Review - Geomag Classic 142 piece set

 I received this set in exchange for a review

My son loves magnets and construction sets, and he already owns several sets in the Geomag range. He really enjoys how these simple pieces can be easily put together to form all sorts of different shapes and constructions, and he was delighted to have the opportunity to try out a new set which could be added to the ones that he already owns.

The Geomag Classic 142 piece set contains magnetic balls and rods which can be fitted together in many different ways. The set comes with an instruction sheet for inspiration, or you can just play with the pieces and fit them together as you like. The set also contains some base boards which can be used for supporting and displaying your creations.

The generous number of pieces in this large set means that he was able to build all sorts of interesting things! He was particularly proud of this bridge which uses two of the base plates for support. The pieces are made from 100% recycled plastic and they are sturdy enough that they will last for a long time, they are definitely a toy which can be passed down through the generations.

He was particularly pleased when he discovered that he was able to build his favourite shape - a dodecahedron - when he combined this set with some of the pieces from his other set! Although these sets are suitable from age 3+ there is definitely plenty of play appeal in them for older children and even adults too.

You can find my reviews of two other sets in the same series here:

Geomag Glow 60 piece set

Geomag Supercolour 42-Piece Magnetic Building Set

Review - Geomag Glow 60 Piece Set

I received this set in exchange for a review 

My son loves magnets and construction sets, and so he was delighted to have the chance to try out a GeoMag Glow set. This 60 piece set is aimed at all ages from 3+.

There are four sets in the GeoMag Glow range with a choice of 25, 42, 60 pieces and a new 93 piece set. The magnetic rods, panels and spheres click and snap together to form three dimensional creations that glow in the dark. I recently reviewed the Geomag Supercolour 42-Piece Magnetic Building Set which contains compatible balls and sticks. These two sets can be combined to make larger structures, and the pieces work with other sets in the range to make even bigger models.

The set also comes with some small bespoke plastic storage containers, which are great for keeping the pieces together and organised. 

My son loves playing with these sets even though he is a teenager now. He finds it really relaxing and satisfying to slot the pieces together, and enjoys coming up with his own creations. It's a great toy for him to fiddle with while he's working on something at his desk! For younger children the GeoMag toys are perfect for developing fine motor skills and spatial thinking. The pieces fit together easily and the finished models are sturdy and can be easily carried around for approval and admiration.

The plastic pieces are made with 100% recycled plastic and are particularly fun to play with while glowing in the dark, or left to make a soft glow in the corner of a darkened room at bedtime. The set comes with a detailed instruction sheet, it's worth noting that it does include pictures of designs which require more than one set to build. However most children won't mind this as as they will be more interested in making up their own creations.

My son really enjoyed playing with this set and I've loved seeing all the different creations that he has come up with!

Sorting out our masses of Lego and Playmobil

We are lucky enough to have a guest bedroom on the top floor of our house, a big room with a double bed and plenty of floor space. But during covid and those long months at home I allowed the children to use the guest bedroom as a playroom and a home for their many and varied large Lego and Playmobil sets. The children don't play up there anymore, and we don't heat the top floor over the winter, so I had forgotten just how messy it was. Faced with the imminent prospect of house guests I ventured up to see what I could do to tidy it, and I was quite overwhelmed when I realised the scale of the job in hand.

They had several large Playmobil sets with pieces scattered across the room, and most of the pieces from multiple sets all jumbled together in a large miscellaneous box. Then there were Lego sets, some set up, some half dismantled, all covered in dust and all mixed up. I'm usually quite organised when it comes to the toys and I found it really stressful to see them all in such confusion! So I decided it was time to have a good sort out.

We decided that we wanted to keep the larger Playmobil sets and all of the Lego, which is fine and I'm happy for it to be kept, but I wanted it all in order. I had kept all the instructions and inventories for each set, so I hauled them all out and began on a mammoth sorting task beginning with the Playmobil.

It was quite a job, and it took me many hours spent up in the cold room. I went through all the pieces and worked out which set they went with. I managed to find the vast majority and assign them to a set, there are a few small bits missing but there are more than enough pieces to make up playable sets. The smaller sets were bagged up and lent to my parents for my niece to play with when she visits.

The Lego was more difficult. While looking for a picture for this blog post I came across this ancient post - How I organised the Lego - and I had to laugh at how much simpler our Lego set up was way back then! The children chose their favourite sets and took them away for display in their rooms. Then I broke up the smaller sets and put them away in boxes, as well as sorting through the huge tub of miscellaneous Lego bricks to find any missing parts.

