ToyJeanius

ToyJeanius: Haba Tack Zap On Duty (Review)

November 7, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

Even though The Boy is getting older and therefore more independent in his choice of toys, I still try and steer him towards the quality end of the spectrum; wooden toys that encourage creative play. Haba is a brand that caters just for that.

As an online wooden toy specialist, ToyJeanius was more than happy to send me something that she thought The Boy would really enjoy playing with; something to get his teeth into.

The Haba On Duty tack zap game is a toy which involves laying out brightly coloured, wooden, pre-shaped pieces to create a picture, and then tapping them into place (through the pre-drilled) hole using the tacks and light hammer onto a thick corkboard. The theme of this set is construction/emergency vehicles and provided inside the box are three heads, four wheels, two tracks, eighteen other pieces and enough tacks to nail them in. (There are other Haba tack zap games which could be used alongside it to create different scenes.) There is also a handy pamphlet with nine templates to follow if inspiration is needed.

For The Boy, this is an ideal toy as he can either copy the templates or make a picture up himself, and he pretends to be Grandad hammering as he's playing it. The corkboard is of a good quality that the tacks don't fall out, giving them a little press first when tapping them in is something I'd recommend as it gives a grip to start off with. The tacks obviously have a point to them, but they aren't dangers and the wooden hammer is just the right size for little hands. I would say that it's to either do one piece at a time, or lay them all out and push a tack into place, as otherwise the pieces bounce all over the place when hammering them down.

This toy has given The Boy hours of fun, and as it is for 3-7 year olds I can see it lasting for a few years yet!

The Haba On Duty tack zap game is available from ToyJeanius for £14.95. Readers of this blog can receive a 10% discount by entering TheBoyandMe at the checkout.

We were sent this item for the purpose of this review. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.

ToyJeanius: DJeco Piratrix Treasure Hunt

August 11, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 1 Comment

The Boy has recently started to show an interest in pirates. I'll admit to having withheld the swashbuckling realm from him before as I'm trying to keep him steered away from the 'treasure' chests of violence and theft for as long as is feasible. However, I fear that ship is sailing and so were dipping our toes in the waters to find out about pirate ships and treasure maps. Definitely no swords involved!

A while ago I was sent a fantastic pirate game by DJeco that is based around the world of treasure maps. The Piratrix Treasure Hunt is a simple retro style game aimed at 2-8 children aged 4+ but The Boy had no problem with it. The pack says that the game can take 15 minutes but that can be altered depending upon the complexity of play.

The idea of the game is to hide all 24 laminated images of treasure, chests and keys around the house. The first player to find one of each is the winner. The best part about this set is that because they are printed plastic, they are suitable for use outdoors in the garden or on the beach.

I taped some string onto some of the pieces so that I could hang them rather than keeping them all flat, it makes it easier for younger children to find them. Older children could create a treasure map to find the pieces, but that's a tricky concept for younger children as they can't relate the symbols to real life objects. I hid the pieces in (fairly obvious) places in the garden, and it took us a little over seven minutes for all three of us to each find a key, a chest and a treasure. Again, it could be adapted for older childrenthat you have to find them in a specific order; chest, then key to open it, and then the treasure.

Djeco Piratrix

Aside from being fun, it's a good game to help develop logical thinking, problem solving (especially if used alongside a map) and develop visual awareness. This is such an easy game that it would be ideal for a pirate birthday party, especially as there are eight of each playing piece.

The DJeco Piratrix Treasure Hunt is available from ToyJeanius for £4.95, which is an excellent price for a durable, quick, portable and fun game.

Readers of TheBoyandMe can get 10% off by using 'TheBoyandMe' at checkout (available on anything ordered from the site!)

I was sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

My BritMums Live Sponsor!

March 25, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 15 Comments

A little while ago, I mentioned that I was lucky enough to be able to go to BritMums Live this year. Last year I made the decision that I wouldn't attend Cybermummy as I felt it would be too like an INSET day. However, that was a month or two into my blogging life, and by the time June came around, I was insanely jealous of anyone who went and hung off every tweet with the relevant hashtag. I made the decision there and then that come hell or high water I'd be going this year.

And I am.

And so is Mr. TheBoyandMe and The Boy.

Quite frankly the idea of two days and two nights away from them is too much to bear, and so I decided that I'd be taking them with me. On the Saturday, the boys can go and play at the Science Museum while I ~~chat, socialise and get drunk~~ network and develop my blogging ability with the creme de la creme of the blogging world. I can't wait to meet all of my twitter and blogging friends, some for the first time, some I'm friends with in the 'real world'.

