Sophie the Giraffe is not trying to kill your kids, your bad hygiene is.

I am fed up with hearing about Sophie the sodding giraffe.

Sophie the Giraffe is not trying to kill your kids, your bad hygiene is.

Toys that get damp inside, either from use in the bath or through sucking by a toddler are going to grow mould. And before you all jump on me, no of course I'm not the perfect housewife with a spotless house, but when a plughole in my house is stuffed up with congealed soap and pubic hairs I don't alert the media. Nor do I return the sink to Bathroom World and complain.

Now I'm sure this lady who discovered the horror that mould had grown inside her child's favourite chew toy didn't immediately grab the phone and ring the BBC, I'm sure she just intended it as a reminder to her online chums that they should clean the toys in their homes and keep an eye on what babies and toddlers chew on. (see how I haven't read every article so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt over this)

Just like when I found DD, as a crawling baby, chewing on a well gnawed plastic dog's bone and reminded people that babies crawl and that dogs leave spit slimey toys laying about (thus winning the 'no shit Sherlock' award of the week). I guess that the media were just having a slow news day, probably all the wars had stopped or something.

Really, I am bored of reading about Sophie.

If you have toys that can get water (or baby dribble) inside them, you should wash them inside and out regularly. Use some water with sterilising fluid in, squeeze the toy under the water a few times to ensure water ingress, then give it a good shake, leave it for 10 minutes, empty and repeat. Empty and leave the toy to air dry. You should do this at least once a month, more often if you have the time.

Now excuse me, I have plugholes to clean.

Air Storm Z-Tek Bow and Firetek Rockets Giveaway

Every now and again I see a toy that I think really will appeal to all the family. Having a teen I sometimes think I'm past buying toys (sad times, I love toys) but then I remember the universal appeal of Lego or of Scalextric, and the Nerf gun, and I smile.

And this week I was told about some excellent new Zing products, perfect for the Hunger Games enthusiast in your life, or the William Tell or Robin Hood! The Air Storm Z-Tek Bow, a fine bow, tweaked for the 21st Century, the sort of toy that dad will say "here let me show you" about and then procede to not return for 3 hours. And not only a bow, but rockets too! Firetek Rockets look fabulous - the zombies don't stand a chance, even in the dark, as these rockets light up! Flying through the sky like meteors.

And you can win an Air Storm Z-Tek Bow and a set of Firetek rockets in this easy to enter giveaway.

Get the kids ready for an all-new archery experience with whistling arrows and light up rockets.

I have one Air Storm Z-Tek bow and four Firetek rockets available to win.
   

Air Storm Z-Tek Bow

Get the next big thing in bow technology with the Z-Tek Bow.  Check out the sleek new design and shape.  Shorter bungees for faster firing.  Arrow clips right on the bow for quick reloads and a powerful presence.  It’s an all new archery experience with the Z-Tek Bow! Hook in the Zartz™ Arrow or Zonic™ Whistling Arrow, position the shot, and watch it fly through the air for an incredible 100 feet! Includes a Z-Tek Bow, two Zonic™ Whistling Arrows and one Suction-Cup Zartz™ Arrow.   
Please note the Air Storm Z-Tek bow comes in two colours – green and orange – winner can’t choose colours of prize. 

Price: £19.99rrp
Age: 8+   
           

Firetek Rocket

The Firetek Rocket is launching into orbit as the newest addition to Zing’s Firetek line with lights and sounds, ready for outdoor day or night fun!   Turn the light switch on the rocket to power up the action, Then, attach the Firetek light-up rocket to the launcher, pull the tab, and let it soar into the sky!  Hear the whistle-screaming arrows in action as the rocket flies up to 250 feet high with just a simple flick of the wrist. The Firetek rockets are set to fly to incredible heights with long-lasting performance.  Each set comes with two whistle-screaming light-up rockets and one launcher.

Price: £9.99rrp
Age: 5+   

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UK Only - Giveaway ends 24/6/2016
Find Zing on Facebook
Or Check them out on YouTube
Both of the toys are available to buy now. From most good toy shops, Argos, Amazon etc.

Science toys for cool kids

When I was at Blog On Winchester blogging event last month I discovered the company Trends UK. They are the UKs number one science toy supplier.

As a toy company that seems to have some pretty cool toys! We met and slightly fell in love with the Roboraptor, which as his name suggests is a robot dinosaur of the raptor variety. He has various personality settings and could change from hunting mode to your best friend!

 

We also loved the funky haired Elektrokidz who shake their mop tops to any music they hear. A great addition to a teen bedroom or the top of a sound system, I imagine a tiny disco of various colours all wiggling about to the latest One Direction song or rocking out to some drum and base.

