Have you heard of the Whirli Toy Subscription box yet? As Mum to two daughters, and a parenting and lifestyle blogger, this house has seen more than it’s fair share of toys. Some toys become long term hits, getting dragged out and played with every other weekend, creating hour after hour of imaginative play long after they are first unwrapped from the (usually copious amounts of) packaging. Others inevitably get forgotten about fairly quickly. The novelty wears off, or something new and exciting comes along that means some toys get forgotten about, put to one side, or simply surplus to requirements. I’ve seen Toy Story, and trust me, I get allllll kinds of guilt about the toys that are left to gather dust whilst they look down on the latest new addition with jealous glares. We had been looking at more eco friendly toys and sustainable toys to try and prevent the amount of waste and money we spent unnecessarily.
It appears we’re not alone. According to research from the team who invented the Whirli toy subscription box – children receive on average £350 worth of toys each year, with many toys getting neglected after just 4 weeks. Sadly many of these toys end up being thrown away – resulting in lots of plastic being sent straight to the tip.
As a family we have recently developed a bit of a one in one out policy, meaning that every time a new toy comes into the house, we donate another, sending it off to our local charity shops so that another child can play with it instead. Although this helps a little, I have recently been looking into ways to reduce our plastic consumption and become more sustainable as a family. After all, the amount of waste we create as a nation is pretty shocking, and this is my children’s and their future generations lives that I need to be taking care of.
When I heard about Whirli toys – a new toy subscription box service / toy library that allows children to enjoy, return and refresh their toys regularly, I thought it sounded absolutely amazing, allowing the girls to experience the joy of something new to play with, without the inevitable wasteful disposal of something else.
Whirli Toy Subscription Box – what you need to know
The Whirli toy subscription service looks to revolutionise the way in which parents shop for toys. Whirli believe that it’s better value to swap and not shop, and follow the mentality of Get, Play, Give and Repeat, helping parents de-clutter, regain lost storage space, and reduce the number of toys that inevitably end up in landfill. Whirli is a fun sustainable toys community, where you can pick, enjoy and swap the eco friendly toys your children play with as part of your subscription.
If you fancy giving it a go you can use the Whirli Toys Discount Code to get 20% off new subscriptions – NEW20 (valid until December 2023)
How does the Whirli toy box subscription work?
1, Choose your toys
Pick the toys you want from a huge variety of toys on their site – the toys are easily filtered by recommended age, category and brand, making it easy to find something specific you might be looking for.
In this house we’re huge fans of wooden toys, so I really enjoyed having a little explore of the wooden toy options to add to the girls toy box. We chose the Grimm’s Rainbow, Le Toy Van Honeybake Ice Lollies and the Melissa and Doug Rainbow Balance toy.
Each toy has a token value (approximately equal to £1 RRP) and depending on your subscription package, you get a fixed amount of tokens to exchange for toys each month. All subscriptions come with flexibility to choose your toys and to swap them at any time. What’s more, if you decide to keep a toy for 9 months without swapping it, you can keep it forever!
2. Delivery
Once you have made your selections (which to be honest is the hard part as there is lots of choice!), the Whirli toy subscription delivers your selected toys to your door (to any mainland UK address) in a fab reuseable and sustainable canvas bag. The toys aren’t brand new – so no battling to remove them from the over generous hoards of plastic packaging, but are all in excellent condition and full working order, having been triple checked and cleaned before sending.
3. Swap
When your children start to lose interest, simply return them and swap them for something else! Here comes the huge benefit of a toy subscription model! When they are returned to the team at Whirli, the toys are checked and steralised ready for another child to enjoy should they be selected again for play.
Whirli toy subscription plans start from £12.16 per month which gives you access to around £80 worth of toys at any one time. There are 4 subscription tiers available depending on your family size and the value of toys you wish to receive. The premium subscription – The Toy Chest – retails at £35 per month, but comes with a whopping £240 worth (approximately) of toys to select from.
