Coming soon to reviews...​
​Educational and games:​​​
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Phoenix Magazine
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Kiwi Co.
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Whizz Pop Bang Magazine
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RBL Mission Adventure
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Twinkle Ultimate
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Curiosity Box
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Tech Will Save Us
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CGP Workbooks
- MEL Science kits
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Code Bug
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Skylanders game
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Disney Infinity game
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Ticktock I Love Reading Phonics book set levels 1-3
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DK Everything I need to know for school book collection.
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YPO Domino Cards
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Brain Box games
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The Night Zookeeper
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Education.com
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Doodle series of apps
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Baby Bus apps
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Purple Mash
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Horrible Science books
​Pet and garden products:
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Rosewood boredom breakers
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Pillow Wad Maxi Hay & Straw
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Kaytee Clean & Cozy bedding
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Rosewood Naturals Treats
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Supreme Science Selective Timothy Hay
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Resch No32 Rodent Corner XL
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Little friends rabbit cage
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Diatomaceous Earth
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Real Seeds products
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Polytunnel
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Solar lighting
Tech, toiletries and household:
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Tetratab Casebook 3
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Tesco Hudl 2
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Pit Putty natural deodorant
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Boubaloo Ayurvedic Soapnut Shampoo Bar
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Cloth nappies and accessories
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Avon products
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Gro - Grolight 2-in-1 night light
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Kilner jars and equipment
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Outdoor clothing.
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Collins Workbooks
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Simply Piano app
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Geo Journey
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Elephant learning
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Dungeons and dragons essentials kit
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GaleForce Nine Monster cards
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The British Museum Around the world colouring book
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Scentos Activity box set
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Crayola colour wonder books
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Children's headphones
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Acrylic Paint marker pens
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Melissa & Doug My first daily magnetic calendar
Campervan & camping kit:
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Teltonika RUT955 Dual SIM 4G Router with WIFI I/O & GPS
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Solar panels
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Pure Sinewave Inverter
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Camper electrics
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Canvas bell tent pros and cons
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Woodgas stove
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Outbacker style portable stove
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Lifesaver bottle
I thought I'd start with this little gem as it is one of our children's favourites!
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The Kiwi Crate is a monthly subscription box from Kiwi Co. that goes above and beyond the usual kids educational subscriptions out there.
​We've tried a lot of subscriptions and educational kits over the years, some have been great fun and fantastic value, others haven't been worth the cost or are so unoriginal we've already done the activities and it's been a little boring
thought out but also beautiful to look through with awesome quality photos, illustrations and professional finish to every page. If you are looking to get only one subscription box I would highly recommend the Kiwi Co Atlas Crate or one of the other Kiwi Co boxes, I honestly believe the Kiwi Co. Crates have the best quality and value for money of all the subscription boxes we have tried!
for the kids.
The Kiwi Crates are different, with the Atlas Crate you start with a large world map and the first craft is a globe with stick on countries and a heart to place over the area you reside.
You also get an Adventure Journal so each month when you explore a new country and culture you can add the laminated information pages to it and build up a fantastic collection on various continents, countries, cultures, recipes and popular tourist spots.
You get a craft project related to that country - such as a pizzeria automaton or a storage
box with a model of St Basil's Cathedral on top, - a traditional recipe and a traditional game to make and play!
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The geographical, historical and cultural information you get in the Atlas Crate is not only original and well
Kiwi Co Kiwi Crate review.
I thought I'd put our other Kiwi Crate second as it is another of our children's favourites!
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The Kiwi Crate is a monthly subscription box from Kiwi Co. that goes above and beyond the usual kids educational subscriptions out there.
We've tried a lot of subscriptions and educational kits over the years, some have been great fun and fantastic value, others haven't been worth the cost or are so unoriginal we've already done the activities and it's been a little boring for the kids.
The Kiwi Crates are different, each month you get two craft kits with additional ideas on ways to us them, easy to use step-by-step instructions with child friendly diagrams and a paper magazine with even more ideas, recipes and crafts.
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The magazine explains the science behind the crafts and box theme in a fun comic with the cute Kiwi characters, using bite-sized facts and giving step-by-step instructions for new themed crafts. The magazine also has fun activities in such as puzzles and recipes along with links to more Kiwi activities on their website and suggestions for kids' books if you'd like to do further reading!
The crafts in the Kiwi Crates are not your usual glitter and finger-paints type crafts, they are usually a mix of wood, card, plastic, perspex and solid foam type parts which makes the creations durable and means they look pretty professional when put together too! Not that I'm saying my little darlings' crafts are a mess of course... but these look as though you've bought them and your little ones have added their own little creative touches.
My personal favourite is a push operated mechanical sweeper that helps them sweep up their Lego - for obvious reasons. They love the pneumatic rocket launcher and goggles that flip your vision making everything appear upside-down; I must admit all the crafts are great fun and fantastic quality.
