Mega Bloks is a cheaper, more child friendly version of a rival popular brand of building block (*cough* Lego *cough*) that is colourful, big enough not to lose under the sofa and lots and lots of fun! Being much bigger than any of their nearest competitors, the blocks are easy to construct and perfect for building towers, walls and bridges which can be used alongside any of your child's various other toys. Despite being 5 (the age range for this product is aimed between the ages of 12 months to 4 years), my daughter still loves playing with these blocks and one of her favourite games is building a barrier which her toy cars and trucks can smash into and knock over!

The things I like most about this product (other than the price- £14.99 for 70 blocks) is that they come in a handy travel bag that can be easily carried between grandparents, they come in a range of bright colours and are big enough to fit in your child's hand and they would have to have a mouth like a python to be able to swallow any of these accidentally! We've all heard the stories about children ingesting a certain other brand only to deposit them later!!

On the other hand, one criticism you could make about these blocks is that they are a little basic! Playing with these by themselves could easily end up being only a short-termed distraction for your child as surely there are only so many towers they can build before the novelty begins to wear off. Whereas with other brands there is a bit more you can do with the blocks, with thyese your choices are slightly more limited.

Still, you get what you pay for right? And though these aren't quite enough to be a proper present in their own right, these would make an excellent stocking filler provided you had a rather big stocking!