The Interplay Electric Racing Truck is a cardboard motorised vehicle model in the Technokit range. Aimed at children aged 8+ it's quite a technical build and the model maker will need to use their brain a little in order to put it together successfully following the included instructions.

Who doesn't like Haribo? They're the sweet of choice for grown ups and children the world over, and this Summer they've launched special Frenzy editions of the very popular Starmix and Tangfastics. They'll only be available for the next few weeks though - so you have to be quick!

Hotel Kids Only: Amsterdam is a big book full of information, activities and ideas specially designed to entertain children who are on holiday - in Amsterdam! When they aren't at home children can find it difficult to amuse themselves while adults do all that boring stuff like shopping, sorting meals, driving and getting little ones to sleep.

On the Lamaloli website it says 'home of the world's favourite characters', and a quick look around confirms that - Minions, Star Wars, Disney, Super Mario, Hello Kitty, Skylanders and a host more. Lamaloli have licences for over 40 different TV and movie ranges. All of my children's favourites are available on t-shirts, pyjamas, swimming costumes and an array of clothing and accessories.


We were given a voucher to choose some clothes for review, and my young lads took ages to choose becausethey liked so many of the clothes! We could have spent our 40€ five times over, and I did top up the order to get a few extra bits for the Summer, because the prices and designs are lovely.

Today I am absolutely delighted to announce a truly awesome LEGO giveaway. On sale tomorrow (1st August) the LEGO Technic Mercedes-Benz Arocs 3245 is a gorgeous vehicle collaboration between LEGO and Daimler AG and I have one to give away to one of my readers courtesy of LEGO.


Priced at £169.99, this is a giant 2,793 piece set, which creates a model 31cm high and 54cm long. It's humungous. It's not only the size that's impressive, this is a real working machine, powered by an electric motor and using the advanced new Pneumatics 2.0 system.

Littlest Pet Shop: Little Pets, Big Adventures is a brand new release from Hasbro and will be available to buy in the shops and on digital download from 3rd August. U rated and suitable for everyone, it contains 7 episodes where we meet the star Blythe, and her Dad, as well as all of the pets who hang out in the shop.


The Littlest Pet Shop is a concept that my boys are aware of, but a show that's new to us. My boys hadn't seen it at all before our review DVD arrived. My first impression was that it's more 'girly' than I expected, but although the main character is a young teenage girl, the storyline is something all children can appreciate.

We had a really exciting delivery today - the brand new LEGO Scooby Doo The Mystery Machine set 75902.  I wasn't expecting it yet, so this is awesome timing because it can come away on holiday with us! This set is now released tomorrow - along with the other Scooby Doo sets, including the Mystery Mansion and bargain Mummy Museum Mystery.



The Mystery Machine is recommended for age 6+, and is a smaller model with around 298 pieces (the press release isn't ready, nor do UK boxes help with this, so I had to count!). In the set are 3 minifigures - Shaggy, Fred and a Zombie, and Scooby Doo himself....

If you haven't heard of Google's Chromecast then you could be missing a trick. It's a handy little gadget that allows you to watch what you can watch on your phone or tablet - on the big telly! I'm being given one myself, and I've got one to give away thanks to the lovely people at the Manchester based JNB Aerials.
The Chromecast is a really small USB style device that plugs directly into the TV in a HDMI port. The Chromecast then talks to your phone or tablet when you tell it to, and it will stream your movie, music videos, TV shows etc directly to the TV.

The LEGO DC Super Heroes Jokerland set is one of the most playable sets we've ever owned. Tons of fun to build, and as each part does so much the level of interest from my kids as we built was immense. It's the first ever time I've had to send them out of the room because they drove me bats! I couldn't build it quicker than they were taking it away to play with it....


Jokerland is a set recommended for age 8+ set with 1037 pieces which go together to form the Batmobile and all of the renamed fairground attractions. There are 8 fabulous minifigures in this set with lovely accessories.

For the SuperHeroes we have Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire and Batman...


For the bad guys we have The Joker, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and The Penguin....

If you like games then this is for you. If you ever had an Atari, or played Street-fighter, or thought Sonic actually might be a hedghog, then this is for you. An event featuring over 120 games consoles from the last 30 years, all playable and with limited entry numbers to the hall so that everyone gets a turn...

Did we want to come and review ? Yes thanks!!

The Baby - The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine The first ever stored-program computer.

PLAY it Manchester takes place on the 2nd floor of the Museum of Science and Industry. Very apt that below us is The Baby - a replica of the first ever stored-program computer. PLAY it is in a huge space with loads of room, and the all important video games consoles and arcade machines. Tons of seating, a cafe area, and all of your favourite games from the last 30 years. It even has 2 player, 4 player and larger multiplayer games, and it's only £4 entry. Heaven.


My 5 and 6 year olds love their console games and have played and watched since they were tiny. Our  family don't watch a lot of regular TV, games are a living room event and we all join in. They've never played on arcade machines before though and the big joystick was a brand new thing to them!