Peppa Pig Electronic Learning Toys (review + giveaway E: 15 October 2019)

As the sounds of a jolly tune ring out of Peppa's Laugh & Learn Laptop, I think of the not-so-faraway days when my boys used to watch Peppa Pig cartoons on TV and DVDs.
She was such a big part of their preschool and early school days. Gosh, she was almost a member of our family.
I do miss those days, as I secretly enjoyed the show as much as they did (that and Ben & Holly in the little kingdom too).
I liked the cheeky Peppa, her little brother George whose only word was Dino-saur, and their parents - a hopeless Daddy Pig and wise Mummy Pig.

Peppa's Laugh & Learn Laptop (SRP £19.99, available in Argos) is a colourful interactive musical toy, suitable for children aged 2 and over.
It has a portable carry handle and light-up screen.

This toy is promoted as learning on the go.
As long as you're in your own space, like a car, you'll be fine. I wouldn't take it on a train or a bus, as it won't endear you to the general public.
Kids will love it though.

The portable laptop offers four different activity modes to play, allowing your child to discover objects, colours, numbers and letters by pressing different buttons on the laptop.

First move the selector key.
Six keys at the bottom panel describe the object nearby, and Peppa Pig and her friends. Press the music keys to listen to some short fun songs.

During the quiz time Peppa is asking you to find something, and then the image lights up on the screen. Peppa asks questions about colours, objects, friends and counting or finding the first letter of a word.

To play music, press any inset key to listen to the piano notes, amusing silly sounds will come when you press the character, and the instruments will give you musical tunes.

To stop the music, close down the lid and the laptop is sent into the Sleep mode.
I would also like to add that a volume control button would be welcome, as the sounds and music are pretty loud.

This product requires 3 AAA batteries. The toy comes supplied with the batteries, but they're for demonstration purpose only, and won't last long.

The screen and handle are quite chunky and easy to use by pre-schoolers.

If you're thinking of what to get your Peppa Pig-loving tot for Christmas, you might want to consider either of the two toys I'm reviewing today.

Peppa Pig Count with Peppa (SRP £19.99, available in Argos) is another electronic learning toy for children aged 2+.
Your tots will have fun, learning about numbers, counting, colours and shapes with Peppa.
Peppa greets you with a message: "Hello, shall we learn to count together?"
She is very clever, that Peppa - you put colourful coins in her purse, and Peppa recognises each coin.
She also asks questions - and then your child has to find the right coin.

The switch at the back has a low/high volume control. The battery compartment is at the back as well.

There is a Mode selector switch on the side, which allows you to choose either a Numbers or Colours mode.
To preserve battery life, Peppa will automatically power-down after approximately 45 seconds without input. Just press any button to turn the unit on again.

How to play:
Once the unit is switched on, Peppa will ask you to learn together. Insert any coin in the yellow slot of Peppa's purple purse.
Slide the selector button on the side to choose either Counting and Numbers or Colours and Objects.

To retrieve the coins, simply pull open the purse.

Peppa sets different tasks in different modes, for example, she could ask you to insert a certain amount of coins in her purse, or find a number or a coin with a certain amount of objects.

If your child is hesitating, they will hear an encouraging phrase. If you make a mistake, Peppa will ask a new question.

And if you're not in a learning mood, Peppa will be happy to sing one of her three songs.

If you like the sound of these electronic toys, I have a super giveaway for you.

One of my lucky blog readers will win a Peppa Pig Count with Peppa toy.

T&Cs:

The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.

The prize is kindly provided by Provence PR, and they will dispatch the prize to the winner. I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

Please enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by email, Twitter or Facebook.

If no response is received within 7 days, Chez Maximka reserves the right to select an alternative winner.

Open to all entrants aged 18 and over.

Any personal data given as part of the giveaway is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with 3rd parties, with the exception of the winner's information.

This will be passed to Provence PR and used for the fulfilment of the prize, after which all the data will be deleted.

Please do not forget to leave the comment, as it's the only mandatory step. 

Bonus points are awarded for the Facebook entry (i.e. leaving a comment, or liking etc)

Giveaway ends on 15 October 2019.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peppa Pig Holiday Sunshine Villa

Peppa pig fans, rejoice! A new range of Peppa Pig Holiday toys has been released. We were lucky to get our mitts on a Peppa Pig Holiday Sunshine Villa from Character Online. If you are a fan of this super cheeky piggy and her family, you must know just how much they enjoy going on holidays. Who can forget their adventures in Italy and Daddy Pig's terrible driving technique? Now you can recreate your favourite episodes at home. 

