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Inspiring Creative Minds with The Creativity Kit PlayFoam Set
Creativity is a key aspect of learning which nourishes the mind, body and spirit. It is important that children are given the chance to express themselves in a creative manner as there is strong evidence to suggest that creative activities improve well-being, reduce stress and boost self-esteem. Being creative also develops our ability to view situations and scenarios in an alternative light, to open our minds to new possibilities and to explore and try new things.
Suitable for three years and over, PlayFoam is a non-toxic, reusable modelling material made up of tiny, sticky foam balls/beads which can be ‘squished’ and sculpted in a similar manner to play dough. The Creativity Kit PlayFoam set includes:
- 4 x Sparkle PlayFoam Bricks (Pink, Fuchsia, Green & White)
- 5 x Plain PlayFoam Bricks (Purple, Grey, Blue, Yellow & Orange)
- 1 x Bag of Feathers (a range of colours)
- 1 x Bag of Gems/ Jewels
- 1 x Bag of Pipe Cleaners (a range of colours)
- 1 x Bag of Foam Shapes (a range of colours)
- 1 x Bag of Lollipop Sticks/ Craft Sticks
- 1 x Bag of Glittery Pompoms (a range of colours)
- 1 x Bag of Yarn/ Wool (a range of colours)
- 1 x Bag of Wiggly Eyes and Noses
Mums Baby Magazine put PlayFoam to the test during an afternoons creative play. PlayFoam can be pulled apart and stuck back together with ease. However, we found that whilst this product is indeed sticky, it does tend to drop small balls during moulding, for this reason we would like to suggest that this product is more suitable for children ages four and over rather than three and over as the packaging states. The Creativity Kit also includes a range of creative resources which aren’t suitable for children under four years due to small parts which could pose a choking risk to young children.
PlayFoam enables children to be hands-on with creativity stimulating their senses and developing their imaginative skills, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills whilst building their concentration, problem solving and understanding and knowledge of materials. Our little (and large!) testers really enjoyed experimenting with the PlayFoam to create a wide range of models. During the modelling session it was apparent that PlayFoam encourages ‘Intrinsic Motivation’ (participation for pleasure rather than reward) as everyone involved seemed to having great fun and were fully immersed within the activity.
This particular kit (The Creativity Kit) is just one of many PlayFoam sets on the market. However, it does seem to include a range of resources which can be used not just with this set but for other Art activities. All of the resources included stick easily to the PlayFoam without having to add an adhesive and can be easily removed for future reuse.
For more effective modelling, several colours can be combined to create more realistic models. However, once two or more colours have been used together then they cannot be parted as the PlayFoam seems to mix and is near impossible to separate colours unless you are willing to sit and pick each bead apart individually. PlayFoam remains sticky after use and needn’t be stored in a container as the foam remains sticky even when left exposed to the air for long periods of time.
PlayFoam provides children with endless enjoyment and fun whilst enabling young minds to apply creative thinking skills during play. Mums Baby Magazine give PlayFoam 8/10 for ‘Fuss Free Fun’.
‘The Creativity PlayFoam Set’ is available for £19.99 from www.uptothemoon.com
Traditional Toys With A Personal Touch From Peekboo Pets
Peekaboo Pets produce a wide range of soft toys designed specially to encourage role play and to give children the tools to create imaginative settings whilst being emerged within a World of make believe. Peekaboo Pets produce a range of unique and individual plush toys which include a personalised poem.
Mums Baby Magazine was sent Buttons the Rabbit, a beautiful cotton plush ‘Peekboo Pet’ which we gave to a toddler tester for review 
purposes. Whilst our toddler seemed rather taken with cuddling this beautiful rabbit, we found that the elder generations present were also very impressed by the simplistic and traditional design implemented by Peekboo Pets.
Peekboo Pets use material varying in a wide range of patterns and styles. However, many of their products tend to make use of simplistic, block and stripe patterns which tend to appeal more so to younger children due to the contrasting colours and shades.
