TIG-TAG | Review

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Disclosure - We were sent a TIG-TAG for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

There is an eleven year age gap between big and little J so finding a game that they can both play has always been a struggle. Little J would be too young for some and big J not interested in others. One common ground has always been playing outside. Whether it's football, garden or chase games their love of playing outside has always meant that they could spend time together having fun. We were recently sent TIG-TAG which is an exciting new outdoor game designed to get the whole family up and playing together.

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Hape Anywhere Art Studio | Review

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Disclosure - We were sent the Hape Anywhere Art studio for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own.

We have been very lucky this Summer to be able to get away for a few days visiting different parts of the country. I usually pack a variety of toys to keep little J busy when we are travelling or staying over in a hotel but this time I only took with us the Hape Anywhere Art Studio that we had been sent to review.

The Hape Anywhere Art Studio is a portable tabletop easel which has a whiteboard on one side a chalk board on the other.

When you are ready to play you prop the easel up turning the adjustable knobs tightly so that the easel holds in place.

That is it. Your easel is ready to play with and all you need to do is to decide whether you want to use the whiteboard or the chalk board side.

If using the whiteboard side then you can choose to use whiteboard markers directly in the board (whiteboard markers are not included) or you can use the magnet to hold a piece of paper in place and draw directly on to the paper. The choice is yours.

If using the chalk board then you can use one of the two chunky chalks that are included to create your drawing. When you are finished you can use the eraser to rub it out and start again.

The Hape Anywhere Art Studio is perfect to play with at home or even when you are out and about. Little J absolutely loves drawing, painting and any other creative activities he can think of. The Anywhere Art Studio is completely portable and also very easy to set up. It's been ideal for us this Summer while we have been travelling around and little J loves it.

For more information visit Hape. The Anywhere Art Studio is available to buy in most good toy stores or online

Michelle

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Little Brian Paint Sticks 2-in-1 Art Station | Review

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Disclosure - We were sent the Little Brian Paint Sticks 2-in-1 art station for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post also includes affiliate links.

I have mentioned a few times recently that due to a few rainy play days at home and school little J has really started to enjoy lots of different creative activities. He has brought home a variety of drawings and paintings from school and now has an art drawer at home filled lots of different materials to allow him to be as creative as he likes. We were recently introduced to Little Brian Paint Sticks and I have to say they are an amazing invention. Looking like a glue stick you can use the solid paint stick to create lots of mess free paintings. 

We were sent the Little Brian Paint Sticks 2-in-1 Art Station which is perfect for the Summer holidays whether we are at home or out and about. The art station opens up to reveal a double sided easel with a white board on one side and a chalk board on the other. 

The 6 coloured paint sticks can be used on the white board directly or you can use the clip to hold a piece of paper in place so they can paint direct on to the paper. All you need to do is twist the paint stick and the solid paint will appear at the top and just start painting. 

The chalks that are included in the art station again are completely mess free and do not leave a chalky residue that you get with normal chalk. You just twist the chalk and you are ready to go. 

Once you have finished playing it all packs away neatly and can be carried using the handle. 

The Little Brian Paint Sticks 2-in-1 art Station is ideal for playing with at home however it is compact enough to take away with you to on either holiday or a day out to keep the little ones busy.

Michelle

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Ugly Dolls Prize Pack | Giveaway

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Disclosure - We were gifted this pack to give away

To celebrate the launch of Ugly Dolls An Imperfect Adventure Game I am giving away an Ugly Dolls Prize Pack to one lucky reader.

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Yeti In My Spaghetti | Review

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Disclosure - We received Yeti In My Spaghetti for the purpose of this post. We have also been offered another to give away. This post also contains affiliate links.

The Summer holidays will soon be here and I have been planning lots of activities to enjoy with little J. One of our favourite things to do together is to play games. Little J loves games and although we own plenty, including some from when Big J was little, we love having new additions to our games collection. Yeti In My Spaghetti is the latest addition. It's a fun, fast paced game that is perfect to keep the kids entertained and I have a Yeti In My Spaghetti to giveaway to one of our readers.