But while I loved the robot toys it was the science stuff on the website that really grabbed my attention. Great gifts like telescopes, metal detectors and microscopes. I'm a bit of a science geek and I know I would have loved to have had the tools to explore the world around me when I was younger, I think I made do with a magnifying glass.

Trends bring together some excellent brands, and have a chemistry section too. I still fancy having my own chemistry lab!

But I think for retro goodness alone, and huge 'dad appeal' the Haynes section of the website might be the winner. Airfix Spitfires, model engines, just brilliant! Find out how an engine works and build one, perfect for a tinker of a winter's afternoon in the shed.

Trends also have lots of great spy gadgets. So for the budding MI5 employee or the sneaky preteen there is plenty to choose from, night stealth goggles, door alarms and listening devices.

It's a great site with new toys arriving daily so it's well worth bookmarking and checking regularly. They even have science-y time-y wime-y Dr Who cybernetics labs!

Disclosure - Trends UK gave me the weird dancing music loving Elektrokid as a gift :-) But I wrote this post.

Evil Aunties and Wicked Uncles

I am not only a mummy, oh no, I am also an Auntie. I have two nieces, and several 'honorary' nieces and nephews, the sort where you are almost a mum to them because they are the kids belonging to your  mate. Though in my case many of these mates are now scattered across the UK and we don't see each other that much. I'm not an Evil Auntie though so I still like to send the little ones fun presents on their birthdays and at Christmas.

So I was happy to have the chance to review a website with the rather silly name of Wicked Uncle, for some reason I pictured a sort of Lemony Snickett character behind this enterprise but I needn't have worried, the website is neither gothic nor run down, it is fresh and clean and easy to use.

The premise of the site is simple, much like a wedding planner saves the bride from tearing out her hair over the organisation, Wicked Uncle does all the stressful gift giving for you, all you need to do is to choose (which Wicked Uncle helps with) and then pay and all is done.

Gift wrap, cards, messages, delivery all sorted, you can just sit back and bask in being the brilliant organised Aunt (insert the relative or friend of your choice) and wait for the thank you card to arrive. And arrive it will! Because Wicked Uncle have a rather genius option of a multichoice pre addressed thank you card, so  that all the little rapscallion needs to do is add a tick and a stamp and post it for you to be thanked!

I was so pleased with the site layout, while there are options for Boy/Girl searches, there is also a much more useful 'All' option and then the toys and gifts are sorted by type of recipient rather than gender, so you can search for categories like 'Brainiac' or 'Snuggly' or 'Outdoorsy' or 'Role play' and many more. Each category can be further sorted by age suitability, perfect for when you haven't seen the little darling in over a year. My favourite bit of the site were the little messages that pop up when you add things to your basket

And while obviously buying a glow in the dark zombie shark is super cool, the messages vary, always complimentary and always amusing.

The choice of toys and gifts is fantastic, from Zombie Brain Poppers at £7.99 to Poop Emoji Cushions (we all need one) at £12.95, and from Cuddly lanky cats at £12.95 to Story Cubes at £9.95 (I bought some of these, great for games around the campfire! and for bedtime) and so so many more, I loved the site and found navigating it really easy, I can't stress enough how simple it was!

Make your own super hero mask

I chose to have a couple of presents wrapped, and unlike some other online retailers, the wrapping price is not horrendous as it is only £2.95 with each additional present at £1.50 and there are lots of paper designs to choose from. And standard delivery is only £2.95 (though there is a speedier option too)

Robot Clock

The parcels can be sent out same day if you order before 4pm! so no excuse for belated birthday gifts. Personal messages can be added free of charge (handwritten by elves on the present label) or you can buy and add a card.

My parcel arrived in good time, with the excellent thank you card included (obviously if you have the gift sent direct to the child this makes more sense!)

I will be using the site again, it was so easy, such a great choice from baby to teen (and beyond if you have a silly sense of humour) from cheap small toys, classic wooden ones, to big main presents for the one child you really like ;-)

Inflatable Penguin snowboard!

I dare you to have a browse and not find something you just have to buy - perfect for Christmas. Go on, have a look.

Disclosure - I was sent vouchers to spend on the site - but I loved it so much I spent some of my own money too! The words and thoughts in this review are all my own work, typos and all.

Dora the Explorer Doll - A Giveaway

Dora the explorer, she's changed...she used to be all cute and short bowl haircut, but I guess kids grow up...she's all long  hair now, and no longer content to explore with only a monkey and a backpack for company she has friends too.

