We recently reviewed the So MAGIC DIY Wonder Magic Garden for Canal Toys and now they've sent us the So Slime DIY Slimelicious Station for review. Suitable for age 6+, this is a scented-slime making kit with enough ingredients and decorations to make 16 little pots of imitation ice cream slime...


Everything is housed in a sturdy box, which can easily be used for storage if you don't make all of your slimes at once. It's an exciting parcel to open.


Included in the kit are a lot of parts, which are easy to distinguish:
Slime Station
4 Mini shakers
Scented Slime powder
2 Tools
Stickers
3 Tubes of colour
Instructions
6 bags of decorations
3 decorative straws

This Summer Rubik's have a whole new 'Summer Scrambles' assortment of toys, games and fidgets to play with and they've sent us a big bundle to look at. Rubik's are small, portable toys which are great for taking away with you on holiday or visiting relatives, and they are perfect for entertaining your children on long journeys.


We've been sent Rubik’s Cage, Rubik’s Edge, Rubik’s Orbit, Rubik’s Block, Rubik’s Match and Rubik’s 3x3. The variety is massive and we are long-time fans of Rubik's Cube here, my partner can even complete one in 26 moves (or something), so he was one of the first to want to dip into this lot.


Rubik’s 3x3 - the classic cube that we all know. So much better than cheap imitations, and I have actually managed to complete it a couple of times, but don't ask me to do it unless you've got about 4 hours while I figure it out.


I've got a little room for improvement, the current record (held by Yusheng Du) stands at 3.47 seconds *gulp*. RRP £10 - there is also an environmentally packaged version which is cheaper - nice one Rubik's.

It doesn't take much to spot that here at The Brick Castle we are huge fans of construction toys and we like to try everything. Construction is brilliant for encouraging imagination and confidence. It develops problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination. finger strength and it's a brilliant way to learn some of the skills needed to become an Engineer.

2019 has been labelled as the Year Of Engineering and it's about time because the other STEM subjects (science, technology and maths) get a much better press. What we don't always realise though, is just how much relies on engineers. They are the people who decide what we can safely and sensibly build or make, what quantities of materials we'll need, how we should start and how to test the end result.


The people who built the railways were engineers, the people who designed and built your car are engineers. Your Nan was an engineer when she made up her own recipe for biscuits. We really need engineers....

Slime is incredibly popular this year and pretty much all children love playing with it. We were given the Nickelodeon Slime Station and a large pot of delicious orange slime to review for Sambro. Suitable for age 5+, this is like a little factory for making non-toxic slime, with a big choice of different textures and glittery bits to add to it.


No batteries, packaging is mainly a big handy cardboard box and very little inessential plastic. Opens in seconds, you only need to add plain tap water and you can start immediately. Christmas morning-friendly.


You have the Slime Station itself, plus lots of other items:

3 Storage Tubs With Secure Lids
10 Activator Packs
!0 Coloured Slime Powders
Spoon
4 Beads / Confetti Packs
2 Packs Of Styrofoam Balls
4 Packets Of Glitter
Slime Shaker
Funnel
3 x Lidded 'Test Tube' Storage Tubes
Instructions.

As soon as we hear 'Spinners' now, we think of fidgets and I expected i-Tops to be similar, but in fact they are much more like the traditional wooden toys we've all played with - but with a brilliant use of electronics to count spins, create animations and keep high scores. Competitive spinning!


The packaging is really massive compared to the size of the toy and half plastic. It's really easy to pull open, but you aren't going to need it afterwards, so only a few points for Earth-friendly. It's Christmas-morning friendly though, batteries are included and play is instant once it's in your hand.

If your house is anything like mine then you'll be very familiar with fidget toys. Zing make a great range of Every Day Play fidget toys that are played with by children, but also used by professionals, and they have offered a bundle of 6 awesome and varied toys for one of my readers - Metal Chucks, Tumblstix, Spinbladez, Klixx, Thumb Chucks and Zing Dama.


The quality is great and 4 of the 6 light up - which was quite a surprise when I opened my box and everything inside was glowing! They are all packaged in card with a plastic front cover and open very easily and quickly, so you can play immediately - Christmas morning friendly.


Thumb Chucks (£7.99rrp) are the original light-up fidget balls which have been joined by several variants. I've seen Thumb Chucks demonstrated at events several times and there are loads of videos online - basic tricks are easy to learn, but trickier moves take hours of practice to master. This isn't just a fidget toy, it's a skill toy.