It is so easy to get bogged down with the cries of ‘I WANT ONE OF THOSE’ when watching adverts from September on wards, I know my girls so far want everything they have seen!
Christmas is getting so expensive that its good to know what other parents are willing to spend their hard earned money on, so much out there is played with once and pushed to the back of the cupboard never seeing the light of day again. I know last year the best buy I made was the Our Generation Ice Cream Truck, yes it may have been £120 but it has been played with almost every day since, making it, in my opinion worth every penny!
I have put together a guide here to some of the top toys this year and hopefully given you a little help with what is and isn’t worth buying.
Baby Alive Potty dance Doll is an interactive little girl who has over 50 sounds, phrases and songs. She comes complete with potty, spare pants, cleaning accessories and comb, thankfully this little miss does actually only pee pee when shes is on the potty (unlike other dolls we have had who tend to pee everywhere!) She has a reward sticker chart so this could be a great learning tool when it comes to actually potty training little ones and she even does a little ‘need the potty’ dance! rrp: £44.99 available from Smyths with either blonde or brown hair.
We have reviewed a couple of pieces from the Fairy Garden collection and the girls love them, the fact they are well made and interactive encourages them to grown their own flowers etc. What I love about this Fairy Light Garden is that the toadstool house doubles as a night light, you simply blow on the candle through the window and it lights up – by magic! I loved that there is lots of accessories with this set including a bottle of pixie dust, 2 fairies, a unicorn, gardening accessories and bunting plus a mini toadstool and hedgehog! I think planting it with the grass seeds that are included too mean that it is something that would work well in a bedroom, bringing the fairy world indoors! rrp: £29.99 (£23.99 on Amazon at the moment!)
Reborn dolls, often used for therapies to heal devastated parents due to loss of their child make great kid companions as well. They help develop the child’s communication and social skills. They can be customized and may come in different size and colours like this African American Baby Doll.
If you have yet to hear about Fingerlings where have you been hiding? My girls have gone mad for these all year! Little creatures that hang on your finger, they blink, make cute noises and even blow kisses back to you. You can pet them to sleep then make a noise to wake them up, which they do with lots of excitement. I’m not sure how long the novelty will last but since I managed to pick these up on Amazon earlier this month for just over £10 each I’m not that concerned. Available in lots of different guises from unicorns to monkeys and even dinosaurs! rrp: £14.99 Amazon etc.
One game I loved when I was little is Mr Pop, I’m sure at some point in everyones lives we have all played this game. The one where you push back the face and try to pop on as many pieces in the image as possible before the timer goes off and the face pops forward, propelling all of the ears, noses and eyeballs flying! Well, Mr Pop has had a make over and is now in the bath! Super easy to put together and I am loving the chunky pieces that are super easy to pop into place with lots of different facial combos via the cards. I am loving this updated version and know the girls will too. rrp: £17.50 from Ideal games
My girls love Nerf, last year I bought them a mix of the girls pink versions including bow and arrow, rapid shooter and more. Needless to say it wasn’t long before I was having to replace missing bullets and arrows until they got bored of them going missing. When I saw the new Nerf Laser Ops I hoped this might be an answer to our missing bullets issue! The pack contains 2 guns and 2 arm bands that hold mobile devices to track your progress etc. Each AlphaPoint blaster features light and sound effects, unlimited ammo, quick-reload button and indicators for health, ammo and teams. rrp: £44.99 (£29.99 at the moment on Amazon)
I hear cries of ‘noooo’ up and down the country at the thought of Play Doh but we do it every year and every special occasion! What is it about this stuff that makes kids go gaga and want to mix it all together into one shade of brown within 5 minutes of opening the pack – (hey I’m just being honest!) lol As usual my girls have Play Doh Kitchen Creations on the top of their lists and this one will have them making smoothies, chocolate sundaes and so much more with the twist of a handle! Complete with 15 accessories, 8 cans of Doh and 2 creation cards. rrp: £22.49 from Argos
Evie has been asking for Sprinkle Stix for the past 2 years and this year she will be so excited as Santa finally gave in! John Adams make the most amazing products that get children involved, in the past we have had everything from jelly makers to chocolate coin creators. This sprinkle stick station is a mini factory whereby you will melt chocolate into the little dip pot, dip in the bread sticks and then have a sprinkle blast to cover the chocolate in mini coloured sprinkles. It is worth keeping in mind that the chocolate, sprinkles and bread sticks are not included so if you are wanting to get to work straight away you need to buy these separately. rrp: £18.50 from Amazon
Now for something completely different! A croissant that turns into a dog… yes you heard that right! Pastries that turn into pups! These scented creations are Sweet Pups, you turn the pastry inside out to find out which puppy you have, its like a pooch lucky dip! There are 12 different pastries/puppies to collect and they come in 4 different mouth-watering scents: cinnamon, chocolate, strawberry and toasted bread. rrp: £7.99 from Amazon
If you read my blog you will know by now how much we love Tiny Treasures, the girls already have 3 dolls, 1 boy and 2 girls. Well, come Christmas we are getting a new addition to our family, a new baby boy! We love that not only do these have super cute faces, realistic hair and eyes that close when laid down but they are soft bodied too so really do feel like new babies.