Again, I couldn't find everything, but I think I did a decent job. Now that it is mostly packed away I have officially handed it over to the children. I've said we will store it for them as they are good quality toys that they want to keep, but as soon as they own their own homes with a loft they become their responsibility, and if they want to make some pennies by selling it all on eBay sooner then they are welcome to!

It's amazing what a difference sorting it all out has made to me. Even though I wasn't seeing the room daily, it was always there as a future job at the back of my mind and now it's done! It was a little bit emotional for me because I have loved watching them play with these toys over the years and now they are all grown up. It's not perfect as we still have lots of boxes of toys. But I do keep going up there to admire all the extra space that we now have, and how clean and dust free it all is!

Review - Geomag Supercolour 42-Piece Magnetic Building Set

I received this set in exchange for a review.

My son has always been fascinated by magnets and construction sets, but he's never had a magnetic construction kit of his own to play with. So when I was offered the chance to review the Geomag Supercolour 42-Piece Magnetic Building Set I couldn't resist seeing what he would make of it! This 42 piece set is aimed at all ages from 3+.

The set comes with two bases, a hexagon and a square, and a selection of magnetic balls and sticks. The pieces can be fitted into the bases to build the shapes or they can be put together separately. The solid plastic pieces are made of 100% recycled plastic and I really like the fact that the set comes with a couple of small bespoke storage boxes to help keep things neat and tidy.

The magnets are very powerful and it's easy to understand how they can be fitted together to make different shapes. When a model is complete it's sturdy, and for an older child it makes a great desk toy for them to fidget and play around with.

The set comes with detailed instructions to help children learn about the different shapes that they can make, along with several different designs that can be copied. It is worth noting that the instruction leaflet features a few more detailed constructions that it isn't possible to build with the pieces from just one set. I don't think that this would be a problem for a younger children, but if you are looking for a construction set for an older child then that's something to bear in mind.

My son had a lot of fun with this set and I think that it's a great toy for any curious child that is interested in how things fit together and learning about how magnets work.

My old toys that the children played with (and those they didn't)

I was very lucky that my parents had both the loft space and the inclination to keep lots of my old toys for me. They didn't keep nearly everything of course, but plenty of my childhood favourites made it back to me once I had loft space of my own. 

I've loved watching the children play with my old toys, and some of them have been played with as much as I did. In particular the Duplo - I have a lovely vintage Duplo supermarket set and some Lego Fabuland sets which I remember being bought for me when I was little. We've topped up the Duplo box with their own sets, and it was their most played with toy when they were younger. In fact I wrote all about our love affair with Duplo a few years back. It's still at the front of the toy cupboard as I can't bear to pack it all away just yet, I think they'd still play with it now if I got it out!

I had lots of Lego too, in particular an old Lego train set which still chugs its way around the tracks alongside Harry's newer versions. I've found that the older sets had many more generic pieces, simple blocks and the like, which makes them great for open ended building. When friends come round I often just tip out the big box of Lego in the living room for them to rummage through.

We also have a few of my old board games which they've enjoyed playing, in particular Game of Life and Cluedo. Sadly one of my favourite trivia board games, The Game of Knowledge, seems to have been lost at some point, but most of the questions are probably completely out of date now anyway!

However not all of my old toys were a hit with mine. I remember spending hours playing with my My Little Ponies when I was young, but mine weren't really interested at all. Mia had some of the newer style My Little Ponies but she never really got into them. I used to play with them as though they were horses, making them go over jumps and grooming them, but the new ones are more like dolls. Harry did have fun playing with my beloved My Little Pony Dream Castle though!

Another of my favourite old toys that never sparked much interest was the Barbies. Mia had a few when she was little but she never really played with them. As she got older I realised that she came to replace playing with dolls with playing Roblox. She has characters in Roblox that she dresses up, she decorates their houses, and she plays complicated role playing games with friends online in the same way that I used to play with Barbies. In fact her games are even more involved than mine were, she has whole family trees going on and she makes detailed notes and drawings about her characters. 

Of course we can't possibly keep all of their old toys, but there are some that will definitely be going up into the loft for hypothetical grandchildren. We have lots of wooden train set pieces which were second hand to begin with, and have been well played with, but are still in great condition. The Duplo, Lego and Playmobil sets definitely aren't going anywhere. I'll probably encourage the children to keep plenty of their favourite childhood books, as I've found myself rebuying lots that I got rid of over the years. I'll also keep the marble run, because my parents kept our old one and my children still enjoy playing with it when they go to visit!

