Erin has always been a huge fan of PJ Masks, and it has now become a regular TV choice for Erin whilst eating her breakfast before school in the mornings! Despite being 35 now (eek!), I can definitely see the appeal, just in the way banana man used to change into a superhero back in the 80’s, PJ Masks features three 6 year old children Connor, Amaya and Greg who lead relatively normal lives by day, but by night become Catboy, Owlette and Gekko. These three masked crusaders are the PJ Masks team who fight crime by night time; going on fun adventures, completing missions, defeating criminals and solving mysteries!
The villain that Erin secretly loves to hate is Romeo – a genius inventor who is continually attempting to take over the world from his mobile laboratory! Having previously reviewed the PJ Masks Turbo Blast Racers , Erin was super excited to learn about the new addition to the PJ Masks toy range – the Romeo’s Lab Playset, and couldn’t wait to get her hands on it!
About the Product
The PJ Masks Romeo’s Lab Playset retails at £49.99 and is targeted at children between the ages of 3 and 6 years of age. It can be purchased from a number of high street stores including Argos.
The PJ Masks need to be on their guard, as Romeo is ready to rule the night with the new Romeo’s Lab Playset! Romeo’s lab can really roll like a mobile laboratory on wheels, and opens to reveal a secret lair with two levels of play!
Children can open up the lab to reveal a light and sound control panel, a fully working grabber crane, a shooting laser launcher, and rolling lab charger!
Romeo can use the control panel to plot his mad-scientist schemes and then shoot his laser launcher when the PJ Masks come to stop him!
The playset also comes with one Romeo figure, one Romeo’s Robot figure and three bonus tools (some smaller parts so unsuitable for younger children).
When it’s time to move on to the next villainous adventure, kids can transform the playset back into Romeo’s mobile lab with all the accessories inside and take it with them for mischief on the go!
Our Experience
Erin was super excited when the PJ Masks Romeo’s Lab Playset arrived – you can see in the box all the accessories and play elements straight away, and the control panel can be tested from inside the packaging, meaning that Erin was already pressing buttons and keen to get started!
Probably the biggest challenge of the Romeo’s Lab Playset is getting out of the packaging, particularly when there are impatient little fingers waiting to try and ‘help’! If you are buying this as a present for birthdays or Christmas, you may want to consider unpackaging it and wrapping it already set up just to save a little time. The pieces are all cable tied on to the box, so you will need some scissors or clippers, and whilst there isn’t a great deal of assembly required (just a few pieces to snap into place), you do need a little screwdriver to attach the crane on to the main frame of the lab. This took us a few minutes to do (including madly hunting around the house for a screwdriver), but once it was done, Erin was off, and kept occupied for quite some time!
The Romeo’s Lab Playset is effectively a big camper van / caravan style car on wheels, which Romeo sits in at the front. His feet slot on to the two little buttons on the floor of the seat, and similarly to what we found with the Turbo Blast Racers, Erin sometimes needed a bit of help in putting him in securely, as it can be a little tricky to clip him into place. Once in his drivers seat, Romeo can be rotated in his chair – presumably so that he can be keeping an eye on his surroundings and check whether any of the PJ Masks team are coming to try and stop his adventures!
Romeo’s Lab then opens up to reveal the full laboratory inside – with the light and sound control panel (like a large screen) which plays some sounds and flashes as the control panel advises which of the three PJ Masks characters have been picked up by the labs’ sensors. From an adult point of view, the sounds aren’t particularly loud, so are not offensive or annoying, and each press only plays a sound for a few seconds, so nothing that would become frustrating to listen to whilst your children play.
Inside the lab, there is also three small tools, (which can be stashed neatly away in a storage tray), a laser launcher (which when pressed fires out a piece of red plastic which can be used to knock down approaching PJ Masks characters), and a mobile charger, a device which Romeo can stand on and move around.
Erin found the laser launcher absolutely hilarious, attempting to knock over Romeo by firing the laser at him. Most of the time she missed by a fairly significant milestone, but it amused her none the less!
The crane is a little bit like a grabber you would see in a fairground arcade, with a big claw that can be operated using a button on the crane. It is fully poseable, so can be rotated and lowered in order to try and capture passing vehicles. It is important to note here that Romeo’s Lab doesn’t come with a car included (these are available to purchase separately), but the grabber can be used to pick up essentially anything, so you won’t be limited to only using PJ Masks toys.