I have one of Dora's Friends to give away. "Doggie Day Alana" (be oh so careful how you say that after a beer) is Dora's blonde, green eyed friend, and I have one Fisher-Price / Nickelodeon Alana Doll to give away. She stands about 8 inches high and I'll be including a copy of Animagic Magazine with free gifts including a pet for Alana to care for.

If you think you know someone that would love to give Alana a home, enter the competition via the Rafflecopter Link below. UK only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beautiful Blob Slime Laboratory Giveaway

After a delightful time at a recent blogging event I am in the rather lovely position of being able to giveaway some goodies.

Today's giveaway is fun and educational (not really kids, it's just fun, the only thing you'll learn is how to make a mess!) It's a slimy science kit! Suitable for anyone disgusting over 10 years old.

I wouldn't be giving it away but the lovely DD already has one! She's such a science geek, and who doesn't love creating their own slimy monsters!?

And in case you really are a useless mad scientist and fail to create the alien life form of your warped dreams, I'm also including some glow in the dark slime!

Loads of ways to win, and a few weeks to win it in (the plan is that it will be posted out at the beginning of November.) Open to the UK only - and not my family! (sorry chaps)

DD assures me that you'll love it. You can use the lab to make jelly gemstones, wriggly worms, caviar beads, flubbery tadpoles...and pretty much anything gloopy and disgusting!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thinking outside of the toybox

Talking on twitter about children’s toys led in turn to a chat with DH this morning, which led on to a plan. So here is the thing:

I am a fan of #LetToysBeToys and have been for some time. I am old enough to remember when the ELC (Early Learning Centre) first came into being, with an advert blatantly decrying Action man and Barbie as unfit for its shelves. Promising parents and children alike a toy shop that was different, where there would be no ‘war toys’ no ‘girly’ rubbish, just sensible well made, mentally stimulating but fun toys for children of any gender and any age up to about 8.

But according to a twitter friend all that has long since been vanquished by pink for girls and action for boys. Knights and swords it seems are back, pink princesses are what you should aspire to if you are female, that or a lifestyle of beauty products, babies and cleaning.

Why do online stores insist on allowing us to search by gender?

But this isn't about bashing a specific retailer, ELC is actually one of the 'least bad' . The comment that annoyed me most was on the gendering of toy food in some toy shops. Food FFS! How can an aubergine be a gendered product!?! But it is if you box it in pink, and tell children it’s for girls, either subtly by suggesting you can ‘be like mummy’ or by making the box over pink and sparkly, or blatantly by declaring ‘for girls’ and ‘Girls love to cook!’ on the box.

Which led DH to comment. “When I was a kid you were lucky to get a toy in a box, toys were just loose.” And that was the moment of the lightbulb flash! Why do we keep letting ourselves be dictated to? – lets grab back control. Buy our kids what they like, but unbox it before gifting it (I loathe the words ‘unboxing’ and ‘gifting’ btw and was violently sick as I typed that)

Let’s use just a tiny bit of crafting skill to sew a personalised bag maybe, to fill with wooden bricks, play food, toy cars, dinosaurs, toy money, etc Sew the child’s initials or name onto the bag to make that toy theirs, not a ‘girl’s toy’ or a ‘boy’s toy’ but their toy. If you have no crafty bones in your body you can buy personalised items easily online or just buy a gift bag from a 99p or Pound store and pop the items into it. You can often get shoeboxes free if you ask at a shoe shop and these are easy to cover with wrapping paper, magazine pictures etc, you could even use last years washi tape skills!





Why haven’t I thought of this before? (Now you’ll all tell me it’s what you’ve all been doing for ages, in which case why didn't you tell me!) Suddenly a girl can play with her toy garage without seeing a box with pictures of only boys on it and the wording ‘Boys love a garage’ or similar, and boys can be chefs with a bag of play food that no longer tells them ‘Girls love to cook!’

Thank goodness some retailers still manage to #LetToysBeToys but for those that don’t, those gender dictators, let’s grab back the power, destroy the box, make your toys child specific not gender specific.

 If you are sitting there thinking it's all silly and doesn't matter - have a read of this, to see why play and gender stereotyping do matter

When a bear is lost, and found..

My daughter has a bear. He is a special bear that she has had since she was small. He was bought for her by my parents. He has a tummy that you can heat in the microwave, so he can warm you with snuggles in winter. He is a Hug-me-Better Bear and for no reason I can ascertain, he is called Catcher.

Catcher lives on the bed with all the other bears and cuddly toys,  dd has never been one to carry a "snuggly" or a toy everywhere, but Catcher has pride of place, he is there at night always, he is special.

One early summer night dd called to me

"Mummy, where's Catcher?" A question to strike fear into many a parent, where is my special toy...