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The only downside is the fact it is shipped from California America so quite a distance if you like keeping your carbon footprint low and the rewards program is only available to US citizens. Despite that the Kiwi Co. Kiwi Crate is amazing value for money, an awesome subscription box for S.T.E.A.M. and just great for general creativity!
Geo Journey review.
What first attracted me to the Geo Journey was the awesome suitcase in the starter pack. When we received the starter pack we received a book bag, travel journal and passport. Every month a new pack is delivered containing a fact card, photos, stickers, ticket, an activity booklet, a letter from Geo and Atlas, a souvenir and sometimes a craft activity. You collect a country stamp sticker to put in your passport book for every country Geo and Atlas explore and a photo from that region to put in your travel journal. The letters have changed recently from quite plain to more decorated versions and the souvenirs have got larger too. So far we have received a small bust of a Pharaoh, a scooter fridge magnet, an American flag, a Eiffel tower key-ring, a floral Japanese fan and a pair of little wooden clogs.
The quality of the suitcase and bag is top notch and the items that arrived every month are very well made too. There isn't as much information on each country as I would like but they are a fun way to start off learning!
The Phoenix magazine review.
We thought we'd try out the Phoenix magazine after seeing adverts for them on Facebook and we were pleasantly surprised! This magazine is kind of quirky and has a wide variety of comics inside, some change - like the adventures of Gorebrah the mightiest chef in the universe - and others are regulars - like I hate Pixies and Looshkin. We particularly enjoyed the 'Corpse Talk' series where a famous deceased person such as Charles Dickens would be interviewed on parts of their life and work!
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The comics vary in length but are all in relatively bite-size chunks. The only criticism we have is that sometimes the story plots are a little random and vague which can leave our kids a tad underwhelmed and unsatisfied but of course those are just my children's opinions and others may absolutely love them all!
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All the Phoenix editions we have received so far have been 31 pages long and contained 6 comics along with various other pages such as 'The Big News' which gives insights and sneak peaks into Phoenix related content, 'Rob Deas' Rough Guide To Comics' which gives tips to comic creation, fan pages with readers contributions, competitions, puzzles, a book club page and various other gems.
I suppose there is no gentle way of saying this but Phoenix isn't our favourite of the all the magazine subscriptions we have tried but we certainly must give them credit for their various unique comic series, diverse characters and wonderful illustrations along with the fabulous 'Corpse Talk' which is very educational and great advice from professionals such Rob Deas all bundled into a value subscription magazine ideal for primary aged kids.
Tech Will Save Us Electro Dough Kit review.
If your kids are learning about electronics, electricity or just love being creative then this is a great kit for them. The Electro dough kit comes with a buzzer, 20 light emitting diodes, 10 wires of various length, 6 crocodile clip wires, 2 tilt switches, 1 battery pack (batteries not included) and 3 shaped dough cutters. We bought the pre-made electro-dough to go with it as it doesn't include the dough in the kit but instead a recipe on how to make it yourself (check out various dough recipes on the Ideas page!) or suggests using your own favourite dough brands.
I personally have a couple of criticisms, the LEDs included aren't the brightest (I'm presuming it is due to the low current through the dough) and the buzzer is brash but they both do the job. The kit itself has endless opportunities especially with Tech Will Save Us's 'Club Make' which is packed with fun projects to try out.
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If you aren't planning on making your own you can buy Tech Will Save Us's pre-made dough, but be warned you don't get a great amount for the price so it's cheaper buying Playdoh or an alternative dough.
In conclusion the Electro Dough Kit from Tech Will Save Us is a great bit of kit for beginners learning about circuits and electricity, they have a lot of various kits for more experienced or older children but also a great range of other kits.
Whizz Pop Bang magazine review.
First thing's first... we absolutely LOVE these magazines! We don't get any rewards or money for writing this review but it does give us a good feeling being able to tell others about which products are worth spending their hard-earned cash on.
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The Whizz Pop Bang magazines can be bought in collections or via subscription, or both! We decided to get the subscription and buy the human body science collection too. These magazines are well put together with 35 pages of amazing facts and topics explained in a way little minds can comprehend. We especially loved the playground science edition with the cut out zoetrope and make your own mini playground project, it was a physics in action extravaganza!!
The pages contain interactive activities and crafts such as brain teasers cut out crafts, projects, quizzes and experiments to do at home. They really are ideal for home educators due to the way they cover topics in great depth while still keeping the information in bite-size chunks.
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Another thing we particularly like about Whizz Pop Bang is it's inclusivity, the character's ethnicities are well balanced which I believe is not only important for representation but also for raising children with a healthy outlook on the world. We definitely recommend these fabulous magazines!
WITM
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