Erin loved transforming the lab from its mobile state to the full playset and I watched her acting out a number of secret missions, pretending to be Romeo and talking through his evil plans! The set is great for encouraging imagination and creativity and Erin really enjoyed moving Romeo around his lab and acting out pretend scenes with the characters.
Overall, for any PJ Masks fan, or even for those who haven’t watched the series before, this is a fun and engaging playset with lots of interactive play elements that will keep children occupied and help them bring their imaginations to life. With various different bits to play with, this (in theory!) is also a fun set for siblings or friends to share, creating adventures together. For children who have other PJ Masks toys, Romeo’s Lab is a great extension to their play, and offers the opportunity to really increase the variety of their set.
Pros:
A fun set with lots of accessories and interactive elements.
All the accessories can be safely stored inside the Lab when not being played with, which is a real positive from my point of view, as it prevents parts being lost, discarded or mixed up with others toys.
Romeo and Robot characters are included.
Fun sounds and lights with familiar dialogue from the series.
Easy to alternate between mobile lab and folded out playset.
Cons:
Is compatible with the PJ Masks Turbo Racer vehicles however as your child is likely to want one of those to go with it (particularly as they are featured on the advert) the cost can soon add up! At £49.99, Romeo’s Lab already has quite a realtively high RRP.
The packaging can take a while to remove, and there is a small amount of assembly required.
Watch and Win!
To celebrate the launch of Romeos’ Lab we have a fab PJ Masks prize to giveaway! One lucky winner will get their hands on a PJ Masks Collectible Figures 5 pack, with all of their favourite PJ Masks characters, perfect for playtime and bringing their missions to life! To enter, simply watch the video below, then use gleam to enter, answering a question about what you have seen in the clip!
*Disclosure – I was sent a PJ Masks Romeo’s Lab free of charge and compensated for me time in return for an honest review. As always, my thoughts and opinions are my own*
I have written before about my love of traditional toys from the 80s. As a child, I absolutely loved nothing more than to play with my Sylvanian Families, and now, 30 odd years on, there is something incredibly rewarding about watching Erin play with the same toys that I did as a child. I spent many an afternoon using my imagination to create little woodland scenes with all my favourite characters, and now, I sit nearby with a huge smile on my face as Erin does exactly the same, particularly with her Starry Point Lighthouse, which she absolutely loves. There is something truly magical about Sylvanian Families that has an almost magnetic appeal – the little flocked characters, the adorable furniture and accessory sets – the opportunities for play are endless.
When I heard at The Toy Fair that Sylvanian Families were bringing out a brand new range in 2018, their largest product launch for 30 years, we were pretty damn excited!
The Sylvanian Families Town range features 25 new products, and creates a more urban destination for the woodland characters to visit on a day out away from the countryside. With set including a Grand Department Store, the Creamy Gelato Shop, a Designer Studio and the Delicious Restaurant, there really are some fantastic new sets to explore. There is even a red and gold Ride Along Tram to help the characters explore their new surroundings in style!
We were sent the Delicious Restaurant to review with Erin, and this is what we thought!
The Product
The Delicious Restaurant serves the finest food in town with it’s very own in house chef (outfit included, character sold separately). Set the fences, aisle, staircase, and awnings as you like, to make your very own restaurant. The set includes everything you need: a kitchen unit, kitchenware, table and chairs, wagon, tableware, and even a chef’s outfit. The gorgeous three-layered cake is perfect for parties. You can create your own townscape by combining this product with other buildings in the Town series, such as the Grand Department Store, Designer Studio, and Creamy Gelato Shop. You can also customise your building by replacing the windows, fences, and awnings included with the building (all sold separately).
The Delicious Restaurant is available from many high street and online retailers including Amazon and retails at £49.99.
Our Experience
As with most of the Sylvanian Families accommodation, there is a little bit of assembly required when you first unpack the Delicious Restaurant from it’s box, however Erin finds this part very exciting, and was able to help me remove all the items from their cellophane packets. The assembly is very straight forward, as most of the items simply click into place, including adding the canopies to the windows, and the railings around the roof line. There are a few stickers to apply, including the Restaurant name sign at the very top of the building. This part can be a bit fiddly (and hard to get the sticker perfectly straight) so most children may want a grown up to help with this bit. The cutlery and smaller pieces also need to be twisted out of their packaging, which I found strangely satisfying! 🙂
I absolutely love the turquoise green colour of the Delicious restaurant. The set comes complete with a little chef’s outfit, and although a character isn’t included in the set, the outfit will fit most of the characters in the range (and has room for a little tail to poke through), We already had some characters from a previous set, so Erin quickly got to work in getting our Daddy Mouse dressed in his new clothes!
