My daughter loves to go into our local Mothercare, which also has an ELC, and enjoys playing with the toys that are there. On a recent visit they had one of these rocket zoomers out for children to play with and I decided to have a go. My daughter was very excited by it and my husband suggested we get one. After looking at the price, we decided it was worth it!

---About the product:
The ELC Rocket Zoomer is a toy that allows a foam rocket to be sent into the air by someone standing on a pad. The zoomer comes in a cardboard box with pictures of children playing with the item in a large grassy area. Inside the box there are 5 parts to the toy. There are two red foam rockets with yellow flights on the sides. One of the rockets is slightly taller than the other. The other three parts make up the propellent. There is the pad that is then connected to the rocket launcer via a green tube. Once the rocket is connected
together, it can be played with. As it only took a few minutes to assemble, my daughter did not get bored waiting for it to be put together.

---Using the product:
Once it was put together, we decided to have a go. I assume that ELC intended this to be for outdoor use, but we have used it mostly inside instead. Once it was put together, we took turns to 'fire' the rockets into the air. The pad is quite stiff and my daughter who is 2 and a half found it very hard to launch them on hewr own. She had to either get a lucky jump (her aim is not very good...) or we had to lift and jump her onto it. If I stepped on it, the rocket flew into the air and my daughter squealed with delight as she chased it around the room, then went back and did it again. She is quite capable of putting the rockets onto the launcher and then chases them across the room.

We've tried this ouitside a bit, but the biggest problem with this is the wind. You need either a very large space so it doesn't matter how far it goes; or no wind so you can be reasonably sure of where it will go. It is quite hard to predict how high or far the rocket will go and it is definitely not an exact science! When we use it inside, I regularly hit the ceiling so it's good not to have any breakables around!

The ELC Zoomer has been a great toy and is good for helping children to get active and to teach co-ordination with putting the rocket back on the launcher. As my science teacher sister would agree, it is also helpful for teaching physics about how items move and propulsion. It is good as a family toy and my daughter has encouraged us all to join in with it and still squeals with delight when the rockets go into the air. She enjoys getting this toy out again and again and is not showing signs of forgetting about it.

---And finally:
I would definitely recommend this toy if you have few breakable items in your house, or have a large expanse of space outside that you can use this on. It costs £6 which I feel is a good price for the toy and is currently on a 3 for 2 offer in ELC. It says it is suitable for 3 years and over, but I feel that as a family toy, it is suitable for younger as you can play with it together. As my daughter still has problems pushing the launch pad on her own, I would suggest that for children to play with it on their own they would need to be older.