Toyologist Competition - win Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

This month is the final Toyologist competition of the year, meaning this is the sixth one I've run on the blog this year. Time certainly does fly. The prize this time is an Orchard Toys game, called Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. Aimed at children aged 3 and over, it's described as an "action lotto guessing game" and helps children to learn about the parts of the body, as well as develop memory and colour matching skills. Although I've not played this game, we love Orchard Toys games - they're always so bright, colourful and well made.

If you would like to enter to win this prize, then first follow this blog via RSS (orange jellybean top right!) or email (red jellybean). Then leave a comment below, telling me what your child's favourite singalong song is. It doesn't have to be your child actually - it can be any child you're close to, like a godchild, grandchild, niece, nephew etc.

If you want a second entry, then tweet the following:

Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Enter the competition on @kateab 's blog and you could win the game! bit.ly/vPMxUn

Please don't forget to leave a means of contacting you as I have had to redraw prizes before now. Also, if you do win, a prompt answer should mean that you can get your prize before Christmas so it's in your interest to give me a quick response.

Terms and conditions

To enter, leave a comment below, saying what is your child's favourite singalong song along with a valid contact email address or Twitter ID, which will be used to contact you if you win.
An additional entry can be gained by tweeting as stated above.
Please ensure follow this blog via RSS or email.
Maximum two entries per person - multiple entries will be discarded.
The prize is a Head Shoulders Knees and Toes game.
The competition closes on Wednesday 23rd November 2011 at 8pm.
The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries.
The winner will be contacted that evening and asked to provide a postal address and contact telephone number within 48 hours or the winner will be re-drawn. The prize will be sent out by Toys R Us after 1st December.

UK entrants only.
There is no cash alternative.

Netmums Review: Lego Ramses Return

After Missy Woo was sent Littlest Pet Shop Hamster Playground a few weeks back, I was asked if I'd like to review a Lego game with Monkey. As he loves Lego, it wasn't a difficult decision to say yes! I was pestered almost daily by him until it turned up. He has tons of Lego and is always after more. And, if he can't do it, he expects us to help!


The game is quite small - on a board that is no more than a few inches square - and the first task, is to put the game together. It's Lego so it comes with full instructions that Monkey could mostly follow but because he's a tiny bit young for the game (it's suitable from 7), he needed a bit of help with following those. Even the dice for the game is made of Lego and he liked putting that together.

And then you have to play the game! The game involves collecting pieces of treasure from the corners of the board whilst trying to avoid getting cursed by the Mummy. Part of it is also a memory game as there are crystals hidden away under the temples and you have to remember which colour crystal is where if the dice lands on a colour. We found that the rules weren't particularly extensive. The children seemed happy enough to sit down and play it by themselves - one of Monkey's friends came round for tea one day, so they played it and no arguments ensued. Always a bonus! I guess if they are happy enough playing it, then should we worry if they are following the rules exactly? I guess not. The instructions offer some alternative rules so it does allow some flexibility, and well, I'm not going to complain if they are not doing it exactly right.

The game only takes about 10 minutes to play, which I think is perfect for that age group. It would take longer if played by all four players it's designed for. Everything packs neatly back into the box and because the board is still quite small, it can be put away made up, which is a bonus. Because of the number of small pieces, I'd hate to play it in a car - we have enough minute pieces of Lego secreted around our house in the hope they'll get found one day as it is; putting them in the car would be just asking for trouble!

All in all, we enjoyed this game. It's made well and it has a lot of versatility to it. And with an RRP of £9.99, I think it's good value. Even if it doesn't keep them occupied for hours, it fits in with their attention span and so, I'm guessing it's a game that will actually get played to a finish instead of abandoned halfway through.

I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network. I am paid an expenses fee to cover my time but Netmums have no editorial control whatsoever about what I blog about. Being a member of the Netmums Blogging Network means that I get to try out products and brands and get my expenses covered but that I retain full editorial integrity.

Review: Bakugan 7 in 1 Maxus Dragonoid

Do you get Bakugan? I confess I knew little about them before this toy arrived on our doorstep in our last Toyologist parcel. I'm not sure I know much more, even now. 