Did you keep any of your old toys for your own children? What did they enjoy playing with?

Photo credit Xavi Cabrera via Unsplash

The rise of the fidget toy in our house

Do you remember when your young children were toddlers, and you couldn't leave the house without a bag full of brightly coloured plastic teething toys to keep them entertained? Well I've recently discovered that even when they grow up and turn into tweens they still want to carry about a heap of plastic bendy and stretchy toys, even though these have now been rebranded under the more grown up term 'fidget toys'.

I first became aware of the fidget toy 'Popits' when I spotted references on social media and blogs back in the spring. I could see the appeal and I thought that my children would enjoy them, so we chose them each a small square Popit which they were delighted with. This was enough for the oldest, he enjoys to pop it from time to time and that's enough for him.

But for the ten year old? Well it marked the start of an obsession. She soon discovered that Popits were available in a range of different colours, sizes and shapes. Not only that, when searching for them on  Amazon it opened up a whole new world of different fidget toys - squishy ones, stretchy ones, wire ones, hard ones, soft ones...there is endless choice. She even plays a game on Roblox where she collects, swaps and pops virtual Popits with her friends.

As well as the multitude found online they can also be spotted for cheap on local market stalls and are readily available in all toy shops. I must confess that after seeing how satisfying it was to pop them I bought myself a small one to keep my hands busy while I'm thinking. We've given them to younger relatives that have loved them, and have been kept occupied with them for much longer than many other toys.

I'm a sucker for giving in to my children when it comes to keeping up with the latest crazes that hit the playground. At least these days they are able to spend some of their own money, and I like to think that it teaches them a little bit about budgeting and shopping around to get the best deals. Normally these crazes are short lived, but I can't see this latest obsession coming to an end any time soon!

Summer crazes past and present

The other day, my children mentioned that a number of their classmates were in possession of a new and exciting item. Apparently Pop It fidget toys are the latest school craze. My children know that I'm too soft, and so when they found me some on sale for only a couple of pounds I caved in and bought them one each. 

I must admit they are actually quite fun and satisfying to play with. They are made of soft silicon plastic and you push the blobs in and out from side to side. It's a bit like colourful bubble wrap, but it can be used over and over again, and it makes a satisfying popping sound which has become the new soundtrack to our school run.

I've always been a sucker for summer crazes, and it always does seem to be around summer time that these things appear. I have fond memories from when I was at primary school and it was all about the yoyos, each branded with different soft drinks. I remember my Mum taking me to the corner shop to buy one, and I loved playing with them on the school field. I also remember the special red and yellow plastic skipping rope that I had to have, and the soft squishy balls with faces that we all collected.

So I know what it's like when everyone else has something and you want to be a part of things, and I think that it's a definitive part of the primary school experience. Over the last few years the children and I have enjoyed spinning fidget spinners, crafting with loom bands and taking to the streets to play Pokemon Go. There were also those Sainsbury's Lego cards that we collected for a couple of years running, leading to strangers from Facebook coming to the door to swap for those last elusive cards.

It's all inexpensive fun, and hopefully they'll remember their own indulgent Mum when they've grown up!  

What summer crazes do you remember from when you were little? Did you have a yoyo too?

Sleeping under a mountain of teddies

It's not an understatement to say that Mia loves her teddies. Well, not just teddies, soft toys of any description in fact. She's had a few dolls over the years, but she has never really taken to them in the same way as she has something cuddly. In fact, we once bought her one of those fancy dolls that cries and wets itself, and she was just scared of it.

Unfortunately we've rather got in the habit of indulging her with her collecting habits. My husband in particular got into the routine of buying her a teddy every time we went somewhere, and she'd often come back from holiday with two or three new stuffed friends. Not to mention the excessive number of visits that we've made to Build a Bear over the last few years.

The good thing is that she genuinely does love and play with the vast majority of these stuffed creatures. Harry never showed much interest in soft animals (in fact I had a successful cull around the time that Mia was born). But since Mia has been old enough to play properly they still have some lovely games with them, and Harry has brought out several old teddies that have been promoted to constant bed companions.

They both spent quite a bit of time over the summer making an enormous family tree for their soft toys, working out which ones are related to which ones (sometimes a little improbably) and have come up with histories for them. Mia has even written a factual guide to her favourite 'snow white bear', with information about its habitat and preferences.