There is a wide range of accessories included in the Declicious Restaurant set, including saucepans, a cooker, a cake stand, tables and chairs, and lots of knives, forks, plates and saucers. Erin immediately set to work in creating a little restaurant scene, laying out the table and the menu stand, and sitting her characters down as if they were having a good old natter whilst enjoying some lovely tea!
The three tier birthday cake included in the set is very sweet, and Erin enjoyed pretending that our Rabbit was celebrating her special day. There was lots of singing (loudly and slightly out of tune), and many attempts at making mouse carry the cake (unsuccessfully) – it was very cute to watch! 🙂
The upstairs of the restaurant is where all the magic happens, and our mouse chef was very very busy in his kitchen, rustling up some delicious food for his guests. The kitchen is very well equipped, with spatulas and ladles as well as a large saucepan and frying pan, all of which can be hung up on the wall when not in use. This part was a bit fiddly and I am not going to lie there was lots of frustrated “Arghhhhs” from both of us as we knocked a glass off when trying to put one of the others away. It appears to be easier the smaller your hands are but the odd knock or nudge of the house can quite easily knock them down.
As some of the pieces are quite small, I felt it would have been nice if the cooking area had some kind of drawer or cupboard where they could be stashed away safely when not in use. With a younger sibling who is DESPERATE to get her hands on the set, we have had to use a little sealed Tupperware pot instead, as we do not want to risk them getting lost or picked up by a younger child.
The layout of the Delicious Restaurant can be rearranged depending on your preference, with the additional floor being moved up to the ceiling so that guests can eat on the roof if they prefer, presumably when the weather is pleasant or they want to get a better view across the Town.
Erin enjoyed walking her waitress up the spiral staircase to keep an eye on her chef (she is a bit of a demanding host!), and would regularly go between the kitchen and to check back on her guests.
Overall, this is a really beautiful set, with its colours and tiny details making it a little different to other Sylvanian Families sets we have owned in the past. There are lots of elements to help Erin bring her imagination to life, and I am confident she will get hours of quality play with the Delicious Restaurant. The only down side is that she now wants more elements of the Town to add to her collection, so I think we know what’s going to be on the birthday list this summer!!
Pros:
The quality and attention to detail you would expect from traditional Sylvanian Families sets.
Beautiful colour and aesthetically pleasing – a little different from the original brown/woodland sets.
Lots of accessories included in the set, and endless opportunities for role play and creativity.
Set can be linked up with other sets in the Sylvanian Families Town Range.
Can be rearranged in terms of layout depending on the child’s preferences.
Easy to set up and fit together.
Cons:
Some of the pieces included with this set are tiny – in particular, the cutlery and kitchen accessories such as glasses and plates. It would have been nice if the set had come with some kind of drawer or box that these smaller items could have been stored in when not being played with, as obviously there is a small risk of them getting lost.
Some of the display elements of the Delicious Restaurant can be a bit fiddly for small hands – the glasses rack is very hard to put the wine glasses onto without knocking them off as you do so, and even I as a 35 year old adult found this a little tricky.
As with many of the Sylvanian Families sets, the Delicious Restaurant doesn’t come with any characters included, although it does have the chefs outfit which will fit characters you already own. For the price, I would have liked to have seen a rabbit or something included in the box which would make it more of a ready to go set.
You can learn more about the Delicious Restaurant and the full range of Sylvanian Families Town series on their website here.
*We were sent a Delicious Restaurant free of charge for the purpose of this review, however as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Erin is a big fan of the Peter Rabbit series, and as someone who grew up reading the original books back in the 80s, it is really lovely to see the characters come to life on the screen, both in the TV series and now the long awaited big screen. When we heard there was going to be a full movie coming to the cinemas this Spring, Erin could not wait, and I found the prospect of James Corden voicing the character we both know and love quite amusing! 🙂
We were recently sent one of the toys that has been launched to accompany the release of the new movie- the Talking Peter Rabbit plush from Rainbow Designs.
Here’s what we thought.