4. Repeat
The girls have absolutely loved playing with some new brightly coloured wooden toys from the Whirli toys selection, and it is great piece of mind to know that if they lose interest or stop playing, I can send it back to Whirli and exchange it for something else.
What are is it suitable for?
Whirli is suitable for all ages – from newborn toys and toys for toddlers and preschoolers, all the way through to toys suitable for school aged children ages 5-8 years.
What toy brands do Whirli offer?
As you might expect, many of the brands featured in the Whirli toy subscription are from sustainable and ethical brands, with a real focus on Montessori, wooden toys and screen free fun. Here are just a few of the brands you can find at Whirli:
I think the Whirli toy subscription concept is absolutely fantastic, and in a world where we all have to do our bit to try and reduce our carbon footprint, this feels like a huge step in the right direction. If you have children who go through phases of favourites when it comes to their playtime, Whirli is a great option to allow them to experience a wider range of toys without the hefty price tag, with a Whirli subscription working out up to 9 x cheaper than buying things new at RRP.
You can learn more about Whirli toy subscrptions including the types of toy subscription packages available and frequently asked questions over on the Whirli website. To get 20% off your subscriptions, use the code NEW20
*We were given complimentary tokens for Whirli in exchange for our honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*
Erin absolutely love dogs, and has been dropping not so subtle hints for weeks now as she is desperate to have one of her own. So when Puppy Dog Pals first appeared on our screens late last year, I knew straight away that she would be hooked. Not only is the theme tune incredibly catchy and fun, but the two main characters Bingo and Rolly are very very cute. The series follows the adventures of the Puppy Dog Pals when they set off on their next thrill seeking mission, and their motto is one which every young person can relate to – life is more exciting with your best friend by your side.
This year, a new range of Puppy Dog Pals toys have hit the shelves and we have been lucky enough to check them out and put them through their paces with the girls!
About the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset
The Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset looks just like Bingo and Rolly’s house from the TV Series, and comes with lots of fun accessories and features to make creative playtime fun. The set has a 3″ Bingo and Rolly figure included (both of which have poseable legs so they can alternate between sitting and standing), making it a complete starter pack for any Puppy Dog Pals fan. There are LOTS of interactive features to the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset including a large slide (enabling the Pups to take a quick whizz from top to bottom), a roof glider, a tyre swing, a seasaw, and A.R.F as a car, as well as a moving escalator / lift so that the characters can quickly be moved between floors.
The Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset is aimed at children aged 3+ and retails at £29.99 at Amazon.
Our Experience
We were sent the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset, along with a Puppy Dog Pals Deluxe figure set, which includes more of the girl’s favourite characters from the show to enhance our play time.
The Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset comes in quite a large box, and does require a bit of initial assembly, however this wasn’t complicated at all, (even for me!), taking less than 10 minutes to unpack the pieces and slot them all into place.
Main features
The girls were really keen to get playing with the set, and with lots of features and interactive elements to go around, the set was ideal for siblings to play together (despite a bit of bickering over who got to hold Bingo first!)
Here are the main features to be aware of:
The glider – On the roof of the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset is a handglider, where the pups can take a quick spin around the doghouse roof. Simply clip Rolly or Bingo into place (folding his legs outwards if you really want to create that soaring effect) and then you can spin him 360 degrees around his home.
The Tyre Swing – hanging from the large tree at the side of the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset is a little tyre swing, where Rolly or Bingo can sit and be rocked backwards and forwards. We found he fell out a LOT but the girls both enjoyed this regardless!
Play on the see-saw – The freestanding see-saw that comes with the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse playset can be moved around and played with independently of the set if you wish. With two little bumps so that the characters can be clicked into place (my youngest needed a bit of help with this), children can emulate a bit of playground playtime between the best friends!
Slide down the mega slide – This was by far the girls favourite part of the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset – the mega spiral slide that rotated around the side of the house, allowing the Pups to spin down from top to bottom in a flash, working up quite a bit of speed! Again they sometimes fell off the side (I hope dogs have 9 lives too!) but Neve in particular just found this hilarious!