It was getting to the point where I could hardly find Mia in her bed at night, buried under teddies on all sides. As for changing the sheets, it became such a mission to move them all out of the way and then put them all back, without sending a few through the machine for an accidental bath, that it often put me off even trying.

Things improved greatly when we bought this huge teddy hammock which fits neatly in the top corner of  her room, and although there's no way they will all fit there is a fair bit of space for her many favourites. She has a loft bed so they are still within easy reach - although I'm not quite sure how she sleeps at night with all those little faces staring at her!

GraviTrax review

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

GraviTrax from Ravensburger is a new interactive track system which you can use to design and build your own race tracks, sending the balls racing to the finish line. The small marbles, known as gravity spheres, can be propelled through the track using the power of gravity, magnetism and kinetics, and you can create unique tracks that are different every time. We were sent the GraviTrax Starter Set to try out in exchange for a review, along with three expansion sets - the Catapult, Hammer and Magnetic Cannon.

The GraviTrax Starter Set

The GraviTrax Starter Set comes with over 100 components, including pieces of track in three different lengths, a number of height tiles, and hexagonal shaped pieces with grooves that can be used to guide the balls in different directions. There's a launch pad which can send up to three balls on their journeys at the same time, as well as various special pieces to join and divert paths. The layout is built upon four cardboard base plates which are slotted together to form the foundation, with hexagonal holes to keep the pieces in place. The cardboard base is stable, even on a soft surface like carpet. Height can be added to the track using the two transparent level plates by building pillars of height tiles.

The set comes with a large book of construction plans, graded by difficulty level. When you are familiar with the different pieces and how they fit together you can move onto the tasks. These ask you to complete layouts by solving a variety of challenges which are graded by difficulty, for example working out how many height tiles you need to add or which elements are missing.

As soon as he saw the set, Harry (aged 9) couldn't wait to get stuck in. He began by following some of the basic designs, and it didn't take him long to work out how the different pieces fitted together and understand what he could do to create his own layouts. He quickly moved on to advanced projects, and he much preferred coming up with his own designs to attempting the puzzles in the book.

The individual pieces are really easy to fit together and take apart, and remain yet sturdy while the track is in use. In the Starter Set there are plenty of different pieces, so you have a huge variety of options. There is the opportunity to get creative and build some really complex layouts, and plenty to keep the brain busy while you work out the best way to build what you have in mind.

The children have always have fun playing with marble runs, and the GraviTrax system is definitely the best one yet. I think it's the way that the pieces themselves are individually quite simple, yet fit together really well in so many different ways that you really can customise your layouts and be really inventive with it. It's worth noting that the gravity spheres are smaller than standard marbles, so you need to use the balls that are included, as standard marbles will not fit the tracks.

And to my delight, all the pieces can be easily fitted back into the original sturdy box, a big plus for me when it comes to tidying up!

GraviTrax Expansion Packs

There are several different expansion packs available, including extra track, building pieces and special components. We were sent the GraviTrax Catapult, GravitTrax Hammer and GraviTrax Magnetic Cannon (affiliate links). The Magnetic Cannon is the same as the one included in the starter set, and these expansion pieces are not standalone, they need to be used in conjunction with the full set.

The Catapult will fire your ball into the air onto an adjacent piece of track, and the Hammer uses a larger ball to knock your ball along the track. The Magnetic Cannon allows you to place two or three balls on the side of the magnet facing down the track. When another ball hits the magnet on the other side, the first ball will shoot off.

These extra items are great for adding more interest to your layouts and would be a fun extra purchase if you've already had the Starter Set for a while and are looking to jazz it up a bit.

The GraviTrax App

The free GraviTrax App is a great complimentary feature to the physical product. You can digitally design and test your track ideas with an unlimited range of components, either before building them in real life or just to see where your imagination can take you. It would be especially fun for younger children that don't have the dexterity or the patience to build their own physical layout, but still want to have fun designing their own tracks.

In summary, both my children had a huge amount of fun playing with the GraviTrax system, and I know that they will continue to play with it for a long while yet. I loved seeing how they overcame challenges by working out the best pieces to use, and I could see that there was plenty of learning going on.

There are so many different possibilities for advanced layouts, even if you just have the Starter Set. The Starter Set has an RRP of £49.99, but it's worth keeping an eye out as at time of writing it is £39.99 on Amazon and I think that is good value. The expansion sets we received each have an RRP of £9.99 which I do think is a little pricey. I'd recommend beginning with the Starter Set and seeing how you get on, because we found that there was plenty of play value in that alone without needing the expansion pieces.