Yeti In My Spaghetti is a simple but very fun game to play aimed at ages 4+. Setup is really easy. All you need to do is place the bowl on a flat surface, place the noodle pieces on top of the bowl in all different directions and then place the Yeti on top. Each player takes turns to pull one noodle at a time  from the top of the bowl, whilst trying not to let the yeti fall in to the bowl. Once the Yeti falls into the bowl the game is over and if you made him fall you are the loser.

Our giveaway to win Yeti in the Spaghetti may be closed but you can still enjoy the game by purchasing on Amazon 

Win Yeti In My Spaghetti

Michelle

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Baby Shark Let's Go Hunt Game and Wooden Sound Puzzle | Review

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Disclosure - We were gifted both Baby Shark Let's Go Hunt Game and Wooden Sound Puzzle. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

 I would like to assume that everyone knows the song Baby Shark and if you don't I can also assume you haven't been living on this planet for a year. Baby Shark is so popular with little ones and I can promise you if you are heading on holiday this Summer it will probably be a firm favourite at Mini Disco. We have been trying out Baby Shark Let's Go Hunt Game and Baby Shark Wooden Sound Puzzle for the last few weeks and they are a lovely addition to the very popular toy range.

The Let's Go Hunt game is a slow moving 'fishing' type game where each player grabs a rod and tries to hook a fish as it bobs up and down on the game board.

The game is designed for those 4+ and for between 2-4 players. Each player uses the rod to carefully catch the fish as it opens and closes its mouth. Now it may sound easy but it's quite tricky but lots of fun. There is an added bonus of the Baby Shark song playing as you fish.

There is a pattern to the fishes opening and closing their mouths which little J worked out very quickly however that doesn't mean he caught all the fish. You have to carefully place the rod in their mouth and hook it on to their sharp teeth. If you don't they tend to flip upside down.

It's a lovely game that little J actually enjoyed playing on his own too.

The Baby Shark Wooden Sound Puzzle is a 5 piece shark puzzle with colourful and chunky puzzle pieces. When you correctly place the shark in the right place it will sing the Baby Shark song however it will play the part of the song corresponding to the correct piece eg Mummy Shark, Grandma Shark. Lovely feature to the puzzle.

Baby Shark Wooden Sound Puzzle is aimed at those 2+ so was a little easy for little J however it's perfect for when his younger cousins come to play.

Although our giveaway may be closed you can still enjoy Baby Shark Wooden Sound Puzzle and Lets Go Hunt game by purchasing on Amazon

Win Baby Shark Wooden Sound Puzzle

Michelle

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Smashers Epic Dino Egg | Review

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Disclosure - We were sent the Smashers Epic Dino Egg for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

Today is hatching day for our Smashers Epic Dino Egg. We received the huge egg a few days ago and Little J has been so excited waiting for the day when he could 'smash' the egg open. We are huge fans of Smashers and have built up quite a collection of Smashers including Smashers Dino so we can't wait to see the surprises inside.

The Smashers Epic Dino Egg has over 25 surprises inside. If your little one is a fan of blind bag type toys then this egg will be perfect for them.

Cracking open the egg was lots of fun. Little J tossed it in the air and let it fall to the ground. Each time a little crack appeared so he did it over and over until it smashed in to 4 pieces and a package popped out of the Dino Egg.

Inside was a Fossil Rock, Fizzy Lava, Dino Dirt, Glowing Slime and an Ice Age Putty. Each one of these will reveal a Dinosaur body part that once you uncover them all will create a large Dino figure. 

Also included was 6 Smashers Dino eggs which include a Dino collectible inside. 

Little J can't wait to create his Dino. We have played with Fossil Rock and Fizzy Lava before. All you need to do is add some water and watch as the Dino appears. Little J loves slime so this will be very popular and also the Dino Dirt sounds fun too.  

Little J is also excited to crack open his Smashers Dino Eggs to see what Dino collectibles he has found which he will add to his Smashers Dino collection. 

The Smashers Epic Dino Egg is currently available to buy in most major toy stores and supermarkets.

Michelle

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Celebrating National Picnic Week With John Adams

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Disclosure - We received the three travel games below for the purpose of this giveaway. Any thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post contains affiliate links.

As you can probably tell from our blog we love being outdoors and travel around a lot. One thing we love to do together is have a picnic. There isn't anything better than heading out with a picnic to enjoy. Between the 21st and the 30th June it is National Picnic Week and we have teamed up with John Adams to giveaway a travel game that you can enjoy while you are out and about.

We love playing games and usually take a selection with us if we go out for the day. We recently received a selection of new games from John Adams to enjoy and as they are travel size they are perfect to play on the go.

I am giving one lucky reader the chance to winner a Travel game from the following three we have been playing this week.

Triominos Sunshine

Triominos Sunshine is a bright and colourful version of the classic game Triominos. Triominos is the classic triangular domino game which is lots of fun. Each Triomino tile has numbers on players score points by matching numbers on the three-sided playing pieces to pieces that are already in play.

Little J really likes this game and he found it quite easy to understand the rules although does need help with the scoring part of the game.

Othello On The Move

Othello is a classic fast-paced strategy game. The idea behind the game is you must try to trap your rival's playing pieces and turn them over. The lead can change at any moment with a flip of a disk and the player with the most pieces of the same colour wins.

We've never played Othello before but we're enjoying the travel version. It's easy to set up and use and John and I have been playing in the garden in the evening.

Rummikub Travel

Rummikub is a numbers strategy game which is played with 106 tiles. The object of the game to be the first player to Rummikub. Rummikub means you have placed all the tiles from your tile rack onto the table before anyone else. You can lay your tiles down in number runs and colour groups.

The travel version of this game is so compact you could fit all the tiles in a small makeup bag or pencil case.

Although our giveaway may be closed you can still enjoy the games by buying online at Amazon

Celebrate National Picnic Week and Win A John Adams Travel Game

Michelle

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EasyRead Time Teacher Watch | Review

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Disclosure - We were sent the EasyRead Time Teacher Watch for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post also contains affiliate links.

Most kids will be excited to just have 6 weeks left in school before the Summer, however little J is really looking forward to learning all about their new topic at school this term, learning to tell the time. Time is something we have tried to teach little J in the past but he wasn't ready. We were recently sent the EasyRead Time Teacher watch and we are hoping combining the watch and learning about time in school he will soon be a whizz at telling the time.

The EasyRead Time Teacher Watch comes in two different versions, minutes past and minutes to the hour or 12 and 24 hour. We tell the time using minutes past and minutes to so we chose this watch for little J.

We ordered the EasyRead Time Teacher minutes past and to watch with a red and blue face and a blue strap however there are lots of colour choices available.

How the watch works is very simple to understand. To read the time in minutes-past and minutes-to the hour we have taught little J the three simple steps that make up the 3-step teaching system.

Step 1. Read the number at the end of the long hand

Step 2. Say which side the long hand is pointing to (past or to)

Step 3. Read the number at the end of the short hand

Put it together and say it like it is. 10 minutes past 10.

The watch has a 33mm diameter and the large clear dial shows every detail little J needs. The hands tell him which numbers to read.

I was so pleased to read that the watch strap is washable as little J being a typical boy gets very muddy I know the watch strap won't stay a nice shade of blue for very long.

Little J is really enjoying telling the time and has picked it up quite quickly thanks to the watch. I am hoping it has given him a little head start when he begins his 'time' topic in school this month.

Michelle

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Celebrating 35 Years Of Tetris | Review

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

I only found out about two weeks ago that the 6th June is World Tetris Day. It's a day to celebrate one of the most recognised video games of all time. This year World Tetris Day is also a time to celebrate the 35th birthday of Tetris. To join in with the Tetris fun we have been sent Tetris Dual and Tetris Speed games to play and also a set to giveaway.

Little J loves games so when he saw the duo he was quick to open them and hand me the instructions. I am always the one to read the rules and then teach everyone how to play.

Tetris Dual is a quick thinking head-to-head, tabletop strategy game based on the original Tetris. Set up was easy and play is very similar to Tetris in that your aim is to drop the Tetrimino shapes displayed on the LCD screen into the play grid. You score points by placing a shape next to one of your own colour, completing a full row and cleverly blocking your opponent.

Little J got the hang of this really quickly and after a few games he beat me, which shocked me as I had always thought of myself as the Tetris Queen.

It's a really quick game in that you have to think and act fast as the more shapes you can fit in to the grid in the time limit the more points you will score.