Erin really enjoyed attempting to get the pups to slide straight into the the A.R.F car by lining it up correctly at the end of the slide. The A.R.F vehicle can also be used as an independent play toy, with the pups climbing on to the back before being wheeled around to wherever imaginations take them!
With a little tab on the side, the elevator / lift in the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse playset can be moved up and down between floors, transporting Rolly and Bingo from the ground floor to mission control.
At times this motion wasn’t as fluid as you might expect, and Erin, 5, found this part much more appealing than Neve.
Finally, the house also wouldn’t be complete without a dog flap style front door, which can be opened and closed as required.
Should your children wish to expand their Puppy Dog Pals collection, the other characters available in the deluxe playset include Bingo, Rolly, A.R.F, Bob, Hissy, Keia, two food bowls, a cat bed and a little toy! These are a great accompaniement to the Doghouse Playset, and are ideal when you have two siblings who may want to play with the set together (leading to far less bickering too especially as the two main characters are featured again!)
Overall, if you have a Puppy Dog Pals fan in your household this is destined to be a big hit. At £29.99 I think this is good value compared to some other licensed toys which tend to come at a real premium price. There are lots of features included for the money, and plenty to keep little ones entertained with their favourite characters for quite some time.
You can learn more about the Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset and other toys from the Puppy Dog Pals toys range on Amazon here.
*Disclosure – we were sent a Puppy Dog Pals Doghouse Playset and deluxe figure set free of charge for the purpose of this review however as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links*
Since the original Fingerlings range launched in 2017, Erin has been a massive fan, with her beloved pink cheeky monkey hanging upside down on his climbing frame in our lounge and regularly getting into mischief. Neve is always desperate to get her hands on that pink little monkey, which inevitably results in a bit of squabbling as Erin tries to keep him out of reach! The Fingerlings range has recently expanded to include unicorns, pandas, dragons and even dinosaurs, but their most recent addition to the range is even more exciting!
This Autumn has seen the launch of Fingerlings Hugs – a larger plush style alternative, with all the interactive Fingerlings elements we know and love, and I have a feeling these are going to be pretty popular on the Christmas wishlists for 2018! With Neve having recently turned two, I thought this would be a great option for her as a birthday gift.
About Fingerlings Hugs
The world famous fingerlings have now gone supersized! Just like their smaller cousins, Fingerlings Hugs are interactive loveable pets, but this time, they come in giant plush form. With long arms perfect for hugs and cuddles, children can swing, pet them or rock them to sleep. With over 40 different sounds, there are many interactive elements to help bring this loveable monkey to life. Give them a kiss and watch as they kiss you back, record a message and listen as he repeats back in funny ways. Throw and twist him in the air to hear him cheer!
Fingerlings Hugs are recommended for children aged 3 and above (however with parental supervision I personally found these are fine for Neve at 2 years). They are available in two different colours and characters – Boris (Blue) and Bella (pink)
Fingerlings Hugs are battery operated (test batteries included) and retail at £29.99 atThe Entertainer.
Our Review of Fingerlings Hugs
I can honestly say I have never seen Neve react to a present the way she did when she first unwrapped the Fingerings Hugs to reveal the large smiling monkey sat in the box with his arms folded across his chest. First there was a big exclaimation of WOWWWWW and then a huge cuddle when we unpackaged him from his box.
We popped the arms around her neck (they fasten together with Velcro) and she immediately started running around the living room in absolute hysterics, finding it really funny the way the monkey was clinging on to her body as she ran. I have never heard her laugh so hard ever, so it was very very funny to watch. Neve was running so fast in fact, that taking a non blurry photograph of her playing was almost impossible, but hopefully you get the general gist!
We were sent Boris, the Blue version of the Fingerlings Hugs, and the first impressions are that he really is really very cute. Not only does he have a friendly welcoming face with eyes that open and close and a big tuft of ginger hair, but he is pretty much life size for Neve, meaning that he is perfect for a nice big snuggle.
