Category: Toys

Christmas · Toys

Remote Controlled Christmas Gifts Your Kids Will Love

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Remote controlled gifts have always been a hit with my kids and they’ve had everything from cats which purr to tarantulas which scare the living daylights out of Maureen as they skitter across the floor. With this in mind, we’ve been looking at some of the remote controlled toys which are on offer this year, ahead of the Christmas season, and we thought we’d share five of our favourites with you, in the hope of inspiring your festive purchases:

SGILE RC Drift Race Car

SGILE Remote Control Car Toy for Boys, 2.4 GHz RC Drift Race Car, 1:16 Scale Fast Speedy Crawler Truck, 2 Batteries for 50 Mins Play, Toy Gift for Boys Girls

Powered by a strong motor, the rc car can drift and reach upto a speed of 18km/h, giving you a thrilling drift experience. Equipped with two 6V 600mAh rechargeable batteries that provide a total power play of 50 mins and designed with an easy-to-learn remote controller with quick and precise response, this remote controlled  car is the best gift choice for beginners.

SGILE Programmable Intelligent Walk Sing Dance Robot

SGILE RC Robot Toy, Programmable Intelligent Walk Sing Dance Robot for Kids Gift Present, Blue

As well as being controllable via a remote, this funky little robot can actually sense gestures through a sensor on its chest and will resond to your hand waves and swipes! It’s also programmable, giving kids the option to input up to 50 motion commands so that they can see their own imagination in play. It’s easy to charge via USB and can give up to an hour of play on a single charge.

SGILE Remote Controlled Dinosaur Smart Programmable Interactive Robot

SGILE RC Dinosaur Robot Toy, Smart Programmable Interactive Walk Sing Dance for Kids Gift Present If you’ve got a kid in your family who is dinosaur obsessed, then this remote controlled T-Rex is the perfect gift! Not only can the robot dinosaur fight, he is also a talented performer; he can dance with different prerecorded music. You can use remote control to switch between two modes: slide & walk, woth multiple other functions to offer tons of fun to your kids.

SGILE Robot Dog

SGILE Robot Dog ,RC Dog Toy Interactive Intelligent Walk Sing Dance Programmable Robot Gift for Kids

Perfect for the smaller kids in your family, this robot dog is the cutest remote controlled pet around. The pooch can be programmed by the owner to perform a number of tasks and is easy to control – he’ll walk, dance and do all sorts of other fun things. It’s the ideal gift for anyone who wants a dog but doesn’t want to deal with cleaning up after a real pet!

SGILE Remote Controlled Stunt Car with 2 Sided 360° Rotation

SGILE RC Stunt Car Toy, Remote Control Car with 2 Sided 360 Rotation for Boy Kids Girl, Green This remote control car combines the classic RC format with something new and exciting! The stunt car doesn’t just go backwards and forwards – it can flip, spin and do all sorts of exciting stunts. Perfect for girls and boys age 6-12 who love anything a little bit crazy! Designed with an easy-to-learn remote controller with quick and precise response, this remote controlled car is another great gift choice for beginners.

Kids · Toys

Top Kids Gadgets on Very

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Kids gadgets are constantly evolving and revolutionising the way our kids are being brought up. Back in the day, children would be happy with the latest Action Man figure or the new Polly Pocket series. Now, they are wanting iPad’s, drones and robotic walking, talking dogs. So, suppliers are having to keep up with the demand, and keep improving technology to get ahead of their competitors.

We are going to take a look at some of the top kid’s gadgets that you can buy from Very, showing you just how far the technology has come.

Power-Man Robot

Walking and talking toy robots are all the rage, and none more so than the Power-Man Robot. This toy has the ability to move backwards, forwards, left and right, and can even shoot foam disks!

It also has the ability to play music and pull out its best dance moves upon request. Power-Man can answer your kids’ questions, and he has the ability to record their voice and play it back to them. He also has educational content hidden away and can quiz your kids on trivia and present them with brain teasers.

