Our latest review for SpinMaster is an updated version of the DR1 Racing Drone, with the addition of the First Person View (FPV) headset and a camera on the drone itself. Really very steady and easily-controlled, it's a great introduction to drones and indeed FPV, although is recommended for age 10+ because obviously drones can be dangerous and need to be used sensibly.


Instantly I was really impressed as the box is awesome. It's a properly sturdy re-usable box that can store your drone, controller, charging cable, spares and headset/goggles for their lifetime.

Cortex Challenge is a really fast-paced game for 2-6 players aged around 8+, although my 7 year old is brilliant at it. Card-based, each card is a challenge and it's up to each player to be fastest to spot the correct answer, shout it out and cover the card with their hand.


Everything is packed into a small box, so this is an ideal one for taking out with you or for using on holiday. Only the brain parts are small and have potential to be lost.

Havex Machines are an instantly transforming toy which is activated by a micro car. The miniature vehicles drive into the larger model and initiate magnetic release mechanisms. The model then leaps instantly into it's alternative vehicle model.


Havex Machines were a massive hit in our house this Christmas and have been played with far more than anything else. I was sent them a little late to review, so Santa brought them instead. Packaging was Christmas morning-friendly, no batteries and my 7 and 9 year old boys loved them. I'm pretty keen on them myself. They're really sturdy models and work incredibly well.

At BlogOn Conference in 2016 I was ridiculously lucky and won a break with Canvas Holidays. Because we had a teenager in hospital we didn't feel able to take it until last Summer - but it was really worth the wait!


Canvas Holidays have accommodation at over 200 campsites all over Europe, and we chose to stay fairly close to home in Northern France at Camping La Croix Du Vieux Pont at Berny Riviere near Paris. Canvas have got a variety of different lodges and pre-erected tents on site. We decided to go for a longer break and our £1000 budget covered us for an 8 night stay in a 2 bedroom Maxi Tent including return ferry from Dover to Calais.


We are used to tents, and our Maxi Tent was luxury. It was really cleverly designed so that you can have a gate across the kitchen section and the two bedrooms are on opposite sides of the tent, and both very big. The boys slept on 2 single metal camp beds and we had a double, and it was almost as comfortable as our beds at home.

Goodbye 2017 and do you know what, you weren't too hard on us. When I started this blog (5 years and 1 day ago - Happy Birthday The Brick Castle) I had no idea that it would record the hardest, most stressful and saddest years of my life. The time when I really grew up. We are still here and fighting fit, and I hope your Christmas was as good as ours.


Five years ago we had a bunch of teenagers and 2 little kids. Now we have 4 adult children (3 of whom have moved out), a 7 year old and a 9 year old almost as tall as I am. Our family has evolved rapidly, as we always knew it would, and the blog has gone from Orchard Toys and picture books to drones and chapter books - but the LEGO remains.

Losing Elspeth will always be one of the biggest influences in our children's lives. They will always have a sister who isn't there, experiences they'll never have, jokes they should have been able to share. They'll always see that empty chair, but they are all learning to live with that.

Our children's lives are spread out ahead of them and they can all see a way forward. There is more value in that than I could ever express in words. They are all reaching out for the possibilities ahead and my heart bursts with pride at how strong they've become. It is always worth carrying on, you have the potential to be a great person.

With little kids Christmas is all about Santa and presents and tinsel and lights. When you have grown up kids it seems it's mainly about logistics.

This year we have been truly blessed by being able to spend time with all of our big kids, we even managed to eat a Boxing Day Christmas dinner together. It took the arrangement skills of Norbert Dentressangle, but we did it.


We always knew this would come, but with both of our current 18 year olds working part time in the service industry, a 23 year old in full time work and Christmas week party mode, plus a 20 year old uni student, then add on two other sets of parents needing a share of the young people's time, this year was the year it got tricky.

We had to arrange, re-arrange and then with half an hour to spare and the meat already resting, we were still 2 missing and starting to think it might not happen. But they made it.

Crater Craft is a new free game app from 55pixels and it's set in an imaginary world where teams of robot creatures, or crafters, use resources to create useful or decorative objects, furniture and even buildings. Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of games, but I can rarely justify the time, so I was more than happy to take this job. As it turns out, you can dip into Crater Craft for 5 minutes if that's all you have spare, you never have to commit any period of time, which for me is ideal.


In Crater Craft you manage a crater, running the farm and building a little community with your team of crafters and various visitors who call by to stay. Together you work to create buildings and furniture to make the crater and guest houses nice. You have to provide the crafting equipment and resources by farming, digging and trading.

This post is written by Joyce Perona.

It is almost Christmas and every family out there is planning something for their holiday vacation. Going on a trip this season can be stressful yet exciting. A lot of people are preoccupied with organizing their trips and busy traveling anywhere at this time.


Christmas season is one of the best times to travel with your whole family. It is when you create happy memories together and make your bond stronger. Be sure to maximize your time and make the most out of it, for it is not all the time you get to experience such a break and a time to be with your loved ones.

Act Normal And Don't Tell Anyone About The Present Machine by Christian Darkin is the eighth book in the best-selling ‘Act Normal' children's book series. A chapter book for young independent readers aged around 7-11, challenging gender stereotypes and showing that blue is not always for a boy and pink and glittery isn't always for a girl, and that's okay. In fact it couldn't be more normal.


Act Normal's main character is a girl named Jenny, who thinks she is weird. When she's 46 like me she might realise we're all weird, but for now she thinks it's mainly just her and her family.

It's December! And Christmas is almost here. And if you are like us, you will have done very little preparation. Christmas can be very hard and there is more on that in the second half of this post. I am going to be taking some time off the blog though, starting with my first weekend off in 3 months - so hopefully we'll have a tree up by Sunday.

This month we had lots of suitably festive smiles shared on the #TBCSmiles hashtag. Visits with Santa, Christmas trees, festive baking, Christmas jumpers and so many youngsters with their first real taste of snow. We also had a few princesses and even a King. You can find all of the photos by searching the hashtag on Instagram, but here are a few of those that really made us grin this month.