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Disney Pixar Cars 2 Skittles
by xmum2threex
My son is cars mad, and as the second movie came out just days before his birthday a lot of the presents he received were car branded. To be honest I hadn't planned to buy these skittles as we have owned a number of different sets in the past, but it was a choice of paying £3.95 for delivery or paying the extra £1 to receive this skittle ... set with free delivery instead. They are only available from the Disney store as I believe they are exclusive to them.
The skittles
The skittle set comes with 6 soft pins and a soft ball to match. The outside of the skittles are a shiny thin layer of plastic that holds the soft cushion of the pins inside. The ball is also soft meaning the whole set is very light and great for younger children. The bright colours mixed with the characters from the film means my son recognised that these were Disney cars skittles straight away. They are based on the second film, so your child will only recognise the characters printed on these skittles if they are a fan of the second movie. The age recommendation is three years plus which I do agree with as they can be difficult to set up even for older children. My two year old son can chuck the ball at the skittles once it is set up, but he finds it impossible to set the whole thing up without knocking down the rest of the pins. There is nothing for younger children to hurt them self on, no choking hazard, and because the ball is soft I don't even need to worry about it hitting the wrong target.
In use
The skittles are a lot smaller than other sets that we own. I was surprised at the size of them when they arrived but this did not seem to bother my son. As the material is prone to creasing, and the shapes of the skittles are not solid it is difficult to set them at the floor. There has been some effort made to keep the bottom as flat as possible, but as there is only a small area to balance on the floor my children found it challenging to set all the pins in place. This means it takes a while to set the game up and prolongs the fun, but it can also become very frustrating for little one having to pick them up over and over.
Outside the skittles were even worse. As you need an extremely flat piece of ground it limited the places that they could be played with. Then even on a warm day in July, the skittles were falling over with even the slightest bit of wind. My son decided to give up trying to play with them outside, and so they were put back inside while he occupied himself with something else. As the skittles are a lot smaller than other sets it also means they are a smaller target. There is still a wide enough area to aim at, and it is more challenging than other sets we have owned. My children actually loved this and it means each game is more interesting.
What my 5 year old son loved is that there were a mix of characters on the skittles, rather than just a few of the better known ones. He thought it was amazing and began finding his cars that matched the skittles so he could learn how to read their name. Not a usual way to play with skittles but it still provided a lot of fun for my son. He also used them at the side of his race tracks, or to form road blocks so he definitely gets his use out of them. They also have numbers written on each pin so that they can be placed in order. This proved to be very important to my little girl, and she would not allow anyone to play if the numbers were not in the correct order.
Summary
We purchased these for £5 from the Disney store website. There are different character options so if your child is not a fan of cars you should be able to find something to suit them. Usual price is £10 but they are often on sale. I would recommend these skittles but only for indoor use. They proved to be useless outside and are difficult to use inside but my son loves them and that is all that matters. All three of my eldest children like this set and they do use it a lot. It can become frustrating as the pins are difficult to stand up, but practise and persistence mean this set still receive a lot of use. I was a little worried as the stitching looked a little rubbish when we first received them, but they are as good as new and can even be wiped down.
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Mookie Mini Street Cruz II Tri-Scooter
by historywitch
Every weekday in the school playground my three year old watches his friends glide and swoop around the playground on their scooters. His scooter is an old metal thing that belonged to his older sister and is too heavy for me to take to school and back (it also is astonishingly painful when it swings around and belts me on the ankle as I ... carry it across the road). So for Christmas he was delighted to receive this Mookie scooter like his friends. Its RRP is £44 but Amazon usually have them for around £30 in a range of colours (his is blue and yellow and cost £28). This is the Mini version from 36 months to approx. 5-6 years, after that the Maxi with its adjustable handlebars is probably the one to get.
Assembly is very simple. The handlebar piece slots into the base piece with a click. Done. Ready to ride. If you want to take it apart for transport you just turn the scooter upside down and press the two little sticking out bits and the handlebar piece pops off again.
This is a lovely scooter, the cheap version of the £100 Micro scooters. It is very very light but well made. The base has ridges so children don't slip off, the handlebars have thick rubber handholds, the brake is good and wide so its easy to find with a foot and the wheels are good quality and show little sign of wear after three weeks of ferocious daily scooting.
I was delighted to discover that when my son got tired it was no effort at all to get him home. He put both feet on the board and I grabbed the handlebar nearest to me. The scooter is so light and easy to propel that I only needed two fingers and hardly any effort to get him coasting along next to me, rather than yanking and dragging the thing behind me.
The best bit about this scooter is the steering mechanism. The handlebars don't turn, instead you shift your body weight on the base which tilts slightly and moves the wheels in the direction you lean in. It creates an incredibly graceful fluid movement of the scooter and really helps children develop an awareness of their whole body. Both of my children have inherited my lack of co-ordination but these scooters (my daughter has the Maxi Micro) are helping them with their balance whilst they have a load of fun. It is so much easier to get them out of the house, to get them moving and to keep them active with these scooters. Now I am the one lagging behind rather than my three year old and he no longer asks for his buggy!
Some of the mechanisms underneath are plastic (unlike the Micro scooters where they are metal), but so far it has proved itself to be very robust. I do wonder if it will last as long as the more expensive Micro scooter but at the price this is less of a worry. In a few years we will upgrade him or he will inherit his sister's Micro .
This is an excellent scooter for younger children, its light, easy to assemble and easy to steer. My three year old has embraced this form of transport and begs to use it everyday. The steering mechanism is fantastic and I wish I had had one when I was a child, I think I'm a bit jealous!
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Hello Kitty 9'' Ball
by Angel690
HELLO KITTY 9INCH BALL
This was one of the gifts one of my children received for christmas, I believe that we have used it enough to write a review on it, As in my opinion you if you have used one ball then you have used most
***THE PRODUCT***
The ball itself is 9inch in size and is recommended for ... children age 3 years and over, The ball has a picture of hello kitty dressed in a dress and with her usual bow, The background of the ball is light pink in colour and has butterfly's scattered all around, these are in various colours, darker pink, green, white, yellow and blue.
The ball is made of plastic and as it is quite soft is suitable for indoor and outdoor use,
As I did not purchase this ball I have had a quick look online and found that this is available to purchase from ebay for £3.99 plus postage.
***MY OPINION***
To be fairly honest I believe that you could get a similar ball without hello kitty on it for quite a bit cheaper, The ball itself isn't very expensive but is more expensive than a ball without the hello kitty branding.
My daughter has and still is playing with this ball and has done every day since christmas day, The ball is attractive to children as not only does it have hello kitty on it, it is quite bright with various colours on, So I do believe you could teach your child colours whilst using the ball as well as helping them with the co-ordination.
As it is fairly soft as well it is suitable for indoor and outdoor use, My daughter so far has played with it in the house and in the garden.
In my opinion it is not an amazing toy and is not something I would rush out and buy for one of my children or any of the children in the family, But because my daughter seems to be having fun with it, I will award it 3 stars
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