Parenting
A collection of all my posts relating to parenting and family life
Leapfrog – Peek A Shoe Octopus
114 years ago
The lovely people at Leapfrog have sent Zara and Oscar one of their Peek A Shoe Octopus to review.
The Peek A Shoe Octopus is for ages 9-36 months and so Oscar is almost old enough to play with it now. I have to remember that as he was premature he isn’t quite as advanced as most 8 month olds at the moment but now he has learnt to sit up he will find it easier to play 
Zara at 22 months absolutely loves playing with it.
The Peek A Shoe is basically a ball drop toy, you drop the balls into either the Octopus’s hat or arm (well I suppose technically it’s a tentacle?) and then you have to find which shoe it will appear under. The Octopus gives you clues using colours and numbers to help you find the ball. This is a fab game for teaching colour recognition, numbers and even sea animals. Zara can already identify most of the animals on the shoes but her favourite word is currently Octopus!
I only have a couple of small issues with the Peek A Shoe Octopus. 1) The balls are just small enough to roll under my sofa and so I’m quite frequently lying on my stomach with a ruler trying to get them back and 2) Zara has a habit of dropping other items into the Octopus. So far we have managed to retrieve them all successfully but we have to keep an eye out as we’ve so far found a shoe, a gingerbread man and a load of wooden jigsaw pieces in there. Even taking this into account though I think the Octopus is a great toy and we have been having loads of fun with it. When Oscar is a little older it will be lovely for them both to play with it together
The Peek A Shoe Octopus sells for £24.99 which I think is a pretty reasonable price and if you’re looking for gift ideas for a baby/toddler then it is definitely worth considering.
Friday Photo Time
114 years ago
Kara at Innocent Charms Chats has started a weekly photo drop called #fridayphototime.
All of my old photos have just been downloaded to a portable harddrive so I’m not posting any #flashbackfriday photos but here are just a few of my favourite photos taken over the last week This week looking back at my photos, it seems to have been an Oscar week
Orchard Toys – Red Dog, Blue Dog
114 years ago
Orchard Toys have very kindly sent Zara one of their Red Dog, Blue Dog games to review.
Red Dog, Blue Dog is a fun first lotto game for very young players with the aim being to match all the coloured pictures to the playing board. It is for ages 2-5 and there are 4 playing boards so it can be played by up to 4 players. In our household we love toys and games which encourage learning and family interaction and so we were very happy to be sent this to review
Now I have to admit we don’t exactly play the game as lotto at the moment as with Zara being only 22 months old, she doesn’t quite understand the idea of lotto. But we have had lots of fun making up our own games such as snap, matching the animals to the boards, finding the same image in different colours, learning colours. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination! We love being able to play together as a family although it will be a little bit longer until Oscar can join in as well 
I’d love to post some photos of us all playing with Red Dog, Blue Dog but whenever we are playing I’m usually too busy having fun to remember to take photos at the same time
Red Dog, Blue Dog sells for £9.25 which is a fantastic price for a great stocking filler this Christmas
Galt Playnest
114 years ago
We were sent a Galt Playnest a while back to review and it is one of those products that we like so much that I feel it should be included in my Christmas Gift Guide.
“The triangular shaped Playnest has various activities to explore including a furry mane, squeaky elephant ear and crinkly leaves, hiding monkeys and snakes and furry tiger tummy. The triangular shape offers baby additional sideways support when sitting. The fabric cover has a quilted centre for baby’s comfort and is machine washable.”
The playnest is a firm favourite in our house, loved by both Oscar and Zara. Now Oscar is at the stage where he is just mastering sitting up, it is a great place for me to pop him with his toys so he can wobble about to his hearts content.
Of course when Zara is around the playnest becomes a boat, a car and anything else which involves her jumping in it with Oscar and playing with him. Luckily there is enough room for the both of them “just”
I was going to include a video here of Oscar in the playnest but to be honest he was just lying there being a bit boring and I’ve got a much more entertaining one of Zara in it which I’m going to show you instead Just to prove that even 20 month olds still enjoy playing with it!
The playnests sell for £28.99 which I feel is a pretty good price for the amount of use we get out of it. If you’re looking for something to buy for baby at Christmas then I think it would make a fabulous present
Leapfrog – My Own Leaptop
114 years ago
The lovely people at Leapfrog have sent Zara one of their My Own Leaptop’s to review and all I can say is what a HUGE hit it is in our house
“Personalise pretend computer play with My Own Leaptop™! Choose and download songs for a custom playlist, explore 6 learning activity stations and personalise 8 email messages for your child to enjoy! Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path for customised learning insights and ideas to expand the learning. Available in 2 colors: green and purple.”
When you first get the Leaptop you connect it to your computer with the included USB cable and then you can personalise it by connecting to the Leapfrog website. You get to personalise 3 emails and choose from certain songs and then it is ready to play with.
Zara spends hours playing with hers and she loves that she gets emails from Mummy, Daddy and Oscar. I love the blog button personally, it’s nice to get them interested in the world of blogging at an early age after all
I’ve done a little video below to show you just a few of the features of the Leaptop.
My Own Leaptop sells for the bargain price of just £19.99 which I think is fantastic value for a toy that provides this much entertainment and learning. 10/10 to Leapfrog for this toy from the Brown household
Mama Jewels
014 years ago
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Mama Jewels and I did a review for them back in July here. Just because I love them so much I’ve decided to feature them in my christmas gift guide as I think they would make a lovely gift for any mums out there
The necklace I’ve chosen to feature is the Audrey Necklace.
Audrey sells for £19.95 and is a gorgeous long necklace using gold or silver beads to create a chain like appearance, with a dark smoky grey pendant finished with bronze or silver thread thread and Macrame knotting. It comes packaged in a lovely Mama Jewels gift box and tag.
Each necklace is strength tested to 90N to prevent breakage and all components are non toxic for when baby chews them, washable and can be steam sterilised. Perfect for the mum who has a pulling, teething baby What new mum wouldn’t love to find one of these in her Christmas stocking?
Friday Photo Time
214 years ago
Kara at Innocent Charms Chats has started a weekly photo drop called #fridayphototime.
All of my old photos have just been downloaded to a portable harddrive so I’m not posting any #flashbackfriday photos this week but here are just a few of my favourite photos taken over the last week
P’Kolino Silly Softs
114 years ago
Gander Kids contacted me to ask if Zara would like to review a Silly Soft by P’Kolino.
The Silly Soft Seating is comprised of three soft, sturdy, light weight pieces that can be configured in a myriad of ways; from seats of varying heights to tiny tables. These many variations, and the capacity for children to do the configuring, are great for their creativity and gross motor development.
With no hard surfaces, sharp edges or loose pieces they are also safe for those early developmental stages when toddlers really toddle. So, climb on it, sit on it or drool on it; the snugly fabric is durable, removable and washable.
There are 5 different coloured Silly Softs to choose from, Kiko (Red), Pipa (Blue), Iggy (Yellow), Tias (Green) and Lila (Purple). Zara was sent Pipa the blue one and I think it was love at first sight! We’ve been having issues in the household recently with Zara wanting to sit everywhere I want to put Oscar but now Zara has her very own seat Although it’s also become a tower, a bed for her toys, a cushion for her feet, in fact she has been pretty clever in finding uses for it
Just lounging
The Silly Soft’s retail at £39.99 each and we think they are fab. You can check out where to buy them on the website here
Zara is...
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