Bilibo Game Box, By Moluk - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          A box of open-ended play items with no rules    

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age: 4 year-old ++   

Who would love this: Kids that loves free-play and those with BIG imaginations 

I am consistently amazed at how simplicity can unlock BIG imaginations. “Bilibo Game Box” by Moluk falls squarely within this category, and I can’t wait to tell you more about what exciting things we can do with it! Thank you Divisible by Zero for providing this!

Why I love ❤️ this set: 

(1) Open-Ended Toy That Inspires Creativity 

Bilibo Game Box has no instructions, no batteries, no blinking light, nor stimulating sound. Instead, you get a sheet of play ideas, 6 mini Bilibos (in red, orange, yellow, pink, green and blue), 36 pixels (6 of each colour), a specially-made dice, and a bag to store the pixels. Now what is a pixel, you asked? They looks like buttons with two holes, but much brighter in colour and chunkier than coins. And if you have never seen a Bilibo before - it’s an iconic shell shaped bowl that is rock-able, spin-able, stack-able, with two “eyes” peeping out. The colours are fun, the design is adorable, the items are uniquely Moluk. 

(2) Versatile Toy With MANY Ways To Play 

The best way to play with Bilibo Game Box is to leave it to the kids and let them do whatever they want to do with them. My four-year-old sorted the pixels according to colours, shake the chips-filled Bilibo to create her rhythm, stack and balance the Bilibos, stir and handle the pixels with spatula and tong, brew some pixels-blended tea, cook up a “feast” and serve them on a tray of Bilibo bowls. Of course, the possibility doesn’t just end here - we can also play tiddlywinks, roll the dice and count your coins, do threading with the pixel chips, create a bracelet, or simply include them in your water and sensory play! Really, there is no right or wrong way to play with them; just let your creativity go wild! 

(3) I Love The Creative Customisable Dice 

I LOVE the big bouncy dice. It’s made of thermoplastic rubber, with clever ridges on each surface for pixels to be inserted. The chips can be easily removed from the dice using another loose pixel. I have never seen a customisable dice before; it’s truly refreshing to see one! 

(4) Toy Made Of Recyclable Material 

Moluk products are BPA-free, phthalate-free, latex-free. They are easy to be cleaned, made of fully recyclable materials, and does not contain any composite material that cannot be recycled. 

# gifted in exchange for review 

Where to buy this: 

https://www.thetherapystore.com.au/product/bilibo-game-box/

Enjoy the video! 

Noodle Knockout!, By Learning Resources - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          Ramen-inspired fine motor game   

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age: 4 year-old ++   

Who would love this: ANYONE!!! Adults who love Ramen, Kids who love realistic & fun kitchen play items or games 

Stay calm ALL noodle lovers - there is a Ramen-inspired game called “Noodle Knockout!” from my favourite Learning Resources that would make your heart beats in uncontrollable excitement! Thank you Clover Street for providing a copy - We Are LOVING It! 

Why I love ❤️ this set: 

(1) Japanese Ramen Toy With Cultural Touch 

I love the authentic cultural touch - the springy yellow wheat flour noodles (in two different lengths), seasoned boiled eggs (Tamago) with large juicy yolks, Narutomaki (cloud-shaped fish cakes with iconic pink/purplish spiral pattern), fresh green Edamame (beans in the pod), sliced red capsicum, one stunning spicy red chilli (for that extra kick), and carrot sticks. The only thing lacking is a bowl of hot broth with unbeatable flavour. My four-year-old was captured instantly by the fun and colourful ingredients once the lid was lifted. She put on her invisible chef hat - stirring, cooking, boiling, adding, arranging, serving - it was a flurry of non-stop noodle bowls preparation at her newly-established, imaginary Japanese Ramen-Ya. 

