Sylvanian Families is a whole collection of toys and playsets based around a community of woodland animals and creatures. This is a boxed set of the perfect canine nuclear family – Mum, Dad, little girl and little boy. Dressed in what really looks like Victorian clothing. Does anyone else over the age of seven find this – well – a bit weird?

Baby B got this from her half sister for her first birthday. I knew she would be excited but I wasn’t prepared for how excited her older brother would be. Drawing with water on the go? Well that is the best present ever! I mean you can even take it in the car. Wow! It’s very compact and has a space for the pen.

A nice visual way to have fun with the alphabet (and some strange animals). However at £14 I would have expected the pieces to have been a bit more substantial and robust. The whole thing looks so lovely it’s a shame it’s been let down somewhat by ‘cheap’ counters and a spinner than only just spins.

The Lamaze Chime Garden is a really cute toy for older babies. It’s suitable from 6 months, and consists of a series of plastic and fabric flowers, that light up and play music when your baby touches them. I thought it was the sort of thing that looks good in the nursery and it has a very good quality and educational feel about it.

Just looking at the Big and Small jigsaw puzzle box will probably cause the Toddler to wet himself with excitement.
Buy online at amazon
Price from £3.99
***

Initial thoughts: Four puzzles in one …

When I opened the box to find Teeny Tiny Tears staring up at me, I was a bit terrified! I had one doll when I was growing up and I didn’t know how I felt about letting Ella, 16 months, have a baby doll! I decided that my hang ups shouldn’t influence Ella and that she needed to decide for herself if she wanted to play with it so I unwrapped the Teeny Tiny Tears and left it out for her to discover in the morning. Much to my amazement, Ella was enamoured of Teeny Tiny Tears from the moment she saw her. She scooped her right up, grabbed the “magic” bottle and fed her and cradled her and carried her all around the lounge, albeit by the head most of the time. She was smitten! I was put in my place.

The VTech Sail and Steer was nice and bright with lots of flashing lights, and music. I was pleased that it was very easy to assemble without many fiddly bits. And thrilled I didn’t need to buy batteries for it – score!

I really wasn’t sure what to expect of this one, but when it came out of the box there was a round plastic console, 16 coloured plastic ‘pads’ of various shapes and sizes and no instructions. Hmm. Turns out you don’t need instructions as it’s ridiculously simple – but you do need three AA batteries. Once it’s up and running, this is something my four-year-old could easily set up and play without any help from me. this, friends, is A Good Thing.

It’s a simple classic. Flea thought this was really exciting, particularly because it’s a different sword and a different hole that causes the pirate to ‘pop’ each time. We played for an hour before dinner and then while I was cooking, Flea kept playing, and every so often would come charging into the kitchen, saying: “Guess which one was the secret sword this time? You’ll never guess.”

This is retailing at up to £40 and personally I think that’s a lot of money for a toy that I don’t think has a great deal of play value. My bet is that in most homes it will be played with for a week then forgotten about until Dad needs a fancy dress outfit. The box seemed to promise so much more than it actually delivers, so we were disappointed. I think if you’ve got a child who is really mad about Transformers then it might go down well – just be aware that this isn’t a “voice transformer’.

My seven-year-old niece volunteered to review Lulu the Cuddling Kitty and it has to be said, it was love at first sight. If you don’t look too closely at the face, the kitten is extremely lifelike, the fur is soft and fluffy, and – according to Annabelle – the paws even feel like real paws. If you stroke the cat, it will purr and miaow and move its paws.

Keep stroking and eventually it rolls over so you can stroke its tummy. If you rub the cat’s whiskers, it moves it head in a cat-like way. It has to be said that the miaow is spookily realistic – when I first brought it into the house, I honestly thought the kitten from next door had followed me inside.

If your child is a big fan of cuddly toys this will be a big hit. The price is steep but it is a way of introducing youngsters to the plight of endangered animals and explaining how you have helped with conservation by buying it. I do think I would struggle with the price, but having seen how she sits with it, trying desperately to get her arm around the huge thing, I can highly recommend it.

You get quite a lot for your money in this presentation box: a picture frame and an album. Surely a must for any fan of the teen TV sensation? Plus at just £5 it’s an ideal stocking filler.

Little S is now four years old and taking an interest in time. Like many children, he likes to know exactly when something is happening – 5 minutes, 10 minutes, today or tomorrow! The watch is pink and plastic with butterflies on the strap and a flower shaped face. The minutes are numbered around the dial and the face details ‘past’ and ‘to’. The hands detail ‘hour’ and ‘minute’. It is aimed at ages 5-8, comes with batteries and there is a girl and boy version.

The fun faces and the bright, colourful bodywork. These toys looks appealing even if – like Charlie – you haven’t seen the movie. And it’d be fun to collect the full range.

They’re about the same size as the Matchbox cars I used to play with as a boy (called ‘Matchbox’ for obvious reasons) which also means they’re highly portable.

The box looked like a lot of fun, and I enjoyed tricking the whole family. On my Mum’s birthday, Dad made her a plate of his famous Chinese dumplings. They were in the fridge waiting to be cooked and I slipped a little something from the Joke Box onto the plate.

So much more fun than the plastic alternatives. This shield is pleasingly solid, and charmingly traditional.
Buy online at Aspace
Price £10
****

Initial Thoughts: This wooden shield is a traditional chequer design in blue paint …

gave the Christmas Doodle Book to a seven-year-old girl and literally watched her face light up when she leafed through them! Armed with the books and a pack of crayons, she couldn’t wait to get scribbling and these books have kept her amused for hours since! The books were made of really good quality, thick paper and the covers were that lovely ‘touchy feely’ kind of matt laminate heavy weight card that makes you want to stroke it from the moment you pick it up!

A classic toy, we loved the look of the Glow Worm, it was 100% retro fabulous. The red light provided just the right amount of light. You don’t have to press too hard for the lullaby and light to work, which means that even the littlest people can do it. The fabric was a nice calm combination of green and pink is satisfyingly soft for a cuddle.

For the price this is a lot of purse for your money and it is so bright and colourful. The Museum can use the funds made from the sale of this purse to continue to carry out pioneering research, care for their internationally important collections and inspire people to take better care of the natural world.

We loved this! The kit, from a French company and with accompanying French style, is an introduction to origami for children aged 5+. It contains high quality colourful paper with funky designs. It also includes an instruction booklet on how to make the classic oragami bird game.

his lovely, retro-styled skipping rope has handles painted as dolls – giving it a cute look with lots of little girl appeal. The skipping rope we received didn’t come with any packaging at all, which is a huge bonus for m

I was quite excited to receive the Orchard Toys game “Doodlebugs” as I have seen their line of games and puzzles before. It’s also appropriate because Ella’s nickname is Doodles. The game is easy to play and is reminiscent of Uno. It teaches numbers, colours, matching, shapes and taking turns in addition to being quite entertaining thanks to the cute and colourful pictures of the creatures on the cards.

This is a really great toy. It’s not something that I would ever have chosen for myself but I have loved playing with it. I think that it is a really good thing to buy for a birthday or Christmas gift because the whole family can join in. This kit will give you hours of fun and you never know after all of the practice you may be able to rent out your skills at parties!

These colourful letter soaps arrived beautifully wrapped in tissue paper in little white gift boxes. Available in two colours, pink and blue, the pink contains little ‘floating’ hearts and the blue has cute little stars.

Handmade by an aromatherapist in Somerset these soaps use only natural ingredients and are suitable for Vegetarian’s too.