Measuring approximately 43cm x 23cm, Buttons the Rabbit is made from soft cotton material usually used to produce socks. Many toys available on the market these days tend to be mass produced and lack originality whereas Peekboo Pets are completely unique and with the added personalisation, through the form of a poem (printed upon natural card using stylish fonts) Peekboo Pets provide the ideal gift solution for special occasions.
Mums Baby Magazine give Peekboo Pets 9/10. Buttons the Rabbit retails at £16.50 from www.peekaboogifts4kids.co.uk along with a wide range of other plush toys and gifts.
The Ideal Alternative to a Dolls House:The Pin Toy Fire Station & Accessories
Our World is fast paced and over complicated, our children are now exposed to endless interference from modern technology which can leave little time for imaginative play.
It is important that as parents we encourage and take part in imaginative play with our children in order to aid the development of their creativity and problem solving. By offering our children simple toys such as dolls houses to play with, they are able to participate in non restricted, imaginative play in which they can make up their own scenarios, stories and games in a personalised, miniature World.
Manufactured, plastic toys are often made to be over complicated in design and tend to have defined purposes which detract from enabling your little one to personalise their play. When selecting toys to encourage imaginative and creative play try to ensure that they are simple in design, sturdy (to 
withstand heavy handed, excitable toddlers) and large enough to allow contents to be moved around as your little one personalises their preferences for play.
Strive to nurture your child’s ability to engage in creative play by offering your little one your time and support as they play, this will also help to build their confidence and self belief. Try to spend time with your child as they play, listen to what they have to say, observe and try to understand what is happening, give your child plenty of reassurance through positive gestures such as nods and smiles, try talk to your little one and discuss the ideas that they present throughout play.
Dolls Houses are the ideal, simplistic toy for creative, imaginative, role play. Although dolls houses can be used by either gender sadly, many boys tend to miss out on the opportunity to use dolls houses to stimulate their imagination as dolls houses are generally aimed more towards the young female gender stereotype. Mums Baby Magazine found the perfect solution to this problem: The Pin Toy ‘Fire Station’ is a beautiful, simplistic, wooden fire station which offers young girls and boys the chance to get involved in alternative ‘dolls house play’.
The Pin Toy Wooden Fire Station is sturdy and large enough for a range of contents (which are included in the set). The Pin Toy Fire Station is open plan and can be played with from either side, this fire station set is roomy, enabling space for several sets of little hands to get involved in creative play.
The Pin Toy Fire Station can be picked up and moved easily (although it is quite heavy and therefore should only be moved by an adult) using the carry handle featured in the roof of the fire station.
This beautiful fire station features two floors which are connected by a ‘fire mans pole’, an archway entry door on the bottom floor for firemen to come and go and two large ‘flip’ doors for fire engines to exit promptly during an emergency.
A wooden ramp is also included with the Pin Toy Fire Station which can be placed against the emergency doors for fire engines to exit smoothly.
The accessories included with the Pin Toy Fire Station include:
- Table and two chairs
- Computer Desk and Swivel chair (this chair actually turns!)
- Bunk Beds and two red pillows
- Small shelving unit
- Locker (each locker can be opened)
- Satellite Dish which can be placed on the roof of the Fire Station.
Mums Baby Magazine put the Pin Toy Fire Station and Accessories to the test with a toddler that greatly enjoys creative play. Within minutes of presenting our toddler with this item he was emerged in imaginative play. We gave our toddler space to explore the Pin Toy Fire Station and Accessories and were fascinated as we watched him move the contents to his desired location, personalising his play.
We noticed that without characters to represent particular roles (the firemen) our toddler was a little frustrated and therefore we introduced four firemen figures and a fire engine. Although the figures and fire engine that we used weren’t specifically designed to accompany this set, our toddler didn’t seem to notice or mind. The beauty of imaginative play with young children is that they often chose to include items which aren’t necessarily designed to accompany the item in use. Our toddler choose to include his farm set whilst using the Pin Toy Fire Station & Accessories. Soon enough there seemed to be a fire in the barn which needed attending do at once!
Pin Toy have designed and produced firemen characters and a fire engine to accompany the Fire station & Accessories. The Pin Toy Fire Engine and Fire-fighters can be purchased separately from www.toysdirect.com
Our toddler seemed to be mesmerised by the Pin Toy Fire Station & Accessories and has since spent many hours creating endless differing scenarios and stories, building his imagination and problem solving skills.
