Tag: review

Getting Creative With Project MC2, Camryn Coyle and Rubbing Alcohol

Home / Products / Getting Creative With Project MC2, Camryn Coyle and Rubbing Alcohol
by Luschka

Rubbing Alcohol for kids? Well, yes, indeed! The new series of ‘party dolls’ as my 7 year old calls the latest range of Project MC2 dolls, all dressed up for the Maywood Glen art opening, involves dressed up characters with a new range of experiments to try out and enjoy.

We received the Camryn Coyle doll with the Tie Dye experiment.

Camryn comes with a handbag (with a  much better design than previous ones, as it’s a bit larger and so easier to open) and shoes. Her dress is two parts – top and skirt – and the box contains three coloured permanent markers and a pipette.

To make the experiment work, you have to provide the Rubbing Alcohol or Surgical Spirits, and the item to be designed – they suggest white canvas shoes, but we used a white blouse.

You can see how the experiment worked in this video, or read on!Read more: Getting Creative With Project MC2, Camryn Coyle and Rubbing Alcohol

Lalaloopsy Mini Jewel Sparkles Review

Home / Reviews / Lalaloopsy Mini Jewel Sparkles Review
by Luschka

Continuing on the theme of what’s turned out to be a crazy amount of dolls lately, we recently received a Mini Jewel Sparkles Lalaloopsy doll, and since we only received (and expected to receive) one, there were tears in the house!

Lalaloopsy dolls were once rag dolls who magically came to life when their very last stitch was sewn, taking on the personalities of the materials that were used to make them, so since Jewel Sparkles came to life on the 13th of March, she seemed a perfect fit for Aviya, who was born on the 13th of March.Jewel Sparkles

In January this year, Lalaloopsy launched a Netflix Original Series, an animated series featuring all-new original music that brings to life the popular Lalaloopsy line of dolls.Read more: Lalaloopsy Mini Jewel Sparkles Review

Chillfactor Pull Pops Review

Home / Products / Chillfactor Pull Pops Review
by Luschka

I don’t know about where you are, but here in my little spot of the world, there  are definite signs of warmer weather in the air, and while I’d love to say about how I’m having dreams of ice creams and lollipops, that would be a lie, as we’ve been having them for almost a month already! I’ll be sitting wrapped in a blanket wearing long sleeved everything and an oversized scarf draped over my shoulders and still have to blow into my hands to unfreeze my fingers from time to time, and my girls will be begging for ice cream! Obviously they inherited this from the Celtic side of the family, not from my Southern Hemispherian self! But it did give us a good opportunity to test out the Chillfactor Pull Pops we were sent a few weeks ago.Chillfactor Pull Pops Read more: Chillfactor Pull Pops Review

Wissper & Peggy Starter Doll

Home / Good Stuff / Wissper & Peggy Starter Doll
by Luschka

It was Aviya’s birthday last week, and we accumulated quite a number of dolls as a result. Of all of them, I have a favourite: The Wissper & Peggy Starter Doll Set.

Based on the Milkshake TV show, Wissper is a 7-year old girl with the ability to talk to animals. The animals always go to Wissper for help, and by the simple expedient of saying “Sssshhhh…” she can magically transport herself to anywhere there is an animal in danger.

Along with Peggy the penguin, the Wissper and Peggy starter set comes with the panpipe she uses to enter a new world and the binoculars used to find the cheeky monkeys in the forest. Read more: Wissper & Peggy Starter Doll

New Episodes & A New Line For Project MC2

Home / Motherhood / New Episodes & A New Line For Project MC2
by Luschka

Project Mc² is back on Netflix UK with new episodes, and an accompanying new product line based on the Netflix series.

If you aren’t familiar with Project Mc², it’s a series about a team of six super-smart girls who use their love of science and spy skills to undertake missions for a top-secret, all female organization called NOV8 – or innovate – to us less acronym savvy.

The six main characters are McKeyla McAlister (Mc2), Adrienne Attoms (A2), Camryn Coyle (C2), Bryden Bandweth (B2), Ember Evergreen (E2) and Devon D’Marco (D2), and each girl has an area of speciality. McKeyla is a spy, Adrienne is a culinary chemist, Camryn is a whizz with electronics, Bryden is the online guru of the group, Ember can grow pretty much anything and Devon is an artist extraordinaire who opens up to the group in this latest series.  Each girl ticks at least one of the STEM/STEAM boxes, many tick more, and while their interests are varied, they make a great time when they work together.
Project MC2

In the new episodes and old character returns, and the girls have to use their smarts to not only save him and save the day, but there’s romantic progress for McKeyla and Kyle Lewis too.

While the show throws out big words from time to time (mostly chemicals) there’s not a huge amount of education that happens just from watching it, and a lot just ‘works out’ for the characters, but it’s a series aimed at young girls, so you have to watch it with that filter. While I still find the girls a bit vapid-with-smarts, they’re much more interesting and much better role models for girls than many other traditional girl stereotypes I can think of.

