As a pacifist it seems pretty weird to be reviewing a toy gun, and this Nerf gun is the first toy weapon (other than water pistols) to enter our house. I talked to my 7 year old about it, the child who a month ago cried at the picture of the wounded soldier advertising poppy day and I asked him if he was ok about having a gun as a toy. ‘Oh yes’ he said, cradling it lovingly, ‘it is awesome’.

Last week we reviewed Tonka’s ‘Chuck and Friends’ set for pre-schoolers. This week we’re looking at the Tonka Garage Mod Machine Range. We had load of fun building these big trucks. The bigger the set, the better they get with lots of noise and even an engine to make the biggest truck go. A great gift for boys: 4 year olds will need lots of help with assembly, 7 and 8 year olds will make the most of the mix and match designs and multiple configurations for the trucks.
Tonka Garage …

We’re really enjoying using the Vtech Storio. J, 5, is still learning to read but loves books and is pleased that he can now have a story, even if no-one is free to read to him. He says it is, “Really good and you can also play games on it.”
DH helped him set it up. He says, “It is a really good idea, but all the spellings and letters are in capital letters which is confusing for a child learning using phonics at school. … add in the American accent …

Zingo is a great game for the family … and one that even works fairly well with my diverse age range of 1, 5 and 8! Basically, it is bingo, but with a fun card dispenser and well designed cards for children. You can match the pictures or match the words and each card has an ‘easy’ and a ‘hard’ side. Well worth adding to your Christmas shopping list if you want something fun to entertain preschoolers and primary aged kids over Christmas. Ravensburger Thinkfun Zingo Game costs  …. from …

We really enjoyed putting together Tonka Chuck and Friends’ Stunt Park. It captivated both my three and next doors boys. Even the littlest (and most disruptive!) ones were happy to watch Chuck chug round the track. Chuck needed a little help to get from some of the yellow pieces of track onto the ‘stunt’ parts, but once on he performed really well – not one of those toys that looks better on the ad than in real life.

We’re not great games players, and I’m afraid jolly Octopus just didn’t grab me enough to change that. With a mixed age range of children, I’d say it was most popular with J, 5, and K, 21m … but they just weren’t quite skilled enough to use the tweezers to get the crabs out without touching the spinning octopus.  D, 8, wasn’t so interested in this one. This could be a good choice if you have children age 6+ and like sitting round playing family games: if you have a …

We love Lego, as I have written in previous posts.  K, 1 is a Duplo fan while J, 5 is getting more and more interested in building. It is D, 8, who I think likes it best. She is hard to amuse for long periods of time, but last Christmas her uncle bought her a Lego technic truck which kept her busy building for 3 days. We were delighted, therefore, to be able to test out Lego Star Wars General Grievous Starfighter.
This is a serious Lego build, recommended for age …

D, 8, is not an exceptionally girly girl. She moved on from Disney princesses years ago, and scorns pretty dresses.   I didn’t think that the Harumika Bridal Collection would be a particular hit with her but she enjoyed using it the first time and has brought it out time and again.  Ignoring the big box it comes in, it is a simple but clever concept.  You create dresses on tiny mannequins and slot the fabric into a silicone slit in the back which, using a special tool.  This takes …

You’ve got to love a toy that makes your child smile when they first get it to work. The Explore ‘n’ Grow is suitable for age 9months plus so I thought it might be too young for K, 21m. However he loved at, as did J, 5 and his friend from next door who is 4. The Explore ‘n’ Grow works simply: you put balls in; it chucks them out for you to fetch (maybe a great pet toy too!). It is a fab concept that little kids will have …

In some ways we’re not big games players in our family, but we do like puzzles, and this is a great one.
It is testing enough to get D, 8, thinking … and it challenges DH and I too. J, 5 just likes playing with the shapes.
It comes with a handy carry case so we took it when we went on the train over half term and it helped amuse the kids over a long journey. A great present for an older child who still likes to play, or a …