I was discussing attending the conference with one of the lovely people that I have regularly reviewed for, who I consider a good friend. She asked me details about it and I explained the ethos behind it. It was at this point that she offered to sponsor me to attend! I very happily accepted sponsorship for the ticket, and would therefore like to present my BritMums Live sponsor:

I am so proud to be representing the best online toy shop that there is! Toyjeanius sells amazing wooden baby and toddler toys, traditional games and fabric role-play accessories that are second to none, items that you wouldn't find in the average high-street toy store. The Boy has always loved the toys that Jean has sent for him to review, be it threading cards from Djeco or the Pally Pirate Noah ship from I'm Toy. Jean is a friendly, caring and hardworking mum who is so interested and fascinated with quality children's toys that she set her own online shop up. I always have an image of her playing with the Haba foods in her kitchen!

So thanks to ToyJeanius, you'll be seeing me at BritMums Live! I may be sporting an owl costume to go with the usual green face and yellow antennae, but I'll be there!

Readers of this blog can gain a 10% discount at ToyJeanius through using the code 'TheBoyandMe' at the checkout!

(It's at this point that I'd like to highlight that I agreed to only accept sponsorship for the ticket; I didn't want to take advantage of Jean's generosity and friendship by having her pay for the hotel and transport fees for my entire family. That's why you've seen so many sponsored posts on here recently, writing those has paid for the other costs.)

Toy Genius: Cows On The Farm Jigsaw (A Review)

January 10, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

Surely by now, even complete strangers know how much I adore the wooden toy shop, ToyJeanius?

We've been incredibly fortunate to have been sent a wide variety of toys by my favourite independent toy shop to review, and just before Christmas The Boy was lucky enough to be sent this beautiful jigsaw puzzle:

Les vaches à la ferme (or 'The Cows on the Farm' to you and me) is a beautifully illustrated and colourful jigsaw by the brilliant Djeco, who make traditional and timeless puzzles with a modern spin on them. This puzzle is no different, as the box is in the shape of a Daisy moo-cow containing the sturdy 24-piece puzzle inside.

The puzzle is 16"x12" in size, with each of the pieces measuring approximately 2.5" across. The chunky size of the pieces means that they are easy to handle and manipulate, and are able to contain a significant section of the final picture on it, making it easier to complete.

The high-gloss, colourful puzzle contains a farmyard scene, not just of the titular cows but also pigs, ducks, chickens, birds, a cat and a dog. Most of the animals are grouped together which makes it easy to find the pieces and join them up, plus it makes discussion afterwards a lot easier. And we do discuss it, a lot. There's so much going on in the picture that it would be hard not to! The Boy's favourite part of this puzzle is counting the animals afterwards, and as there are different and increasing amounts of the various animals it allows for his numerical skills to be developed with ease.

Develops:

Co-ordination
Problem-solving and logical thinking
Numeracy
Literacy (positional language and oracy)
Fun!

At £9.95 this is a quality jigsaw to stand the test of time, and would make a beautiful gift for someone.

Readers of TheBoyandMe can get a 10% discount by entering the code 'TheBoyandMe' at the checkout.

We were sent this jigsaw for the purpose of the review. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.

Blogoversary Competition 1: ToyJeanius

December 5, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 37 Comments

As everyone surely knows by now, I am a massive fan of ToyJeanius, the wooden toy online store with the owner who genuinely cares about her toys and customers! ToyJeanius has been with me all the way through my blogging journey and I'm really proud to be one of her team of Toy Genii who now regularly review and test her products. Several more are on The Boy's Christmas list.

I'm really pleased to be able to announce a fabulous first competition to celebrate my first blogoversary courtesy of my favourite independent toy store.

You can be in with a chance of winning this amazing Chunky Wooden Clock Puzzle by Boikido.

The chunky numbers on this hand-made wooden toy are removable turning the clock into a puzzle, but also enabling you to teach your little ones simple numbers and sequencing. Suitable for ages 3 years+ and carrying the CE mark, this is a great toy for your little ones who are curious about clocks and the time.

To be in with a chance of winning this fabulous clock puzzle courtesy of ToyJeanius, then please fill in all elements of the Rafflecopter form below:

Christmas Crackers (For Pre-Schoolers)

December 3, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 5 Comments

I've got some recommendations for you. Hope you don't mind? I will try not to overwhelm you with daily posts, but there are some products that I'd like to share, starting here today with my recommendations for presents under £15 for Pre-Schoolers.