Catcher was lost.

We searched the bedroom, we talked about where she had seen him last, had he been to a sleepover? the grandma's house? Had he been downstairs? Or in the garden?

He was nowhere to be found. We read the lovely book 'Tatty ratty' a perfect and highly recommended read for anyone that has (or may in the future) lose a loved toy.

Tatty ratty has an adventure on his way home, Dd and I talked about what we though Catcher was up to, what was he doing.

I bought a second bear from the same range, I hid him and planned 'finding' him ... but in my heart I knew he was just different enough for her to notice. Eventually I introduced him as Catcher's cousin. He was named Snuggles, and we waited, but Catcher did not return.

Six months passed and Catcher was still missed. We found a third bear of the same type in a charity shop and a still sad DD insisted we 'save' him. He was named Padlock (after the bear in the Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear story by Andy Stanton) and now Snuggles and Padlock sat on the bed, sadly watching the door for the return of Catcher, but he didn't come back.

Then one day I saw a black version of the now much talked about bear! Neither of us had seen a black Hug-Me-Better bear before, he seemed very special, maybe he could heal some of the hurt that missing Catcher caused? And so he was bought and he came home too, Panther sat with the others, on a silent bear vigil.

Winter came. I went up to the loft to get down the winter weight duvet for DD...

And there, snuggled down in the middle of it was Catcher! He had hidden in the loft for a year. Now he is back on the bed. With his new crew. Like the A Team of bears.

Has your child ever lost a toy? What did you do to help them cope and did you ever find the toy again?

Some top tips for bear safety : 

• Take a photo (a nice clear one from all sides) of your toy before it goes missing! You never know when you will need to tell someone what it looks like - store the pic online for easy access if away from home.
• Label your bear in some way
• If you lose your bear, use online services to help - something like LostTeddyBear

Spectacularly Missing the Point - Gendering in Toys

This is how Let Toys Be Toys described an article online by James Delingpole in The Express. I'm not going to link, I'm sure you will be able to find it, though if, like me, you have Kitten Block installed you may find you can't. Lucky you. They were spot on. He missed the point.

The gist he was ranting about was 'if you stop marketing toys at either boys or girls then you are depriving children of their gender identity and their choice of toys' or some such crap

He seems to miss the main issue which is that it's OK for girls to like dolls, it's OK for boys to like tool kits...but it is also OK for boys to like dolls and for girls to like tool kits. 

If we tell girls that 'tool kits are for boys' and we tell boys that 'dolls are for girls' we are not only restricting their choice of play things but we are telling them a life lesson. 'Girls can do some things, boys can do some things, boys and girls are different and can't do the same things'. Which is blatantly silly and wrong.

Leaving alone the issue that a boy may one day be a dad and thus learning to change a dolls nappy or how a buggy works might be a vital man skill in his future, leaving aside that girls might on day drive and knowing cars can need fixing may be teaching you a vital woman skill, leaving all that aside, the cynical idea that a tool kit becomes a girls one if it's pink and sparkly, that a camera has a boy and a girl version, are horrible marketing tools, designed to grab more money form us as parents...two children? well you'll need one pink and one blue ball then! and one blue and one pink scooter..etc Toys should just be toys. Girls might want dolls more often than boys and boys might want science kits more often that girls do. But a pink 'make a bath bomb' kit for science girls, and a 'slime kit' for boys is restrictive and ridiculous. (DD has a slime kit btw)

DD making a construction brick space craft

Can we just go back to the days when toys were just that, we bought what our children wanted, blue, red, green, purple, colour was just a colour, gender was irrelevant.

Un-gendering toys does not restrict choice or deprive children of their gender, boys can know they are 'a boy that likes hairdressing' and a girl can know she is a 'girl that likes super heroes'. Your gender and your taste is toys are two very different things, after all as someone cleverly pointed out

 

If you think it doesn't matter why not read a study where the way we bombard children with this message is shown to change the way they think about gender roles in adult life. (here is a good start on the Let Toys Be Toys website)

No one is suggesting banning girls from playing with dolls, or forcing them to play with cars. We are hoping one day that children will be free to play with what they like, without being told 'but that's for the other gender, not you'.

Winner of the Toy Comp

I ran a Toy competition with Linky thingy and although I only had a few entries they were all fabulous!

I really enjoyed reading about Angel Frouk's much loved baby doll. Lovely to see she is important enough to keep through all the years and still revive happy memories.

So funny to read about Edd and his (frankly terrifying) giraffe, and his weird decision to turn down a bearded Action Man when given a choice!

