In The Night Garden is an animated show on Cbeebies. It shows various cartoon like characters in a garden. The garden has two modes of transport - The Pinky Ponk and the Ninky Nonk.

*~*Ninky Nonk Train Set*~*

The Ninky Nonk is a train like vehicle which runs around the garden. It can go up and down trees and in the show, the characters can hop aboard to be taken on a scenic tour of the garden.

The train set is a small toy which is approximately 11inches in length. It is made up of 3 sections which join together with small pegs. The Ninky Nonk is identical to the one on the show. It is bright and made up of various colours to attract a small child. It is suitable for children over the age of 18months and doesn't require any batteries.

The Ninky Nonk Train Set features 5 different "cars". The front car is red and orange and as far as I know, none of the characters can ride in this car. There is a green and yellow, round car which the characters are often seen going in too. The next car is in the shape of a house which is where the teeny tiny Pontipine characters ride. We then have a stripy house with windows and doors and a multi coloured finger shaped car! I suppose the different cars could refer to 1st class etc!

The train set features moveable wheels on the 3 main cars to allow the child to move it along the floor.

*~*Price*~*

This set can be bought new from Amazon priced at £8.64.

*~*Our Thoughts*~*

My son is a big fan of In the Night Garden and has been for a while now. He received this Ninky Nonk Train Set for his 2nd birthday and still has it (he is 3 and a half now). It does look attractive and at first, it often caught his attention from his toy box but now it is barely touched.

Each car is well made and feels sturdy but not too heavy. The bright colours are engaging and there is good detail to resemble the actual Ninky Nonk but after 18months of owning and been thrown about, the paint work has started to become flawed. This set I feel would have been more enjoyable if it was bigger with more options. There is no option to put characters inside any of the cars as it is all sealed up and far too small to consider this anyway. A bigger version with opening doors would increase roll play I feel.

The wheels aren't brilliant on the bottom of the cars. There is 4 on each car and they do not turn very well. Moving the train along a carpet is fairly easy for my son but he prefers to use it on a surface or laminate flooring for a much smoother play! The train does sound quite "scratchy" during play - almost as if it needs a good oiling! The cars connect together and have to be in the correct order in order to do so.

Unfortuantely game play is limited with this toy. Whilst the train can move along the floor fine, the carriages seem to disappear in a different direction from where Boo wants them to go! He attempted to run the train up our table and sofa and found it annoying that he couldn't do this. The pegs connecting the cars are simply not strong enough or secure enough to support the cars travelling up the way. This is very disappointing and I think if they had sold the set fully clipped together (without removalable bits), children would be more happy to play with it.

*~*Conclusion*~*

For the price I would have expected something a bit more appealing as this is quite an average toy which isn't enthusiastically recommended by my toddler or his Mummy.

Thanks for reading x