Numberblocks Plush, By hand2mind - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          Numberblocks Plush Toys 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  18 month-old ++   

Who would love this: Numberblocks fans!!! 

Our kids are emotionally attached to their collection of plush toys. They feed them, change their “nappies”, dress them up, have tea parties with them, and drag them to outings of all-sorts. These soft toys evoke warm and fuzzy feelings, and are incredibly fun companions. Today, I’m going to share about our latest additions from hand2mind - “Numberblocks One and Two Playful Pals Plush” and “Numberblocks Number One Plush” (kindly gifted by Clover Street). 

Why I love ❤️ these toys: 

(1) Adorable Numberblocks Characters (One & Two) - Two hands up 🙌🏻 if your family love NumberBlocks like ours! We are BIG fans of these block characters from the global hit TV series - they are entertaining, educational, and shows us that learning maths doesn’t need to be boring! “One” is a bright red block with single round eye. She’s cute as a button, sweet in nature, inquisitive, and full of curiosity. “Two” is made up of 2 orange blocks, and is also the BEST friend of “One”! He wears a trendy purple glasses, pair of white socks, and magical orange sparkly shoes. “One” and “Two” held a special place in our hearts - they are the first few characters that entered the show since Season 1. We were thrilled to have these familiar characters joining our plush toys family. You can get “One” on its own, or a slightly smaller “One” and “Two” pair from the Playful Pals Plush set. Our kids love them all, and have been affectionately giving them cute nicknames like “Big One-nie”, “Small One-nie”, and “Two-ey” 

(2) They Can Hold Hands! - “One and “Two” from the Playful Pals can hold their hands tightly like what best friends do (because everything’s better with two). I love that the characters have both their hands attached with hook-and-loop Velcro, so the two best friends can always clasp and fasten their hands to each other from either sides. 

(3) Glittery Shoes - I LOVE the touch of glitter on Two’s shoes, just like how it’s like in the show! 

(4) Cuddly & Soft - These NumberBlocks toys are stuffed with plush foam for a heart-warming, fuzzy hug; The fabric is velvety soft to touch, and the securely attached limbs are stuffed with polyester filling. I love our new cuddly, squeezable, perfectly-sized NumberBlocks companions! 

# gifted in exchange for review 

Where to buy this: 

Numberblocks One And Two Playful Pals - https://sensorypoodle.com.au/products/numberblocks-one-and-two-playful-pals-plush (Australia) 

Numberblocks Number One Plush- https://sensorypoodle.com.au/products/numberblocks-number-one-plush?_pos=2&_sid=1c2a5babe&_ss=r (Australia) 

Enjoy the video! 

Snap-n-Learn Counting Sheep, By Learning Resources - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          10 sheep with removable plastic fleece 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  18 month-old ++   

Who would love this: Parents who are sourcing for unique and engaging colours and numbers learning resources for young kids 

Seriously, who can say no to 10 cute little sheep? Learning Resources has this Snap-n-Learn Counting Sheep that are so adorable it’s really hard not to like them all. 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Counting / Sequencing / Colour Matching - I love how versatile these sheep are. These are amazing teaching resources that combine counting and sequencing, colour matching, and imaginative play into a single set. Each of the ten sheep features its own unique colour (ranging from red, orange, yellow, green/blue of different shades, purple), and a matching snap-on plastic fleece with printed number. We love the little surprise element; when the snap-on “wools” are removed, the sheep reveal their bare white bodies with dots on them that match the number on the removable “wool”. For example, the purple sheep has 10 purple dots on its body, and has a matching snap-on purple fleece with the number “10” painted on it. The boy loves arranging the sheep in ascending order from 1 to 10, which also form a beautiful rainbow hues from red to purple.

(2) Imaginative Play - Apart from being an excellent mathematics and colours-learning toy, the kids have been “sending” these 10 sheep to all-sorts of playing scenes, from imaginative pasture made of dancing silk, up the wooden rocket, dino-land, to a dragons-dominated castle. We love how lovely these sheep look in their bumpy plastic coloured wool. These sheep are great addition to any imaginative or story-telling scene. 

(3) Easy To Handle By Young Kids - These sheep are small-size, light-weight, and easy to handle by little hands. My two-year-old has no issue removing and snapping the wool pieces onto the sheep. I think this is a good toy to train up fine motor skills and concentration of young kids. 

I notice that the paint of some of the printed numbers seem to be peeling off from the plastic coloured wools after some time. Other than this imperfection, I think this is a great learning toy that is creative, fun, and educational. 

[The review was first written and published in Instagram on 25 November 2021] 

Where to buy this: 

https://www.learningresources.com/catalog/product/view/id/5930/s/item-snap-n-learn-counting-sheep/category/2/

Enjoy the video! 

The Gruffalo Complete Set with Book, By BAJO - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          Wooden characters from the Gruffalo book  

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️  

Recommended age:  18 month-old ++   

Who would love this: Gruffalo / and any Julia Donaldson's fans! 

From time to time, I discovered spectacular gems from my local toy library. I recently found this BAJO “The Gruffalo Complete Set with Book” that I truly LOVE. I did some online “snooping”, and saw that this collection is listed in Oskar's Wooden Ark website. If you are a Gruffalo fan, then this is for you! 

