Tuesday 15th November 2011 – 'Giant' (318/365)
The Tent of Imagination
When I was a tiddler I used to love making dens, and I was incredibly lucky because our house and bedrooms were big enough that my mum would keep them up for a day or so. I even used to make dens with the sheets on the whirly-gig washing line! Ever since I've had The Boy I have been looking forward to making dens for him, but he didn't particularly appreciate them at five weeks old for some strange reason. I've tried various times since, but not in the last few months.
Therefore when a 'ready-made' den arrived for him, I was hoping that he'd love it as much as I already did!
I didn't need to worry! He knew instantly that it was a tent, and loved the fact that it was a wigwam.
Standing at just over 6 feet tall and with a base diameter of approximately 4 feet, the wigwam is a good sized tent to have in the corner of your dining room during these cold months. If The Boy had a bigger bedroom, it would be up there for him as a hiding place, I can see it making a great reading corner in the future.
There are six wooden poles (each is in two parts and joins in the middle with a plastic tube to strengthen them) which slide through elastic loops along each join in the wigwam with a deep pocket for them to slot into at the base. They then protrude through the hole at the top of the thick canvas and are joined together with an incredibly clever, but slightly tricky, lacing and beading technique, ensuring the correct shape for the wigwam.
The canvas is simply stunning. A really thick, good quality canvas with bright colours which aren't brash, and the simplistic animal designs are spot on for little ones. It's bright and attractive and, when the Spring has returned, will look beautiful in the garden! I'm quite impressed with the 'doors' on this, the design has been adapted so that it now uses three Velcro patches to hold them closed, as opposed to the original fabric ties (something which would have been too difficult for pre-schoolers).
The Boy adores his wigwam and has taken his cushion, cuddly toys and a few books in there to get some peace and quiet. It is most definitely his domain, although he lets Mr. TheBoyandMe or me come in sometimes.
I loved wendy houses as a child and I'd thoroughly recommend a wigwam for your pre-schoolers, it's great fun for development of the imagination!
Big Game Hunters have a variety of wigwams available, the one we were sent retails for £49.99, which is the cheapest price that I've seen it available.
I was provided with this wigwam for the purpose of this review. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.
Sunday 13th November 2011 – 'Hiawatha' (316/365)
Monday 7th November 2011 – 'Sportacus' (310/36)
Monday 24th October 2011 – 'Parking Attendant' (296/365)
The Boy has really started to get to grips with imaginative play lately. Today he was filling the cars up and using different voices for the characters talking to each other.
Friday 21st October 2011 – 'Ni-Night Kisses' (293/365)
Competition: The Gruffalo
Last Christmas the whole family sat down and watched The Gruffalo. It's such a beautiful adaptation; the narration and the animation are just superb. It really does help that I like the book a lot, and it filmed me with hope when I saw that The Boy sat captivated throughout the entire film!
Unfortunately he still isn't a big fan of the story at the moment, I think it's a bit too long for him. However, he does like the pictures a lot. We were recently sent The Gruffalo Magnetic Adventures by University Games and it is gorgeous. When I was a child, I covetted fuzzy felts but they were expensive at the time and mum didn't under the attraction. But the Magnetic Adventures is way better than fuzzy felts could ever be!
Tuesday 20th September 2011 – 'Storyteller' (262/365)
Orchard Toys: Giant Road Jigsaw
The Boy has recently developed a taste for cars. Cars and jigsaws! As long as he can 'brum' a car along then he's a happy chappy. Give him a 24-piece jigsaw as well and he's in seventh heaven!
Now wouldn't it be good if someone combined the two together?
Well, the genuis that is Orchard Toys have! They've created an extra large floor puzzle in the format of a road jigsaw. Now strictly speaking this is not a typical jigsaw: as there are a great deal of combinations that can be created from the 20 chunky pieces which include corners and junctions, as well as straight roads.