The Product
The Peter Rabbit Talking Plush is a Super soft toy which comes in his very own presentation box and is around 31cm high. He is styled on the character from the Peter Rabbit movie and the packaging features stills from the movie. He retails at £17.99
Peter is wearing his classic blue waistcoat with gold buttons (attached) so will be instantly familiar to any Peter Rabbit fan, and stays loyal to the original illustrations from the Beatrix Potter stories I read as a child.
Peter has a subtle but friendly smile on his face, and on squeezing his tummy, he lets out one of five different phrases from the movie including:
More radishes and carrots please!
Hey, you got this!
We will feast tonight!
Has anyone seen Mr McGreggor?
Hello, I’m Peter Rabbit!
Suitable from birth, this adorable plush features the voice of James Corden, which as an adult who is familiar with his real life persona is a little unnerving if not slightly amusing. To the girls obviously they are completely oblivious, and simply hear Peter talking back at them!
The Peter Rabbit talking plush even has an adorable little white tail on the back!
I expected Erin to love it Peter Rabbit, but I hadn’t expected Neve to love him even more!!! Neve quite literally hasn’t put it down since he arrived, and keeps walking round the house squeezing him and laughing!! 🙂
Overall I think the Peter Rabbit Talking Plush is a great toy to accompany the series, and I am confident this would be a hit with any Peter Rabbit fan.
Want to win your own? We have a Talking Peter Rabbit toy to give away to one lucky reader, to enter use the gleam app below. Good luck!
Giveaway opens 21/3/18 and closes on the 11.59pm on 08/04/2018. UK Entries only. Our standard giveaway terms and conditions apply. By entering this competition you are deemed to have accepted these terms.
*Disclosure – We were sent a Talking Peter Rabbit toy free of charge for the purpose of this review, as well as giveaway prize for our readers. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
As a Mum there is no nicer feeling than watching your own child play with toys that are as popular today as they were during your own childhood. I grew up in the 1980’s and Sylvanian Families were on my wishlist just as much as they are now on Erin’s. I have fond memories of acting out scenes with these beloved woodland creatures, taking them on adventures in their beautiful family homes, getting them dressed in their little outfits, rearranging furniture and using my ever increasing imagination to create little stories in the comfort of my bedroom. I used to walk down the Slyvanian Families aisle at Toys R Us and stare in awe at the made up villages in front of me on the shelves. I wanted to take them all home with me, feeling sad that they might get lonely left on the shelves, and Santa saw many a request for a rabbit family or two.
We were recently asked if we wanted to review one of the existing items in the Sylvanian Families range, and when I asked Erin she knew exactly which one was on the top of her wishlist. The Starry Point Lighthouse – we had seen the adverts on TV that showcased a built in light projector, and it wasn’t hard to see the appeal.
About the Product
The Sylvanian Families Starry Point Lighthouse is a Lighthouse and Lodge house combined, and is compatible with other popular Sylvanian Family sets including Beachwood Hall. The adorable house comes with a variety of furniture in the box, including a curved kitchen, sofa chair, whale shaped table, hot air balloon, and a hanging bed in the shape of a pirate ship!
Not only is the set a fantastic way for children to bring their imagination to life, the lighthouse features a projector – with three different slides to project beautiful images of the night sky onto your child’s bedroom ceiling.
Our Experience
As with many of the Sylvanian Family sets, there is a little assembly work required before play, however this was very straight forward, and did not take long for myself and Erin to open up the little bags and put everything together. Most of the pieces simply slot or click into place, with the upper floor simply sliding into place, and the stickers needed adding – in this case over the door frame and on the bedroom ceiling. The trickiest part was adding the string to the boat bed and hot air balloon, as there was a bit of an art to getting them to hang perfectly straight, so Mummy had to do this bit. With a couple of attempts I got there in the end! 🙂
It’s important to note here that no characters come included with the Starry Point Lighthouse, however we were sent a Rabbit Family to accompany the review, and Erin has a few characters already from her existing collection, including the baby bunny which is her absolute favourite.
As with most Sylvanian Families sets, the Starry Point Lighthouse can be played with from the front and back, with an open upper window and working front door for characters to enter and leave. The is a detachable front ‘terrace’ area which can be moved around as the child wishes. Erin happily moved around the Lighthouse from front to back as she acted our little scenes with her rabbit family.
