No "ology' for us :-(

Bit of a mixed day today...really excited this morning to get tickets to George Michael in October. Was really, really happy...then back to earth with a bump! We didn't make it through to the final 10 for the position of Toyologist. Well done to everyone who made it though...they all seem to be very experienced bloggers with a lot of followers. Looks like I need to try and work on this Blog...then maybe next time? x

What a Weekend!

Well, Sunday night is finally here...I didn't think the weekend would end! We haven't stopped all weekend...shopping in Kingston, putting up shelves, organising the kids room (ready for Rebekah to share with Joshua), Church, Toys R Us-20% voucher (and a naughty drive thru lunch at McDonalds), more organising the kids room, cooking, ironing...and the list goes on! I must say though, as busy as it was, it was very productive and I got so much done.

Busy, busy week coming up...and to start it all off...the results of the Toyologist competition. To be honest, I was thinking over my application today and I don't think I sold our family as well as I could. But I am so proud to have made it to the final and the one thing I can take from it is this blog. It has opened up a whole new world to me...and who knows where it can take me!

Goodnight all. X

P.S. Here is a better family portrait!

Toyologist Application

Introducing the Carlin Family:-

This is the only family photo we have at the moment! We have Daddy, who has "broken eyes" (visually impaired) and Mummy who is a teacher - so always looking for the educational benefits of all the toys! Joshua who is 3 3/4 years old and Rebekah who is 3 months.

We decided to look at the theme of 'Family Fun' and 'Outdoor Fun' and are testing:

Billion Bubbles Generator

RRP: £10

Recommended Age: 3 +

We have tried a lot of bubble machines over the past few years and we are hoping that this one will be better than the rest. Others that we have looked at have either not produced many bubbles or else eat batteries by the hour!

I must say, we have had  fantastic afternoon testing this toy. It was very easy to set up and once the batteries are in, all you need to do is to keep re-filling the machine. We tried experimenting with the bubble mixture (adding water to it) but you do need it quite strong to produce more bubbles. After the bottle had finished we used water mixed with a cheap, shop brand washing up liquid - it worked just as well.

We had the bubble machine on all afternoon and had no end of fun. We chased bubbles, popped bubbles, caught them in nets, hit them with tennis rackets and even just lay and relaxed whilst the bubbles floated all around! It helped to create some good opportunities for conversation and to extend vocabulary.

It covered so many areas - great for both gross and fine motor development, encourages physical activity. We practised counting and looked at the colours we could see in each bubble.

Overall verdict - Excellent toy! This is something that can be easily stored away, easy to fill up and creates an endless amount of fun!

Top tip - we used rechargeable batteries in the bubble machine, so a bit more expensive on the initial layout, but then you need never buy more batteries!

Good Points:

* Attractive design, nice bright colours
*Easy for Joshua to use - 1 button operation
*Excellent amount of bubbles - lived up to it's name - billions of bubbles!
*Easy to fill with bubble mixture
*Fantastic value for money
*Great idea to 2 ways of producing bubbles. The machine was able to produce some and we could also blow our own. 

Bad Points:

*Again, it comes down to batteries - would be great to have a rechargeable battery cell.

Overall Score: