Toys

Last week I dragged myself out of bed just before the postman got here. The kids had slept in and therefore, so had I.

After I received my post, I sat down bleary eyed in front of the fire to sort it out and was thrilled to find a small parcel from Hollie at ZZ Totz, containing paper puppets for my kids. We unwrapped them and started putting them together.

Unlike other things that we have had to put together that have taken ages, the paper puppets were completed with a little bit of glue and a steady hand in under five minutes. Brilliant.

They’ve been played with steadily ever since.

I think they’re fantastic and so brilliant for children and imaginary play. You can check out the whole range of puppets here, we’ve got Dracula and Frankenstein, and I’m going to look at getting some others to add to the collection.

We had A LOT of fun with the crystal garden, watching it grow.

Amy asked a little bit about the crystals, but not as much as I’d hoped she would. It was a good lesson in patience for both children though, even if they did wiggle my tripod every time they went to “check” on the garden.

This does require adult help, especially with adding the liquid. It kept Amy entralled for a few hours while it grew however.

Photos were taken as often as I remembered to snap them.

Thank you to Colorific and their PR team for sending us this!

Amy anxiously awaits the postman every morning, hoping that he will bring us something and that something will be for her. Last week she was lucky enough to receive a wooden jewellery box from Colorific in the post, to make and paint.

I figured we had nothing better to do, so sitting in front of the fire, we opened up the box and started working out how to put it together. We being the royal “we” and actually meaning “me”, sorting out pieces of wood and trying to make sure Isaac didn’t scarper off with anything.

Finally, I had sort of worked out what I was doing and we (I) started putting it together. It was a little tricky and we had some moments where everything collapsed back into its separate components, leaving me covered in glue and anguish, but all in all, it was great fun.

It took about an hour to put together, with drying time included.

And then came the painting.

Oh my god, the painting.

Amy is … literal. Very literal and so we had to decorate the jewellery box to look exactly like the one on the box it came in. No deviations, no arguments. It was interesting, to say the least. I did make her spread the glitter glue out however, rather than painting it around the edges. Baby steps.

But we got there in the end and did it. We only covered a small patch of the carpet in paint (totally an improvement) and Isaac didn’t start screaming until the end. That’s all kinds of bonuses right there.

Not a bad effort though!

You can find Pink Poppy online here.

When the Little Tikes toys were first being given out, I didn’t get one because I was too busy chatting to Louisa. However, later on, the brand representative went around with the spare toys, asking if anyone wanted a second, because she really didn’t want to haul them all back to the office again.

I was immediately more favourable towards the brand, SOLELY because of their brand rep and her manner, which proves that the people you have working for you are just as important as the products.

Obviously I got a train, which I wouldn’t have had otherwise. So thank you.

You can see the Little Tikes Train here.