Erin loved the furniture included with the Starry Point Lighthouse, and I loved the fact that there was a good variety of products included, which means you don’t need many additional items to make a really extensive playset. The curved kitchen fitted perfectly into the curve of the lighthouse walls and in Erin’s modern household, she enjoyed helping Daddy Rabbit whip up a storm in the kitchen before he washed the dishes in the shell shaped sink whilst Mummy Rabbit had a snooze on the pirate ship bed. I like her style. 😉
The upper floor of Starry Point Lighthouse can be removed as your child plays, to either split the house into an upper and lower floor or have one large open plan space. The hot air balloon was a lovely feature, with Erin’s favourite Baby Rabbit having the perfect sized bottom to take a comfy seat and hang contently over the world below.
The other furniture included the hanging pirate ship bed – which can hang at two different points in the house – either from the roof (with the upstairs floor removed) or under the ceiling of the upper floor. There are small hooks to thread the string onto which can be a little bit tricky so younger children may need assistance. Once hooked into place, Erin enjoyed rocking her to sleep, which did on occasion result in her being catapulted over the roof! Good job Mr Rabbit hasn’t had a visit from the H&S Executive. 🙂
One of the main desires Erin had in relation to the Starry Point Lighthouse was the included light projector, and she couldn’t wait to see it in action. The set comes with three slides included, each with their own starry scene. Simply slot them in, remove the top of the lighthouse and switch the switch to the on position to see lights projected on to the ceiling. We found that these worked better when the house was somewhere up high or closer to the ceiling as you got a stronger effect, however further away the projection covered a wider area of the ceiling (which is very challenging to photograph!)
Of the three different starry night options, the fireworks one above was Erin’s favourite, but the set also included a starry constellation (above) and a moon with a hot air balloon passing across it. The slides were very easy to swap over as and when required, and Erin could do this unassisted.
Other more subtle parts of the Starry Point Lighthouse included the moveable (rotating) seashell steps which the Rabbit Family could climb to get to the upper floor, or to stand on the balcony of the lighthouse and play lookout.
After all his hard work in the kitchen, Erin thought Daddy Rabbit deserved a bit of chill out time, so he headed off for a rest on his sofa 🙂
I absolutely loved watching Erin’s imagination come to life. She really enjoyed pretending the Rabbit Family were welcoming guests, walking them in through the front door and then giving them a bit of a guided tour around the house (maybe she’s going to be an estate agent?)
Mummy Rabbit also seemed to spend a lot of her day peeping through windows which lead me to believe that she is either
a) a bit of a nosey housewife
b) fearing an unwelcome visitor or
c) trying to keep up with the Cat Family next door.
Quite often Erin would forget I was watching, and would get into full on conversations between her characters, before peeping over the roof and letting out an embarrassed smile when I beamed back at her. I used to do the EXACT same thing, and it is literally like history repeating itself.
Overall, as expected the Sylvanian Families Starry Point Lighthouse was a huge hit with Erin. There really is something special about these little woodland creatures with their soft flocking making them a welcome difference from a regular plastic toy. In terms of imagination building, story creation and role play, for me there is no greater range than the Slyvanian Families. It is easy to see why they are celebrating their 30th birthday this year, and we a super excited to be reviewing items from their brand new Town range very soon.
Pros
Fantastic sets for bringing children’s imagination to life. I love nothing more than to watch Erin play contently on the carpet, creating the voices of the characters and acting out little scenes. Her teacher from school even made an appearance lol 🙂
Well made, very easy to assemble and sturdy.
Despite no characters being included, the set comes with a fair amount of furniture and accessories, meaning only a small additional investment is required to make quite a substantial set to play with.
The projector is a real added bonus, and I love the fact that children can chose their favourite starry night scene from a choice of three.
Cons
My only real con would be that the stickers do tend to peel off quite easily, particularly the ones on the inside roof of the house. As such, we do need to keep pressing these back in place, and could end up with us having to remove them altogether, however this would not have a major impact on the desirability of the product.
Some parts on this particular set are a little fiddly, in particular the hot air balloon and the hanging bed. As such, you can expect to be asked for help on occasion as children move the accessories around, not a major issue, just something to be aware of! 🙂
The Sylvanian Family Starry Point Lighthouse is available to purchase on Amazon here.
