eldrador Creature from Schleich.

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Review | Schleich Wild Life 4x4 Vehicle With Winch

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We absolutely love Schleich and our collection is growing nicely thanks to our latest addition, the Schleich wild life 4x4 vehicle with winch. I knew this was going to fit well with little J's animal collection as the vehicle is a rangers 4x4 and it comes with a ranger, called David.

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Review | Crate Creatures Surprise Sizzle

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We had a very interesting delivery last week for little J, a crate which was all locked up and inside was a very unexpected surprise. Firstly we had to unlock the crate using the crowbar supplied and the once the lock was open we popped open the lid and up popped Sizzle.

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1:16 RC Ultimate Lightning McQueen

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Disclosure - We were sent the product below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are ours unless stated. This post contains affiliate links. 

The 1:16 RC Ultimate Lightning McQueen is the perfect choice for any Cars fan with some very special effects.

You may have read a few months ago that we headed to the cinema to see Disney Pixar Cars 3. It was our first ever visit to the cinema with Little J but he loves Cars so much we knew it would be the perfect first time experience for him. As such a huge fan of Cars and Lightning McQueen I knew little J would be thrilled when he opened the 1:16 RC Ultimate Lightning McQueen.

                

Little J has quite a few remote control Lightning's but they were originally big J's from when he was younger so as you can imagine the features and design on the Ultimate RC Lightning McQueen are so more advanced and little J is absolutely hooked. 

Disney Pixar Cars 3 1:16 RC Ultimate Lightning has many functions including

2,4GHz Remote Control

On/ Off button on the bottom of the cars

Light and Sound

Rev and Turbo

Drifting

Reverse Parking

Donut turns (360 degree turns)

Brake

Smoke

As you can imagine from the list little J was most intrigued by donut turns and the idea of smoke. None of his cars he owns has these functions so they were the first he wanted to try out. 

Donut turns were extremely fun and using the button on the remote control you can make Lightning spin 360 degrees. 

Smoking is an amazing feature that I wasn't sure how would work. Basically there is a small water tank under Lightning which you fill with water. Then when you are ready to make Lightning smoke from behind his back wheels you press the smoke button. 

The smoke is like a mist effect but looks just like the real thing and little J loves it. 

We are extremely impressed with the quality, design and functions on the Ultimate Lightning McQueen. The remote control is the perfect size for little hands and although the buttons take a little getting used to little J is know a whizz. 

1:16 RC Ultimate Lightning McQueen is available to buy in most good toy stores and online at Amazon

Michelle

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Enjoying The Warm Weather Plus The Chance To Win An Amazon Voucher

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Summer will soon be here and if you have been lucky enough to experience the warm weather recently then you will know a little bit of sun puts everyone in a good mood. We definitely feel much better when we can be out and about having lots of fun in the garden. We've had lots of play days in the garden, paddling in the pool and playing with little J's new garden toys he got for his birthday. This has been the first time ever I have enjoyed playing in the garden and it's all because we had astro turf fitted last year. Its amazing and I would definitely recommend it.

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Review - Rory's Story Cubes

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Disclosure - We were sent the products below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our unless stated. This post may contains affiliate links. 

As you may already know we are a Board Game Club blogger and each month we receive a game to play. We received something a little different this month, Rory's Story Cubes. I have never heard of them before so we were all  eager to try them out. The idea behind the story cubes is you create a story using all nine icons shown on the cubes that you roll out in front of you.

The nine cubes have various images on and once rolled out you let your imagination take over. They come in a handy pocket sized box that closes with a magnet so you could take them anywhere.

At first I was unsure how or when we would use something like this as it's not actually a game. There is no board, rules or winner at the end. I did check the website for inspiration on how or when we could play this and it gave me lots of ideas.

Fun storytelling for family and friends, create magical moments with all generations, especially useful for the holidays.

Promoting literacy and language in the classroom – used and endorsed by educators across the globe.

Teaching Foreign Languages – endorsed by TEFL educators.

Creative Writing aid – Used for improving creative writing skills and as a tool when hitting the dreaded writer’s block.

Background story generator in role playing games – Create background stories and character scenarios for your next role playing game.

Ice breaker – At a party or in a work meeting, break the ice by rolling the dice and create shared experiences.

Idea generation and problem solving.

Agile coaching.

Bedtime stories – Create unique stories and adventures with your little ones every night. Never run out of ideas.

Improves social connections – Encourages, empathy and self esteem through storytelling.

It's amazing how a package so small and simple can be used in so many ways. We have used ours at bedtime to create a story for little J. It's been so much fun because you can take the story anywhere and create as much fun and silliness as you want. Each night has been a different story and last night little J created his own.

What We Loved

Handy sized cubes that are portable.

Lots of different uses.

Allows us to create unique stories each night at bedtime. 

What Could Improve

Nothing, we love them

You can read more about Rory's Story Cubes and check out the full range available. Rory's Story Cubes retail at £9.99 and can be purchased online and on Amazon

Michelle

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Chad Valley Post Office Review

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Disclosure - We were sent the product below for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own unless stated. This post may contain affiliate links. 

One of my favourite toys when I was younger was my Post Office play set. I would play with it for hours and I remember picking up leaflets and paying in slips when we visited the post office so I could add them to my play set. When Chad Valley sent us their Post Office Play Set it brought back so many memories. I knew little J would love it as he loves anything like this especially as it has lots of accessories.