Peppa Pig Holiday Sunshine Villa (£29.99) is a super playset. It comes as a carry-along case: just open it and reveal four rooms inside including a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and sitting-room.

It comes with a lot of accessories - mini figures of Peppa and George as well as pieces of furniture like a double-decker bunk bed with a ladder, stairs, a shower cubicle and outdoor furniture including a deck chair, a sun lounger and more.

The villa is colourful and cheerful. My younger son asked though"Where is the door?"

Eddie enjoyed playing with the set, but we found it a bit unsteady. It is easily toppled over, maybe a support of some kind would have been a good idea. The stairs on the side move a bit as well, since they are not attached to the house.

It is lovely for pretend play, which my son is very good at. He has a great imagination, and also can be quite mischievous. For example, he put little George inside the BBQ, saying it's his hiding place, while I was "horrified" at the idea, telling him we don't want to grill poor piglet.

New collection of Peppa Pig Holiday toys at Character Online includes the following toys:
Holiday Grandpa Pig's Holiday Boat (£19.99);
Holiday Time Splash Speedboat (£14.99)
Holiday Time Ice Cream Van (£14.99)
Air Peppa Holiday Jet (£19.99)
Holiday Campervan Playset - £29.99 (and now I'm signing to myself - "We're going on a holiday in a camper van!"

Disclosure: We received the toy set for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are Eddie's and mine.

Peppa Pig Muddy Puddles Jumbo Jet

Peppa Pig, an iconic cheeky piggy, has probably a bigger following of fans than One Direction. In our family she's certainly more important and popular. We have quite a few Peppa pig toys and most of the DVDs in our collection. Now that Eddie is 4, he's slowly drifting into more challenging TV shows and characters, but he's still very fond of Peppa. Despite his recent penchant for Superheroes & Ninja Turtles, he was thrilled to receive a new Peppa Pig Muddy Puddles Jumbo Jet from Character

Peppa's plane comes with a mini-figure of Peppa pig and a couple of suitcases. The Jet moves along on free-wheeling wheels. There is a side door for Peppa, and a luggage compartment in the back which opens up.
You don't need any batteries to operate a toy (always a bonus!), and you don't need to assemble anything (double bonus!). And it doesn't make any noises or sounds.
Eddie has been playing with it, taking Peppa on a flight to Italy, as he says. Italy is where his grandparents live, and where he thinks Peppa should be flying as well.

Now for the cons bit: like most toys based on TV shows, the boxes are covered with free ads in the back for the other toys in the series. Of course, my son thinks this is an invitation to ask for more toys, because he wants this and that.
There is only one mini-figure in the set. And Eddie asks me "Why are there three seats? and Who will fly with Peppa?"

Eddie had lots of fun, playing with his new toy. He even made Peppa do a full salto-mortale (poor Peppa!), and she lived to tell the tale.

If you have little Peppa pig fans, this is a toy to put on a possible gift list for Christmas. I'm sure it will be greeted with great enthusiasm.

Snort! Snort!

Disclosure: We received Peppa Pig Jumbo Jet for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are Eddie's and mine.

NOW TV Nickelodeon Swap Shop

You might have wondered what is this creature, covered in spots. In case you didn't guess, it is Gaston the ladybird from Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, one of my younger son's favourite TV shows. It might look like a crazy hat, but it was meant to be Gaston.

Are you children big fans of Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Thomas the tank engine and other shows?

Have you heard of NOW TV Nickelodeon Swap Shop? It runs from the 29th of July until the 17th of August.

"NOW TV is thrilled to announce two exciting new additions to its children’s entertainment offering. Viewers can now watch Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. at any time, without a contract via the Entertainment Month Pass.

To celebrate, NOW TV is launching the NOW TV Nickelodeon Swap Shop. The social campaign is asking  families to get creative in return for a free  Nickelodeon digital activity pack crammed full of fun to keep children entertained this summer.

Taking part is simple, all parents have to do is follow NOW TV on Twitter or Facebook. Over the next two weeks the NOW TV Nickelodeon Swap Shop will post characters from some of Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.'s most-loved shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom and Thomas and Friends.

Then it is over to the kids to get creative by drawing, painting or doodling their recreation of their favourite Nickelodeon characters. Mums and dads can then tweet a picture of their kids’ artwork with the hashtag #NickelodeonNOWTV or respond to the post on the NOW TV Facebook page to receive their free digital activity pack.