Amazon Fire Tablet

Youngsters can use the Amazon Fire Tablet to learn and to play. They can use it to read their favourite books, as well as play some games featuring their favourite characters from Disney, Nickelodeon and Sesame Street to name but a few.

You can create up to 4 individual child profiles, and you can cater the content for each child, whether that be books, videos, games and apps. It features either a 7-inch/8 inch/10.1 inch touch screen and has a 1024 x 600 resolution which is perfect for playing games and watching videos.

The Amazon Fire Tablet keeps you in total control setting bedtime curfews and controlling the content they can view and screen time.

Guitar with Built-in Speaker

Do you have a budding Rockstar in your home? Then this may be perfect for them. If they’re a fan of playing the air guitar, then they’ll far prefer playing the real thing!

This guitar comes with a hardwearing maple neck, a hardwood body and rosewood fingerboard. It also comes with a built-in speaker so you won’t need to buy an external one, and your kids can put on their rock show wherever they like!

As you can see there are some great gadgets out there for kids. Technology is ever advancing, so keep your eyes peeled on Very for more in the future.

Toys

Action Figures and Collectibles: Great DIY Ideas for Easy to Make Displays

Jayne1 Comment

Your collection of action figures, dolls, figurines or other collectibles is your pride and joy, so don’t hide them away. Display them in a way that shows them off and makes them look good, so that others can enjoy them as much as you do. Maybe you’ll learn to appreciate them, even more, yourself!

Homemade Wooden Display Case

It’s easier than you might think to build your own display case. You can get everything you need at your local hardware store. Simply pick up a 4’ by 2’ piece of plywood, some 1” by 2” furring strips and a box of finish nails.

Use your tallest figurine to determine the height needed for shelves. Then, cut the furring strips to the length needed for your frame and attach them with wood glue and your finish nails.

After the glue has dried, you can paint your display case if you like. You could also print out images, such as the logo for your collectibles’ brand and secure it using spray adhesive. After the paint has dried, all you have to do is enjoy your newly displayed collection.

Hand-Drawn Chalk Labels

Tired of people wanting to know about every piece in your collection and asking you endless questions? Okay, maybe not but with chalkboard paint, you can display your pieces and label them too.

Simply, purchase a can of chalkboard paint and color the back of your shelf with it. Then, you can write labels for each piece and add a bit of information about each one if you like. It’s like having your own museum display!

DIY Magnetic Display Board

For figurines that seem to float in mid-air, utilize the power of magnets. Attach a magnet to the back of a figurine using glue, mounting tape or sticky tack. Use tape or sticky tack if you want to easily be able to remove the magnets later.

Then, purchase a magnetic display board or make your own using a frame and a sheet of steel or tin. You can paint the sheet too if you so choose. Then, you can creatively position your classic figurines or retro-inspired pixel pals anywhere you like.

Creative Shelf Ideas

Got some old junk lying around? Why not turn it into a shelf?

Almost anything can be used as a shelf with a little creativity. Mount old drawers to the wall. Hang up a skateboard using L-brackets. Remove the front of a battered acoustic guitar and add some furring strips to the inside for shelves. Then attach a hook to the wall to hang it from.

Your collection is unique, so your display for them should be too. Just get a little innovative and see where your imagination takes you.

Displaying your collection can be half the fun of owning it, especially if you get a little creative with it. Your display for your figurines should be as unique as the collection itself, and it’s easier than you might think to build one yourself.

Baby · Review · Toys

We’re VTech Toot Toot Friends Ambassadors!

Jayne1 Comment

A few weeks back, Burrito Baby and I received the awesome news that we’d been chosen to be VTech Toot Toot Friends Ambassadors and would be receiving all of the new range to play with and review. As you can see, BB was over the moon! The smaller characters retail for around £8.99 each, while the Trot and Go Pony is £15.99. The Hospital playset is a very affordable £29.99 and even the Discovery Sounds House, which is the bigger of the two playsets, is only £44.99.