To wake up the Fingerlings Hugs you simply press the button in his left ear and he springs to life with a funny voiced “hello!!”
The instructions in the box clearly outline all the different interactive elements of Fingerlings Hugs, of which there are many, with basic actions such as patting and pressing to trigger the response.
Some of Neve’s favourites include:
The Kiss – press your Fingerlings Hugs’ mouth to your cheek or skin and you’ll get a smooch in return – the longer you hold it there the longer the kiss you receive! It was really funny watching Neve hold him against her lips for ages listening to the mmmmmm sound before pulling away to here the smacker of a kiss. A quick peck and you get a quick smooch back but the longer you linger, the longer the sound.
The Burp – pat your Fingerlings Hugs on the back and they will let out a variety of different sounding burps – some small and hiccup like and others a full on belch. Neve found the burps absolutely hilarious and laughed hysterically every time he let out made this sound.
Lie your Fingerlings Hugs down his eyes will close and he begins to snore.
Lay him on his back and tickle his tummy to hear him laugh.
Throw him in the air and he goes Weeeeeee
Press and hold the button on his ear to record a message, and the Fingerlings Hugs will repeat it back to you in a funny little voice.
The Fingerlings Hugs is meant to fart if you shake / quiver him but we have only managed to do this a couple of times so it appears that there is a bit of a knack to this particular talent. This however is possibly not a bad thing otherwise he would be farting A LOT in this house lol!
Overall the Fingerlings Hugs has been a massive hit with Neve, and I love the fact that he is a cuddly comforting toy as well as being fun and interactive. Neve enjoys snuggling with him on the sofa whilst watching TV before bed. From a parent’s perspective, the sounds aren’t too loud or annoying, and there is the ability to turn him off so that the sounds aren’t present at all should you wish (although where is the fun in that!)
From a critique point of view, it would be great if Fingerlings Hugs came in a wider choice of colours as the pink and blue thing is a little bit of a cliché. We found that sometimes the actions don’t happen as quickly as you would expect them to, almost as if it hasn’t registered what you are asking it to do, but found that a quick throw in the air and “weeee” would almost reset it so that it worked immediately on the next attempt. That might be coincidence, but it seemed to work for us!
Finally, the voice recording function only plays your message back once, and therefore you cant replay the same voice recording over and over again, which is a shame if you’ve captured something really funny and would like to hear it a second time. It would be great if you could repeat the last recording until you decide to re-record.
I predict that these are going to be a big hit with little ones this Christmas, so if you want to avoid disappointment, it may be worth checking them out and stashing them away early for Father Christmas!
Fingerlings Hugs are available from The Entertainerand retail at £29.99.
*Disclosure – We were sent a Fingerlings Hugs free of charge for the purpose of this review however all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links*
Now that Erin’s started school, I try my best to include some educational playtime in our evenings and weekends. It can be hard at times, especially since her younger sister arrived on the scene, to do some of the activities we used to do when it was just the two of us, and I think Erin has really missed that undivided attention. In a world where we are surrounded by technology and TV screens, I always try and have just a little one on one time, where we can sit and read or play together, and I can help embrace Erin’s curiosity and encourage her learning in an informal and relaxed way.
As someone who has spent much of my adult life recruiting into STEM subjects, I have always been a little disheartened by how few females came through the doors when our vacancies came up. I have always told Erin she can grow up to be whatever she wants to be, and for me, opening her eyes to the prospect of careers in science and technology is absolutely part of this. She has a very curious mind, and loves to know how things work. Now she is five and in full time education, the amount of “Why?” and “How?” questions are rapidly increasing, and it’s great fun to watch her making sense of the world.
We were recently contacted by Wonderkid Subscription Boxes – an educational subscription box service for children, to see if we would like to review their Wonderkid Junior boxes. With each box having a specific theme covering science, history or philosophical topics, this sounded like a fun way to incorporate learning and provide inspiration for some of our activities, and I was keen to see what each box had in store!