Who Loves Me

These personalised flashcards are an absolutely gorgeous way to communicate with your toddler or baby. They are incredibly easy to make on the Who Loves Me site: simply upload a photo, input a name, choose a symbol (from one of forty+) to go on the back and type a sentence about that person. We've had these made for The Boy with me and hubby, and both sets of grandparents included, as well as my sister's children. I'm intending to supplement these with pictures of his other cousins and aunts and uncles.

Not only do they help your little one to remember who people are, but they can be used to help language development and, for the more curious amongst us, creating a little family tree. Made from thick card, with a very deep finish to the colour; these are long-lasting and excellent quality.

Price at £1.99 a card, £11.99 for 8, £17.99 for 16

Orchard Toys

These fantastic tangrams are very sturdy and made from thick cardboard (75% recycled materials). They are an ideal toy to help develop awareness of shapes and colour, promote problem-solving and logical thinking, with the aim being to use them to create a variety of different picture. Think fuzzy felts but on a bigger scale and less likely to get broken.

A pre-cursor to mathematical development and spatial awareness, these are a cracking addition which I know that The Boy is going to adore playing with!

Priced at £2.25

Personalised Peppa Pig Book

Obviously, I've blanked out The Boy's name with baubles!

For us this is going to be the perfect Christmas book. The Boy is starting at playgroup after Christmas (eek!) and he adores Peppa and George. What better way of explaining to him what will happen and encouraging a positive attitude to it than getting his favourite porcine to tell him all about it in a personalised Peppa Pig book! Creating the book is easy; simply select the gender, hairstyle, hair colour, eye colour, skin colour and input your child's name, and the rest is done for you. For those children who have already started playgroup and are going onto Nursery, Pre-School or 'proper' school, those options can also be selected. There is also the option to have a message printed on the first page.

I love the story, it really promotes the first trip to playgroup as a positive experience, with your child featuring on every page, being the centre of attention and shown to be really clever. Now, do they do one for mums to help cope with the trauma?

Available from Prezzybox for £14.99

Eric Carle's ABC Game

The Boy absolutely adores the ABC song, sings it at least eleventy billion times a day and can recognise the letter in his own name. The next step is to try and encourage letter recognition from different parts of the alphabet. His curiosity has been piqued with the alphabet magnets on the fridge. He asks what the letters are.

The Eric Carle ABC Game involves both upper and lower-case letters of the alphabet. The object of the game is to be the player who collects the most animal cards. The 52 spaces on the board feature all the letters of the alphabet in both upper and lower case. Every time a child lands on a letter space, they have to look at the cards and find the animal who’s name begins with that letter (Big “A” is for Big Ant, little “a” is for little ant). The correct letter is printed on the back of each card to check the answer is correct. By using the spinner and counting up to four spaces, they will also reinforce their counting skills.

Priced at £6.99 RRP

Fingerprinting Art Set

This nifty little art set is fun with a difference. Using the ink pads to print the tips of their fingers onto the paper, little ones can then use one of the twelve different stampers to create animals, people, plants, etc. There are coloured pencils included to add more detail to the images. Endless possibilities for pictures and creative play, this is bound to go down a treat with children aged three years and upwards: being allowed to get mucky? Great fun!

Available for £7.95 from Prezzybox

And because you lot know me only too well, this list of recommends would not be complete without a gem from the lovely ToyJeanius!

Animal Habitat Puzzle

This beautiful duo-puzzle is perfect for teaching your little-ones how to match up an animal to its habitat. With the trademark vibrant Djeco illustrations, each of the ten puzzles is made up of two pieces; one piece has a picture of the animal and the other has a picture of their usual home. It's made even easier for younger children because the background colour of the matching pieces is the same. Depending upon your little one's stage of development, you can use just a few of the duos or all of them, with small children being able to match the puzzles by colour, learning the names of the animals and their habitats as they do so.

I love Djeco products for the quality and sturdiness, the timeless appeal and the ingenuity of their products. You can get 10% of this product (or any others that you fancy from ToyJeanius) by entering the code 'TheBoyandMe' at the checkout!

Available from ToyJeanius for £6.95

Toy Genius: Djeco Lacing Doudous

October 5, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 1 Comment

We've been sent a few items from ToyJeanius recently from the Djeco range. Now the lovely Jean behind the company knows that I am a fan of the toys from this French company, especially their wooden toys, so I was really pleased to receive this set of 'lacing doudous' for The Boy to play with.

