Raising Mighty Girls

I an very pleased to welcome Karen from the blog Raising Mighty Girls, with a guest post today. Karen feels like I do about children's toys; they are for everyone, and whether your boy wants to play with a doll in a pushchair, or your girl asks Santa for an army tank, they should be allowed to play without labels or judgement. So, over to Karen.

Raising my mighty girls means creating play opportunities which encourage interaction with ALL sorts of toys.  With no boys in our house, this means that I need to be proactive about creating these experiences. I believe that doing this creates a balanced choice for them. 

It's up to me to provide the 'balance'.  After that, it's their decision about what they prefer to play with.  It doesn’t really matter to me whether it’s a pink baby doll or a blue monster truck. The important thing is that they're having fun!  And hopefully learning something useful in the process!

Give my youngest daughter a doll and she’ll love it.  Give her a sword and she’ll love it too. She just wants to play with ‘fun’ toys. 

#LetToysBeToys

I don’t vote against ‘pink’.  I don't vote for 'blue'.

I vote for ‘balance’.

A balanced ‘play experience’.

 Does it annoy me when we walk into a toy store and are forced to choose between walking down the ‘pink road’ or the ‘blue road’?  Hell yes! 

But it has to be said that most of the major toy stores are beginning to listen to consumers and groups like #LetToysBeToys and are making noticeable changes to the way products are manufactured, marketed and displayed. I could talk all day about gender marketing of toys.  But that's a post for another day.

Anyways, the youngest has adored Jake and The Neverland Pirates since last Autumn, so she received the Pirate Ship with Jake, Izzie and Cubby for her birthday. And Santa brought a few other items in his sack at Christmas.  Finally at the end of June, she emptied her money box and bought Skull Island.

#RaisingMightyGirls - Really?  

Yes, this blog IS about raising girls to be mighty!  So before, you get confused about why I would encourage play where the 'boy' is the leader, remember I encourage play with a balance of toys. 

Today, we had friends round to play and she insisted on being Jake and leaving Izzy for the little boy.  She doesn’t see the  characters as boys and girls.  She sees it as ‘Jake is the dude, the leader, the most fun. And I want to be him!'

The youngest Gribbon Girl doesn't see Jake as a 'boy', she seems him as the 'leader'.  I love that she's aspiring to be the leader. 

 I love this toy brand – it promotes creativity, imagination, friendship, sharing with others, problem solving and mathematics (perfect for the current drive to encourage girls into STEM areas),

But it's not perfect.  Definitely not.  Can you recommend one that is? Let me know.  I'd love to check it out.

Do you know how to 'Talk Like A Pirate'?

Just for a laugh...

Check out this link - How To Talk Like A Pirate - we had such a giggle with it!

 Live Long and Prosper Buckos!

Karen x

Stink Bugz- The Ideal Birthday Present for the Kid of Someone You Hate.

I'm going to totally contradict my usual 'toys are for both genders' line here and say these Stink Bugz simply MUST be a boys' thing. The line, 'slugs & snails & puppy dog tails' comes to mind. The little jarred, plastic beasties are infused with their own unique, minging scent. They are like the anti-scented-candle-jar.

They come separately in large jars for £4.99 each, or you can get a pack of parasites for £9.99 Open the jar to release the smell, and squeeze the bum to 'shoot' the stink at someone. Our son has been torturing us all day with them. 

 It's tricky to communicate just how awful they smell. The pong doesn't fill the room if you leave the jar open or anything, but if you're being chased round by a six year old squeezing to release the stench, you'll smell it alright. The green one smelt like a rotting seagull, the black one had a marmite tinged poop smell. They are truly disgusting. 

Of course the fact they repulse Mum & Dad so much, makes them a tremendously fun and satisfying toy for a child. Michael LOVES them. He loves practical jokes like whoopie cushions or plastic dog poo, so these are right up his street. If you've a little prankster then you know they'd enjoy these, but you really won't!

With the lids on there is no bad smell, and like I said, if they do accidentally leave the lid off, the smell doesn't fill the room or anything. The only thing I personally liked about the Stink Bugz, apart from being pleased my son enjoyed them so much, was that they do look like comical, fake insect taxidermy in their little jars. Maybe when he's finished chasing Dad puffing clouds of stink at him, he'll allow me to display them with my beasties.

I'm Having a Zelfs Party & You're Invited

Tomorrow afternoon from 2-4pm I'll be holding a Zelfs Twitter party to celebrate the release of their scented collection. Zelfs are akin to the trolls we collected from the 70s, which made a comeback in the 90s, but far cuter, more colourful and cool.

Michael is having friends round for Zelf games, snacks and to try out the new range, noses at the ready! I'll be Tweeting from @rudedoodle and you can follow parties all over the uk with the hashtags #zelicious #Zelfs 

Fancy having your own Zelf party? UK Mums has printables and recipes to get you on your way. 

You can also win the new Bee Sweet Treehouse on their site. 

Realistically, Zelfs are marketed as a girls' toy, but my son has loved them since they first launched last year and already owns a small collection. Tomorrow's party mostly will be girls aged between 3 and 6, but there will be one other boy; I wonder will he prove Zelfs' marketing team wrong too and love his Zelf? I'll let you know.

Aquabeads Not Just For Girls!

Michael, like most kids his age, has been Loom Band crazy the past few months and loves anything creative. We received the Aquabeads Jewel Starter Set a couple of days ago and he's already made dozens of little creations. The packaging is very girl-orientated, but boys and girls alike should love the ease of making little models.

I was pretty pleased with the mess-free element of the beads too. You don't need an iron, or heat, the beads stick together with a small spray of water. After drying for an hour you can lift the beads off and they'll stay stuck together. 