Over the last few months, we have trialled two different Wonderkid Subscription boxes and here is what we thought.
What is Wonderkid / Wonderkid Junior?
Wonderkid is a quarterly subscription box for children (delivered in March, June, September and December) and is aimed at two different age groups – Wonderkid (suitable from ages 7-12) and Wonderkid Junior for children aged 3-6. These are of course recommended ages only, and younger children may also benefit from Wonderkid boxes with parental supervision.
Each box includes approximately 6 – 8 (4-5 for Wonderkid Junior) carefully selected, high quality items centred around a particular theme including quality books and games by top publishers and manufacturers, as well as Wonderkid’s own unique magazine developed to ensure both parents and children get the most from each edition. Past editions have included Ancient Greece, Space, Dinosaurs, and Insects, Bugs & Creepy Crawlies.
Our Experience
We were sent two boxes from the Wonderkid Junior range, and I have to admit, when the big yellow box arrived on our doorstep, even I was a little bit excited to crack it open and see what was inside. Erin loves ‘unboxing’ and surprises, so enjoyed tearing open the tissue paper to reveal the goodies nestled inside.
Our First Theme – Space
For our first Wonderkid Junior box the theme was Space. Erin has recently learnt a lot about space in reception at school, including her frequent rendition of ‘The Planets Song’ (which mostly gets sung in the bath), so she was very excited to see that this was the theme of her first box, and quickly started exploring the contents within.
As featured in our images above and below, our box contained:
A bespoke Wonderkid magazine with puzzles, games, activities and learning concepts – this was a great way of introducing this quarter’s box, and to help us parents or guardians find fun ways of engaging with our children using the contents. The magazine also contained puzzles, learning hints and activities.
Two paperback story books – ‘On the Moon’ and ‘The Way Back Home’ – the latter of which is by the author of one of Erin’s favourite books “The day the crayons quit” – she immediately recognised the author’s drawing and text style so was quite excited about this one.
An interactive lift the flap book – ‘Look Inside Space’ – a very educational Osbourne book with flaps revealing lots of hidden secrets about rockets, space stations and planets. A great book for us to read together.
The Usborne Space sticker book – a great independent activity; this book is packed full of stickers which can be added to a number of different beautifully illustrated background pages to create their own space scene. A fun way of bringing out your child’s imagination, Erin has always been a huge fan of sticker books, and this one didn’t disappoint.
Activity wise, this Space themed Wonderkid Junior box also contained game called Space Snap – a fun traditional card game featuring all the different planets and lots of space related items! Not only is Space Snap a fun activity to entertain your child, but brings in a bit of discreet learning to playtime.
Finally, and something really different in our space themed Wonderkid Junior box was the Freeze Dried Astronaut snacks. This was a real conversation starter, and I was able to talk to Erin about how astronauts couldn’t eat normal food in space due to zero gravity and all the mess that would result. I was able to show her the small freeze dried chunks of chocolate strawberry and vanilla ice cream, explaining how each one was frozen versions of her favourite dessert, and she was amazed at how much they tasted just like the real thing!
Second Box Theme – Dinosaurs
With the first box having been such a big hit, I was excited to see what the second box had in store, and this time our theme was Dinosaurs. Erin immediately told me how dinosaurs ‘used to live on earth but how they had died and that we couldn’t see them anymore’. This again was a great conversation starter, and we had a little chat about how dinosaurs had become extinct and what that meant. I really loved watching Erin nod along as we discussed the different types of dinosaurs, including how each one looked a little different and how some were vegetarians just like her Aunty Helen! 🙂 We also had quite an eye opening discussion when she said ‘dinosaurs are for boys but I like them too’. I’ve always been aware of how much gender bias exists when it comes to toys and career choices, so we had quite an in depth chat about how boys and girls are totally able to like the same things, whether it be dolls or robots, dancing or maths.