With a little reindeer Christmas outfit available to buy separately I can imagine the aww and cooing already on Christmas morning! All dolls, accessories and clothing are available from Argos. Doll rrp: £39.99 Outfit £12.99
Slime! Oh My Gosh the amount of slime we have seen pass through this house is unreal and I truly believe we haven’t even seen a fraction of what some households have! The girls are still potty over putty and slime so I will be adding some into their stockings this year! Great little stocking fillers and something I know they will love! rrp: £3.99 from Zuru available at B&M
One of my favourite things to do is jigsaws, they are the ideal down time, no brainer thing to do when you need to chill out! Nothing clears my mind like a good jigsaw and I adore this Mickey The True Original from Jumbo which contains a film reel image of all of his famous cartoons. Covering 90 years of magic from the classic black and white Steamboat Willie to modern day Mickey that we all know and love. rrp: £12.99 from Amazon
One name that is known by parents and grandparents alike is Playmobil, having launched during the year I was born *cough* 1974, it has been purchased for each of our children as we know it will stand the test of time. I also love that the toys are non gender specific meaning that no matter who plays with them they have the same fun with no preconceived ideas of roles etc. The girls keep asking me to take them to Disney and Orlando but at the minute this Aquarium will have to do until i win the lottery! All kids love water play so fill this with water, add the sea creatures and create your own seaworld adventure. rrp: £39.99 from all good toy shops
We have had this in the past and already written a full review about it, the girls absolutely adore making slime and this Glam Goo kit is pretty much pre-made and ready just to add bits into. The girls love their accessories so the fact there is a bracelet that they can carry slime around in appeals hugely to them. rrp: £14.99 from Amazon
We love creative play and with Evies love of reading this is something that I can see being a huge success. Everyone wants to be a detective and Dot can help kids on a great adventure to inspire the next generation of coders. Included in the mega pack are Detective Dots book, CIA membership card,
Six fun missions, Personalised CIA letter, CIA sticker sheet and a Lifelong CIA membership. There is a lack of females and minorities working in STEM (science, tech, engineering, maths) – currently less than 13%. Less girls take computer science degrees today than they did 10 years ago! So having something that is fun and educational at the same time is top of my Christmas list for the girls! rrp: £18.99 from Detective Dot
The girls love creative play and as much as we are all for making a mess, sometimes you just want something that is easy clean up. Play foam is exactly that, its a foam that sticks together and moldable but no mess. Each of the Play Pals come with a hidden Wild Friend inside so this appeals to the ‘grab bag’ generation of kids too. There are lots of accessories to buy including shapes and cutters plus scenes, the foam is available in lots of different colours too. rrp: £6.99 from Learning Resources
As a family we have loved Lego for many years, had countless boxes and creations and now with the girls there is a whole new fascination. Lego Friends are 5 girls who live in HeartLake City and do everything together, they even have their own Youtube Channel where you can follow their adventures. With everything from a diner to carwash, bedroom to holiday island, Lego Friends have it all covered and you can build an entire Friend world! rrp: from £6.99 from Lego
XOXO
Debbie
This post contains press samples
there are some really cute christmas choices here – I can see my great niece loving the playmobile and lego sets. Thank you for the round up.