This month Drumond Park have sent us a copy of Word Bandit to review. Suitable for 2 teams with any number of players, this is a word game which really caught the attention of my 8 year old. Recommended for age 8+, Word Bandit takes traditional pencil and paper word games and upgrades them, with the addition of a unique one-armed bandit.


There is very little plastic packaging, no assembly, no batteries and you can have the box open and be playing in under 5 minutes. Set up takes no time at all, even before first play you only have to add the sticker to the bandit front. Entirely Christmas morning-friendly.


Word Bandit is a fast-paced word game where players have to make words and initials using a selection of letters given to them at random by the Word Bandit machine. The machine is well made and works perfectly. It's a little light, so you do have to hold it still as you pull the arm.

World Calligraphy Day isn't just about showing off your calligraphy skills (thankfully because mine are very limited!), it's about getting everyone writing. Manuscript Pen Company have partnered with Birmingham Children’s Hospital and created the ‘Say Something Special’ campaign.


The campaign is encouraging as many people as possible to write a special letter to the children in  Birmingham Children's Hospital. These can be sent to: Say Something Special c/o Small Man Media, 2nd Floor, 6 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, WV1 4BL. All of the letters will be forwarded on to Birmingham Children’s Hospital alongside some Manuscript products for the hospital to use for their art classes and play sessions.

Wannabees spotted that pretend play was missing a special something that could really encourage children to practise more skills and learn to read and write while they play. They created a range of 'I Want To Be...' packs full of printed sheets which support role play for children aged around 5-11.


Currently available in ‘I Want to be a Teacher’, ‘I Want to be a Doctor’ and ‘I Want to be a Café Owner’, each pack is bundled up into a really handy ring binder with around 45 mainly tear-out pages. The pages include forms, stickers and certificates, appointment cards, registers and even eye tests or weather charts, allowing children to act out all of those fun tasks that somehow aren't so fun when you are an adult.


We've been sent two of the packs for my 8 and 9 year old boys to play with. They chose 'I Want to be a Teacher’ and ‘I Want to be a Doctor’. One of them actually does want to be a Doctor (or an entomologist), so he was particularly excited.

STABILO make great stationery for all members of the family, so when I said we'd be getting a handful of new products to look at, 4 different people here immediately got excited. We've been sent the new STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters, a beYou! Ballpoint Pen and EASYstart Colouring Pencils.


The STABILO BOSS Original Pastel Highlighters are that very familiar shape and style which we've all used, but now available in pastels! Reliable and long-lasting, they really haven't needed to change since before I was a student.