Toy Review: Trashies in Toilets

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Since we were sent our first Trash Packs in the summer my son has been asking me for more! So you can imagine his reaction when I asked him if he'd like to review the new Toilet Trashies... 

They really are designed to appeal to boys as they appear revolting to grown ups:

We were sent a 5 pack collection worth £4.99 which is about average for this kind of collectable. Each trashie comes in its own little toilet:

They are all very gruesome (my son's description) with their own unique details:

Like the original versions they can be used for playing games or make mum's stomachs churn! They would make a fun stocking filler for young boys. And with 2 packs priced at £2.49 they are aimed at the pocket money bracket to encourage a collection of them.

Sunday Book Review: Hobbit and Hello Kitty Annuals

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The nice people at Harper Collins kindly sent us a couple of annuals to review. My children usually get an annual each from Father Christmas so they were excited to get ones a month early with the promise that Santa would still bring one on his sleigh!

The Hobbit an unexpected journey annual 2013

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of years you will know that one of the most keenly anticipated film events will finally be with us in December! My children have grown up with Lord of the Rings and have had the Hobbit read to them. Needless to say we are all excited about the film - just hoping I can take both to the cinema to see it but awaiting the final certificate....

In the meantime we had an argument over which child was the official reviewer of this annual as both my 9 year old daughter and 6 year old son claimed it! In the end I decided it would be my son who would try it out.

The book has plenty of snippets and photographs from the story and the film and my son recognised a few of the characters from Lord of the Rings:

The book is appealing to both children and adults and would be great for any fans. There are plenty of activities and puzzles to while away the Christmas holidays:

Definitely one to put on your list to Santa!



Hello Kitty annual 2013

This is ashamedly girlie with its bright pink cover! It is full of snippets from Hello Kitty:

There are also quizzes and activities for girls to do on their own or with friends:

If you have a slightly older Hello Kitty fan say 7 or up then they will have a lot of fun with this annual. It has great advice on friendship which is very important to this tween age group. In fact it would be a great basis for a sleepover.



I am sure that both of these will be very popular this Christmas but The Hobbit one would be the one I'd like to find in my stocking!

Stocking Filler Ideas for Adults

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For a change I am going to review some products for adults - it was nice to get sent things for me instead of my children! All of these are stocking filler prices.

Dustaway Keyboard and Screen Cleaner

This was sent to me by http://www.ideasbynet.com/ who provide corporate gifts. It is a neat little tool that I used to give my laptop a clean up! It did actually make quite a difference as I'm terrible about eating etc whilst using the computer so it was a bit dirty... An idea for the computer type in your life.

Hot Water Bottle with Heart Knitted Cover

A lovely little gift for a lady in your life especially one that is often out and about in the cold.  This was sent to me by Find Me A Gift and is currently £4.99 on their site. The first time you use it you activate a little metal disc and after that you can recharge in boiling water. It is small enough to keep in your handbag or coat pocket.

Friday Review: Space Torch Image Projector

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The lovely people at http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk sent us a Space Torch Image Projector to try out an review on the blog. With a daughter who is really keen on science this is a great thing to have. The torch itself is very neat and comes with 3 projector discs:

It is easy to use as you slide back the catch and pop in the disc (it will only go in one way round) and then switch on the torch. If like us you find the image is blurred then the instructions on the card say to adjust the white focus ring.

There are 3 different discs each with a set of NASA images. To switch between images on a disc you simply rotate with your thumb. Below I have put in a photograph from each one that I took from my bedroom ceiling last night!

Planets

A nebuale?

Education City

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I first came across EducationCity.com when I was a school IT technician in East Sussex. Several of my schools subscribed to it and in some of these the parents could also sign up so that their children could use it outside school. I have been running an advert for them on my blog as its a product that I can endorse from personal experience.


Today I received an e-mail laying out some exciting news from the company:

Play Live Maths (available and suitable to children from Year 1 to Year 7) is an exciting addition to EducationCity.com encouraging children to practice their maths skills by taking part in an engaging multiplayer online game.

Players have 60 seconds to answer as many Maths questions (appropriate to their age level) as they can by playing against the clock and against other users. It’s an interactive mental math challenge where your children take on the world. They’ve got 60 seconds to prove they’ve got what it takes, working against the clock to beat their opponents. It’s all in the speed, but they’ll need to be careful too. Make a mistake, and they’ll lose one of their three precious lives. Lose all three and they’ll be knocked out of the race altogether!

EducationCity.com has recently been shortlisted for 3 British Education and Training Technology (BETT) awards making it an ideal digital stocking filler for Christmas shoppers that want to give their children a fun present with real educational benefit.

We currently have a Christmas voucher code “perfectpresent” which saves £5 off per family at checkout.

You can subscribe from this link

Or take out a 10 day trial for free!

I am certainly going to be signing up for my children as its a great additional resource for use at home.


Breaking News:

A report in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper has shown how EducationCity.com has helped children with dyslexia  with their school work.

http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/scotland/teacher_s_hi_tech_tools_give_hope_to_dyslexic_children_1_1987297

The home version of EducationCity.com allows children to access fun online games that have been designed around curriculum objectives.

For parents concerned about the content of video games EducationCity.com can provide a refreshing change and is a great digital stocking filler for Christmas.

Using “perfectpresent” at checkout gives my readers £5 off per order and with affiliate payments per trial taken and orders placed there are really good opportunities available in the build up to the festive period.