I’ve been very lucky recently to review some excellent products and services, that would make fab presents for small children, and as it’s now December and I’m free to start thinking about Christmas, I thought it was high time I wrote about them.
We’ve been big hama fans for quite some time, thought Smallest is only just really at the stage where she can start to work with them. We were very happy to review a My First Maxi Hama Clown starter kit from playmerrily. The kit comes with a shaped board and maxi hama beads – the pattern is on the bit of cardboard you remove to get at the beads. This was the only bit that was slightly annoying – I found it very fiddly to get the pattern out without ripping it. Smallest has spent several happy sessions in her chair at the table while Big worked with fimo and I typed away at the other end, putting beads all over the pattern. She manipulates the beads easily, but doesn’t get the point of the colours yet, so no ironing has taken place, making it a very cost effective activity, good for dexterity and colour recognition.
Another hit was the Orchard Toys Old MacDonalds Lotto game. We were looking specifically for something that the children could play together, and this pretty much hits the mark. Again, it’s stretching Smallest to get her taking turns and involved in a game, but the fun animal pictures on the game pieces do attract her, and she’s always up for interacting with her big brother and sister. The other two children need practice in observation skills anyway, so memory games are good for them too. Definitely recommended for multi child families, and a very robust game, with good heavy cardboard pieces, so good value for money.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to be sent a voucher to review Groupon. I found it really difficult to find something that I *really* wanted to buy, *and* could actually remember to get within the timeframe. Meaning that I missed out on a couple of things, so I recommend if you see something you want, get on with it and buy immediately. Tomorrow comes around all too quickly otherwise. In fact, signing up for the daily email is probably your best bet. Anyway, eventually I spotted a fab bargain of wooden playfood from Melissa and Doug, reduced from 69.99 to 29.99. I knew this would make the perfect Christmas present for Smallest, so I snapped it up.
The procedure is easy – once you’ve found something you like the look of, you order it and pay on Groupon itself. Do check the small print as to what the postage costs on the supplying site will be so that you don’t get any nasty shocks. The voucher is emailed to you once the groupon deal closes, and there is a deadline for spending it. I tootled off to the fulfilling site and ordered via there, just having to pay the postage, and the set of playfood arrived very promptly. I’ve heard lots about ppl having problems with Groupon – I suspect the media isn’t nearly as likely to report the happy customers, who definitely include me.
So there you go, some Christmas recommendations for your young child. Coming soon, bigger children, games for adults, and ponderings on what to buy the pre teen girl who still likes to play.