This Dinosaur Themed Wonderkid Junior box contained:
A bespoke Wonderkid Junior Dinosaurs magazine, with lots of really interesting facts and fun activities about al the different dinosaurs.
2 x traditional story books – ‘Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch’ and ‘Old McDino had a farm’. We had never read either of these books before, so these made for fun bedtime reading, with Crunch Munch in particular being a really fun story with a great rhyming lilt.
The third book ‘Nibbles the Dinosaur Guide’ was a little more interactive, and a great one to sit and read together. With fun peekaboo holes so Erin could guess what dinosaur was coming next, and lots of flaps and surprises, this book was full of great illustrations and loads of fun facts about dinosaurs, presented in a really relatable and entertaining way. It even had their names written phonetically to help children pronounce some of the trickier species, resulting in Erin showing off to her Grandad all the different names she had leant.
Similar to our previous box there were two extra activities in our Wonderkid Junior box in addition to the books – ‘My First Dinosaur Snap’ – a fun game aiming to match up dinosaurs with their written name – a slightly tougher version of traditional Snap but something that could put into practise the phonetic names she had learnt from the book above.
Finally there was the ‘Glow in the Dark Mould & Paint Dinosaur Magnets’ kit – Erin was really excited to see this, having always been a big fan of painting and pottery. She was even more excited when she realised that the kit not only involved painting the dinosaur magnets with glow in the dark paints but creating them in the moulds first. With six different dinosaurs in the kit, this was also a fun way to reinforce the learning of different names as we created our masterpieces!
Overall as a parent I really love the concept of the Wonderkid Subscription boxes. I love the fact that there is a different theme each quarter and that if you wish you can keep this a surprise from your child, adding to the excitement at the point of unboxing. It’s great that the theme is always educational, building on their natural curiosity and teaching them things that they may not necessarily have been exposed to in their realtively short time on the planet! 🙂
By opening Wonderkid with your child and engaging with the contents, parents can be involved in supporting learning in a fun and entertaining way which doesn’t feel like a chore. For me personally, Wonderkid was a fun activity for us to do together whilst Neve was napping, ensuring some quality time whilst at the same time being confident she was benefiting from the activity.
Erin loved the theme of the two boxes we received, and all the contents were high quality and engaging. She loved the fact there was a mix of both books and activities, and plenty to keep her entertained over a longer period of time as opposed to something that was over and done with in one fowl swoop. In both the boxes we received, at least one of the books offered a little something extra than a traditional story book, and I really liked the element of interactive discussion and the conversations this created with Erin.
In terms of value for money, when bought individually, the contents of our box added up to around £5 less than the cost of the box itself; so whilst the stand alone box didn’t offer huge discounts as such, Wonderkid definitely took away the hassle of trying to source them ourselves, and grouped them into a theme which aided Erin’s learning. The Wonderkid Subscription boxes can also be purchased annually (saving around an additional £2 a box), at which point, the value of the contents seems to more substantially outweigh the price based on the examples we have seen. For that reason, the Annual Subscription option would be my personal preference, as not only does it offer quarterly surprises and entertainment for Erin, but saves me the most money in the long run too.
You can learn more about Wonderkid and Wonderkid Junior on their website here. You can also receive a 10% discount on your first order so you can give it a go for yourself!
Introducing Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 – The Hatch Friends Forever Collection…
If you follow my blog regularly you will probably already be aware that Erin is a huge fan of the Collectibles craze. For my daughter, there is nothing more exciting than the grand opening to reveal a surprise inside, and she loves peeling open layers, opening blind bags and popping open eggs to discover her prize; even happy watching somebody else do so on YouTube! When Hatchimals CollEGGtibles launched a while back, she was literally squealing in delight at the prospect of having an actual little egg to crack open in order to reveal the surprise characters inside.
Since that day, we have been lucky enough to review both Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season one and Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season two, both of which were quite similar but with some subtle differences in terms of new characters, new designs, and extra treats such as glittery and furry designs.
