I understand the concept: DIY ice lollies. I've even tried it multiple times and my kids like it. It makes financial sense, as you can make your own flavours and consistency and strength, without having to worry so much about all of the additives and chemicals that seem to be pumped into the majority of packaged ice lollies these days.

But I do have an issue with most devices that enable you to make your own, these ones included. You could make lollies in a variety of ways in terms of the content but ultimately when it comes down to it, the device you're using is important. This particular lolly maker has four decent sized recepticles to use, and the idea is that you fill each one, nearly to the top. The lid then has a stick coming out of it that extends down into the liquid. When you pop the containers into the freezer and the liquid freezes, it does so around the liquid, which will now be frozen like a lolly.

Simple to use, yes, but the issue I have is that when it comes to removing the lolly from the container, I find that it often sticks. This depends slightly on what you freeze, but in the main, I find that trying to wrestle the lollies out of their containers ends up being a chore, resulting occasionally in half a lolly in and half out of the container, and on one occasion a broken lolly container. After a few times, I actually stopped bothering.

However, I did then change what I was freezing, altering the content and moving it to a different freezer compartment. I haven't checked the temperatures of the different drawers I have, but part of the reason I kept them where I need was that these actually take up quite a bit of height. If you have a chest freezer then this is not an option, and you just have to keep it upright to start with until it's frozen. What I ended up doing was storing them in the top compartment until frozen and then transferring them to a different one. This was slightly higher in temperature and when it came to removing the lollies it was definitely a lot easier.

This was much better than running it under hot water or wrestling with it too much, and made it an enjoyment to make lollies. We used bits of real fruit if it's about to go off, and vary the flavours. My son and I have even experimented with weird combinations of flavours to see what works well frozen. Some things worked and some didn't. Frozen ice cream sandwich flavour squash wasn't the best choice of lolly, for example, but it's something we can tick off!

So my opinion on this is divided. Ideally, I'd like to have something that doesn't take up a lot of room and comes out of its housing very easily, but this doesn't. However, it is reassuring to know exactly what the contents of the lolly are, and making your own can be a really fun exercise to do with the kids. I think this provides a decent balance and ultimately for £1 this is a decent buy and is worth the money you'll be paying. Sure, it's not perfect, but Lakeland will probably charge you a great deal more for the convenience of something that slides out easier. Is it worth more? Maybe, but this is valued right and does what I'd expect it to.