Schleich Horse Club - Hannah's Guest Horses with Ruby the Dog Review

Over the past year or so my girls, who never had any real hobbies before, have gained a real interest for horses. It started when we visited their friend's yard and ever since then they spend most Sundays up there helping to clean, groom etc in exchange for riding lessons. They've become that obsessed that they spend their pocket money buying bits for the horses including snacks and grooming tools.

This meant that it came as no surprise to me that they would take a real shine to any programme, toy etc that had a horse theme surrounding it. So when I was asked if I'd like to review part of the brand new Schleich Horse Club range of play sets, the only answer that I could possibly reply with was yes please.

Little Bird Told Me Review

I am always on the look out for different toys for my children, I said in my post yesterday that having all girls can make it difficult to find things to buy for my children because I end up with doubles of everything.

So when I was approached to review one of Little Bird Told Me's items, I was more than a little excited to have something else to play with, I mean for Layla!!

For those of you that haven't heard of this company, let me fill you in. This lovely business consists of a team of nursery specialists who aim to make your little persons world just that bit more special by offering a wide choice of developmental toys that build your child's imagination. From soft toys to rocking horses, all of their toys are originally designed by them, all of which are presented in eco friendly packaging.

I was asked to take a look at the site and pick what I would like to review. After having a good look around, I decided on the Soft Snail Activity Fun House as it looked like something that Layla could enjoy by herself or with myself of her sisters playing with her.

When it arrived, it came with a lovely little catalogue, show casing just what else you can buy from them and believe me I could buy a lot!

I love the packaging, you can see the toy clearly and when you open it up, there aren't loads of tags etc to be undoing and cutting, meaning your child can play with their new toy sooner rather than later!!

It is a great size, measuring 28 x 25 x 15cm, it is big enough for little hands to easily play with it but also small enough to not take up too much room, so easily tidied away somewhere when play time has finished.

I love all of the different colours over the snail, beautiful pastel shades, I actually spent time with my 3 year old getting her to tell me all of the colours she could see. And with the added touch of pictures of flowers and bees on the side too, it really engages your child straight away before they even get a chance to experience all of what this toy has to offer.

There are different textures to the material too, from fleecy, to shiny, to what I would describe as cord. Another thing to stimulate your little one.

This clever snail comes with a set of wooden wheels that velcro onto the bottom of it, so your little one can pull it around the room with them using the lead at the front, which can also be detached when not in use.

The wheels being wooden is great because they don't make that horrible clackety sound that plastic wheels make when they are spinning along the floor.

I love that the wheels are removable because the snail is super soft, so your child could also use it as a cuddly toy too.

The only problem I found though was that the velcro didn't seem to be strong enough because sometimes as my kids were pulling it along, the wheels were falling off because the velcro was coming undone, maybe the velcro strap needs to be made slightly wider??

We have already had hours of fun with the snail because it has so many different features on it.

It's left antennae squeeks when pushed and when the right one is pulled, it plays a lovely little song.

There is a rattling caterpillar living in the house on the snails back, this was immediately chewed and dribbled on, poor little thing but because you can take it out of the house, it is like having a second toy to enjoy.

Inside the roof of the house is a little mirror for your little one to take a look at their reflection or if they are like Layla, then they play a game of peek a boo with themselves.

And I didn't realise until a couple of days ago that there is a door on one side of the house and insdie this door is place for to put a picture of whatever you want inside, I think I am going to get a picture of Layla's sisters printed out to put in there.

This lovely soft toy is priced at £25, which I think is a bargain price. It is made for little ones from six months onwards and with so many activities to do, this toy will be used again and again. It is definitely built to last and another added bonus is that it doesn't need batteries to work!!! The snail is simple yet effective but also a bit different from all of the other soft toys that you see in the shops.

You can also find Little Bird Told Me on facebook and twitter to keep up to date with all their latest news.

Disclaimer : this toy was sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes, however all thoughts and opnions are my own.

Let me tell you a story...

Well I say me, I actually mean my daughter. I had one of those proud mummy moments last week when my eldest daughter's teacher came up to me excitedly before school started. She said that Elise had started to write a story and she was really impressed so wanted me to read it too.

Now I know Elise is very creative, she has a wonderful imagination and she is always telling people that she wants to be an author in real life. Her teacher actually sent her home with more paper because she wanted her to finish the story because I'm sure the rest of you will be the same, you want to know just what happens in the end!!

I, as her mum, am slightly biased but for someone who is 7 years old, I think she has done a really amazing job, so I just wanted to share with you all what she has created.

