Category: Toy Review

Kids Erasable Doodle Books – Toy Review

If you have a young artist who just wants to draw, this item I feel is a must-have. These erasable doodle books are amazing. My youngest is my little Picasso and draws and draws and draws. We go through a lot of paper!

This little book is fantastic. The colors are vibrant and you can wash the pages starting over again. My daughter loves this and has just as much fun cleaning as she does colorong.

We love this book. It is small so we can take it when we go, and fun enough that it can also be used at home.

I give this book a four out of five. It is from China, and to be quite honest I always worry about the toys from China and the standards of the ink in the markers. We are diligent about keeping the markers out of the mouth. With that I still recommend these amazing coloring books.

Potato head – A Classics but a Favorite!

I know Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head have been around forever but they are amazing. We have several different sets and all together they are fun, creative, and silly.

We giggle away as our characters end up with three arms, four ears and no mouth. This leads to fun conversations about what it would be like to live with one arm, or on your head or no arms at all. These conversations are great opportunities to talk about how unique people can be and each person is amazing in some way.

I also like that we can fill two potatoes with parts, throw them in a small backpack and have a fun creative toy to take with us when we are out and the children will need a quiet activity while they will be waiting for me.

I give these great and timeless toys 5 stars! They are fun, creative and open up 100’s of great conversations.

Magnetic Building Blocks – A Toy Review

Out of all the building toys my kids have ever had and even working in childcare, the coolest I found our magnetic tiles and building products. We have three different kinds now and love all of them.

The first two are very similar, just different brands. They differ in where the magnets are so they do not always work well together but they are both amazing. The solid ones do make stronger bonds with slightly more powerful magnets but they are harder to find. Both of these sets are great for building cars, buildings, geometrical shapes, and getting creative.

The third set we have is much different, it is balls and rods. This set allows you to get really creative, and the bigger the build the stronger the magnets hold. The balls also allow you to get many angles and my kids love the spinning builds.

The discovery tiles have strong bonds and even connections

These are much different and all for even more imaginative play! They are also great for accompanying science lessons.

All together you can build amazing things!

Another reason I find these blocks amazing is because they travel! We have a small backpack that we keep some in and take them with us to other people’s houses, restaurants, or other day outings. They do not make a ton of noise, they stick together so they don’t disappear and they are easy to clean up when the food comes. Plus they entertain the kids for hours and they do not get tired of them.

Overall I give these four ½ Stars. They only lose that ½ star because they are expensive and sets are small. Go big when you buy so you have enough to enjoy or make the next birthday party a magnet theme party and ask everyone for them.

Fun Paint Brushes – Toy review

We’ve all had the same old paint brushes. I always recommend the plastic over the wood simply because of the cleanup. We’ve also used the foam paint brushes, different but not very exciting. But if you are looking for something a little more creative these unique paint brushes are amazing! The IELEK Kids Art & Craft Painting Drawing Tools take painting to a new sensory experience!

They are fun to use and make different patterns and textures in the paint creating very unique paintings. They also are not ruined if they don’t get washed right away, making them great for the little ones!

All-in-all I give them five stars. They’re inexpensive, fun to play with, and help the kids get creative!

Moon Night Light – Toy Review

I absolutely love this night light. This Moon goes through the phases, is not too bright, and shuts off on its own after about 20 minutes. Which is great because if my kids are awake when it goes off I remind them they’ve been up too long.

It is realistic, and that we can keep track of the moon phase. I love when my kids know it’s the full moon! I give this 5 stars out of 5 and recommend everyone!

Legos Legos Legos! A Toy Review

I love Legos! I have very fond memories of being a kid and building with them. I was excited to share this with my kids. We started with Mega Bloks and have moved all the way up to the little Legos.

When my oldest had her first birthday we did a block party and everyone got her Mega Bloks, and now have a hope chest full of them. This makes for great fun! The kids can actually build a castle that they can fit in, and have hours of fun.

As they grew, we moved up to the duplos and the Legos.

Duplos are great for kids 1 – 5 because they are easier to hold and don’t take so many pieces to actually build something. We also use the duplos for sink or float experiments, which make them even more fun to play with. They’ve become bath toys too. Also, Duplo characters are fun for the little ones to play with.

My daughter really enjoyed the princess castle sets. Building these created great one on one time with Dad, they both enjoyed putting them together. We do not believe in gluing Legos, so, they stay together for a little while before they are changed and create something new. I however am not a huge fan of the sets.

One they are expensive and you do not get a lot of pieces. But more so because the pieces are so unique you can’t really get creative. I was trying to make a candy cane striped tower and even with 4 castle sets, plus several superhero ones, there were only five white squares. Five! Hundreds, if not thousands, of Legos and 5 white squares, I could not believe it.

That next Yule came with three large buckets of Legos! It was amazing. There are enough Legos to build anything and all the fun pieces you could need, especially white squares.

Overall, I give Legos, duplos, and Mega Blocks 15 Stars (that’s five each) but I give the sets 3 stars. The small number of pieces and the high price make them not as amazing. But if your kid is into something specific they are great additions.

Little Critters – A toy review

At first I was hesitant about these little creatures, their houses and the plethora of tiny little pieces, but they’ve grown on me.

My oldest received her first set as a hand-me-down and she loved them. We then got more, and more, over the years. Now my youngest is enjoying them and they provide hours of fun.

The pieces are very lifelike, just tiny, and they have enjoyed many afternoons of imaginative play. I say again the pieces are tiny! We used to use plastic tackle sorting boxes to help keep things tidy, but we have just lost the motivation to keep the piece assorted. They are still fun to play with.

I like them better than Barbies are other play dolls because they are animals, all the sexualisation is gone. There is no makeup or short dresses. They also come in family sets so you get women, men, children, and babies.

This is also their downfall, because it is all about the family and what they do together. This is great but there are not playsets for what grown-ups do for work. No science and that leaves something to be desired.

So I give the little critters 3.75 out of 5 Stars. They are fun and provide hours of creative play, but they are expensive, the pieces are very small, and there is not a lot of science.

Mother Phoenix Early Learning