I've been a parent for the last 22 years and yet have only just had my first personal experience of using Hama. Small beads which you can form into pictures using pegboards, and then iron to keep your creation forever.


We've had Hama creations in our house for years, but my youngest 2 boys hadn't used them until we were sent a bundle of Hama Beads to review...including lots of the new Striped Hama Beads.

On 2nd and 3rd July a very special event is coming to Manchester Central. Bricktastic is one of the UK's biggest LEGO events and promises to be pretty awesome! See, Play And Learn With LEGO - and by buying a ticket or spending at the event you'll support Fairy Bricks, providing LEGO for children in hospital in the Northwest UK.


SEE - Over 50 of the UK's top LEGO builders will be displaying their builds, including Bright Bricks, the UK's only certified LEGO Professional, who will be there with some of the models from their touring show 'Bricks In Motion'.

PLAY - Brick pits, a giant mosaic and builds to take home as souvenirs

LEARN - What can you make with LEGO? Find out what other people are making, including some amazing mechanical and motor driven LEGO robots, get hints and tips from some of the best, find out what's new in the world of LEGO, and put those skills into action.

I was VERY excited when I was asked if I wanted to take a look at a NUTRI NINJA kitchen blender, even more so when it arrived and it was the NINJA Complete Kitchen System with NUTRI NINJA (with Auto IQ). At 1500w and with a swathe of accessories, it is capable of so much more than your average blender.


The system arrives in a huge box containing all of the parts in smaller boxes. It's like Christmas. The metal blades are incredibly sharp, and arrive the same way as they store, safely inside the pitcher, cup and bowl.

A couple of days ago we reviewed the Stickibox Cardboard Car Kit, and our children love it. There really aren't many things that are better at bringing out the laughter and imagination in children than a cardboard box vehicle. Today I have the chance for one of my readers to win one of their own.


Easy to put together and your child can personalise their box however they want. Stickibox take it all to the next level with turning wheels and reg plates, lights and a steering wheel. You can see our full review of the Stickibox Car Kit here...

Mister Chef are a brand new company selling kitchen equipment in the UK. Their range is varied and very modern. They specialise in silicone bakeware and some of the more gadgety equipment for kitchen, baking and sugarcraft. They recently sent us a bundle of products to take a look...


The first product that caught my eye was a little gadget that I didn't recognise at all! Looking like a little single axle car, with whirling blades inside. Luckily it was listed as a Garlic Chopper.

We love a good cardboard box car here, but somehow they are always missing something. Stickibox hope to fill that gap by supplying Cardboard Car Kits for the young explorer in your house. Luckily we have just the chap living here, and we've been sent a Cardboard Car Kit for review.


The box arrived and along the edge is a sticker with a message from the creators, Pip and Kerry:

"Each Stickibox Kit enables a child to express their creativity and helps support key developmental skills. Once built, this simple box can transport your child on a journey of adventure.
Build, Design and Jump Inside."

I like that. It's a nice ethos. Open your box, and you find, unsurprisingly, a box! Flat-packed and really simple to construct.

Yeah, okay, I'm a day late. I'm not even sure how that exactly happened, but I was really stunned when I realised today was not the 15th. It's got to be a good sign. It's also an indicator of just how busy we are at the moment - we're getting out more. It's definitely a good sign.

Life is becoming more normal, we've had some amazingly successful trips out this last month and one of the big differences is we've begun to 'last the day', rather than wanting to go home after an hour to the safety of our own surroundings.

I've always known life has to carry on, it has to be good for the little boys. They have a right to enjoy the things the big kids had. My teenagers have to be teenagers, they have to do normal teenage stuff. Sitting down and giving in would be so easy at so many points, but then what? Nothing. You can't lie down and give in, you have the rest of forever to consider.

There are some amazing new LEGO sets this Spring, and one of the ones we were most excited about was the LEGO CITY Airport Air Show. Comprising a huge hangar, 3 planes, service car, tool wagon and an impressive 6 minifigures, it's a collectible for enthusiasts and a play set that really promises value.

This post is written by Michael Todt...


Who’d want to be a father-in-law these days, huh? The costs of weddings have soared in recent years, and with venue, contractors and planners alike looking to capitalise on our innate desires to make this once-in-a-lifetime occasion as special as possible, budgets tend to go through the roof. In fact, some recent research suggests that the average cost of a UK wedding is now an eye-watering £24,000!

According to Martin Lewis, possibly the most trusted consumer champion in the UK, one of the biggest causes of divorce is debt and financial worries. So while you don’t want to sacrifice too much for your big day, you also don’t want to leave yourself financially crippled in the future as a result of it. I remember our big day very well. I also remember all the stresses of planning it! But it was all worth it in the end, and we managed to keep the budget down to what we found acceptable. I thought that, based on our experience, I’d share a few tips which I picked up along the way…

I love the fact that my 6 and 7 year old boys want to read all kinds of different books, and now that they are becoming competent independent readers a whole world is open to them. "You Wouldn't Want To Be...." is a series of books detailing the kinds of historical jobs that you probably wouldn't have wanted, mixing humour and history and really giving an insight into the lives of people in the past.


You Wouldn't Want To Be a Shakespearean Actor is written by Jacqueline Morley and illustrated really fittingly by David Antram. It shows us the less-than-glamorous side of treading the boards back in the 16th Century.  For starters actors nowadays might complain about costumes, but they have it easy..