Cuddly Lacing Doudous is a fun lacing and threading toy from Djeco. The set includes four chunky wooden animals, four vibrant lacing cords and two funky buttons for children to add to their creations. The cuddly animals are very colourful and are a good size for small children to hold while they learn to thread the laces through the holes. On two of the animals (the rabbit and the bear) there are areas to lace these buttons onto, but this is quite a tricky thing for The Boy to manage at the moment.

I'm very fond of Djeco toys for various reasons; they are FSC certified and are fun whilst being highly educational. These lacing boards are great for developing The Boy's hand to eye co-ordination, and the pincer grip; all pre-writing skills. It also helps to promote problem-solving (like when he doesn't go through the hole from the right side!) and spatial awareness. Most importantly for me though, these six inch figures and fun and attractive. The Boy has great fun analysing which hole to thread through next, and very quickly cottoned onto the need to go through the next hole on the same side that he's just come up through.

This is a lovely, long-lasting toy with beautiful illustrations in a hard-wearing storage box. There are four laces included in the pack, which have long plastic-encased ends which are great for little fingers. Of course, it's an idea to tie a knot in one of the ends, otherwise the board will fall on the floor!

Watch The Boy having a go:

Don't forget that you can get a 10% discount on this, and any other product, from ToyJeanius by entering the code 'TheBoyandMe' at the checkout!

Night-Night Kisses

August 15, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 5 Comments

We've always had quite a strict bedtime routine. Not in the dictatorial, no fun sense of the word, but without sway or deviance from the procedure. Bath, bottle, teeth and book, before lights out and mobile on. (We'll ignore the fact that he still doesn't go to sleep by himself yet, just shhhh!)

We have our little sillinesses; for example, I kiss daddy, Oliver Monkey and then The Boy night before declaring "What more kisses? You greedy little monkey!", cupping The Boy's face and smothering him in tiny little kisses all over. He then giggles and when I'm at the door, Oliver Monkey waves 'goodnight' to me.

I think a bedtime routine is important, but I also think that fun and happiness is just as necessary as I don't want my little boy being sent off to dream-land on an unhappy cloud! Which is why when ToyJeanius asked me to review Djeco's bedtime game Night-Night Kisses I was more than happy to oblige.Night-Night Kisses (or Bisous Dodo to give it its proper name) is a lovely little game by Djeco, designed to play just before bedtime to encourage your child to feel loved and happy. The above box has a slide-out drawer that is used as the 'bed' for either of the adorable little characters that are 'put to bed' during the game. There is a little boy or a little girl, on one side they are awake and on the other their eyes are firmly closed as they've drifted off to sleep.

For hubby, the time when he comes in from work up until when The Boy drifts off to the land of nod, is precious. He always does bedtime, with the exception of a Wednesday and Thursday (when I work all day so also want some time with The Boy), and he loves spending that time with him. Night-Night Kisses gives him the ideal opportunity to spend some quality time with The Boy before we start the bath etc. routine.

The game involves laying the bed out and placing the boy (not The Boy to avoid confusion!) on top of the soft blue mattress. The cards are then placed face down and little one lifts them up in turn to reveal what's on the card. Some of the cards represent items, for example a sheet or a pillow, and these you lay under the boy's head or over his legs. The remaining cards represent actions such as tickles, cuddles and kisses. As each card is selected the parent must do that action to your child. When the game is finished, you turn the little boy over (again not The Boy, he's not a doll) so his eyes are closed and off he goes to sleep. If only all children obliged so easily, hey?

The Boy really liked the game; he and daddy had great fun playing it. It does require the adult to read the instructions first as there are a few different cards and you need to know what they represent. The feather and music cards are obvious, but there's also a 'kiss' card which means you have to kiss your little one wherever the heart features on the card. There are also birdy and butterfly kisses which can be bestowed upon your precious bundle, much merriment happens as a result of this; we're fond of butterfly kisses in this house!

As this game is aimed at 3-6 year olds, and The Boy is only just two, we adapted it slightly. For example there are 32 cards, but we only had out one of each choice otherwise we'd have never got him into bed! When they are a little older, then the game is designed to take ten minutes and they will also be able to remember what all the different cards mean.

This is a lovely game to play with your precious bundles of joy and happiness before bedtime; they will end up feeling so loved from all the kisses and hugs.

