Review: Some stocking filler ideas

Toys R Us are still sending us lots of toys to review. So that the kids don't get overwhelmed, we've held some of them back til Christmas so you may well get a mega post from us over the festivities. 

But there are lots of smaller things we've been sent that I thought I'd mention. 

Back in September, we reviewed the Hello Kitty Plaster Rotator Creator which was a qualified success. Since then, we've been sent two more plaster based craft kits to try out. The first one is the Ben 10 Shaker Maker (£9.99) which, of course, appealed to Monkey. There are two moulds - one of Ben10 himself and one of him in Heatblast form. You pour the plaster straight into the moulds and you shake, oddly enough, to create the models. This was far more successful than the Rotator Creator at creating a good mould first time round. Obviously, Monkey was not impressed about the overnight wait to let it dry fully, but what can you do? He liked painting the mould. This required less adult supervision but still, even though it is suitable for 5 year olds and upwards, it still needed adults around to keep an eye and do some of the steps. 

And then there was the Galt Cute Cupcakes Kit (£5.99). The moulds on this are tiny as they make 4 mini cupcakes (in two halves) and a cake stand to put them on. The moulds are in a tray like a silicon baking tray. What we found this with this is that the instructions left you with a lot of plaster mix even after all the moulds had been filled. Luckily, we had some spare moulds from something else and still filled all of those too! Missy Woo was delighted with these - and she enjoyed painting them in the pretty pastel colours supplied. They also come with glitter glue which is sparkly girly heaven for a 4 year old. Again, she needed some adult help but still, it was more successful than the Hello Kitty stuff as the models are more robust, but maybe the instructions need looking at to make sure they are correct. 

Moving on from plaster moulds to construction, we also got sent a K'Nex Construction Case (£9.99), which contained all the parts and connectors - and instructions - to build 10 different vehicles. This is great for a child who is showing an interest in building things as the construction ideas go from simple ones to more difficult ones, which means it will remain useful as your child develops the skills to build more complicated models without it being too advanced to start with. We love it for this, as it makes it very good value for money. 

And finally, we were sent the Littlest Pet Shop Blythe Sitters - Perfectly Plaid (£12.99). Now, Blythe dolls have largely passed me by but I can't help to notice the increasing proliferation of them around so I assume they're popular. I'm also guessing, judging by the price, that these aren't the real deal. No matter. The set comes with the doll, fetchingly dressed in a riding hat, woolly jumper, and plaid mini skirt plus her pet horse, a doll stand and a comb as well as a few small accessories that are very sweetly done. These are good for children who love dolls, but as I have pointed out before, Missy Woo, although she oohs and ahhs when she sees stuff like this, she's really not that into dolls and not that bothered about playing with it often. A little girl into dolls would love this more than her. Or you could keep it in a box, and boast you have a Blythe doll. Just don't try selling it on ebay as "authentic". I don't think you'd get away with it - the dolls are really very small! 

Hope your kids' stockings are now suitably filled! Come back soon for some more Toyologist reviews. 

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

Review: Hello Kitty Plaster Rotator Creator

When our first Toyologist parcel arrived on our doorstep, Missy Woo was immediately drawn to this. She has recently discovered Hello Kitty and so its arrival was very welcome. She wanted to play with it there and then but unfortunately, she had to wait for a couple of weeks. She's been away on holiday with grandparents so it was only once she was on half days at school that we managed to have a go.

Missy Woo's first attempt at making plaster. It wasn't successful!

The idea is that you create little plaster figurines of Hello Kitty by using a cute pink machine - one of Missy  Woo's favourite colours. You put plaster inside a plastic mould, place it in the machine, and turn the handle so that the plaster is spun around in the mould. After about 10 minutes spinning, you leave it to set in the mould for about half an hour, remove from the mould, leave to dry overnight and then you paint as you wish.

That's the theory. In practice, it takes some work to get the plaster right. The instructions are very precise - you mix 15g plaster with 9ml of water. Luckily, we have a digital scale so we can weigh 15g of plaster but 9ml was almost impossible. However, we found that 9ml was not enough because the plaster was too thick, set too quickly even if you poured it in the mould straight away so wouldn't slosh around enough to make a complete mould. The instructions said to make a flowing paste and we felt it needed a little more to achieve this. Add too much water and the plaster becomes too liquid, leaking around the edges of the mould too much and the final figure becomes too fragile as the layer of plaster is too thin. We broke a few just taking them out of the mould, Missy Woo broke another trying to paint it, and Monkey broke another grabbing it when he was racing his sister to a painting session!

Doing a bit of rotating. 

Finally, after about 5 attempts, I got it right and made a solid figure but even then, I had to add 2 lots of plaster to the mould! I reckon you could get it right with a bit of practice (and I'm not very skilled at this sort of thing anyway) but I feel the instructions need a bit of work to make them clearer. Getting the plaster just so seems to be the key to success. A slightly older child than Missy Woo would still need help from an adult to do the mixing, pouring and placing in the machine. Once in the machine, Missy Woo loved turning the handle and watching it spin round but again, needed a bit of help from a grown up to spin it enough times. I think she was a bit disappointed the mould making wasn't instant, particularly as she had to wait overnight for the cast to set before she could paint. Unfortunately, I can't show you her final work of art because for some reason, she decided to paint it black and it really doesn't photograph well. Children, eh?

Missy Woo gave this the thumbs up but how much of that is down to the painting and the fact it's Hello Kitty, I am not entirely sure. The machine being pink may also help a lot. It does suit her down to the ground because she likes to draw, colour and paint a lot. From the grown up's point of view, it is slightly fiddly, and I think the plaster making needs a bit of work. The equipment is well made and solid and there is plenty of plaster in the box for the price, which is £19.99.

This could be a great present for a little girl who likes making things and loves Hello Kitty - that's most of them - but it does need a lot of help from an adult. However, I feel it could be improved by working on the instructions for making the plaster so that it gives a more consistent and successful result. I'm sure our house will soon be filled with Hello Kitty figurines. I'm just hoping they don't all end up painted black.

Our second Toyologist Parcel turned up at the end of last week so look out for more reviews here soon.

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