I was shopping around the Early Learning Centre the other day for presents for my nephew, he lives at home with me and my sister and as toys shops are few and far between on the high streets these days. If I pass an early learning Centre I like to pop in as I can look and play with the toys and see what they do, it beats shopping online and gives you ideas of toys that he may like.

My nephew loves to play out in the garden and chase bubbles around popping them as he goes, we have had many pot of bubbles, but after a while you can get a little bored of blowing bubbles and then your arm starts to ache. So when I came across the Bubble Trouble Bubble Machine and although it was recommended for older children over 36 months, but I opted to purchase it for him, it's a machine that would need to be put on a table or ledge that he couldn't reach anyway so I didn't see the age difference being an issue.

The Bubble Trouble Bubble Machine sends a lot of bubbles into the air and all you have to do is turn the machine on. The machine is a little blue and green box and it has a handle on and a hole at the front of it. The hole is where the bubble mixture is placed and there are lots of applicators to make lots of bubbles as they turn round and round. The machine takes 4 x C batteries and can run for about an hour if needed and will release thousands of bubbles. The machine retails at £12, but I looked online and at the moment it is part of a three for two offers so well worth buying.

In order to use the machine you pour 450ml of bubble mixture into the bubble machine, any brand of bubble mixture will do. You then press the start/stop button to turn the machine on and off. When
finished with the machine you turn it off and empty and rinse the machine. Make sure that you do not put the machine into water otherwise it will never work again.

My nephew absolutely loves this machine it has him running around chasing the bubbles for ages and the great thing in that we can join in and chase them with him, instead of having to blow the bubbles for a change. We recently used this at his party and all the children enjoyed playing with it. It is unbelievable how long bubbles can preoccupy children in play.

There is only one disadvantage to this machine and this is that it needs to be kept on a flat surface if it isn't the machine does not always work as it cannot pick up the bubble liquid and release the bubbles. It can be a bit slow but I was not expecting an all singing and dancing machine for under £15. If this is for your daughter there is also a machine that comes in pink as well as the blue.