Monday App Review: Peppa Pig Theme Park

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We were sent a code to get a free copy of the latest Peppa Pig game from PS2 this time it's set in a theme park:

Up to 3 children can have a login for the game to savw their coins and stickers. Like Peppa games we have previously reviewed there are quite a few options for games inside the app:

My 6 year old's favourite was the bumper cars:

Whilst his big sister loves the music game:

Each game has simple instructions and easy controls which means its easy for a child to play. As they go they earn coins to spend in the shop on stickers to add to the scenes they can create:

A lovely game for Peppa Pig fans and one that is very simple. Slightly more than some games at £3.99 but it would get plenty of play.

Toys R Us Toylogists - Review 1

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Opening our first Toyologists' box was a bit like Christmas come early in our house! Lots of lovely toys to look and and try and hard to know where to start... This is what we have tried out so far:

Peppa Pig Giant Snakes and Ladders

This Peppa Pig game is the biggest version of snakes and ladders I’ve played indoors and you can see its scale based upon my 8 year old’s hand in the photo. For a small child this is definitely giant and if it had been bigger it wouldn’t have fitted in our front room (which isn’t huge!).

This was very easy to set up:

1. open box
2. unfold mat
3. place counters and dice ready

The larger size counters and dice make it easier to handle for younger children than traditional sized games (and are less easy to lose). The squares contain all of Peppa’s family and nice big numbers for learner readers.

There aren’t a huge number of squares so the game went quite quickly. This would help with the attention span of small children. Being able to play on the floor is also a bonus as the dice doesn’t get over enthusiastically rolled off the table. At £9.97 its a reasonable price for a game that can be taken any where as its all made of plastic and light and easy to transport.

Ben 10 Omniverse Omnitrix Touch

My son got hooked on Ben 10 aged 3 despite having never seen an episode! I had to buy him a DVD of a few episodes to meet the demand… He was therefore most keen to get this Omnitrix out of the packaging. He had had a different Omnitrix a couple of Christmases a go so he knew exactly what to do with this one.

I did struggle to fasten it on his wrist as the plastic is so new but my daughter had no problem fastening it on herself. Maybe she was less afraid of pinching than I was!

The Omnitrix comes with 3 modes:

• Alien voices
• Sound effects
• Unlock secret messages

This little video demonstrates my daughter trying out the settings:

Each part of the touch sensitive screen brings up a different alien in the voices mode. To use the code mode you need a specially marked pack of Ben 10 products which each have a code. We didn’t have any to try out.

Both my children enjoyed trying to get different sounds and flashing lights from the display. I was quite relieved they both knew where the OFF button was! This is definitely something my son would love to show off to his friends and if you have a big Ben 10 fan in your home then this would be a good addition to their collection.

Ravensberger My First Clock game

It was great timing to receive this My First Clock Game as both my 5 year old and my 8 year old are keen to either learn to tell the time or to improve on their use of analogue instead of digital time telling. The game is aimed at ages 4-9 and has games that suit the whole age range.

The game was quick to set-up with a pop together pair of hands and cards that pop out to play. We set out playing the middle level game where you read the digital time out to the next person who has to try and set the hands of the clock at the right position.

My 8 year old was the best of this at this game even beating me as I forgot about putting the hour hand half way to the next hour! This level of the game is definitely for those that already know something about telling the time, although my 5 year old could read out the numbers.

For the younger players the entry level game involved putting different time cards into the right order. Then they have to say what happens at that point during the day.

There is another advanced level that we haven’t moved onto yet. This one probably needs to be played between children of a similar standard as its more of a free for all than a taking turns game.

At £6.99 this is a great addition to a family’s games cabinet. My children were very keen on it and I’m sure we will get a lot of play out of it whilst my children are learning through fun.

Friday App Review: Peppa Pig's Sports Day

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If your child is a Peppa Pig fan and inspired by the Olympics then this is a perfect app for your iPad or iPhone. It includes a range of sports events, ice cream making and rosette design. As an app aimed at young children all the controls and games are very simple,

Up to four players can choose their favourite characters to take part in the events. Then all they need to do is tap in their little circle to either make them go faster or jump.