This selction of photos of BunBun (a toy loved by an adult) exploring the garden made us smile too, and reminded me that grownups can still enjoy the silliness that toys can engender.

But our winner (mostly as I could so identify with the need to purchase multiple versions of a lost toy 'just in case' and then ending up with 3 that are all loved!) was x2Mum . Here's hoping that Jacob and Daniel (with his appropriate den of lions!) enjoys the Bunny Puppet from the One Stop Bug Shop.

Thanks to all that joined in.

A Special Toy - Action girl

When I was a child I was given the best present ever. I don't know if at the time my parents knew how awesome it was. I loved horses as a girl, like many young girls, and I had books galore about the,. I never rode except once on a farm holiday (where I fell badly) but like many young girls I dreamed of owning my own pony.

I wasn't a girly girl, I'm still not. I didn't love Barbie or her UK counterpart Sindy but the doll I was given one Christmas was the best doll ever. And she had her own horse.

Action Girl. The name says it all really. She didn't have pointy feet designed for high heeled shoes, she had sensible. normal feel and jointed ankles (how else to keep heels down, toes up while riding!) She was jointed, poseable, she had red hair. Red! Proper action hair. I adored her, I also adored her horse (who I named Blue. He was a dark brown, so dark as to be almost black, with a white blaze on his nose. He had brush-able mane and tail, he had saddle, bridle etc and the box that he came in converted to a stable.

I played with Action Girl (who never needed a name, Action Girl just summed her up!) and her horse Blue for years, well into my teens, making up stories in my room of her heroic adventures (I was watching Champion the Wonder Horse on TV a lot at this time too) letting her ride, groom and bond with Blue almost daily. To say I was in love might be going a bit far, but then again maybe not.

Image used with Kind permission by Donna at http://www.flickr.com/photos/joey_n_me/

Over the years Action Girl and Blue were moved from house to house, put into storage in lofts, moved again until at some point only Blue was still around. Now bridle-less and unsaddled. Wild, free as he should be. But also a bit lonely. Luckily there is Ebay. I now have another Action Girl to groom and ride him, bareback this time, she has no fear! and to ensure she wasn't lonely either I bought a second horse, black this time, and a rider for him too though she is brunette.

And sometimes, when no one is home, we still have adventures and all go riding together.

Is there a special toy in your life? Or the life of your child? A toy you had? Or never had but always longed for, nose pressed up against the metaphorical glass of your memory still?

I would love to hear your story of a special toy. 

A very special toy.

I'm going to post about a special toy. I want you to post about one too. I'll add a linky.

The post should be about a special toy, with why it is special, it should have a picture of the toy, which can be drawn by you if the toy is lost in the distant past. The toy can be yours or a friend's, or belong to your child.

There will be a prize for the best post. (I shall look for a sponsor but if I can't find one I'll provide the prize)

Competition and PRIZE details now live at http://tattooedmummy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-special-toy-blog-competition.html

My 99p Summer!

I love a bargain. I browse ebay, use charity shops and generally like to sniff out a good deal. With this in mind I often pop into the 99p Store, so when I saw they wanted some bloggers to take up a challenge, I was quick to email.

Bloggers were given £10 of vouchers to create a fun summer, and of course that's 10 things from the 99p Store (even my poor maths was up to that!) and for me the real challenge was only buying ten things! (I may have cheated) And one of us could even win an iPad!

So here is the first in a few posts, about how to have a fabulous time with only a tenner. Hopefully you'll get some ideas and if you are near a 99p store you could pop in and grab some fun!

So, I went into my local 99p Store and as it was a scorching day I stood for a moment enjoying the air con. Then onto business!

I resisted all the bath products, and the books, and dvds, and garden stuff...

Here is my haul.

Some things for festivals, some slightly 'crafty'  things for wet days (if we ever have another one) some Coppertone factor 50 suncream (for the sunny days we still have) and some toys for ...just for fun!

So we started with what maybe my favourite, tiny 'Whizzy Bugs' which are a generic Hex Bug Nano, a tiny vibrating mechanical bug, way more fun than they sound, they race around like tiny cockroaches, bumping into things and each other (yes I cheated I bought an extra one later they were SO good) This video shows them on a tray, they are funnier in 'the wild' but harder to film!

And then DD settled down to make the Space Craft from the 'block tech' (not Lego but 'compatible with leading brands! in the dark when you step on one you wouldn't know the difference!) and it was great! 99p to take over the Empire? Why yes please I think I will.(I should mention they also had military cars, planes and another spaceship design)

I laughed for more than 5 minutes that a Spaceman has pens in his SHIRT pocket.

So far our 99p summer is off to a great start. Next I'll show you the festival goodness. Stay tuned.