Apparently, there's an anime series that runs alongside it, but the game was released a good year beforehand. Fair enough. I looked into how to play the game and found this on Wikipedia. That clears it up, doesn't it? Erm, no. There's also a whole Wiki devoted to it: 82,000 pages and counting. Always a worrying sign, I feel. Not your average kids' game.

Monkey was keen to give this a go. In the box are six different "traps" that you can use to play the game and they connect up to the Bakugan to make the Dragonoid. The traps are rolled onto the gate card and transform into action figures. There is only one gate card, as well as one ability card (which affects various things; yep, don't understand that bit either). This limits the amount you can play the game unless you already have other Bakugan sets. Monkey enjoyed clipping the parts together to make "the robot" . Beyond that, there wasn't much more for him to do with it beyond taking it apart again and rolling the traps onto the gate card. Monkey doesn't really grasp the concept of the game, and to be honest, neither did we - but without more equipment, we can't fully try that out. 

The pieces are pretty solid and I would imagine this is why it costs £39.99. I think that's quite expensive, especially as you cannot play the game without other pieces. It's suitable from 5 years old, but I suspect older children will get more out of this than a 5 year old as they can learn how to play the game.

I think this could be better value. It needs pieces from other sets (a Bakugan starter pack, for example, costs around £12) to make full use of it. Although Monkey enjoyed it, I think it could either be more straightforward for his age, or merely aimed at a slightly older market.

Oh, and if you know how to play the Bakugan game, could you spare an hour teaching us?

(I was provided with this toy to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by the aforementioned compensation.)

Our first Toyologist parcel and Review: Pass the Bomb Junior

So, last week, this big box turned up at our house. I waited in all day for it but it didn't arrive until late afternoon. It was our first Toys R Us Toyologist parcel. Unfortunately, Missy Woo saw it being delivered so I couldn't hide it and keep some toys back. An hour or so later, when Monkey was back from his swimming lesson, and tea had been consumed, two very excited children opened the box.

We were really glad to see a nice mix of stuff, including some arty crafty type things. Wish I could have had them earlier in the holidays! Anyway, we have only had a couple of days with them since opening the parcel as they have been away on holiday so we have only had chance to play with one or two things therein. Monkey and Missy Woo thought they'd show off their new things - it was just like Christmas or a birthday. (We had a fight later over whose bed Geoffrey Giraffe should sleep in!)

Before they went to bed, we allowed them to play with something. One that leapt out at me was "Pass the Bomb Junior" because it was simple to set up. Here, with some cack handed amateur photography, is the pack and contents.

You get a set of picture cards and a "bomb". I am really not a fan of games with lots of fiddly pieces that have potential to get lost so I was pleased with the simplicity of this.

The idea of the game is that players have to come up with words that fit with the scene on the card (eg "At the beach" could be "sandcastle"), and pass the ticking bomb on as they do so. The bomb "explodes" anytime between 10 and 60 seconds after it's switched on, so you have to come up with words quickly and pass on the bomb. If the bomb explodes whilst you have it, you get the card. The player with the least amount of cards wins.

Monkey and Missy Woo loved this, although they seemed to love the ticking bomb the most. They grasped how to play quite quickly although it took them a couple of goes to understand that getting no cards was good! The box says it is suitable for 5 years upwards, but Missy Woo is only 4 and managed to join in. As it was easy to understand and simple to play, they played happily without getting bored for quite a long time.

The game is great for families to play together. The bomb is fun; it was the thing that kept Monkey and Missy Woo excited and interested whilst playing it. It's also educational, as it could help children to learn new words and the scenes have titles in English, French and German - not that we could play the game completely in another language!  It would be a great "rainy day on holiday" game; the children did take it on holiday but only played it a couple of times as they had lovely weather.

Overall, we gave this game a big thumbs up. It's simple but fun, and in terms of the length of time it can keep children occupied, it's good value for money.

Pass the Bomb Junior costs £12.99.

(I was provided with Pass the Bomb Junior to review and have received no other compensation. The opinions stated are my own and have not been influenced by aforementioned compensation.)