When we heard that Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 was being released this Spring, Erin was very excited, but I must admit I wasn’t sure where else the concept could go, I imagined they would simply be more of the same, only with some more different characters to add to her collection. I totally underestimated Spin Master who appear to have done it again, this time with the power of multiples! Thanks to Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 Hatch Friends Forever edition, children can now not only collect Hatchimals Characters with their best friend or squad, but also reveal one of twenty sets of TWINS – that’s right – TWO characters inside one tiny egg!!
About Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3
Hatchimals CollEGGtibles are aimed at children aged 5 and above, and are priced from £2.99 for an individual blind bag egg, 2 pack for £4.99, 4 pack for £9.99 *with bonus character and a cloud egg carton for £4.99.
As with previous seasons, Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 are small hard eggs with hearts on the front, requiring some love and affection from the child in order to hatch. Simply rub the heart on the egg until it changes colour from purple to pink, before pressing down to crack open the shell and reveal the character inside. Once your character is revealed, continue peeling down the shell to create a small nest in which your Hatchimal can sit.
The heart logo on the egg is a little different this time around (with two hearts – one solid heart and one outline of a heart), but the hatching concept is the same – the colour of the speckles on the outside of the egg give you a clue as to which ‘family’ the egg might belong to, but the character(s) inside remain a surprise.
A collectors map comes included in larger sets (unfortunately this is not in the individual blind bags), and shows that each character has a buddy, best friend or squad, which when paired up can sit in a variety of different poses, e.g, having a piggy bag, giving a high five. This is a really fun new addition and makes the collectible appeal of the characters even stronger, as children will be keen to get both parts of a matching pair.
There are over 100 new characters in Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3, with 20 different pairs of twins to collect. There are also some special and limited edition squad characters that have additional features like glitter and accessories.
Our Experience
Erin is now a bit of a pro when it comes to opening her Hatchimals CollEGGitbles, where as when we first had them she definitely needed help in terms of getting the heart to change colour. The rubbing can be a little hard for tiny hands, so with younger children, or those having Hatchimals CollEGGtibles for the first time, they may need a little bit of help.
Being familiar with the concept, Erin was now able to prepare the eggs on her own, leaving me able to sit back and watch her reactions as she revealed the characters inside.
We were sent a selection of products from the Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 range including a blind bag, 2 pack and 4 pack, which came with a bonus character included. The first egg Erin opened was a single character, and at first, she seemed a little disappointed, perhaps misunderstanding that there wouldn’t be twins inside every single one. I guess this is a slight risk with this change to the original concept. in that once she knew that some of the eggs contained two, she was desperate to find twins. As such, it made the experience of opening a single character a little less exciting for her than it normally would have been.
That said, the reaction when we did open a twin (we had two sets in total out of 9 eggs that we opened) was worth it’s weight in gold (see the gif at the bottom of the page!!). Her reaction was absolutely priceless and it absolutely made her day – lots of exclamations of “I don’t believe it!!!!” and “TWINS MUMMY!!!” as she slowly peeled away the outer shell to reveal the characters inside. Her reaction reminded my somewhat of how I was when I used to play the Game of Life, always desperate to land on that ellusive twins square on the board. How ironic that the thought of twins as an adult is enough to give me the fear of God!
With 20 out of 100 being twins, there is a fairly good chance of getting some without having to spend a fortune.
With the squad and buddies inside Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3, we did have to refer to the list quite often in order to check if we had managed to find a pair. As it happened, we didn’t manage to get any matching sets in this round of opening, but the pictures showed you quite clearly what they looked like and their names, so you could tick off each character as you found them.
Erin was lucky enough to find one of the Limited Edition characters in her mix, Petal Aligoo – a little aligator with pink wings and a purple tummy.
Hatchimals CollEGGtibles season 3 also comes with their very own animated digital webisodes, offering magical places of Hatchtopia for children to discover on the free Hatchimals app. This is a fun way of interacting with the characters and prolongs the playtime involved my giving them a whole new world to discover.
