Making Frozen Snowflake Jewellery

My daughter loves anything Frozen themed at the moment (show me a four year old that doesn't!) so when we were sent the Craft Box Snowflake Jewellery Kit from Interplay to review I knew she would be delighted! This simple jewellery craft set is aimed at children aged four and above and contains everything you need to make ten pieces of sparkly child friendly jewellery that looks great with an Elsa dress for fun dress up play.

As with all Interplay kits, the box contains everything you need to get started, with an easy to follow illustrated instruction booklet, over 300 colourful beads, 10 beautiful snowflake charms, plastic stretch cord and 5 plastic clasps.

Elizabeth was thrilled when she saw the kit and couldn't wait to get started. Although the set is not Frozen branded as such, the colours and snowflake theme, immediately make you think of the hit Disney film and my daughter declared she was making an Elsa necklace and bracelet to wear with her Elsa dress when we go to see Disney on Ice later this month!

The beads included in the set come in a variety of shapes and colours, all with an icy feel to them. Elizabeth carefully chose the beads that she wanted to use and then settled on one of the ten metal charms to finish it off. I measured and cut the thread for her and after that she didn't need much more help until it came to tying the knots at the end. 

She really enjoyed the activity and was proud of herself for being able to create something that she really liked. I was impressed at her threading skills and would recommend a set like this for any child to practice their fine motor skills with. 

Elizabeth has decided to make some more bracelets for her friends and has promised one for me too!

The Craft Box Snowflake Jewellery Kit from Interplay offers great value with a lot of  play for the price and at the end you get a lovey keepsake. It is available for just £7.99 from Amazon
 and other good toy stores. This would make a great gift for a Frozen fan and a few kits would make the ideal activity at a Frozen themed birthday party!

The lovely folks at Interplay have given us another kit to giveaway to one of our readers, so if you think your little one would love to make some Snowflake bracelets then follow the instructions below.

Good Luck!

Win a Snowflake Jewellery kit

Paracord Survival Bands Kit Review

My eight year old loves the outdoors, he enjoys learning survival skills at Beaver scouts and is great at living outdoors on our regular camping trips so he was delighted when we were given the opportunity to review the new Paracord Survival Wrist Bands kit from Interplay.  He couldn't wait to create some great looking and useful wristbands from the colourful paracords and accessories.

The FabLab set contains everything he needed to make a variety of coloured wristbands that will come in handy during his outdoor adventures and camping trips. Included in the box was; a full colour instruction booklet with easy to follow instructions detailing how to create both single and double colour wristbands as well as tips for adding the accessories, plastic clasps, a metal carabiner clasp, a compass, a container of chalk on a metal clip, glue and tape.

The kit is aimed at children aged 8 and above, Ben needed a little help starting off as some of the cord was tricky to thread through the plastic clasps but once he got going he found it really simple to follow the printed instructions and was interested in what he was creating and how it could be used. He has learned about different knots in Beavers (and from Daddy) and also practised these with the cords. Ben created a funky green wristband with a handy compass and then a black and camo two colour band using the metal carabiner clasp. There's enough materials in the kit for him to make another three bands also.

Ben is thrilled with how his paracord survival bands turned out and can't wait to take them into his next Beavers group meeting to show off!  As well as  instructions, the booklet in the kit explains how the cord wristbands can be used to make tourniquets, lashings for shelters, fishing lines and much, much more, they will come in handy next time we go camping I'm sure...

I'm really impressed at how easy the instructions were for Ben to follow and how he as able to complete the activities independently. He was interested in what he cold do with the completed wristbands and I thought it encouraged some really useful skills from measuring, to hand eye coordination. This kit is available at Amazon and retails at just £9.99 making it great value and an ideal gift for adventure loving children and teens. Check out what That Lancashire Lass and The Brick Castle's family thought of the Paracord kit too.

FabLab Bathbomb Making Kit - Review and Giveaway

I love a relaxing bath, and adding a beautifully scented bathbomb to the mix adds to the experience! Even the children love a fizzy treat in the bath. They also love to experiment so when we were sent the FabLab Bathbomb Making Kit from Interplay they couldn't wait to create their very own bathbombs!

The kit mixes science with scented fun and would make a great activity for a sleepover or party! The set is aimed at ages 8 and over but younger children can enjoy it with adult assistance.

Inside the box you get:

• 1 Pot of Sodium Bicarbonate (Blue)
• 1 Pot of Sodium Bicarbonate (Pink)
• 1 Pot of Citric Acid
• 2 Bath Bomb Moulds
• 2 Plastic Spoons
• 1 Measuring Beaker
• 1 Pair of PVC Lab Gloves
• 5 Sheets of Pink Tissue Paper
• 5 Lengths of Red Ribbon
• 12 Page Instruction Booklet
• 1 Pipette
• 5 Gift Tags

A small amount of liquid soap or shower gel is also required and not provided in the kit and you can add a scent with a drop of perfume too.