Mums Baby Magazine give the Pin Toy Fire Station & Accessories 10/10. The Pin Toy Fire Station & Accessories are the ideal simplistic, imaginative play stimulus which enables young children to be creative on a large scale.
Suitable for children three years and over, The Pin Toy Fire Station is a fantastic alternative to a dolls house. This beautiful, naturalistic toy is designed to offer hours of entertaining, creative play for both girls and boys.
The Pin Toy Fire Station and Accessories are available from www.toysdirect.com for £58.54 (including VAT).
Celebrating Fatherhood with 10% off Wooden Work Benches, Happy Fathers Day from Mums Baby Magazine!
Mums Baby Magazine would like to wish all the wonderful Fathers and Granddads a wonderful Fathers Day. We hope that you have some time to relax and reflect upon the joys of Fatherhood.
In order to celebrate this occasion we would like to offer all the Dads 10% our Wooden Work Bench (usually retailing at £60, down to £54!). This is actually the CHEAPEST price you will find online, we are really ‘hammering down those pennies’. This offer will end on 21st June 2011.
The Wooden Work Bench from Guidecraft is newly available in the Mums Baby Magazine Shop and is the ideal toy for Fathers and children.
Shopping is no small thing with the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall
Little ones love to copy their elders, whether it be pretending to do the cleaning, cooking or even the shopping. Role Play is a key tool for developing children’s imagination, creativity and confidence in the World in which we live.
Suitable from four years upwards, The Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall is a beautiful, traditional wooden market stall featuring two crates of fruit and veg, two shopping bags, a chalk board, a till and awning which little ones can put up or down according to their preference. Mums Baby Magazine put the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall to the test with our ‘little shopper’.
Firstly, we would like to point out that although the sizes of this product are clearly identified upon websites when purchasing, the photos of this product seem to make it seem far larger than it actually is. We were surprised by how small the box containing the market stall was and were even more surprised at it’s size once put together.
However, smaller toys have many advantages: the smaller the toy, the less space it takes up (allowing for the space to be used for other things!), smaller toys are also easier to pack up and to use elsewhere. One particular advantage of the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall is that due to it’s compact size, it is ideal for placing upon a table top or for adding to other role play items (such as kitchens). However, one drawback of this particular item is that children cannot really fit behind the counter to ‘serve’ as such as the market stall is a little too small to allow for this. We have taken close up pictures of the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall against an IPhone to highlight it’s actual size. (H17.75 x W15.75”/H45 x W40cm)
The Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall is bright, colourful and robust. The small crates of fruit and display stand can be moved around according to the child’s preference. The till included within this set is actually 100% solid wood with the design of a till painted upon it. Therefore, the till cannot contain money and buttons cannot be pressed. Although, we would like to argue that offering children ‘less’ certainly encourages them to increase the use of their imagination. We found that our ‘little shopper’ was perfectly happy using this till, touching the buttons (which are painted on) and making ‘beep’ sounds for each one.
We were sadly, a little disappointed by the two shopping bags included within the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall, these bags are very small and quite flimsy. Made from paper, these bags are not ideal for little ones as they are easily ripped and damaged. The chalk board included in the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall is very small and when our ‘little shopper’ went to write on the ‘Shop Name’ we found that it is very 
difficult to use chalk upon this board due to the gloss finish.
One particular feature of the Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall which we liked is that children have the ability to lift and move the awning according to their preference.
The Vegetables and Fruit included are made from wood and have felt leaves, these tactile materials are ideal for little ones. These food items needn’t remain within the shop, they can also be used for little ones to cook and serve in a kitchen/ cafe role play scenario. The Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall could also be used to sell other items from around the house, the possibilities are endless!
The Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall is the ideal ‘mini shop’ for toddlers with a little amount of room for play but plenty of imagination. Mums Baby Magazine give the Djeco Daisys Market Stall 7/10.
The Djeco Daisy’s Market Stall is available from www.letterbox.co.uk for only £42 (this is an exceptionally low price to pay in comparison to many other online stores!).
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