(2) Awesome Fine Motor Games For Young Kids  

Of course, Noodle Knockout is more than just a pretend kitchen toy; it’s also a fine motor game where players can do it solo or competitively. The set includes also a game spinner, 10 double-sided order cards, 4 sorting bowls in 4 colours, together with 4 chopsticks-style tongs in matching colours. There are multiple ways to play with this: prepare the bowl as per selected order card using the toy “chopsticks”, sort the toppings according to colours, race against each other to create a bowl of “complete” Ramen using the spinner. I love the child-friendly tweezers and the activity guide with interesting play ideas. It wasn’t easy to fit the longer noodles into the bowl (personally, I wish the bowls were a bit bigger), but that added challenge doesn’t seem to bother the two kids too much. 

(3) Great Quality Toy (With Springy Noodles) 

I didn’t expect the noodles to be springy and bendable, so it is a truly delightful surprise! I also really love the big round-ish, sturdy container with lid - which can be used as a game base, large cooking pot, big serving bowl, and game storage box. Love the versatility and functionality of it! 

# gifted in exchange for review 

Where to buy this: 

https://www.thetherapystore.com.au/noodle-knock-out

Enjoy the video! 

Ocean Stacking Cups, By Jellystone Designs - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          Open ended, multi-purpose silicone toy for kids! 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  9 month-old ++   

Who would love this: Kids with imaginations - the possibilities are almost endless! 

Some toys require careful setting-up and meticulous study of rules, but some, need no explanation and have limitless play possibilities. This “Ocean Stacking Cups” by Jellystone Designs belongs to the latter: open-ended, multi-purpose, squeezable and oh-so-much-fun! 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) 5 Stacking Cups + 5 Treasure Coins - The set includes 5 stacking cups and 5 treasure coins. Simple, unassuming, but so versatile and full of surprises! Place the items before the kids, sit back, relax, and watch them inspire you with their boundless play ideas. The girl loves to include these bowl-like pieces in her pretend kitchen, serving up matching treasure coin “donuts” with them. She also loves building sculpture by stacking the cups high in the order of descending size. These cups also make amazing bath toy with cut-out holes that create interesting water drizzling-down effect. We also love building dome-shaped sandcastles using them, and stamping marine images on our sensory playdough. You can also sort them, match them, nest them, hide objects under them (and play “guess what’s under”), or simply use them as containers. The possibilities are almost endless! 

(2) Marine Animals - I love the beautiful ocean-inspired design. Each of the cup features different marine animal; 3 graceful whales on the largest cup, follows by 3 teeth-showing sharks, 3 turtles, 3 happy-looking octopuses, and 3 crabs (two half-hidden in shells). Each has mini-cutouts patterns at the top for added textural feel. The 5 treasure rings have imprints with different number of fishes; our white ring (that matches the largest cup) has 5 fishes on it, and our mint-colour ring (that matches the smallest cup) has only 1 fish on it. We love the sea creatures theme! 

(3) Colour Range Options - The stacking cups come in several colour range options; ours is the “Ocean” range - quiet and calming in white, cloudy grey, darker shark grey, navy blue and sweet turquoise / mint. If you prefer something bold and sharp, the “Rainbow Bright” range is for you! 

(4) Silicone Material - Jellystone Designs uses FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approved silicone, and its products are in compliance with Australian standard for toy safety.

# gifted in exchange for review 

Where to buy this: 

https://jellystonedesigns.com.au/collections/play/products/ocean-stacking-cups

Enjoy the video! 

Smart Snack Shape Sorting Cupcakes, By Learning Resources - REVIEW

Nature/ Type:          Shape-sorting cupcakes 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  2 year-old ++   

Who would love this: Kids that enjoy kitchen / tea party pretend play + sorting fun

Mouth-watering, swirly frosting, sweet sugary cupcakes with vibrancy of colours! What’s not to love? This “Smart Snack Shape Sorting Cupcakes” from Learning Resources is simply irresistible, and it’s more than just a pretend toy for a tempting tea party! 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Shape-Sorting Cupcakes - This is a shape-sorting toy in the guise of enticing cupcakes that can be snugly fitted and nestled in a muffin pan with 8 moulds. Each cupcake is made up of a frosting top and a chocolate base, and the two removable pieces can be attached together or pulled apart. Now here comes the exciting part; each of the dark brownish bases has a unique carved-out shapes that can be matched with a specific frosting top; We have circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, hexagon, star, and heart. This is a delicious way to learn about shape-sorting, and train-up fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The matching game is reasonably challenging for young kids, but absolutely doable and satisfying to get right! 