*Disclosure – we were sent the Sylvanian Family Starry Point Lighthouse free of charge for the purpose of this review, however as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links*
Erin is a huge Shopkins fan, and has been for quite some time. There is something strangely addictive about those small collectible plastic toys that makes Erin go a little bit giddy inside. Having collected a fairly extensive range of food and household items during the last few years, her obsession doesn’t appear to be coming to an end any time soon.
When we heard that there was a new Shopkins app coming out, we were pretty confident that Erin would love it, and were keen to put it through it’s paces!
About The App
Moose Enterprises and Kuato Studios have recently announced the first official game for the hugely successful Shopkins Happy Places brand.
The app is called Happy Places and is aimed at children 5 years and above, and helps encourage creativity, habit building, collection and story telling. It is completely free of charge to download in the App Store (it’s not currently available on Android) but In App Purchases are available. For peace of mind, any In App Purchases need to be approved by an adult, so there is no risk of your child going on a shopping spree when your back is turned.
The Shopkins Happy Places app is set in a fictional town called Happyville. The game begins on the day that Lil’ Shoppie Jessicake moves into her new home. She is a cool looking character with a pink outfit and blue hair. Erin particularly loved her Sweet Dreams Eye mask, having got one similar in her bedroom! 🙂
Once Jessicake has moved in and her first parcel has been opened, children can help decorate the house with furniture and accessories (known as petkins) from a number of different themes, arranging them as they wish by dragging them around the house and between the higher and lower floors. Erin found this really easy to do, simply by moving her finger across the screen. I personally wish you could change the direction in which the petkins face, but perhaps I am being a little OCD – it didn’t seem to concern Erin at all!
As the Lil’ Shoppie moves around her house, children can see what she is thinking by a little thought bubble which appears by her head. This will advise whether she wants to sleep (and therefore may want to go to bed), whether she may want to apply some make up (she’s a keen lipstick fan!) or whether she fancies having a bit of a dance to some music.
By following her thoughts, the game recommends actions for the children to complete. Each complete task earns you a Happy Places Voucher and once you have 25, you can trade these in to claim a new delivery – at which point a special Shopkins van arrives with a surprise box inside!
Erin got really excited when the new boxes needed opening, as in the same way as the traditional shopkins, the items inside can be common, rare or ultra rare. She has managed to find a few super rare items so far, and got herself ever so excited when the words appeared on screen! She also managed to blend the word Ultra on screen all by herself (so another added bonus!)
As well as following the Lil’ Shoppie’s thoughts, you are also set occasional House Goal challenges which involve slightly more complex tasks and number of tasks to complete in a specified sequence to earn a specified prize – this could be cooking a particular meal or setting up a room for a particular event like a party or gathering.
As the child plays, the app’s unique TalesMaker technology records key moments from the play session and then presents these to the child as a record of their day. Older children (Erin is perhaps a little young for this part) can then explore putting the images from their day into a sequence and add their own words to create their very own Shopkins story / comic, which can be saved and shared with their friends.
As game play progresses, children can also earn more Petkins, Happy Places and Lil’ Shoppies, allowing them to build out a whole HappyVille town with different homes for different characters.
The game offers in-app purchases, accessible only via a PIN-code (your year of birth, so not something that a young child would know!), which can be used to try and find some of the more elusive petkins or to try and avoid duplicates (the other box deliveries are allocated at random). As a parent, I loved the fact that the in app purchases aren’t as essential part of game play, and were more of an enhancement. We did treat Erin to a couple of additional boxes at £1.99 each, and she did get a few rares as a result.
The Grown Up’s Corner is also a great feature. It’s the kind of game that has the potential to emmerse Erin for hours given the opportunity, so the limits you can set on game play are a real benefit. By popping into the settings before passing the game over to your child, you can limit gameplay to 10, 20, or 30 minutes, after which the game will be locked for a period of 1 hour. The only way of the child getting back in the app then is if the parent approves it. If you prefer to leave play open ended (handy for long car journeys!) you can however leave as unlimited, The music and sound effects are relatively non offensive but can be turned off or the volume reduced if required.
By logging in daily, children also get a daily reward, which pops up immediately as you open the app.
Overall the app has unsurprisingly been a big hit. The fact that it retains the collectible element of the traditional toys is a real positive, as it is really gets Erin excited to discover what surprise is next in store. She was able to play without assistance, although did like to show me which petkins she had received on a fairly regular basis! The game play is straightforward and calm, with no long winded instructions required and is free to download. I can imagine the app will continue to be a hit going forward, as Erin is now keen to add even more Lil’ Shoppies to her collection!
