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

Gravitrax Expansion Trax and Add Ons

Summer holidays boredom? No such thing, if you have a GraviTrax play set in your house. Young engineers will have a blast, testing the power of gravity and using their imagination, while building dazzling engineering constructions, from easy-peasy to super-complicated.

We have already reviewed a GraviTrax starter set earlier this summer, and today we'll show you how you can expand the set.

I can promise you, you will get hooked.

The STEM system - Science, Technology Engineering and Maths - is a super tool to teach children about gravity, magnetism, kinetic energy and fun.

For all add-ons which we show today, you will need a GraviTrax Starter Set.
It is suitable for ages 8+, but a younger child will enjoy it as well, with an adult supervision (but not the preschoolers due to small parts).

GraviTrax Expansion trax (£19.99) is only playable with a starter set. It promises to take your run to a whole new level.
The set contains 16 large height tiles, 8 small height tiles, 7 curves, 1 junction, 1 long track, 2 medium tracks, 3 short tracks and 6 balls.
It is an excellent add-on set, which allows you to expand your engineering construction even further.
We'd love to have a booklet with instructions and blueprints, and new models and tracks to build, with step by step, but it doesn't seem to appear with this set.

The Gravitrax Loop adds another cool element to the layout. You need to employ your engineering grey cells to figure out how to make the sphere shoot through the loop and keep on going rather than falling flat inside the loop.

We shot a series of very short, a few seconds-long videos to show just how the loop works.
We recreated the tracks A and B from a tiny leaflet with blueprints, which was very helpful.

Track A from the instructions leaflet.




And in case you missed the looping action, here it is in slow motion, close-up;




Moving onto the second track from the instructions:




And again, the looping bit in close up and slow motion to see how the ball makes the loop:




Very impressive add-on.

We were less successful with the Gravitrax Add On Catapult. It looks pretty cool, and is not that difficult to assemble, but the arm with the bucket does not stay lowered down. It's possible the rubber band is too tight, as it's brand new.

In theory, you should be able to throw mini-spheres in the air and make sure they land and finish the track.
I will wait to see how the other bloggers make it work, and hopefully figure it out.

Disclosure: We received a selection of Gravitrax Add ons for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Schleich Eldrador Creatures - Stone Skeleton with Weapon

Isn't it always exciting when one of your favourite brands expands its range?! Schleich is releasing a selection of new products as part of its Eldrador Creatures range.
Schleich is well known and much admired for its realistic animal figurines as well as stupendous fantasy creations.
The fantasy line Eldrador is represented by four magical worlds - lava, ice, stone and water, and each of the worlds is populated with fantastic creatures.
Dragons and knights of Eldrador will now have a chance to fight some other mythical creatures and monsters.

This range will appeal to older children, as well as grown-ups who collect fantasy figurines (fans of the Game of Thrones series or Fantastical Beasts aged up to 100). What will you choose - a Lava golem, Hellhound, Frost Monster, Fire Lion, Monster Kraken, Ice Monster or some other villainous being?

We received a Stone Skeleton with weapon (£13.99) who is one of the Stone worlds' inhabitants.

In its past life he was an extremely strong warrior, and now he is going into battles as a ferocious stone skeleton.
The green crystals have brought him back to life, they are a source of energy and a mighty weapon.
The legend goes that he can turn you into a stone, using his green crystals, but he also could breathe life into the other stones and create his own army, now how cool is that?!

He wears a horned helmet and spiky armour.
Schleich minifigures are always hand-painted with great precision and attention to detail. The modelling quality is outstanding.

The skeleton's arms are movable, and you can swap weapons.

There are 12 new dangerous-looking monsters added to the Eldrador range. My personal favourite is the Cave bear, which I am going to buy for myself my son, when we visit the toy shop next time.

Are you a fan of Schleich Eldrador?

Disclosure: We received the minifigure for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.

Gazillion Bubble Pong Game

Friday, yippee! And while for many this is the night to go out and party, we are a relatively quiet folk and just enjoy a lazy afternoon after school, without any homework or prep for the next morning.
My younger son considers it the best day of the week, because his best mate comes over for several hours after school.
He couldn't wait to show his bestie a new bubble game from Gazillion Bubbles, Gazillion Bubble Pong Game (£19.99). The original plan was to play in the garden. But we were too optimistic regarding the weather, it started to rain in the early afternoon and kept raining non-stop. No garden activities then.

It didn't prevent our boys from playing indoors, though this is definitely a game for outdoors, as the bubbles plus vivacious, enthusiastic people equal a big mess.

This game is the first of its kind, as it is a combination of everyone's favourites - bubbles - and a variety of ping pong game without the small bats. It's a fun, competitive activity for the whole family, where you need to bounce ping pong balls into your opponent's side to score points and blast them with a gazillion of bubbles.