(2) Muffin Pan Design - I also love the classic-looking grey muffin pan with 8 moulds, each of it has a particular protruded shape at the bottom that can be matched with the completed cupcakes. I love that it has another shape-sorting game that can be played in a different way, all within a same toy! I also love that we can neatly arranged and stored the 8 separate cupcakes on a same tray. 

(3) Colourful Cupcakes For Pretend Play - The cupcakes are colourful, bright, with delicious icing swirls that look realistic. They are perfect for a tea party or kitchen imaginative play. We love to design our pretend menu when playing “customer” at our home cafe. We learn about colours and associate them with common flavours that we love (yellow for passionfruit, blue for blueberry, green for mint, and red for strawberry etc). 

(4) Quality - Learning Resources always makes me smile; the toys are generally of good quality, made of plastic but doesn’t look cheap, creative, fun and educational. 

Where to buy this: 

Learning Resources 

Enjoy the video! 

Early Recycle sorting game, By Gogo Toys

 

Nature/ Type:           Wooden educational toy about recycling 

Rating:                     ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age:  3 year-old ++ 

Who would love this: Unique wooden educational toy lovers 

Gogo Toys from Taiwan is another of my newfound favourite brands that makes me smile and nod and smile again. I am loving all the creative touches, uniqueness, and educative ideas incorporated in its toys. This Early Recycle sorting game is one of my personal favourites. 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Unique Recycling Concept- The concept is unique and clever. The set comes with 30 wooden tiles printed with different “rubbish” images, and one long wooden box separated into 5 recyclable-item compartments - paper, metals, plastic, glass, and leftovers. I love that this game is educative and generates conversations. I have loads of discussions with my four-year-old whilst playing with this toy. For example, when deciding where the baby milk bottle should go, we discuss about the usual materials of a bottle (plastic and glass). When deciding the correct bin for a bag of popcorn, we talked about whether we should first chuck the popcorn into the “leftover” bin, and then the packaging into a “paper” bin. I love all the questions asked, chats about landfill, and it’s fascinating to see how a young kid today approaches the issue of recycling. 

(2) Wooden materials and design- the toy is solid, durable, and looks beautiful. 

(3) Training of Fine Motor Skills - My almost two-year-old Miss B has no idea what recycling means yet, but she is loving the idea of inserting the tiles into the bins and taking them out again. This toy keeps both of my kids busy and engaged! 

Enjoy the video: 

Super Sorting Pie, by Learning Resources

Nature/ Type:       Sorting Game

Rating:                  ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Recommended age: 3 year-old ++

Who would love this: Kids who LOVE fruits and enjoy colourful sorting games

Super Sorting Pie by Learning Resources- Both of my 20-month-old and 4 year-old LOVE this  toy and have devised various ways to play with this brightly coloured pie sorter! 

Why I love ❤️ this toy: 

(1) Great Design: This set comes with 7 types of fruits of 5 colours, which can be sorted into a big pie plate, and can be nicely covered-up with a pie lid. I love the careful details of the tiny pieces of fruits: the intentional uneven surface of the lemon, the slightly tilted curve of the banana - the design is intricate and thoughtfully crafted. The colours are vibrant and discernible, easy to be divided and sorted even by really young kids. 

(2) The Tweezers: great tool to train fine motor skills. My four-year-old can pick up the fruits using a tweezer easily; my 20 month-old struggles with it as expected, but she loves trying it although she does get a little frustrated sometimes. I also like that there are two tweezers, perfect for a family with two young kids like ours. 

(3) Activities & Games: there are three double-sided sorting cards that indicate the types of games to be played (for example, sorting by colours, types of fruits, number and so on), although my kids seem to be only interested in colour-sorting. 

(4) Pretend Play: the pie design with tiny fruits is perfect for pretend role-playing. My kids love to serve the pie as a main dish in their imaginative cafe, together with some tea and coffee. I love how versatile the toy is. 

Enjoy the video!