Michael loves them and already has requested I buy him more beads! 

You can connect with Aquabeads on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share your child's creations.

The Chill Factor Jelly Maker- Does It Work?

Remember when we were young, if you wanted jelly you'd have to plan to ask your mum like a week in advance. By the time you bought the jelly, found time to make it, waited for it to set, it was hardly worthwhile. Now there's quick set jelly powders, and even better, ready made jelly pots.

If however you want to make your own jelly, you might want to invest in the £12.99 Chill Factor Jelly Maker this summer. 

We've reviewed the Chill Factor Ice Cream Maker previously, which I was intensely skeptical about, but which works a treat. Yet I was still suspicious of the jelly maker's claims of "jelly in minutes, not hours" as I recalled my own childhood asking, "is it set yet?" every five minutes of my frazzled mum.

We set about making our jelly, following the instructions carefully. You freeze the lower part of the device overnight. It says the freezer is where it 'lives' which makes sense, so it's always ready for making instant jelly. Otherwise the time you wait for it to freeze would be the same as waiting for normal jelly to set!

You make the jelly as the packet instructs and pour into the Chill Factor and start squeezing. The jelly mixture starts to thicken up over 3 - 5 mins. The process definitely needs an adult present, as you'll need the normal boiling water at the beginning. After the squeezing you put the stopper on the top and flip the Chill Factor over. 

You leave the mixture another minute to harden, and unscrew the top, leaving the jelly ready to eat in the lid which doubles as a bowl. 

The process didn't quite work for us, but I think we could have been more enthusiastic with our squeezing, and could have done with continuing for longer than the 3 and a half minutes. We were too eager to see the results.

Instead we put the bowl into the fridge for five minutes and when we came back to look, it had completely set. So if you can't get your jelly firm as you'd like, just pop the bowl into your fridge briefly. It's still a lot quicker than leaving it for five hours to set regularly. 

The Chill Factor Jelly Maker comes in several colours and is £12.99

The Ugglys are a Pack of Rude Dogs!

The Ugglys, a selection of mangy looking puppet pups, are one of those toys parents just don't understand. When we received our's (lovingly nicknamed 'Stinker') I thought it seemed like one of those presents they beg for but only play with for ten minutes and never touch again.

I was wrong. 

Michael hasn't stopped playing with this thing all weekend. It's basically a hand puppet that makes foul noises. Burps, farts, bizarre sound effects  and even a buzzing blue bottle noise. The novelty comes in the form of a little, twiddly knob on the dog's collar, this controls the pitch of the sound effect. 

If there is one suggestion to make the product better, I'd request a volume knob too. 

There are different breeds of Uggly, and they retail at £29.99 A great puppet if your daughter or son loves gross out humour. 

Look What I Spotted in The Big Forest: Limited Edition Care Bears

The Big Forest are released a limited run of five of each of the classic Care Bears for £45 each. 

 The Big Forest Etsy Store has many more creations of all shapes and sizes.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day With a Build-a-Bear Workshop Friend

Yesterday we visited what is listed as my son's favourite place in the world outside of being somewhere like Disneyland- we went to Build-a-Bear Workshop, Belfast Branch. Sadly we missed out on sharing their Valentine's themed collection this year, but we made the trip to catch the St. Patrick's Day bear.

We also had the chance to make a My Little Pony Build-a-Bear, something we've both been excited about since their launch last Spring. Quite honestly I wanted the rainbow maned one, Rainbow Dash, all for myself, but from my son's first hug of the unstuffed horse, I knew I wasn't getting a look in. The My Little Pony craze is huge, with little boys as well as girls loving the new cartoon. Adults too, of those I knew who already were Rainbow Dash owners, three of those were grown adults, and one of them male!

As with our Christmas visit, Johnathon the store manager took us through the now familiar, still as magical Build-a-Bear Workshop bringing-to-life stages.

First you choose your friend, Rainbow Dash and the snowy white, shimmering shamrock festooned teddy bear. The second stage is choosing a sound for you bear. We chose the My Little Pony theme tune, and for the bear my son settled on One Direction's That's What Makes You Beautiful. The store has lots of One Direction merch for your bear to wear.

The stuffing station is next. You have an option to add a scent which goes inside the paw of your teddy. There were a couple of new additions since Christmas, a pineapple smell which we put in teddy, which smells exactly like Polly Pineapple lollies, and Icing Sugar, which Johnathon correctly compared to Drumstick lollies' scent. Rainbow Dash got an icing sugar smelling hoof.

You also choose a satin heart to put inside with the stuffing, which 'brings your friend to life'. There's an option to buy a £1 charity heart too, or a special battery heart that thumps when pushed from outside the toy. Michael enjoys helping press the foot pedal to work the stuffing machine.

Then it's Michael's favourite part, the combing, fluffing and bathing station. Rainbow Dash's tail got a good few minutes attention! 

The all important dressing step. There are beautiful capes for the ponies. Sorry for the blurry photo. Little Spike is available too, for £10.

Johnathon helped us choose a cape, and St. Patrick's Day wear for teddy, who teamed it with a cute reversible tutu (is it wrong to wish for that in adult sizes?) 

Check the tounge sticking out. Serious business this fashion. 

Another successful Build-a-Bear trip. My son honestly finds the whole experience a blast, and it is hard not to get caught up in the magic of making a unique friend yourself. In fact Michael is going to get me my own My Little Pony for Mothers' Day, maybe you're a mum out there thinking 'YES. I want a pony too', well even if you don't have an actual Build-a-bear Workshop near your home, you can order anything on their online store, including the ponies.

I can also reveal that next month they will be launching Pinkie Pie!