The full colour instructions had both pictures and text and were easy for Ben to follow without much involvement from me. Although the chemicals in the set were not harmful to skin I was pleased that the gloves were provided for Ben to use to prevent any irritation.

We started off by measuring the Sodium Bicarbonate and Citric Acid out and then mixing them together then using the pipette added tiny drops of shower gel before mixing again. Both children really enjoyed this part, they were excited by the change in consistency when the ingredients were mixed together.

Once the mixture was as described in the instructions, Ben started to spoon it in to the plastic mould and pack it down to create the round bath bomb shape.

This is where things started to differ from how they were described, at first our powder seemed to dry and crumble as soon as the mould was opened, next time we tried adding sightly more liquid as listed in the 'tips' section of the instructions but then it started to fizz in the mould. It took a few attempts but eventually we were able to get a couple of round shaped bathbombs that looked great! We left them to dry on the windowsill for a day and they hardened and became much easier to handle and wrap in the pretty pink tissue paper.

The Sodium Bicarbonate comes in two colours, so you can make pink or blue bath bombs or mix them together to create a marbled effect.We did this and they looked really effective.

Ben who is 8 this month, thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, he loves discovering how things work and was asking lots of questions about the reaction between the ingredients and why they fizz up in water. He even used the supplied tissue paper and ribbon to wrap a couple up to give as a thank you gift to Nanna for taking him out for the day.

Elizabeth who is much younger did get frustrated when things didn't go to plan the first time and got a little bored with the whole process but she is a lot younger than the suggested age so that isn't surprising. I can see this activity being something she would absolutely love in a few years time.

We contacted Interplay mentioning the fact we'd had issues with our first few attempts and they came back with these helpful tips:

• Use some oil to lightly grease the inside of the mould before starting to add the mixture in.
• Leave the filled mould in a warm dry place such as a windowsill for around 30 minutes before attempting to open it.

Although not all the bathbombs we made went entirely right, they all smelt delicious and were fun to try out in the bath! We have a small amount of ingredients left and Ben wants to use them to make a special gift for Gran's birthday.

Although the colours of the packaging seem to market this at girls, I would recommend this set for both boys and girls age 8 and above as a great activity to get them thinking about the way different chemicals react with each other while also having fun! They also make ideal home-made gifts from children for friends and family!

With pretty much everything you need to make 12 bath bombs and clear, easy to follow instructions I believe this set is great value at an RRP of £12.99 and would make a great gift.

If you want to try making your own bathbombs then we have just the giveaway for you! The lovely folks at Interplay have given me a FabLab Bathbomb Making Kit to giveaway to one of my readers!

Just follow the rafflecopter instructions below for your chance to win...

Good Luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Racing Truck Technokit from Interplay - Review

My son Ben loves to build things and the idea of constructing his own battery powered Monster Truck that he could then play with, delighted him!

The Racing Truck Technokit from Interplay comes neatly packed in a cardboard box. Inside the box you get:

• Die Cut Cardboard Panels
• Axles
• Pulleys
• Pulley insert
• Electric motor
• Motor mount
• Foam wheels
• Drive band
• Battery box
• Colour Instruction Manual

As the kit is aimed at children 8 years and over and Ben is still a few months off that, he roped in Daddy to help.

They illustrated instruction sheet was easy to follow and they started popping the cardboard panels out straight away, some of these were a little stiff so Daddy had to help. Once the cardboard parts were fitted together it was time to get started on the axles and wheels, Ben really enjoyed this part as he could see it becoming recognisable as a car.

Fitting the motor and drive band were again a little fiddly so again Daddy provided some assistance.

The finished article looks fab and Ben couldn't wait to take it for a spin, it was reluctant to move on the concrete outside so we brought it to the wooden floors in the kitchen for a smooth racing surface...

The Racing Truck Technokit from Interplay has an RRP of just £9.99 and is available to buy from Amazon. It's an ideal gift for a child of 8+ to enjoy independently or a younger child to enjoy with the help of an adult. Ben got a real sense of accomplishment from building something almost on his own that he was then able to play with and loved that it had it's own 'engine'! From doing something that he saw as fun he was also learning and getting a practical understanding of how technology worked. It was great to see father and son working well together to create something so cool.

One thing to note is the kit doesn't come with batteries, so two AA's are needed, I would suggest getting these ready before you start building or you may end up having to 'borrow' some from the remote control like we did!

Once built it is safe for younger to children to join in the fun too. The reinforced card is sturdy and even the rough play of Ben's four year old sister could not destroy it! This isn't just a toy for chidren, I would recommend this for big kids too as I believe my husband would have been quite happy putting this together all on his own and keeping as a trophy on his desk!

We were sent this kit from Interplay to review, all thoughts and opinions are our own. Affiliate link.