Why I love ❤️ it: 

(1) Wooden Characters from Gruffalo - We love Julia Donaldson’s writings, but “The Gruffalo” is probably not quite our favourite (we prefer books such as “The Baddies” and the heartwarming “The Smeds and the Smoos” more). But when we saw these Gruffalo characters “jumping out” from the book, we were excited! Included are a soft-cover book, and the wooden figurines Gruffalo, Mouse, Fox, Owl, Snake - all crafted and painted matching the images illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Bajo has the licensing rights to exclusively design and produce hand-crafted Gruffalo toys and figurines. Gruffalo has knobby knees with a patch of grey, poisonous wart at end of nose, big goggly orange eyes, and purple prickles all over the back. Our shrewd and cunning mouse might look ordinary, but you can’t miss that twinkly brightness in his eyes! The owl has its wings widely-spread, ready for a sudden attack before it got tricked by the Mouse. The fox has reddish fur, white chest, black-tipped tail, and pointy alert ears. The slithering snake is in minty green with black-brownish marks. It sure is entertaining to retell a story while playing with these instantly-recognisable figurines. The Gruffalo stands up to almost 21cm, and the rest of the characters are chunky and all in good reasonable size for an interactive play-session and imaginative small-world creation! 

(2) Flexible Limbs & Posable - The Gruffalo and the Mouse have moveable, articulated limbs. We can lift and flex the arms and legs, and pose the figures in different ways (standing, sitting, or crouching). The flexible cord tails, and the soft fabric ears of the Gruffalo are some nice tactile touch! 

(3) Material - Bajo products are lovingly crafted in a workshop near Kraków (Poland). Bajo uses 14 different types of timber and non-toxic paint for their toy production, and the toys meet EU and US standards. 

Where to buy this: 

https://www.oskarswoodenark.com.au/collections/bajo-wooden-toys/products/bajo-the-gruffalo-complete-set-with-book (Australia) 

Enjoy the video! 

Fairies & Gnomes Finger Puppet Set, By Tara Treasures

Nature/ Type:          Fairies & Gnomes Finger Puppets made of felt 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Recommended age:  18 months ++ 

Who would love this: Any kids with big imaginations + enjoy small-world creations

I love listening to my kids sharing about their imaginative world, from cookie-eating snowman, sky-diving piglet, to marshmallow rainbow 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣. We received this whimsical “Fairies & Gnomes Finger Puppet Set” from Tara Treasures recently; our creative story-telling sessions have never been that exciting since the day these 7 miniature beings arrived! 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) 7 Unique Characters - The details of these 7 colourful characters are simply too charming! We gave each of these enchanting figures a names and built-up a series of “fun-facts” about them. First, we have “Goldy” that resides in the heart of purple orchid - she’s a great seamstress that can magically turn red floral petals into dresses that match perfectly with her French braided hair. “Moody” is that eccentric and grumpy old gnome with wise long beard who spends all day growing potatoes; his faithful and jovial assistant “Greeney” wears a scarf and Phrygian gnome cap made of green olive potion. “Mushroomy” has bright red “super mushroom” hat and enjoys nothing more than gathering toadstools. We also have “Witchy” the cunning fairy with wild hair, “Rapunzy” the pink princess with magical hair that cures all miseries, and “Tiny” the orange fairy that can sing like a nightingale. Each of them have their personalities, uniqueness, and temperaments. You just have to gaze hard enough to “feel” them. Try it! 

(2) Versatile - These are finger puppets that are fun to play with; they are also characters in our various settings, storylines and small world creations. We love posing them on wooden blocks, moving them around with icy pole sticks, and including them in our enchanted world with magical powers and villains. I love how colourful and versatile they are! 

(3) Ethically Handmade- Handmade felt-toys are full of distinctive characters, biodegradable, sustainable, and toxic-free. Designed in Melbourne and ethically hand-felted in Nepal, Tara Treasures supports fair wages for the artisans who work hard behind the scene. I love that the products are made of 100% New Zealand wool and coloured with azo-free dye; always playful and full of possibilities! 

# gifted in exchange for review 

Where to buy this: 

https://taratreasures.com/collections/fairies-and-gnomes/products/fairies-and-gnomes-finger-puppets

Enjoy the video! 

Clipo Hippo, by Hasbro

Nature/ Type:             Building Toy 

Rating:                       ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:    18 month-old

Who would love this:  Mini building lovers who love colours and a moving toys

Clipo Hippo from Hasbro (Playskool) is a toy with a long history, and as far as I’m aware, it has been around in the market since more than ten years back. 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Cute! it’s colourful, bright, versatile, and kids love it. Both my 20 month-old and four year-old get excited playing with this cute purple hippo. You can stack the Clipo blocks on the hippo’s back, attach the pieces to its wheels, store the blocks in hippo’s tummy through its back, open the hippo’s mouth and “spill” the blocks out, or push the hippo on the floor with its rolling wheels. I love that they are many ways to play with this little toy. 

(2) Compatible with Other Clipo Blocks: the hippo is compatible with other Clipo blocks from Playskool. Originally came with just 20 Clipo parts in this set, there is a potential to add more of these peg-covered blocks to the set and elevate the play experience with numerous possibilities. 

(3) Great for Small Kids: The Clipo pieces are chunky and easy to be held by little hands. 

Personally, I find it not that easy to connect the Clipo blocks together; most of the time, I need to turn and move a Clipo piece around to find the right “position” in order to interlock the notches together. Strangely, the kids don’t seem to mind too much about it. My 20 month-old claps whenever she is able to attach a block on top of another Clipo, and is genuinely enjoying this toy. On this basis, I think this hippo set is a win. 

Enjoy the video from some clipo fun!