TOMY Aqua Fun - Pirate Bath Ship and Surfin' Beaver

Our first TOMY toys review box has arrived (the TOMY Disney Cars 3-in-1 Potty System was a review offered to me by them before they confirmed their official bloggers)! It is always exciting to receive a big box of goodies! The kids (including 5 years old Abby!) couldn't wait to start playing and ate their breakfast fairly quickly! This month we are reviewing a selection of TOMY's Aqua Fun and Play to learn range, to show you how TOMY covers play time, creative time and bath time daily. As there are more to our Play to Learn reviews, we'll be reviewing TOMY Aqua Fun's Pirate Bath Ship and brand new Surfin' Beaver first.

The pirate ship is suitable for 18 months and above, and is retailed at £16.99. It has a squirting octopus, turning wheel, water shooting cannon and a dinghy launcher, and captain Jack can sit at the top in the mast as well as his dinghy.

When we opened up the review box, the first thing we set our eyes on was the pirate ship. It wasn't the biggest toy in the box, but it was really attractive! They wanted to play with it immediately but weren't very happy when I only let them play with the ship without the captain and the dinghy until after I got the chance to take pictures. They tend to end up sliding the toys under the sofa (just like one of the balls from the Pic 'n' Pop toy that I have to dig out for my next review!) so I had to limit them.

When we got to bath time, the Pirate Bath Ship has provided plenty of fun! I couldn't quite understand how everything works, so we sank the ship under the water until it has stopped bubbling, then lifted it up and noticed that both the cannon and octopus were filled and ready to fire! The kids were having a good laugh with the octopus squirting water at them and them throwing captain Jack overboard in his dinghy! Although the cannon could only be fired once every fill (I figured it out afterwards that we just needed to pour water into the cannon from the opening)  it was still fun watching the water getting pulled into the cannon (by pulling the lever down) and shooting it out. Wish it was a bit more powerful but then children's safety first!

Abby loved to slide the dinghy off the launcher. The dingy will slide into the water and float away, which was quite funny to watch even for me! And when I poured water over the wheel to make it turn, Clay was amused and let out lots of giggles every time I did it! And then of course he wanted to do it himself! It was a shame I couldn't film the water actions to show you what it's like!

I think that it's a great space saving toy (their bath tub always get filled up with toys!) as it has a few functions all on the same ship without many loose bits (just the cute chunky captain Jack and his dinghy). It allows imagination play as well which is a bonus. The ship is very colourful and will certainly add lots of fun during bath time.

The new Surfin' Beaver (retailed at £11.99 and suitable for 12 months and above) is a nice addition to their swimming toys collection. We reviewed the Swim 'n' Sing Turtle last year and the kids have run the batteries dry already! The cheeky beaver is equally funny to listen to (it sings by pressing the tail down), though very different from the Turtle's deep male voice. Unfortunately it seems like his tail wasn't powerful enough to make him 'surf' forward, but it didn't bother Clay a single bit! He just grabbed the beaver and surf him around the bathtub.





It is funny how toys can seem too simple to us yet provide so much fun for the kids. Although he loved the Pirate Bath Ship as well, he hardly let go of the beaver.

Both TOMY's Aqua Fun toys Pirate Bath Ship and Surfin' Beaver are available now in all good toy stores and online. You can also find out more about TOMY on Twitter and Facebook.

Disclosure: We were sent the above toys to review; all opinions are honest and our own

TOMY First Years Disney Cars 3-in-1 Potty

For the first few years of our children's life we were (and still are for Clay) fairly laid back with their achievements. We never purposely encourage them to hit each milestone, let it be crawling, walking, or even potty training. They eventually did it themselves anyway. With Abby for example, we didn't start potty training her until about a month before she started preschool, and that's only because we expected it to be difficult if she gets trained differently at the nursery.

We weren't planning to potty train Clay until closer to the time when he goes to preschool as well (he's going to be 2 this Thursday!), but because he's been picking up quite a lot by watching his sister, and has been watching us on the toilet, he might just be able to potty train earlier. So when TOMY asked us whether we would like to try out their new The First Years Disney Cars 3-in-1 Potty System, I thought, why not? Even if Clay isn't ready yet, we had our first experience with Abby so we more or less know what we need from a potty.