Tetris Speed is a fast card game where a card is placed down in the middle and the remaining cards are divided amongst the players. The card in the middle shows the next Tetrimino shape to be played, so players must race to play a matching card from their hand but if you take your eyes off the cards for a second someone else may have played that card and already moved on to the next shape.

I thought little J would really like Tetris Speed as he loves card games such as snap and top trumps but I think it may just be slightly too old for him as he got quite frustrated when he could hold all his cards in one hand and again its very fast paced so while he was still looking for the correct shape we had already moved on to the next. I do think though this will be one for him to enjoy in the future.

Our giveaway may be closed but you can still enjoy Tetris games by purchasing them on Amazon.

Win Tetris Dual an Tetris Speed Games

Michelle

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Giveaway | PJ Masks Super Moon Adventure Bundle

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Disclosure -  I have been compensated for my time creating this post

PJ Masks heroes Catboy, Gekko and Owlette will return to our screens every day on Tiny Pop at 7:30am and 5:30pm from May 24th. The high energy super hero show aimed at pre-schoolers follows the trio as they head into the night to save the day.

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Review | Untamed Dragons

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Disclosure - We were gifted an untamed dragon for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

Fingerlings have been so popular over the last few years but if I am honest little J hasn't been interested in them previously. He has seen them in the shops, on TV and even a few of his friends have them but he has never asked for one so I didn't buy. That all changed a few weeks ago when he saw the Untamed Dragons range of Fingerlings.

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Review | Robozuna Figures

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Disclosure - We were gifted the products for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

We have been watching the adventures of Ariston and Mangle over on Netflix recently and little J is hooked. Robozuna is all about a teenage boy and his homemade robot. They face lots of challenges and battles throughout the series and the range of toys means we can create our own battles at home. 

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Smashers Series 3 DINO Review

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Disclosure - We were gifted products for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

This week I planned an Easter Egg hunt at home for little J. He loves doing treasure hunts, usually for sweet treats but this hunt didn't involve chocolate, this hunt was a little bit different. We recently received a huge Smashers Series 3 Dino bundle which included an Easter hunt challenge for us to enjoy. We have played with Smashers before so I knew little J would love them.

To prepare for the Egg Hunt I cut out 11 dino shaped eggs and hid them inside and outside. When I was done little J searched high and low using his magnifying glass to try and find all 11 eggs. I may have hidden them a bit too well so I did have to use the 'getting hotter' 'getting colder' method to help him find all 11. Once he did his reward was to open up the Smashers Series 3 Dino Eggs.

It’s time to go back to the land before time… with Smashers Series 3 DINO. Smash open the Smash Egg to find what’s crawling inside! Will you find the Dig n’ Find Rare Dino Fossils? Smash your Smashers on the ground, to the wall or anywhere you can think and start building your Smashers collection today. Little J loves Dinosaurs so I knew this series would be a hit.

First we opened our Smashers Smash Rex set. Rex comes with 2 exclusive figures. If you want to you can actually smash your Smashers eggs in Rex's mouth. Little J loved watching Rex crunch the egg until it smashed and then if he pressed Rex's back we watched him poop it out.

The playset contains two exclusive Smashers and Collector’s Guide as well as the Smash Rex figure. There’s also a Smash Egg Rebuilder. We  have finally managed to master rebuilding the Smashers eggs.

Little J loves blind bag type toys and although the multi pack packaging allows you to see some of the characters in your pack,  the rest are hidden away waiting to be discovered. Series 3 Dino comes in single packs, packs of 3, packs of 8, packs of 12 and also packs of 20. As with most blind bag type toys there are lots to collect with series 3 having over 100 characters. Each pack contains a Collector’s Guide which is great to keep track of which characters you have found and also if you have found any rare or ultra-rare Smashers. In the past we have been quite lucky and found gold and silver characters. This series we have found quite a few exclusives, fossils rocks and an ultra rare one too.

Smashers Series 3 Dino are available to buy in most good toy shops and online too.

Michelle

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Review | Rollplay Nighthawk Ride On Toy

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Disclosure - We were gifted products for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. 

Little J turned 6 last month and his birthday wishes were to receive lots of outdoor toys. He loves to be outside and as soon as he wakes up he always wants to go in the garden straight away no matter what the weather. While we were away last week little J actually got a very special delivery. Rollplay have sent little J their Nighthawk Ride On Toy to review and he couldn't be happier.

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