The events are obstacle race, long jump, cycling and tug of war. After each event the winner is announced:

And trophy awarded:

For the ice cream making they have to tap on the ingredients and then stir:

My 5 year old played this at a party with lots of other children aged 2+. They all really enjoyed having a go together. This would definitely be a good addition to your apps collection if your child is the right age.

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My blog year in review: Part 1

It's been an amazing year for my blog which I started back in 2008. This was definitely the year that the blog switched from being purely personal to including reviews and actually started earning me some much needed income.  So much has happened over the last 364 days that I'm breaking this review over 2 days to make it more manageable. 


Part one is the first half of the year from January to June and how I saw it from my blog:


January


This was the month for resolutions and new challenges. These included:

1. 100 Books in a Year - hoping that if I add all the books I read to the children at bedtime I'll have completed this!
2. Fitness Friday - this was a great supportive blog hop that unfortunately dwindled as the year went on but it did help me do really well getting in shape at the start of the year. Lots more work to do! As part of this I became an ambassador for Change4Life
3. I also pledged to work on becoming self sufficient. I haven't 100% succeeded in this but things have improved
4. This was the month I joined Reasons to be Cheerful for the first time. A great blog hop that helps to focus on the positive not dwell on the negative.

The high point of the month was appearing on BBC Radio Cumbria. Amazing where blogging can lead you! The low point of the month and indeed the whole year was the loss of my Granny at the age of 98. A much missed lady she will never be forgotten:

February

I have really tried to use this year to showcase my photographs. Not only through The Gallery and Silent Sunday posts but through stand alone posts such as this one from Bowness. I carried on my great relationship with Treasure Trails Cumbria with their fabulous murder mystery walks.

Karin started a Flashback Friday hop which I really enjoyed taking part in. This was the month I started reviewing iPhone apps with a debut from Peppa Pig. I did also manage a rant about the National Health Service. After signing up to the Become a Mumpreneur course I was quite happy to promote it.

DVD Review: Peppa Pig International Day and Other Stories

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Yesterday (24th October) saw the release of the 15th volume of Peppa Pig DVDs with International Day and Other Stories this has an RRP of £12.99 but is available on the web site for £8.99 at the minute.

This is a great DVD for Peppa Pig fans with a total of 12 episodes:

• International Day
• Grampy Rabbit's Boatyard
• Shake Rattle and Bang
• Pottery
• Mr Fox's Van
• Biggest Puddle in the World
• Chatterbox
• Chloe's Big Friends
• Edmond Elephant's Birthday
• Gym Class
• Paper Aeroplanes (bonus episode)

My 4 year old son sat transfixed as I hit the Play All option on the menu and let 53 minutes of Peppa Pig fun commence. I did pause after a couple of episodes but many parents will love the fact that their children have a safe, educational entertainment for their children for nearly an hour. The menu also had an option to choose one episode or the Shuffle. 

I think this Shuffle is a great idea as the DVD starts playing the whole set in random order. Brilliant for when your child wants their favourite DVD over and over again but the grown up doesn't want to listen to everything in exactly the same order again! I for one quite enjoy an episode or two of Peppa Pig and I'm sure this will be a big hit.

Saturday Review: Peppa Pig iPhone App

I was given a free copy of the new Peppa Pig iPhone App Polly Parrot to try out and review on my blog. The Peppa Pig Polly Parrot is normally available for £1.79 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. All the images used in this review are from the official press release.

The application has 4 different activities included in it:

1. Talking Parrot - the player has to make Polly say silly phrases
2. Feed Parrot - feed the right number of crackers that Polly asks for. There are 2 levels either simple one colour or a harder 2 colour game.
3. Where's Polly - a sort of hide and seek game where the player has to look for the parrot in various rooms at Peppa's house
4. Sticker Book - when the player has earned stickers in other games they can use them on a variety of scenes.

We had a few crashes when first using the application especially when my 7 year old played it - her 4 year old brother seemed to have less technical issues.