You can download the Shopkins Happy Places app here in the App Store. To learn more about the app and see some of the gameplay in action check out the video below! Shopkins Happy Places is just one of a number of apps available by the award winning Kuato Studios.
*Disclosure – We were given a number of in app purchases on Shopkins Happy Places free of charge and compensated for our time in writing this review, however, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Those of you who read the blog regularly will know that we are very much a pro tech family. I have no issue at all with Erin using tablets and technology, as feel they have become a huge part of modern society, and a fun way of providing educational play (as well as entertainment and leisure). Whilst we try and have lots of screen-free time too (including listening to yoto cards and toniebox characters). I do allow the girls to play on their iPads too.
We bought Erin a Kindle Fire HD last Christmas but to be honest, she didn’t really bond with an android device. After growing up watching her Mum and Dad with their iphones, she is definitely firmly in the Apple camp, and if she can’t swipe to navigate, she quite frankly doesn’t want to know!!
Whilst I have no issue with her using the iPad, I quite rightly worry about trusting a threenager with such an expensive piece of kit. To counter-act this concern, we were recently sent a Tech 21 iPad Case to trial, and to date, we have been really impressed.
About the Product
The Tech 21 Evo Play Case offers unbeatable drop protection, giving your child freedom to enjoy the iPad whilst knowing it is completely protected. The Evo Play is available to fit both the iPad Mini and iPad Air 2.
The case is dishwasher safe, protects the product from drops of up to 6.6 feet and has 3 adjustable viewing positions.
The Tech 21 iPad Case is currently available in two colours – Pink (with purple) or Blue (with green). Prices start at £39.95.
Our Experience of the Tech 21 iPad Case
I was really impressed with the Tech 21 Evo Play at first sight. The Flex Shock Foam is really soft to the touch, and the design was very bright and appealing. We had the pink version, which comes with a purple handle.
The case was very easy to put on – the iPad simply slots inside and the casing seals around it, leaving the camera, charge point and volume buttons all still fully accessible.
The Tech 21 iPad Case is quite thick, so does make the iPad bulkier than I was previously used to, but perfect for when Erin is playing with it, which to be honest is a lot more often than me!
The Evo Play provides protection from drops of up to 6.6 ft! Obviously we’ve not fully tested this (I’m not that brave!), however Erin has accidently dropped it from table height with no damage whatsoever. Due to the rounded lip of the case, the screen doesn’t actually make contact with the floor even if it lands face down.
It is also wipe clean and dishwasher friendly, which is great if Erin covers it in yoghurt smeared fingers, which is a fairly common occurrence.
We used the ‘official’ Apple leather cases before, which are clearly more targeted at the adult user and if I am honest, I much prefer this! The Apple leather case clips on via a magnetic strip, however I found that it falls off all the time, and actually only protects the iPad when it is not being used, rather than against accidental damage whilst it is being played with. In comparison, the Tech 21 iPad case protects your device both during storage, and whilst in use.
At £39.95, the Tech 21 iPad case isn’t cheap, although my other half actually felt that was a very good price compared to other cases on the market. When compared to the cost of the device itself and offset against how much insurance would cost, I think this is very reasonable given the peace of mind it offers.
Erin had previously been known to ask her Dad to hold the iPad whilst she watches it (yes really!) and therefore this is great that she can set it up somewhere herself such as on the arm of the chair or table. This stops her arms from getting tired (its a hard life being three!) and leaves both hands free to navigate around all the surprise egg videos on YouTube. (*cringe*). She is able to pick the viewing angle using the purple handle herself, without requiring adult assistance.
The Tech 21 Evo Play is also light enough for Erin to pick up the iPad and carry it around with her.
Pros:
Attractive design
3 different viewing angles, which are easy to alternate between.
Dishwasher safe and wipe clean
Protected from accidental damage, which offers great peace of mind.
Lightweight
Good value for money
Unlike official apple cases, protects device when in use as well as in storage.
Cons:
The Tech 21 Evo Play does make the iPad a little bulkier when I am wanting to use for a quick hold and safari search, however this is minor, and is offset by the peace of mind I have in exchange.
Overall, we were really impressed with the Tech 21 Evo Play and will continue to use going forward. You can learn more about the product and purchase here.
*Disclosure – We were sent a sample Tech 21 iPad Case free of charge for the purpose of this review, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
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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