Balloon Bot Battle is brilliant. An active and understandably noisy game, sent to us by KD Games to review, it's already a favourite. Suitable for 2 players or teams aged 8+, this is a lively family game which really allows you to let out your frustrations on your family - with their permission...


There is minimal plastic and a sturdy box, which is wasted because once you've assembled your robots they don't fit in it for storage, and aren't designed for disassembly. Assembly is quick and easy though, and actually quite exciting.


Inside the box are all the parts for 2 Balloon Bots plus 20 balloons, stickers and instructions. Assembly is fairly obvious as long as you start with everything turned the right way.

My last book review and giveaway in this year's Christmas Present Giveaways is a fantastic bundle of 4 STEM Activity Books which have been sent to us from Carlton Kids Books to review.

Suitable for young readers and future Scientists and Engineers aged 6+, this is a set of books which will stretch your child in interesting and engaging ways, while they complete puzzles and pictures, spot the odd one out, answer questions and a host of other fun activities...


STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths, and these subjects are vital for children who will be entering the job market in 10-20 years time. Each of the 4 books is a large format glossy paperback with 64 full colour pages and over 40 STEM activities crammed inside.

When Hasbro offered me the chance to review Chewie, I was really busy and barely looked before thinking, "sure, I'm a big Star Wars fan and Chewie is great". When he arrived I was completely blown away. I'm smitten. He's a cuddly toy with supersoft furReal fur, but he's also an intelligent reactive animated Chewbacca who has over 100 sound and motion combos... and he's pretty darn impressive.


Chewie arrives in a standard display box and is fastened in my plastic tags, so you'll perhaps want scissors to carefully get him out, but it'll only take a minute. He needs 4 x AA batteries, but arrives with demo batteries that often last a good while, so he's Christmas morning friendly.

I always like to find interesting stockingfillers and the Bananas we've been sent by Bandai are certainly that! Brightly-coloured and scented, and filled with all kinds of goodies including characters, stickers and a display vine, our girls would have loved these squishy collectibles when they were younger. My boys maybe aren't quite so keen...


The Banana is mainly it's own packaging. It's quite big at almost 13cm long and inside are a host of little treats that make this the perfect stockingfiller. Available as a single Banana or packs of 3.


The Bananas have different contents with 24 ‘surprise’ Crushie friends to collect, including Rare and Ultra Rare Crushies. The Bananas attach together, another feature which makes them a great collectible.

I am truly delighted to have the MiniMaster Sports Company involved in my Christmas Present Giveaways because their 1/8th scale Football game is one of the most beautifully designed toys I've reviewed all year, with absolutely tons of added value and it's genuinely suitable for anyone aged 8-99 or over...


The set comes with 1/8th scale articulated 'kicking' footballer in white, who is ready to customise to any team of your choice (MiniMaster Sports even sell model paints separately at under £2 each) plus all of this:

Action Wand with pull-lever handle
Eye2Ball shot training aid
Goal with net (W)70cm x (H)30cm x (D)15cm
Target Screen
Gameboard with spinning Pointer
Anglefinder/Defensive Wall
5 x Lightweight Footballs
Marker Tape (4m)
5 x position Markers
Display Stand
Instructions

Today's book review and giveaway has been sent to us by Carlton Kids Books. A bundle of 3 books for the sports fans amongst you, with World Football Records, Neymar: The Ultimate Fan Book and the sporting gamer's Who's Who - eSports Superstars.

Jacamo sell a huge range of clothes for any occasion, including everyday wear. As you will probably be aware if you've heard of them, they sell a good variety of sizes including clothes for big and tall men. My partner was offered a selection to review and although he's 6ft tall, he is now quite slim and wasn't convinced Jacamo would have his size. They do. .

If I start by saying he's really happy, he's worn them to work and to go visiting, he's let all his mates have a feel of his hoodie and coo over his trousers and one of them has already placed an order off the back of it... that probably sums up my review in a nutshell.


My partner chose his own selection and went for a pair of black jeans, a burgundy hoodie and a really smart pair of desert boots for work and 'any time we go anywhere not muddy'.


This time of year a good hoodie is essential and the Tog24 Barlow Mens Deluxe Zip Hoody really has pleased my partner. He chose 'Purple', which is a dark plum colour with grey lining. It is a really nice hoody, very well made and finished with good thick material and quality cord at the neck.

What On Earth Books didn't only send us Absolutely Everything!, they also sent a really gorgeous lift-the-flap book for readers of all ages. Eye Spy is a huge format and incredibly beautiful book that is utterly fascinating. It shows how animals, birds and other creatures see the world and they see it very differently to us! I'm really delighted to have a copy to give away to one of my readers in my Christmas Present Giveaways...


The beginning of the book explains how we see and how eyes work, and why we even need sight at all. It's beautifully written and presented in a fold out page which already makes you feel you are holding something exciting.

This afternoon's Christmas Present giveaway and review is a brilliant non-fiction book which has been sent to us from Carlton Kids Books to review. Suitable for any reader aged 6+, Amazing Optical Illusions is a book which challenges you to look at the world very differently! Especially when our eyes deceive us...


This is a fairly thick book in a large format and the illustrations are really big, so even I don't have to squint to see all of the effects. Inside the book are 96 pages with over 80 optical illusions - enough to satisfy anyone.


Each optical illusion is explained so that the reader understands what is happening and often exactly why it happens. This is a puzzle book with the answers on every page and there is a really varied assortment of different optical illusions and ways to trick our eyes, our brains, or both.

We worked with GB Posters back in September and they sent us an amazing bundle of goodies. They sell hundreds of different posters and loads of branded merchandise including keyrings, mugs, glasses, button badges, hip flasks, plus brilliant low cost, lightweight poster frames.

This is exactly the type of gift I regularly buy at Christmas and I'm delighted that GB Posters are offering a gift box of your choice for one of my readers in this year's Christmas Present Giveaways.


The range at GB Posters is huge, there's an A-Z on the website and you'll find something for anyone. We reviewed a bundle of GB Posters items which suited our family. Posters are 4 for the price of 3, and generally £4.99 each - the same price I paid 30 years ago in HMV and Athena...


We chose Fallout, Playstation and Skyrim merchandise for the gamers, and posters for everyone, including the human skeleton, the world, Star Wars blueprints and a ginormous Periodic Table 2018.