Overall, Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 has, as predicted been a huge hit. Finding those illusive twins is a little like being Charlie trying to find the golden ticket, and as such it is a very welcome addition! You can check out the full range of Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 products at The Entertainer.
*This is a collaborative post – we were sent a selection of items from the Hatchimals CollEGGtibles Season 3 range – as always the thoughts and opinions are our own. This post contains affiliate links*
Here at Real Mum Reviews, we have always been big fans of the LOL Surprise range of toys – We had the LOL giant surprise ball for Christmas, recently fell in love with the LOL Surprise Pets and although she doesn’t know it yet, we also have the Pearl Ball stashed away ready for Erin’s Birthday in June. When I was asked if I wanted to review the LOL Surprise Confetti Pop Series 3 I knew it would be a hit with Erin (they always are!). That said, I wasn’t familiar with the LOL Confetti Pop design or what it did. Erin on the other hand was – she had seen the videos on YouTube and couldn’t wait to try it out for herself!
As with most of the toys in the LOL Surprise! range, the LOL Surprise Confetti Popstarts off with the normal multiple layers of cellophane with little perforated zips to help small fingers start off the peeling process! Erin has always loved this part the most – there is something really exciting for little ones about having to peel open the individual layers and get closer to the surprise(s) hidden away inside!
After peeling off the first two layers, there was a plastic seal with instructions on what you need to do next.
Different to other LOL Susprise toys, the LOL Surprise Confetti Pop has individual sections, each of which need to be opened to reveal blind bags inside before clipping the lids back into place and spinning round the top of the ball to reveal the next section!
There are four compartments in the LOL Surprise Confetti Pop, each with their own accessories in – we got some glasses, a cup, some shoes and an outfit. In the last compartment there is a blind bag and a zip like tape – this is used to reveal the final surprise..
The final surprise is to open up the main ball to reveal the doll to match your accessories – and this is where the confetti comes in! The instructions advise to simply turn the LOL Surprise Confetti Pop over and pull – this was a little tough at first but then with a strong pull, the top flicked off and the contents (confetti and a blind bag!) came popping out! It’s reallllly hard to capture confetti popping on camera, but Erin found this part hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing – particularly as the confetti went all over her and the floor!
Parental warning on this – the confetti does go absolutely everywhere!! (thankfully we were outside!!), but it is fairly easy to clear up with a vacuum – alternatively they can scoop it up and pop it back into the ball – which is fun if they want to be able to do the pop and reveal again.
Inside the large remaining section of the LOL Surprise Confetti Pop is one last large blind bag inside that contains the main character (the LOL doll)
Erin quickly got her character – Snuggle Babe – dressed in her new outfit and the accessories from the original blind bags – she particularly liked the sleepy eye cover for when she was going to bed! 🙂 Snuggle Babe has black and white hair (one colour each side) and has it piled on top of her head in a large bow. She wears a black and white coat with a little top underneath saying “The Snuggle is Real”
As with all the LOL Surprise Dolls – there are different groups of characters, different hidden talents (e.g colour changing, spit etc). Whilst she is not rare (she is one of the popular dolls), Snuggle Babe does colour change in that the white part of her hair turns pink and her top red when put into cold water.
As expected the LOL Surprise Confetti Pop was a big hit with Erin, and I think this is much more interactive than others in the original series. As a result, the multiple layers and the fact that it takes a little while to reveal all the surprises makes this, in my opinion good value for money.
The LOL Surprise Confetti Pop Series 3 retails at £11 and is available to pre-order at The Entertainer (available from 21st May 2018).
*Disclosure – we were gifted a LOL Surprise Confetti Pop for the purpose of this review however all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links*
Hi, I’m Lucy, a thirty something mum of two from Birmingham. A memory maker, tradition keeper, stationery addict and Mr Men fanatic. HR Advisor by day and sleep deprived Mama by night!
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