There are some general themes that make it worth watching, if you were doing it for entertainment only, like the introduction to the concept of girls-who-love-STEM/STEAM, the value of teamwork, standing by your friends and standing up for yourself. There’s also the ‘girls can do this’ idea, which isn’t bad to start reinforcing from a young age.Read more: New Episodes & A New Line For Project MC2

Dreamworks Trolls Fancy Dress Wig & Friendship Watch Review

Home / Reviews / Dreamworks Trolls Fancy Dress Wig & Friendship Watch Review
by Luschka

Halloween may have come and gone, but in our house, every day is just another opportunity for fancy dress. One of my neighbours recently exasperatedly commented that she’d never seen my children not dressed as fairies or other fictional characters! Since we recently watched Dreamworks’ Trolls we were all too happy to try out (or is that try on?) some Trolls fancy dress.

Trolls is a very light-hearted musical movie. It’s set in a plastic fantastic, super colourful world,  with ultra happy characters – all but one – who go through a series of stresses, most of which is the immanence of becoming supper to the Bergens, a larger, uglier race. The trolls escape, forge a new life, and soon forget the dangers of the Bergens in the happiness of their new home. Of course, this leaves the Bergens sad and miserable (they believe you can only be happy by eating a Troll), and eternally in search of the Trolls. During one loud and carefree party, the fireworks attract the Bergens, and Troll-world is thrown into disaster again. Poppy, the happiest troll ever born, and Branch, her extreme opposite, set off to rescue their friends, and so starts a journey in which these unlikely allies begin to understand each other and find the love they’ve been searching for right under their noses. The Bergen king finds himself in his own Cinderella story with a scullery maid and the Trolls help him realise his love for her, and in the end the good guys win, the bad guys are banished, traitors are found out, the humble inherit a kingdom and everyone goes home happy, and singing one of the multitude of pop songs incorporated into this Dreamworks musical.

[youtube xyjm5VQ11TQ]Read more: Dreamworks Trolls Fancy Dress Wig & Friendship Watch Review

Kazoops Music For Kids & Their Grownups

Home / Reviews / Kazoops Music For Kids & Their Grownups
by Luschka

We love music in our house, and make good use of our Amazon Prime music subscription, but I do try to keep the music we listen to appropriate to the children, since I think music has a much bigger impact on our subconscious mind than we might always realise. When we were invited to review music from the top-rated animated CBeebies preschool TV series Kazoops we were happy to oblige. New music is always welcomed.  

kazoops_mpu_rain_songWhat we like about Kazoops is that it is actually music. It isn’t plinky plonky piano music as so many kids songs seem to be, and the tunes are both simple and catchy. They are also great songs for getting children dancing and acting out, which I find a great way of curbing the indoor frustrations on cold and rainy days.

The music covers a range of genres and styles, the lyrics have substance and relate to each preconception and Monty’s creative and critical thinking processes. That said, we don’t have TV so we don’t watch the show on CBeebies, but even so, the children like the music. You don’t have to watch the show to ‘get’ the songs, or know the characters to appreciate it. (For those that don’t, Kazoops is all about Monty, a six-year-old boy who challenges life’s questions both big and small with the help of his limitless imagination and his best friend, Jimmy Jones, the family pet pig. In each episode, the duo enters make-believe worlds to challenge everyday preconceptions such as ‘do things have to be the same all the time?’ or ‘do all games really need rules?’)Read more: Kazoops Music For Kids & Their Grownups

Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head {Review}

Home / Good Stuff / Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head {Review}
by Luschka

I’ve never considered myself very girly, so where my daughters have developed a fascination and love of girly things is beyond me, but a love for girly things they have! We’ve been sent the Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head from Just Play to review, and it’s one my girls are thrilled with. In fact, slipped in among a group of birthday presents, this one in play for the best part of an entire day, which is strong praise from one of my children!disney-princess-ariel-bath-styling-head-reviewRead more: Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head {Review}

Invite The Fairies With Opening Fairy Doors {Review}

Home / Good Stuff / Invite The Fairies With Opening Fairy Doors {Review}
by Luschka

We moved house a few months ago, and the children’s room has been a bit of a mishmash since doing so, since it’s also their first room separate from mine. I took my time collecting bits for decorating their room so that I could keep the costs down, but when we were offered the Opening Fairy Door for review I knew I had to find a way to include it in their room, even though we already had a little fairy door up already.

Room redoRead more: Invite The Fairies With Opening Fairy Doors {Review}

Being Enterprising & Learning Entrepreneurship With Clever Tykes Books

Home / Book Reviews / Being Enterprising & Learning Entrepreneurship With Clever Tykes Books
by Luschka

I grew up in South Africa where we had little to no social welfare system. As a result we were known as a very entrepreneurial people. You’ve never seen anyone with a bag of maize, a giant pot and some polystyrene plates till you’ve a South African turning a profit on the side of the road!

Teaching children to be entrepreneurial and enterprising is equipping them with a skill that will stand them in good stead for their whole lives.Clever Tykes Read more: Being Enterprising & Learning Entrepreneurship With Clever Tykes Books