The game comes in a sturdy box and includes 1 game console, 6 ping pong balls, 2 removable trays and 2 removable bumpers, plus an 8oz bottle of Gazillion bubbles.

You need to assemble the game, but it is an easy, quick and straightforward process.

You will need 8 AA batteries, so might want to pop into your nearest Poundland for a big stash of them.

The game is aimed at children aged 3+.
There are four levels of difficulty. As you can see from the photo below, you turn the switch either to pong or to bubbles.
The winner is the first person who scores 3 times.

When the warmer weather arrives, you might want to get ready for fun ahead with a good supply of bubble liquid, as I remember with the previous bubble machine games that we had, the solution goes pretty fast.
The refills come in two types of bubble solution - Original and Big Bubble (available in 8oz, 2l and 4L bottles in all big retailers, such as Amazon, Argos, Smyths etc).

Both boys had great fun with the game, and would have kept playing if I didn't stop them, as the floor was getting too slippery. If you play in the garden, this won't be an issue.
We can't wait for the warm days to play outdoors.

Disclosure: we received the game for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.

A new range of Tonka toys at ASDA

Little people and little cars inevitably go together. Miniature vehicles attract like magnets. I remember playing with my brother's toy cars when I was a child. He had quite a collection of miniature cars, and I admired the craftsmanship and attention to detail on each small vehicle.

Last year Tonka celebrated its 70th anniversary, what a great achievement for a toy brand.
Tonka was born in 1947 in Mound, Minnesota, originally created and manufactured by Mound Metalcraft (manufacturer of garden implements).
The company started selling metal toys, which soon became their primary business.
A bit of trivia: the name Tonka comes from the Dakota Sioux word "Tanka" or "Tonka", which means great or big.
Tonka's famous motto is "a toy shouldn't break just because a child plays with it".

This year (from the 10th of February onwards) Tonka launched a new range of vehicles in ASDA. which is aimed at children aged 3-6 years. This range is not available yet online but watch this space.

What could you find in selected ASDA stores?

Tonka Diecast Big Rigs (£6.99) are built to last with realistic detailing to look like a real big rig.
Long Haul Semi-Truck is one of three big rigs
The colourful trailer is detached from the truck. The truck part is diecast and feels quite heavy and solid in hand.

Tonka Diecast Monster Trucks (£6.99) are sturdy vehicles for all kinds of terrain. The Tonka Monster metal die cast collection was built for the extreme action.
This is a selection of urban, construction and emergency vehicles atop massive Monster wheels.
Watch it, it will crush anything in its path!

This toy is ginormous in comparison to Tonka Tinys, which you can easily hide in a pocket.

Tonka Tinys blind garages are a steal at £1.99. Collect your favourite mini vehicles

If you haven't come across Tonka Tinys before, this is a collection of miniature vehicles which are great for small scale adventures.
Suitable for ages 3+ (due to small pieces), this range of mini collectibles is popular with children and grown-ups alike.
We have already reviewed some of the Tonka Tinys last year.
There are lots of different vehicles to collect including police pickups, quarry dump trucks etc. You can get them in packs of three (with one mystery vehicle) or in blind garages.
Blind garages are small sized plastic boxes, which you can easily stack together.

These new collectable toys are light and easily-transportable. You can carry them in your pocket.
When my boys were younger, I used to buy mini cars to take with us on a flight, and give them to my boys as a surprise when we board the plane. They had something new to distract them and play with.
Tonka Tinys will be just the right distraction for long car trips too.
Despite the size, these mini-vehicles are well-detailed, with movable parts.

At such affordable prices, Tonka Tinys will make a perfect purchase for pocket money.
Collect them all, and swap with your friends.

Tonka Tinys Three Pack (£4.99) has three vehicles, two of which you can see through the clear plastic packaging, while the third one remains a mystery until you unbox it.

And the last one to showcase today is Tonka Tinys Mini Playset (£9.99).
Tune-up Garage playset has a launching conveyor belt, a vehicle lift and working garage doors. It comes with one vehicle. The assembly is very easy, even for young children.

We love Tonka toys.
My only criticism (which could be applied to many toy brands) is the amount of packaging. In bigger boxes there is a cardboard box, plastic bits with screws which I find very tricky to turn to open, the scotch tape everywhere, thin rubber bands etc.
Each blind garage is a plastic box wrapped in transparent tight packaging, and each vehicle inside the box is also put in a small plastic bag.
Our local council does not bother with recycling flyaway plastic, for example.
In this day and age it might be a good idea to reduce the amount of plastic and packaging overall.

Now getting off my high horse, I want to add that Tonka toys are here to stay. They've been enjoyed by several generations of children, and are a delight to play with.

Disclosure: We received a selection of Tonka toys for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are our own.