VTech Toot Toot Friends

What we discovered, being Toot-Toot Friends noobs, is that all of the playsets can link together, forming a big town, and each character can be used in all of the different areas. Want to take your horse to the hospital? Go right ahead! These areas are called ‘Magic Points’ and allows kids to use the individual  characters to interact with the play sets. There are also points within the Busy Sounds Discovery Home where characters can sing to one another, something that BB seemed to regard as being akin to magic!

BB has really good gross and fine motor skills for her age (I mean, the kid is NEVER still, even when she’s sleeping!) but all of the elements of the characters and the playsets were solid and easy to hold, even for the tiniest hands. It also feels like it would stand up to a whole lot of toddler punishment, too; BB has developed a habit of throwing things when she’s in a mood but I can’t see even the biggest toddler tantrum being able to do damage to the Toot-Toot Friends! That’s why when buying toys parents should always look at the sturdy toys. Durable gifts for 2 year olds that can endure hits and tantrums is important. Less money wasted, and more time for fun.

I really like the fact that these feel like “next level” toys in more ways than one; in terms of BB’s development, they feel more in-depth than all the other ‘flashing lights, ABC, 123’ toys that she has and they also feel like they incorporate all of the things that babies of this age love with the technological expertise the VTech is famous for. They’re interactive, educational and intuitive, all things which I think are important for development through play.

If I had ONE minor complaint, it’s that the stickers are a little bit fiddly to apply when you’re assembling everything, especially as some of them are located behind or inside certain parts. If you’ve got a steady hand, you’ll be fine, but the best advice I can give you is to assemble everything when you don’t have an excited, slightly tyrannical toddler climbing all over you.

I also think that selling all of the characters and sets separately is a great thing. It means that you can still buy Toot-Toots friends toys even on varying budgets, and if a birthday or Christmas comes around, the playsets can be bought as a main present, while the smaller components can be bought by friends or relatives to build a full and comprehensive collection.

BB and I feel like we’re off to a great start as ambassadors for VTech Toot-Toot Friends – we already love the toys and can seem them being a great source of fun and education for BB in the months to come.

Toys

Oh You Pretty Things #1 – Christmas Presents

Jayne3 Comments

Two of my favourite ever bloggers, Sonya at The Ramblings of a Formerly Rock ‘n’ Roll Mum and Mary from Keynko, have teamed up and started a new weekly linky where they ask us to show them our stuff. No, I don’t mean rude stuff, get your minds out of the gutters! They’re asking to see our wotsits, our knick-knacks, our…okay, this isn’t sounding any less rude, is it?!

They’ve kicked off their first ever ‘Oh You Pretty Things’ with an easy one, and they want to see our Christmas pressies. Given the fact that they’re a pair of old-school vintage lovers, I thought they might like to see my very amazing, best Christmas present ever, bought for me by my Husband.

Yes, my friends. That is a Teddy flippin’ Ruxpin.

After hearing me talk for years about how I wanted one as a kid and never got one, Husband got himself on eBay just before Christmas and managed to find a fully-working Teddy Ruxpin to tell me stories and give me vintage 1980’s-style hugs.

It may sound silly to get a talking teddy at the age of 30 but when I was little, my cousin Joe had one and I genuinely remember thinking that it was the most wonderful, truly magical thing I’d ever seen. Listening to Teddy’s stories transports me back to being 5 years old, sipping juice with Joe, and imagining the adventures that Teddy describes was probably the most innocent time of my life.

Since Christmas, the girls and I have sat and listened to Teddy telling us all about his adventures in his airship, but I have to admit to having been a little bit precious about not letting the girls touch him if their hands are dirty! Because this is an American Teddy Ruxpin, he runs on little cartridges rather than the conventional tapes that the UK models had, but I’ve seen a few on eBay and I may well invest when I’ve got some cash as it would be lovely to have a collection of stories.

So, there you have it, my first link up to ‘Oh You Pretty Things’! What do you think? What was your favourite Christmas pressie? Did you have a Teddy Ruxpin? Leave me a comment below.