Not only will every submission receive a digital activity pack but they will also be entered into a competition to win a Nickelodeon goody bag and a NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass - the perfect prize for kids to come home to after a long summer’s day! Five expert judges will pick the winners by selecting their 10 favourite entries each, which will be showcased on the NOW TV Facebook page for everyone to see."

For more information on NOW TV visit nowtv or join them on Twitter @NOWTV and facebook.com/NOWTV.

Disclosure: we received a pack of Crayola crayons and a soft toy to help spread the word.

Peppa Pig Muddy Puddle Cupcakes

Whenever we go grocery shopping, Eddie likes to "help" me. He cannot resist anything with his favourite piggy on, and the other day a Peppa Pig Muddy Puddle Cupcakes baking kit caught his eye and it was impossible to part him from the coveted box. While millions of viewers are glued to the screen, watching the Great British Bake Off, we choose a cheat version to satisfy the cakey crave.

Don't get me wrong, I do prefer to bake my cakes and cupcakes from scratch. But if you are baking with the little people, you can whip up a packet mix and get a very decent result as well.

Muddy Puddle Cup Cakes kit comes with a packet of cake mix and a small bag of powdered icing as well as 12 cup cases and a sheet of edible pictures of Peppa and George.
You just need to add 1 egg and a bit of water to the cake mix (I added milk). Whisk it all together and pour into the cup cases (there are 12 in the kit, but you'll get really tiny flat cupcakes if you manage to divide the mix into 12 cup cases, we opted for 8).
After the cupcakes have been baked for 15 minutes, you leave them to cool completely before decorating.

Now that was a difficult part, as my impatient chef kept asking "Mama, are they ready?" every 30 seconds.
You make your own muddle puddle chocolate icing by mixing the powdered icing with a bit of water. The powdered icing is very pale when dry, and I was rather sceptical about it. It did turn brown after being mixed with water, but I guess it has a very low cocoa content, and you will probably be better off by melting some cooking chocolate to use on top of the cupcakes. Once the puddles are added, decorate the cup cakes with the sugar pictures.

And voilà. 

Muddy Puddle cupcakes, as decorated by Eddie.

Of course, we had to taste them as soon as they were ready.
They are child-friendly and easy to make. There are no artificial colours or hydrogenated fats. This kit is produced by Symingtons Ltd.
The sponge itself is fluffy and not bad for the baking kit. I didn't like the icing, it tasted quite cheap and not very chocolatey. But hey, my kid was happy to take part in the baking session and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Doodles on the sand

Mum has started her epic journey back to Russia: at 2pm she is leaving London by coach. Tomorrow she should be in Berlin, from there on by coach to Moscow (a couple of days) and then the last leg of the trip is 22-hours-long train journey back home. I always worry about her, and as she is not getting younger, I couldn't but ask myself if we are ever going to see each other again.
To stop myself from crying, I turn to my blog and the numerous photos I took in Cornwall. This was the 3rd time we took my Mum with us to Cornwall, and she loved it as much as we did.
One of the things that we do every year on the beach is having a daily doodling session.

Mum is hard to beat, as she is a true artist, and is very imaginative. Eddie enjoys watching us and then stamping on our doodles with glee.

Horses

She doesn't mind when people stop and watch her, ask questions, comment and even applaud (which I find a bit odd).

My boys

For the time being Eddie is more of a Terminator, he runs over the doodles and giggles when I scold him. And when we come the next day, the high tide leaves the beach in its pristine condition yet again, a new canvas for our doodles.

A boy on a dolphin

Mermaids

More mermaids

Eddie asked me to draw Peppa Pig and George, and I obliged. Of course, my simplistic drawing cannot compete with my Mum's, but you know what, Eddie appreciated it more.

Peppa Pig and George

We love Cornwall, and hope to come back again next year.

In the meantime, why don't you try to win a lovely prize from Red Spotted Hanky. They host a giveaway for a family weekend adventure in Cornwall! To enter all you have to do is visit the Red Spotted Hanky Facebook page and choose from three family activities: surf lessons in Newquay, biking along the Camel Estuary with Bike Smart or a trip to the Eden Project. Travel & accommodation is also included and Red Spotted Hanky will even try and send the sun haha.

P.S. I am not paid to mention this giveaway (in money or in kind), but because it sounds like a lovely family prize, and I wish you good luck!

Summer Play Linky