The potty system comes in Minnie Mouse, Disney Car and Disney Princess versions, retailing at £29.99 each and can be used as a potty, trainer seat that fits an adult toilet and a stepping stool. For the Disney Cars version, the base of the potty system is shaped as a car tyre, with a gear stick on the side that can be pressed down to make a vrooming sound.

It also comes with a removable trainer seat, pot and soft seat made of Styrofoam-type material.


When the potty has arrived I was quite happy with it. It's very easy to clean as everything that requires cleaning can be taken apart easily. Both me and Clay liked the details on the tyre and gear stick, and he especially loves the vrooming sound. I didn't try him on the potty immediately but he was happily sitting on it with the lid down (as a stool), watching his favourite tv programs while pressing on the gear stick all the time!

I really like it that it comes with a soft cushion, which we didn't have with Abby's potty. I'm also glad that it wasn't made of plastic sheet that wraps around a sponge, as those can trap dirt on the lining, making it harder to clean. And yes, it's really easy to clean, which is great for the parents!

The trainer seat clicked onto our toilet seat easily, and it was easy to remove as well.

I think that this potty system is quite good and does its job. The Disney Cars' gear stick and vrooming sound is attractive to boys, making them feel at ease when sitting on it. The seat is cushioned so it's more comfortable for them to sit on which is a bonus. For easy transport you can just bring the trainer seat, pot and cushion with you, just make sure that you do bring a disinfectant if you are clipping it on public toilets. It also act as a stool so when it's not in use, it still has a purpose!

I do think that there is room of improvements. It would be easier for both parents and child to have side handles fitted on the base to make it easier to move the potty around the house. And in cases of children playing with the potty without supervision (it happens), it might be better to line the edges of the lid and the trainer seat so that when the child accidentally let go of the lid and it lands on their finger, it wouldn't hurt as much.

Since Clay is my first boy, it's a bit difficult for me to know how to potty train him. I think that he should be trained sitting down first, but because he's quite small, even if he wees sitting down, it would just go all over the floor. When we tried him on the potty without his nappy on, I didn't quite understand and thought that perhaps he's too young for the potty, but Abby's potty does have a wee guard that is quite high up (which I never understood it's purpose until now), and I think that it would be better if they can raise the wee guard higher to prevent accidents.

Having said the above, i still think that it's a great potty training system. Some might think it looks very basic, but you really don't want too much distraction when they should be doing their 'business' instead of turning here and there, nor would I like to clean the extra bits and gaps like for Abby's potty. It's still fancier than most potties to make potty training fun enough for them.

For now, we'll wait until Clay has grown a bit more before we try again, or perhaps my engineer hubby can think of some way to add a guard on the cushion seat. It would be fantastic if TOMY can create a new cushion seat that comes with a higher guard though. See, girls will never have such a problem. And they have 2 versions to choose from too!

Disclosure: We were sent a poppy to review; all opinions are honest and our own

Make Time 2 Play

I have a confession to make. I'm not really great with playing with children. A lot of time I either have no idea what we should do together, or my mind drifts to something else that I needed to do. I was sent an article written by UKMums.tv's resident expert Dr. Amanda Gummer about the importance of play, and it really got me thinking.

I have always wondered whether it will be better for our kids to learn things the way we did in the past, where we just sit behind desks, listening to the teachers teaching us knowledge, while we tried to absorb as much as possible. I thought that we have learned quite a lot using that method, but after reading Dr. Gummer's article, I had flashbacks of me and my fellow classmates dozing off listening to the teacher's drowsy voice, not understanding what we've learned, and not really using what we've learned after graduation.

Dr. Gummer mentioned in her article that, by learning through play, children understand and absorb knowledge while playing, as they are using the knowledge through experience. The fun that comes with learning also makes them willing to learn and focus more, unlike listening to the teachers talking all the time, making learning too boring for the children. They do, after all, have shorter attention spans than we do.

It also makes learning an interactive thing than just sitting there taking in everything they were taught. I agree that we were kind of brought up learning on our own, even though we were sitting in the same classroom.

Looking back at all the cons I experienced from learning the old way, it made me feel guilty for not spending more time with my children playing. Even though Abby is learning through play at school, playing with family is a completely different experience and would have a much stronger impact on her.

From now on I will try to make time to play with my children every day. Again, I'm not very good with play ideas, but there are plenty of them listed on Make Time 2 Play's website, for sunny days, rainy days, during travel; for half an hour or a whole day, it will surely give us enough to go on!