Night-Night Kisses is available to purchase from ToyJeanius for £11.45. Readers of this blog can use a special discount code of 'TheBoyandMe' to get 10% off this and any other purchase.

Toy Genius: Djeco Animal Puzzle

July 22, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 3 Comments

You may have seen me rave about an amazing independent online shop called ToyJeanius in the past or on twitter, and quite frankly I don't think I will ever stop adoring the toys that they sell. Over the past two years I have come to realise that there is a lot of old tat out there, especially bright and garish plastic which ensnares the child with it's fairground style flashing lights and noises. Yes, we have some but I'd rather The Boy play with better quality, more traditional style toys, and I am fortunate that he seems to prefer them as well. I am fortunate that we have recently been chosen to be Toy Geniuses/Genii (the debate ensues) and therefore will get to enjoy a lot more of the amazing toys that are chosen by Jean personally and with much thought.

With that in mind, we were recently sent this gorgeous little toy to review, made by the fabulous French company Djeco. It really is completely stunning and it has become one of The Boy's favourite toys. And Mummy's. And Daddy's. Oh, and Nana's.

The toy is a traditional wooden box with a slide lid, inside it contains fifteen colourful wooden pieces; five animal heads, five arms/torsos and five sets of legs. They fit together to make five different animals; bear, owl, cat, dog and a mouse. Each 'set' is colour-coded in attractive colours and patterns, which is great and awful for my OCD tendencies. Great because they look fabulous laid into the hollow holder in the lid; awful because The Boy mixes them all up, just like a two year old would!

The Boy loves making up the different animals, and has started to lay all the pieces out onto a surface selecting a head and legs and inserting all the arms in between. He them makes a cat-erpillar, or a mouse-erpillar, or an owl-erpillar with the pieces. Seeing him choosing the different pieces, fitting them into place and then disagreeing with his choice is so funny. From such a simple traditional toy, he has had hours and hours of pleasure. Everyone who has seen it has admired it, and quite rightly so. The box is a really handy size being approximately 16x13cm, so it fits into a handbag or changebag with no problem whatsoever. It's hardwearing wood, and the quality of the paint on each piece is extremely tough as he's been playing with this for three weeks with no damages whatsoever. Also I am happy to report no lost pieces, because that would really screw with my OCD!

One last thing that I have to mention before you 'coo' over the video is that it carries both the CE mark and the FSC logo, meaning that this long-lasting, heirloom of a toy has come from a well-managed forest. Now isn't that better than bright orange plastic?

I am lucky enough to be able to offer a 10% discount available for my readers. Simply enter the code 'theboyandme' at the checkout. Happy shopping!

We were sent this toy without charge to review. My opinions are as always honest.

I'm a Toy Genius!

July 11, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 1 Comment

I am over the moon to have been chosen by the extraordinarily lovely Jean at ToyJeanius to be a member of her new family of reviewers.

For those of you who don't know what ToyJeanius is, where have you been shopping until now?!

Toyjeanius is a family run online toy shop based in Hertfordshire. These are not your run of the mill plastic and garish toys that you find in the high street, not from Jean. She spends copiuous amounts of time scouring the latest catalogues from gorgeous companies like I'm Toy, Djeco and Haba to find toys that are attractive, hard-wearing, traditional, education, but most of all, fun! She is a mum herself, albeit to older children, and she knows what works and what doesn't (often through testing them out herself).

We have been fortunate to review for ToyJeanius in the past with the stunning Pally Pirate Noah and the I'm Toy Fire Engine Work Bench which The Boy both adore. Having had the pleasure to review for her, I of course became a customer buying the Haba Threading Beads (which is one of the best toys I could recommend buying for a toddler to develop hand-eye co-ordination) and Haba Baguette Play Food (excellent way to role-play making his lunch). I can't wait to find out what other toys we get to review for my favourite independent toy-shop!

One last point that I have got to make about why I love ToyJeanius. When I needed a present for a friend in a rush I tweeted the lovely Jean who processed my order there and then. She gift-wrapped the item and wrote a card, and the next morning (because this had happened at 10 o'clock at night!) she went straight to the Post Office and sent it recorded delivery. Tell me how many high-street chains give you that level of personalised service?

Proud to be a Toy Genius for the best ToyJeanius there is!

Addendum

When I posted this originally, I forgot to share the blog-love and say who the other Geniuses (genii?) are!

We're proud to be working with the marvellous:

and Edspire.