You can see a couple of my son's layouts in action in the video below:

I received the GraviTrax Starter Set and three add on pieces in exchange for this review. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Asda's Chosen by Kids toys Christmas campaign

When it comes to choosing which Christmas toys to stock this year, instead of using traditional product buyers Asda has launched a whole new range of toys chosen entirely by children. The Chosen by Kids toys were selected after a toy testing event in Harrogate, and they are now available in stores in plenty of time for Christmas 2017.

I was invited to take my children along to our local Asda store, Asda Ferring, to head to the toy aisle and see what they thought of the toys in the range. They also had the chance to take home their favourite toy to review. We headed over one evening after school, when I knew that it would be quieter so we could have a proper look around.

The children were absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to choose their own toys, and very excited. We don't normally spend long browsing in the toy aisles, and there was plenty to choose from!

Both children were first drawn to the toys that were from brand names that they recognised, like the Lego, Playdoh and toys based around their favourite television programmes.

Harry spotted what he wanted almost immediately - he has been after a drone for a while having played with one at a friend's house. There are two in the range to choose from and he settled on the Little Tikes My First Drone. He chose a smaller one because he liked its appearance, and it didn't look too complicated.

Mia spent a lot longer deliberating. She's instinctively drawn to anything pink, purple or fluffy, and there was plenty that appealed to her.

When I spotted the Little Live Pets My Dream Kitten - Muffin on the shelf I knew that it would be perfect for her. I wasn't wrong, as soon as she saw Muffin the kitten she couldn't be parted from him, and she couldn't wait to get home and unpack him!

We left the store with two excited children!

So here's what we thought of the toys:

Review - Little Tikes My First Drone (£30)

Here is what Harry thought of the drone. Ratings are on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being poor and 5 being superb. 

Ease of use - 3. An adult is needed to put batteries in, but once that is done it's easy to get going. The drone charges from the controller pack, and although it did work straight away it performed better after it had been charged for a little while. The controller is easy to hold and has large buttons so it's simple for even young children to operate. The drone itself looks a little flimsy as it is very light, but it has stood up well so far. Harry didn't have any problems working out how to control it, but he did find that he couldn't get it to fly as high as he was hoping.

Value for money - 3. I think that the price is reasonable.

Fun factor - 3. The drone is designed for indoor use which Harry was very pleased with, especially at this time of year when he's not so keen on playing outside. This did mean however that it doesn't move very fast or high, and he sometimes struggled to keep it in the air for very long which frustrated him. 

Longevity - 3. It's a fun toy and I think it's something that he'll keep coming back to. Although it's supposed to be used indoors I think we'll be taking it out into the garden in the summer, it doesn't fly high or fast enough to worry about losing it over the fence. 

Aesthetics - 4. Harry loved how the drone looked, he really liked the bright colours and how it lit up in flight. It also makes fun noises.

Review - Little Live Pets My Dream Kitten - Muffin (£38)

Here are Mia's views on her Dream Kitten. As above ratings are on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being poor and 5 being superb.

Ease of use - 5. Once removed from the packaging and switched on, Muffin was all ready to go with no extra set up needed. Mia has used it a lot and we are still using the original batteries that it came with.

Value for money - 4. It's perhaps a little pricey, although I do think that it's a fab toy for the money.

Fun factor - 5. Mia absolutely loves Muffin. The kitten makes a variety of different noises and has sensors in different places, for example on his back and his cheeks, so you can elicit different responses by stroking and cuddling. There is also a little food bowl, and when you hold it to his mouth you can hear lapping sounds. He's a sleepy kitten, and Mia is thrilled when he decides that it's time for a nap, she's been making him up little beds with cushions and blankets.

Longevity - 5. Mia has been playing with Muffin for a few days now and shows no signs of boredom. She does particularly love her stuffed animals anyway, so it's the perfect toy for her, and she has been incorporating him into her games beautifully. Even when he's turned off she's still happy to play with him.

Aesthetics - 5. He's lovely and soft and also weighted nicely, so you can cuddle him and he does feel rather like a real kitten. He has a sweet little face and a lovely collar with a pendant to write his name. He also comes with an adoption certificate and a little promise to make saying that you'll look after him, which makes it all very special. He's not designed to be slept with but it was difficult to part them at bedtime, and I couldn't resist snapping a quick photo once she'd fallen asleep before moving him to a bed on the floor!

This is a collaborative post in association with Asda.