So here is my pledge. I will make time 2 play by taking time away from my routine, discovering new play ideas through Make Time 2 Play's website, spend at least half an hour a day with my children and enjoy the quality time together.

What about you? Are you making time 2 play with your children?

Disclosure: I wrote this article for the Make Time 2 Play campaign; everything is just me

Curandero: Dawn of the Demon DVD

I'm always up for discovering new type of horror shows, even those filmed in foreign languages. It doesn't always have to be Hollywood to be really good and scary, for example, The Ring (Japanese Original) and Shutter (Thai Original) are by far the scariest I've ever seen! So i took up the opportunity when I was offered Curandero - Dawn of the Demon, a Mexican horror directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) to review.

Federal agent Magdalena visited a well known Curandero (shaman) for help, only to find his son Carlos who has doubt about his faith being the current Curandero. She has invited him to purify a police station, leading them into investigating the case further and found themselves tangled in a major satanic cult business.

If you've seen Sin City, you'll know Robert Rodriquez's style, and you can certainly see that in Curandero. The show is bloody and gruesome, but has filled us with plenty of nervous giggles, mostly about Carlos and his misfortunes, which was led more or less by him not really believing in what he is doing. The story builds up gradually, leading towards the ultimate confrontation with the cult leader himself.

Although the show doesn't give the intense feeling like some horror that tries to scare your brains out, it's quite entertaining and will go well at an adult's (it is rated 18) slumber party. Towards the end one of the makeup/ costume kind of made me feel that it was a bit ridiculous, but the ending was good overall, and I did find myself replaying the ending in my head, working it out, which I think is good in any shows.

The Curandero - Dawn of the Demon DVD is out on Monday 20th May, 2013 which can be pre-ordered now and it's £9.00 on Amazon UK.


Disclosure: We were sent a review disc to review; all opinions are honest and our own

Chill Factor Squeeze Cup Slushy Maker

Every time we go to an indoor play centre or swimming pool, wherever they serve slushy really, we had to buy at least one cup, and that's not just for the kids! It's not something we have all the time, and I never thought that we can have it at home, but now, with this clever Chill Factor's Squeeze Cup Slushy maker, we can enjoy it home straight after it's been made.

The Slushy Maker is a double layer silicone cup that comes with a screw-on lid and a spoonstraw. The outer cup is made of soft silicone, and the inner cup is filled with sections of liquid. The whole cup can be taken apart for easy clean. It also comes with a pictured step-by-step instruction sheet, showing you how to take the cup apart for cleaning and how to make slushy.

To start making slushy, freeze the cup (without lid and spoonstraw) overnight in the freezer standing up. Do remember to chill the ingredients for the drink as well at the same time in the fridge, as they have to be cold enough to make it work. The second time I tried making a coke slushy, I thought that the can of Coke left outside was cold enough but it really wasn't. Trust the instructions!

For the first attempt I only had a bottle of chilled peach flavoured lemonade available in the fridge, so i decided to spice it up a bit by adding fresh raspberries from the fridge in the drink. When I poured the ingredients in the frozen slushy maker, nothing seem to happen. But when Abby started squeezing the cup, chips of ice started to appear in the drink and soon the whole cup was filled with freshly made slushy! The texture is similar to those bought from kiosks, but it tasted so much better! The fruits certainly made it posher too!

We all enjoyed the Raspberry with Peach Lemonade Slushy, and hubby has asked when it was his turn to make a slushy! I tried serving him the coke slushy but it didn't work of course. Still, he was very happy that the cup has kept his drink cold! Next time we should try a cider slushy!

Overall, we think that it's an amazing product, and a must buy for those who loves their slushy. I am also more willing to let my children have it, knowing that the ingredients isn't just syrup water. I can always make a 100% juice slushy, or yogurt slushy, or turn it into an ice dessert (a mountain of slushy with juice or syrup poured all over, then decorated with fruit pieces, Bubbles from bubble tea and sweet dumplings) that is ever so popular in Asia. The only problem is that we will probably need at least 2 slushy maker in this household, and we will have to save the space (though not much, just one or two standing cups' space) in the freezer for the makers, to make sure that slushies are readily available whenever the urge calls!

The Chill Factor Squeeze Cup Slushy Maker is retailed at £12.99 and comes in 4 different colours - Neon Yellow/ Red/ Blue/ Green.

Disclosure: We were sent a slushy cup to review; all opinions are honest and our own