The play set looks like a post box but when opened it turns in to a post office counter. It comes with lots of different accessories including money, stamps and parcels. 

Little J loves adding stamps to the letters, postcards and parcels. We have used the money to help with little J's basic addition and subtraction and it has really helped. He likes to work out the correct amount of change he needs to give us. 

The post office also comes with driving license, tax disc and savings book. We received a stamper in our post office however there was no ink pad so we had to improvise and use paint. I'm not sure whether it was supposed to come come with an ink pad or not as I couldn't find an exact list of contents in the box. 

As a play set it is quite sturdy but it can be quite tricky to unfold and set up, it definitely needs an adults help. 

What We Loved

Folds away in to a post box. Easy to store and carry. 

Lots of accessories.

Perfect role play toy and great for a little ones imagination.

What Could Improve

No ink pad.

Little J has really enjoyed playing with the Post Office play set and I know this will be something he will continue to play with. I will add a few extra accessories to add the fun including some extra money. 

The Chad Valley Post is available to buy at Argos and Amazon and is currently priced £16.99

Michelle

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Review - Chad Valley Air Pump Loader

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As you may already know we are part of the Chad Valley Play Panel and this month we have been sent the Chad Valley Air Pump Loader to try out. We have said it before but we are huge fans of Chad Valley and have been since we were children so for us to be able to showcase their toys on our blog is a huge honour for us. Even before we were on the panel are home was full of Chad Valley toys and I know it will continue to be like that until little J is too old for them.

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Christmas Stocking Filler Ideas For All The Family

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Happy Christmas Twirlywoos

I have to admit that I haven't bought any Christmas gifts yet this year which is not like me as I usually begin as early as September. However I have started to make a note of some gift ideas that I have seen on other blogs and I have been sent some fabulous gift ideas to share with you. I have popped them below and I hope you enjoy having a browse.

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Review - Shark Bite by Drumond Park

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We have a new addition to our every growing games collection this month and it's Shark Bite by Drumond Park. I've mentioned it before but even though he is only 4,  little J absolutely loves playing games and playing them regularly as a family as really helped with learning to share and take turns. Little J loves 'fun' games and Shark Bite really is just that. It's a game where you have to go fishing in a shark's mouth before he snaps it shut.

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Board Game Club Blogger - Pandemic

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I have said before just how much we enjoy playing board games. We love playing games suitable for kids, family and adults. We love finding new games to play so when we were asked to join the Blogger Board Game Club a few months ago we had to say yes. It’s the perfect opportunity to try our new games and add to our ever growing collection. When this month’s game arrived we were excited to see it was an ‘adult’ type game. Pandemic puts you on a disease fighting team with the hopes that you will not only keep four deadly diseases at bay but also discover their cure.

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Disney Guess The Film

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Disclosure - We were gifted Disney Guess The Film by Jumbo for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

Disney Guess The Film game will test your knowledge of Disney movies by showing you just a small part of a bigger image. To win a token you must get correctly, if you don't you are frozen out the round. Disney fun for all the family.

Setup for the game is really easy as are the rules. Guess the Film is similar to Guess Who however you are guessing a film not a person. 

How To Play

Shuffle all the movie image sheets that you’re going to play with and put them in the holder at the back of the screen with the coloured strip facing upwards. 

The sheets are divided into three levels of difficulty

Green - Easy 

Bue - Medium 

Red - Advanced level

 When playing you take turns rolling the dice and open the window with the corresponding colour to the die. 

Each coloured window reveals part of an image from the Disney film, and it’s down to you to guess which film the image is from. You must shout the film name out loud and the turn the screen towards you to check if you are correct. If you do guess correctly, you win a Mickey token. If you guessed incorrectly then you are frozen out of this round. If you don't want to guess you can just close the window and play will continue which the next player.  

If you roll the dice and reveal a star you can open any coloured window of your choice. 

The first player to earn four Mickey tokens wins the game.

Depending how good your knowledge is of Disney films each game can last up to approx 20 minutes.  You can play with as little as 2 players and it's recommend for ages 4+.

Disney Guess The Film really does test your knowledge of Disney and is a fun game for all the family. 

Unfortunately our giveaway is now closed however you can still enjoy Disney's Guess the Film by heading to Amazon to buy

I am always so grateful for any support I receive on my blog and social channels. If you did find this post useful there are a few ways that you could say thanks and support Playdays and Runways.

Have you played this game? Leave us a comment below and let us know what you thought. 

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Michelle

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Review - Hot Wheels Roto Revolution

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Hot Wheels has been popular with us since Big J was small. We have amassed a decent sized collection of Hot Wheels cars, and Little J loves each and every one of them . We were asked to review the Hot Wheels Roto Revolution Track Set, and Little J was so excited to try it out.

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Review - Mi Mic

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As a family we love trying out new gadgets so we were eager to receive Mi Mic Microphone. We had seen it on TV and it looked great and lots of fun. The Mi Mic Microphone is a karaoke microphone and speaker in one. 

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Super Wings Scan 'n Talk Flyer Jett

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You may remember back in the Summer I teamed up with the lovely people at Alpha Animation and became a Super Wings Ambassador. If you missed it then just to let you know Super Wings is a hugely popular, action-packed, animation series that can be watched twice daily on Cartoonito. Little J absolutely loves watching Super Wings and we have just started to watch series 2. I have teamed up with Alpha Animation again for a fabulous giveaway to win a Scan 'n Talk Flyer Jett.

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