The Tale of a Castle War

One day, well you may have guessed, a long, long, long time ago in a medieval castle called Castle Ivy, a baby princess was born. Her name was Princess Destiny. 
She lived in Castle Ivy with her mum, Queen Daniella and her father, King Ben. What the king and queen didn't know was that Princess Destiny had fallen in love with their knight, Sir Robinson. They had a secret love that was as sweet as cake.
One day on her 15th birthday, their worst enemy returned, Queen Vivian. Her knights were coming across the sea from Palace Evil.
Sir Robinson tried to get Princess Destiny away on his noble stead, Billy the dragon. When they thought they were far enough away, Queen Vivian came on her dragon Frankenstein and snatched Princess Destiny. Sir Robinson was heartbroken.

Meanwhile in Castle Ivy, there was a humungous battle between Castle Ivy and Palace Evil. A lot of knights got killed without their best knight, Sir Robinson and his noble stead Billy to help. 
In Palace Evil, Queen Vivian had captured Queen Daniella, King Ben and Princess Destiny. Suddenly Princess Destiny had an idea. She took her toy vampire teeth out of her pocket that she remembered she had. Then she got her red pen out of her pocket that she also remembered that she had. She got her red pen and put some red on the toy vampire teeth. Princess Destiny put the toy vampire teeth in her mouth and you can guess what happened next.
Princess Destiny looked like a vampire who had just eaten. "I'm going to eat you if you don't set me free" said Princess Destiny. "Goodness me, I didn't know you were a vampire, please don't eat me princess" said Queen Vivian. "You'll be a tasty snack" said Princess Destiny. "Alright! ok ok, I'll set you free if I can rule Castle Ivy till my death" said Queen Vivian. "And if that happens I'll have you for my snack" said Princess Destiny, giving Queen Vivian a look. "I'm out of here, bye" shouted Queen Vivian.

"Ha, that was clever" laughed a voice. It was Sir Robinson. He bought Billy the dragon too. As you may have guessed, Sir Robinson had then captured Queen Vivian and put her in her own dungeon. He set Queen Daniella, King Ben and Princess Destiny free.

Two months later, Sir Robinson and Princess Destiny got married and had twins. A boy called Antony and a girl called Olivia and they were happy for the rest of their days.

THE END

Thanks for reading. Always nice to see a happy ending!!!

xxxx

Penwizard Personalised Book Review

One thing that I have always encouraged with my children is reading books. Infact before my eldest was even born, I had bought 3 different sets of books for her.

I find books are great way to encourage your child to learn, letting their imaginations run wild, it is also a great way to spend time with your little ones.

I was asked by Penwizard to review one of their personalised books. The question was, who was I going to get the book for? I decided my lovely Gracie would probably get the most enjoyment out of this kind of book so off I went to order her book.

There are so many themes. You can choose from well known characters like Peppa Pig or Fifi the Flowertot or stories about wizards or princesses. I picked a book about a medieval princess as princesses are definitely the "in" thing in our house at the moment.

The process of ordering the book is extremely simple. You type in your child's first and last name, decide on hairstyle, colour and skin tone and you can give two adults names and two other names, perhaps friends or family, I opted for Gracie's older sister's names as I thought this would really get her engaged in the story. That's all you have to do, Penwizard do the rest of the work, all you have to do is wait for your order.

The book arrived extremely quickly and I couldn't have been more pleased when I saw it. Gracie's name was right there on the front cover and the picture really did resemble her. The cover had a shiny gloss finish and really draws you in.

The book itself is a paperback and is 24 pages long, all in colour print. It is a lovely size, all the pictures and words are nice and clear and make it ideal whether you are reading together or when your child decides to have a read of it by themselves. You can see in the picture below that it fit on Gracie's lap perfectly. Now Gracie is only 3 years old, so can't read a lot of the words herself yet but she can recognise her own name, so when I showed her the new book, her face lit up!!

The story is beautifully written, not too long. There is a good mix of pictures and writing and the font is a fab size and style. Gracie got very excited when I mentioned her sister's names whilst I read to her, her sister's were just as excited when they saw what was in the book. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I could have chosen hair style colour etc for Elise and Freya too. Elise, my eldest daughter is a "book worm" and instantly took it upon herself to read it to her sister's. It was really funny listening to her putting on different voices for the different characters.

The way the story ended was cleverly done because it left it open for Gracie to think of what happened next, many possibilities there which could easily make the story last longer. Her sister's even started to act out what had happened in the book.

Priced at £14.99, this kind of book makes a great gift for any child, something slightly different to the normal books available, it really allows your child get involved in the story and keeps them interested right up until the final page!! I think being personalised makes it a great keepsake too.

You can keep up to date with all the latest news by checking out Penwizards Facebook and Twitter pages.

Now tell me who would you buy one of these books for and what book would you choose??

xxxx

Disclaimer : This book was sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.